Georgia On Our Minds

Like we said, it's official. 

It’s official; we’ve met the world’s most adorable couple. Steve and Sandy are long time friends of my parents and we completely understand why. These lovely people could not have been more welcoming or spoiled us further and they really made our visit to Atlanta a special one. Also, their dog, Mandy, is absolutely delightful. Thank you, Steve and Sandy!!!

We arrived in Atlanta around 10:30 p.m. eastern time. Funny story about that; being the brain trusts that we are, we completely forgot that we would be crossing back into eastern time and we planned our drive on central. Somewhere along the Tennessee/Alabama line, we realized that we had no idea what time it was or which state we were in. We kept dancing over the border and picking up different cell towers. Pete’s phone said 9 p.m, and mine still said 8.  I was on a call with my father at the time, and felt rather foolish answering his questions of where we were and what time it was with “Umm... I have no idea.” We immediately called Steve and Sandy in Georgia. Luckily, our hosts found this cute and not stupid like we did, and they simply waited up for us to arrive.  From now on, we are paying special attention to not only where we are, but when.

The next day was one I have been waiting for, ever since I stumbled across some special footage on YouTube over a year ago. The Georgia Aquarium is home to a 6.3 million gallon fish tank, containing a variety of gargantuan fish and whale sharks.  I was absolutely dying to see it. It might seem extreme to have added this city to our route just to see a bunch of fish, but let’s just say I really wanted to find Nemo. After a home-cooked breakfast, courtesy of the lovely Sandy, we took off for downtown Atlanta.  

The aquarium was AMAZING. I was giddy the entire time and Pete was speechless. We couldn’t get over the incredible architecture of the place, let alone the exotic fish. The aquarium resembled a lavish mall more than a family attraction. Everything was colorful and beautifully sculpted. We felt like we were entering another world. There was a fish tank that served as a tunnel. Surrounded by fish and water on three sides, we felt overwhelmed in the best way. I know it’s just an aquarium, but this was like nothing we’d ever seen before. 

When we got to the famous 6.3 million gallon whale shark tank, it was I who was speechless. It was about 25 feet high and 80 feet across. The tank was made of 2-inch thick acrylic resin, which is apparently 100 times stronger than glass and certainly just as clear. Standing before it made us feel as though we were standing on the ocean floor. It was like looking up the side of a skyscraper, made of fish. I am rarely lost for words, but when we stood in front of that wall of a tank, I didn’t want to talk. I just wanted to stare. Pete and I sat in front of that exhibit for a half hour, watching the fish circle around with graceful ease. 

We made friends with a particularly grumpy looking fish with eyes who’s bugged out and moved independently of each other.  His name is Grumpy Gills.  I think he looked like Pete after a long nap, all puffy and sullen.

The rest of the exhibits were more of the same. Huge stretches of glass through which we got incredible views of all sorts of creatures, many of which we’d never seen before.  The aquarium was everything I had hoped for and more. Pete was pleasantly surprised and patient as always. He took responsibility for our progress through the exhibits. Had it not been for him, I would still be in Georgia with my nose smooshed up against the glass of that giant fish tank.

Following our tour of the exhibits, we caught an afternoon dolphin show. Though incredible cheesy with a dollop of whimsy, Pete and I really enjoyed watching the dolphins perform. The jumps, tricks, and flips were unbelievable! We can’t figure out how a mammal of that size can propel it’s body weight above water like that.  We were torn between laughing at the corny performers and gasping at the talented dolphins. No wonder actors willingly sign up to do shows like that. True, the script and singing were rather embarrassing, but they were up close and personal with those incredible animals. By the finale, I was trying to figure out why I hadn’t become an exotic animal trainer or joined the circus. What we could pinpoint, however, was why we decided to sit a few rows back in the stadium. The people in front of us were drenched and smelled like fish. We left dry, happy, and in awe. 

After 3 hours in the aquarium, we finally peeled ourselves away for lunch in Centennial Olympic Park.  Googie Burger had us skeptical at first, but one bite into my Beefy Pig Burger and all doubts were smothered—in cheese, that is. Those patties were as big as our faces! We sat in front of the park fountains to chow down and watch local children run through the jets of water, which shot up from the ground without warning. If we weren’t on our way to another indoor attraction, we might have joined in the fun! 

The World of Coca Cola was pretty cool. It was definitely one big advertisement and pleading PR message from Coke, but the museum had a lot of old one-of-a-kind Coke items and funky artwork. We couldn’t help but enjoy ourselves. There was even a Norman Rockwell original! (Yes Mom, I know who Norman Rockwell is, and now Pete does too.) Our favorite part of the Coke museum was the Tasting exhibit. There were 60 flavors of Coca Cola products from all over the world. Organized by continent or region, the fountain drink stations were overcrowded with people, eagerly shoving their way to the machines like baby calves fighting over an udder.  Once we got over this irritating display of human gluttony, we had fun trying the different flavors and picking our favorites. I liked the Blueberry Fanta and Pete stuck by his old faithful, Tab. We did not, however, enjoy “Beverly,” the flavor from Italy. Infamous and for good reason, Beverly tasted like a mixture of tonic water and rat poison, with the splash of liquid death. It was revolting, absolutely repulsive. I could go on with many more condemning descriptors, but I will let our faces sum it up for ya’ll: 

That night, Steve and Sandy took us to real southern BBQ. The rustic atmosphere of the restaurant was just as delicious as the fall-off-the-bone baby backs. We may or may not have ordered an extra ½ slab. We couldn’t help ourselves, it was that good. Southern cooking seems to agree with us!

We may have been eating cow that night, but the real treat of the evening was The Big Chicken.

This is The Big Chicken. It’s eyes move in opposite directions as it’s beak opens and closes. It sits aside a major road in Merietta, Georgia. We LOVE it.  

We spent the rest of the evening with our wonderful hosts, driving around the modest parts of town. These houses are very reasonably sized and probably quite affordable, don’t you think? Pete and I are thinking of purchasing this little number:

It has it’s own duck pond with a swan boat, because who doesn’t need one of those in their yard.

We spent another lovely night in Atlanta with Steve and Sandy and left shortly after breakfast the next day. It was tough to leave such comfortable accommodations, let me tell ya. A great big thank you!!! 

Then we drove to New Orleans...

On an unrelated note, people ‘round these parts apparently can’t get enough of Eric Church’s “Like Jesus Does” because it’s been on the radio at least 3 times an hour, every hour ALL DAY. As a result, Pete and I are going to start integrating the phrases “y’all” and “devil man” into our everyday speech. We find the southern way of talkin’ to be rather charmin’. Their radio DJs, on the other hand, could use some work. Or a muzzle.

Another popular tune down here is Blake Shelton’s “Boys Round Here,” with the following lyrics:

            “The boys ‘round here,

            Sending up a prayer to the man upstairs

            Backwoods legit, don’t take no sh**.

            Chew tobacco, chew tobacco, chew tobacco, spit.

           

            Aw heck, red red red red red redneck.”

Yeah…  It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why we’ve never heard this song played on the radio back home. The boys ‘round here may relate to this jam, but the boys back there sure don’t.  The boy in this car certainly doesn’t.  If he did, he would soon find himself banned from the car and forced to ride the rest of the trip strapped to the roof. 

We're in New Orleans now and will update ya'll tomorrow or so. We've already had some interesting adventures and all we really did today was drive. Tonight, it's out to Bourbon Street!

~Pete and Liz