Emery and I were lucky enough to attend the Sunday evening Taylor Swift ERAS show in Atlanta last week. I’m not going to lie: this was a STRESSFUL event. Between the travel logistics, outfit selections, merchandise lines, traffic, etc., I was nervous about the whole situation. However, everything went off without a hitch and it was one of the most memorable nights of my life. We had an amazing time with dear friends and I am extremely grateful we had the opportunity to experience ERAS.

Atlanta Welcomes Taylor

For those of you who still have plans to see Taylor this summer, I’ve got a few tips and tricks for you. Bookmark this post to reference as you prepare for your own ERAS moment.

My first piece of advice is to book a hotel within walking distance of the venue. Traffic and crowds will be unlike anything you’ve seen before. We stayed at the Ritz downtown and were only about a fifteen minute walk to and from Mercedes Benz. I booked rooms at the Ritz before we even had tickets. I knew I could cancel should we strike out on tickets. If you’re reading this, I realize that window has passed. However, I had friends check for cancellations at various downtown hotels (Hyatt, Mariott Marquis, Westin, Aloft, etc.) and many of them were successful. So don’t give up hope! It’s worth the extra money to be within walking distance. I can’t imagine having to deal with parking or Uber in that scene.

We ended up on the Club Level at the Ritz because that is all that was available at the time of booking. I wasn’t thrilled about paying more, but it ended up being a huge blessing. My friend and I really enjoyed being able to walk down the hallway at any given time to grab drinks, snacks, lunch and breakfast. I think it was worth the money in the long run.

Club Level

We left for Atlanta from Greenville around 10 AM and were at the hotel by lunch. Thankfully, our rooms were ready early. We loved being able to get ready without rushing. We knew we’d want to leave for the stadium around 3:00, so normal check in time would have made that difficult. Here’s my second piece of advice: ask for early check in before you arrive. You will need to head to the concert venue hours before showtime.

Off we go!

I strongly encourage you to wear comfortable shoes. Notice we’re all in sneakers (except for Emery) with our dresses. Emery refused to listen to her mother’s advice and insisted on her booties. She regretted that decision by the end of the night. Mother knows best!

Back in December when I booked our hotel rooms I also made dinner reservations for Ruth’s Chris. I thought this was a brilliant idea because it’s right in Centennial Park and on the way to the stadium from the hotel. Turns out I was wrong. I canceled the reservations several weeks ago when I realized we would need to be in line at the stadium well before dinner time. That’s my third suggestion: plan on eating dinner inside the venue. We enjoyed burgers and chicken fingers during the opening acts.

We made it!

Mother Nature gifted us beautiful weather and we thoroughly enjoyed our wait to get in the stadium. As my friend said, “this is the Olympics of people watching.” The atmosphere was wild, but in a good way. Lots of fellow concert goers were giving away beaded bracelets. Strangers were approaching fellow Swifties to gush over outfits. It was honestly magical. I don’t care what Disney says, the happiest place on earth is a Taylor Swift concert!

Dinner and Merch in the Delta Club

Following the advice of friends who attended shows before us, we went straight to the merchandise line once inside. The line was long and didn’t move swiftly (ha! See what I did there?), but it wasn’t dreadful. Just like our wait to get inside the stadium, we killed the time by soaking in all of the outfits. People were so creative! I also ran into a few friends from high school, which was a fun surprise. My Atlanta ride or die and her daughter met up with us, which was wonderful. Five years ago this same group saw Taylor’s Reputation tour stop in Atlanta.

My Forever T Swift Crew…love these ladies!

Ms. Swift came onstage around 8:00 if memory serves. I’ve never seen anything like it. Many fans were overwhelmed with emotion as she started to sing. I am so glad I got to witness Swifties watch their idol perform. I am a big Taylor fan, but not in the same league as a lot of my fellow concert attendees. It was a privilege to see the joy on their faces.

The concert was so captivating that I only took one photo. Huge fail. Here it is:

The One and Only, Ms. Taylor Swift

One of the most anticipated moments of the night is when Taylor plays the first of her surprise songs. We hit the jackpot. The first surprise song of the evening was “I Bet You Think About Me.” Words cannot convey the electricity in the arena when she tapped out the first few notes on the piano. That song is one of my favorites. The video is really fun, too. All day long we were trying to guess the surprise songs. SO MUCH FUN. And that’s my final piece of advice: savor every second and let yourself get completely caught up in the moment. I’ll likely never see another concert like this in my lifetime. I know Taylor has her fair share of critics (comes with success), but I have an incredible amount of respect for her. She is brilliant, classy, grateful and works her tail off. She seems acutely aware of just how much many of her fans sacrifice to attend her show and she delivers. Taylor played for over three hours straight. No intermission. I am fully on board with Emery’s love of Taylor Swift.

My fellow South Carolina Swifties who attended the Sunday stop in Atlanta arranged to meet up at the giant silver soccer ball (?) outside the stadium following the show. We all agreed it was a night to remember. We walked back to our hotel and crashed. ERAS exhaustion hits different.

SC Swifties

Bottom line: it’s worth the hype.