San Diego to Atlanta✈️: 25-26 April 1999

San Diego/SAN to Atlanta/ATL: 25.4.1999
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Intnl Airport, arguably the world's busiest hub✈️

Delta #DL228 B767-232 (N102DA) 4 hours non-stop service to ATL boarding at Gate 40 - departure 08:55 am on time⏰

Imagine losing three valuable hours arriving at 16:50 pm because you crossed two time zones😁

Fully-booked after Easter weekend, no window seats available🤣 but priceless memories of an amazing service nevertheless*👌💓

N102DA delivered to Delta Air Lines in 1982, withdrawn from service in 2006 and stored at Delta Flight Museum, Atlanta GA*👌✈️

Checked into my no frills Super 8 Hotel on 111 Cone Street NW - clean hotel, felt very safe in a nice location near Centennial Park with lots of restaurants nearby, great breakfast and friendly staff - 20 minute walk from the historic Sweet Auburn neighborhood along Freedom Walk*👌💓

The following day, i headed to Ebenezer Baptist Church on 101 Jackson St NE, where Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr, his father and grandfather served as pastors (him from 1960 until his assassination on 4th April 1968). Sitting in the pews was overwhelming listening to snippets of his sermons and engaging with the staff*💓

Just across the street at "Martin Luther King Jr Center for Nonviolent Social Change" at 449 Auburn Avenue, i paid my respects at his tomb, a white marble crypt on a brick island in a reflecting pool surrounded by water cascades, that bears an inscription: “Thank God Almighty, free at last” - a great leader who inspired two generations of African Americans and a beacon of hope for millions of South Africans who suffered injustices of racial oppression and discrimination - martyred in America's own struggle for racial justice encapsulated in his 1963 speech: “I have a dream*💓

Within the center is "The King Library and Archives" housing a vast collection of records and artifacts documenting the life and work of Dr King and his wife Coretta Scott King, (including his Nobel Peace Prize), the clothing they wore during memorable events, the key to Lorraine Motel in Memphis TN where he was shot, and Coretta’s veil with her tear stains*💓

After the tour, i was privileged and honoured to meet the Director of Archives, Dr Cynthia Lewis, and establish ties between the center and Loreto School Queenswood, my daughter’s school in Pretoria, South Africa *🙏💓💞

Next was a visit to the birth home of Dr King, right up the street at 501 Auburn Avenue for an hour, and walked down the sidewalk that he walked down in sporadic rain, followed by a gentle stroll to the original "World of Coca-Cola Museum" adjacent to "Underground Atlanta", and downtown to "CNN Center" & "Georgia World Congress Center" adjacent to Centennial Park.