Sunday / Day One / Part Two
During the hour or so of relaxation time before the “work” portion of the trip actually kicked off, I opted to catch up with my wife and my kiddos, via FaceTime. This trip to Atlanta was not only my first work related trip since the dark times known as Covid, but also the first work trip that would require me to be away from home for an extended period. Speaking honestly, it was rather weird. Not weird in a bad way, per say, but weird because I am a homebody and love how much time I typically get to spend with my family. I also felt a tad bit guilty on this trip, due to the fact that my wife, God bless her, had to watch over the kids while I was away. Now, don’t get me wrong, my wife is extremely capable of taking care of our kids during my absence, but holy cow, there are times, due to their age, that they seem almost feral. Still, we both love the heck out of them.

*The view from my balcony looking into the CNN portion of the complex. Shot on an iPhone 14 Pro.*

So, moving on. After catching up with my wife and two little hellions angels, it was time to head down to the lobby to meet up with my coworkers to officially kick off the first of three training sessions with the Ford Model e group. Now, for those that are not Ford employees or Ford fanatics, and thus out-of-the-loop, the Ford Model E program/division is an initiative by Ford Motor Company focusing specifically on electric and autonomous vehicles. The Model e program, on a dealership level, has two tiers: Model e Certified and Model e Certified Elite. The lower tier program places a cap on how many EVs a dealer can sell, while the top tier program allows the dealer to sell EVs without any type of cap. Both programs required a rather sizable investment from dealers for things such as infrastructure upgrades relating to charging, as well as service-related areas. The organization that I work for signed on to be part of the top tier of the Model e program, thus one of the reasons behind this trip/training intensive.

Anyway, first up on the agenda, and one of the best parts of the training, in my humble opinion, was a roughly two-hour long ride and drive session in both an F-150 Lightning, as well as a Mach-E. I had driven both vehicles a few times prior to this trip, but the drives were either short in distance, or in areas that did not allow for me to utilize all of the available features. Needless to say, over the course of the two-hour long session, I was able to really put each vehicle through its paces and utilize every feature and piece of technology was that available. I even had the opportunity to tow with the Lightning and was pleasantly surprised at just how easily it yanked the trailer around. (The instant torque really makes a difference.) With that being said, the F-150 Lightning is not a truck I would use for any type of long-haul, as towing drastically reduces your usable range, but I would not hesitate to tow with it and/or drive it under the right circumstances and conditions. However, that pretty much goes for any electric vehicle though, at least for me. They can get the job done and can replace an ICE vehicle for the right individual. At this time, EVs just will not work for me and my family.

*Conducting our pre-drive safety briefing and route planning with Angie, one of our Ford trainers, inside an F-150 Lightning Platinum. Shot on an iPhone 14 Pro.*

On another note, and shifting the focus back to the technology portion of the drive, I will say that while Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving mode is neat, I found it rather unnerving. Honestly, I kept my hands hovered over the steering wheel the entire time it was engaged, which our Ford trainer found rather entertaining. I just do not trust the technology yet, nor do I trust the people around me enough to relinquish control to computers. I might be in the minority with my opinion, but so be it. Driving a vehicle is an experience that I enjoy, and sitting in the driver’s seat but not actually driving hurts my soul. If you, the reader, have made it this far, let me know your opinion on autonomous/auto-pilot systems.

Images from the ride and drive portion. Images shot on iPhone 14 Pro.

Once the ride and drive portion of the event was over, we made our way back to the hotel to go through a debrief, take a test, and offer up our feedback. After that was completed, my co-workers elected to go to their rooms and unwind before dinner later that evening. I, however, opted to take the opportunity to walk around downtown Atlanta to both explore and to put my iPhone camera to the test. Although at the time of this writing the iPhone 15 is the latest and greatest that Apple has to offer, at the time of my Atlanta trip, I had just received the iPhone 14 Pro and wanted to see what it was capable of. (I had upgraded after running my iPhone 10 into the ground.) I made the rather difficult decision to leave my Q2 at home, largely due to not knowing what to expect out of the trip, and partly due to really wanting to see if the iPhone will work for me, photography wise, in a pinch. For the most part, it worked okay, and certainly has its limitations, but I was overall satisfied with the results it produced.

Anyway, moving on. My first stop while on my walking trek of the area was to Stats Brewpub, which is situated roughly a quarter of a mile from the hotel. We had walked by the establishment earlier that day while on the way to Apache XLR for breakfast, and of course, being the beer nerd that I am, made a mental note to check it out so long as the opportunity presented itself. Obviously, it did, so I stopped in. I really enjoy supporting small breweries, as well as trying different interpretations of the various brew styles available, so I was a tad bit eager to give Stats a shot. I walked in right before the dinner rush and grabbed a seat at the bar. The place was cool, and the staff was nice, but the service was painfully slow and borderline non-existent. When I originally sat down, I had roughly an hour to kill before I needed to be back at the hotel. That should have allowed for at least two pints, possibly three. However, I only managed to have one pint, a Belgian Wit called Shooter McGavin, and then closed out. The beer was good, at least good enough for me to want to try another of their house beers, but the service was again, so painfully slow and non-existent that I sat at the bar with an empty pint glass for so long that by the time a staff member came back, it was time for me to close-out my tab and walk back to the hotel. It was a bummer, as again, it seemed like a nice place.

Once back at the hotel I met up with the crew and waited for our Uber driver to pick us up and take us to dinner. To say that I was excited for dinner would be a massive understatement. Not because I was hungry, which I certainly was, but rather due to the fact that I was finally going to be able to try Fox Bros Bar-B-Q. I have had a few friends visit, whose opinions I trust, and it came strongly recommended. So, since I was able to pick out our dinner spot, it had to be Fox Bros. I am so glad that I have friends that have great palates, as honestly, the food exceeded my expectations and was hands down some of the best barbecue that I have ever had. I ate a lot, as did everyone in the group, and as I type this, my mouth is actually watering at the memories. Everything was, no joke, epic. (The brisket, the chicken, the pork, the ribs, the sides, etc.) If you are in Atlanta, you must go.

Fox Bros B-B-Q and what the beginning of the meat sweats looks like. Shot on an iPhone 14 Pro.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, only briefly, before walking around and taking a ride on the SkyView Ferris wheel which stands at a whopping twenty stories tall. It was a really cool experience, as it allowed for a nice evening view of Atlanta and provided for some neat pictures. After the ride was over, we walked back to the hotel and to our rooms. I read a little, called back home, and then called it a night. I wanted to make sure that I was able to get a decent amount of sleep before our next day of training.

Randomness from the SkyView Ferris wheel. Shot on an iPhone 14 Pro.

All The Way To Atlanta – Day One Part Two

All The Way To Atlanta - Days Two & Three

All The Way To Atlanta – Day One Part One