The Black Mark on an Otherwise Blissful Vacation That Took Place at Terminus – yes, from The Walking Dead
I haven’t taken a real vacation in 4 years, so you can imagine the supreme delight of a week away from home and work that finally came. I scheduled the week of my birthday off (nope – not revealing what birthday!) which happily coincided with a beautiful wedding in Atlanta that I was able to attend. Now, what Walking Dead fan can find themselves in Atlanta and NOT go on an internet-guided tour of locations where several scenes from the show took place? And we did. At the end of one day, we wound up at Terminus – the place where some of Rick’s group end up after seeing signs along the way that promised survival but ended in torture. My experience there was somewhat similar.
It just so happens that the abandoned rail yard that was the scene of Terminus is in South Atlanta, in a VERY bad part of town. But I was on vacation. When you’re on vacation, you’re not thinking about the “bad parts of town.” Everything on vacation is new and welcoming. Or so I thought – but I was wrong. In my liberated and excited state of mind, I decided it would be a good idea to walk away from a car with the windows open and my purse inside. While we were happily exploring the grounds that was the scene of one of my favorite shows, we spotted two young men walking alongside the car. When they passed the car, looked inside, then turned to walk by it again – faster this time, my stomach dropped. I watched in despair as one of them crawled through the window and reached inside. Calling out, yelling, screaming at them did no good. A chain-link fence was all that separated me from the two thieves. I was just feet away, watching in close-range as my valuables disappeared and there was nothing I could do.
It was a damper that the crime happened toward the start of the trip, but I didn’t let that keep me from enjoying the white beaches of Destin, the drunken party of New Orleans, or the hopeful tension in the air in Shreveport on my way home back to Dallas. It was a vacation to remember, and one to learn from. Don’t be stupid – take your valuables with you all the time. But also, don’t let a misfortune ruin your day.
Kristin Thrower