EXODUS FROM THE PEACH STATE

It all started back in 1993, Kim and I were tired of living in South Florida and wanted a change of pace and lifestyle. Kim had always been fascinated with Atlanta it was far enough away from home but not too far that family would not visit. I remember wanting to live in Miami Beach at the time, longing for the rum soaked streets, the waft of Cuban cigars and the endless horizon of sugar sand on the beach, It had been only a 1 hour drive from LHP and my friends and I drove almost every weekend to see the parade of skin and silicone that oozed around South Beach and Coconut Grove, for me it would have been home forever.
We decided to take a weekend trip to Atlanta to check out the city, I remember driving into Atlanta just when you can see the buildings and the Gold dome then on the right the old Fulton County Stadium then more big buildings and billboards and Georgia Tech and just stuff everywhere. This was the biggest place I had ever seen and I could only think that I was missing the Annual Calle Ocho Hot Wing Festival on South Beach for this! After we checked into the Red Roof Inn on North Druid Hills we headed to the Sandy Springs area then on to Stone Mountain, after climbing the summit and seeing the view and the fall colors the City was starting to wash over me with bits and pieces of a future life. I could feel the warmth of the southern culture that I experienced with Kim’s family, there was a genuine feel of home starting to blanket me. South Florida was a fantastic region to live but I started to feel as if Atlanta was a place to call home a place to lay down roots. It was fall in Atlanta a wonderful season of color with the full spectrum on view like a buffet of choices for the visitor. Having already conquered Stone Mountain we looked for other things to do, it seemed as if there was an endless supply of events and destinations for a young couple just starting their lives together and now we wanted it, we wanted the festivals, we wanted Piedmont Park, we wanted downtown, we wanted the weather, we wanted it all and we wanted it now.
The day we left Atlanta for Deerfield Beach we picked up apartment brochures and decided to make another trip next month. During the next trip we had already decided to move and put down a deposit on an apartment in Dunwoody on Treelodge Parkway, apartment #305. And so it began the Hammond migration
Moving to Atlanta was easy, an old Shriners trailer, all our furniture and 2 cats rumbling up the highway to our new life in the Peach State.
Mum, Dad and Glen moved next, then we snuck Ross and Nicole up as they also wanted an escape from South Florida.
Life was good in Atlanta, the Hammonds all together living around the same area enjoying the outdoors of the city and the ambience of it all. People change and grow and their tastes evolve as they age, after 5 years Kim and I had a longing for the Sunshine State and found ourselves doing the same thing we did when we found Atlanta, weekend trips ended with looking for areas to move to in Florida. Ross was the next to go when he left for New York and finally Wilmington, Mum and Dad settled back in Florida where all people over 60 must go, I think they passed a law or something. That left Glen, he was a just a boy who came to Atlanta but will leave as a man, I have watched him grow from a wee red headed laddie to a sparkling example of the next Hammond generation. So as the last Hammond leaves the Peach State we collectively thank you for the following:
Marriages, babies, careers launched, tattoos inked, bands formed, friendships created, eternal love found, virginity lost, and dreams fulfilled.
We say farewell to you, our second city, our past home, you will always be in our hearts as a part of our youth and the stories of our children’s children to come. So as the last Hammond departs Atlanta a chapter of all our lives comes to an end, I would like to say for all the Hammonds: Thanks for everything.
Hammonds in Atlanta
1993 - 2009