Exploring Atlanta

Friday, October 29

It was pretty dark around here last night.  There weren't any street lights or people with their porch light on, at least not next to us.  The people across and down from us put lights (Christmas type) on their awning and on the ground around their rig and left them on all night.  Luckily, they couldn't be seen from our bedroom windows.  Why do people do that?  They weren't outside so they didn't need the lights to see by.  It is a nice dark, natural campground, why the heck do you turn lights on and then go inside!?!  OK, rant over. 

We left this morning and headed into downtown Atlanta.  We are going to spend the day exploring.  Our first major issue was finding a parking spot.  The prices ranged from not too bad to really, really high.  We found one that was $5 a day and you could use a credit card for that.  It was only a block away from the CNN Center and Centennial park so it was convenient for us. 

Our first stop was the CNN Center.  They offer a tour of their facilities so we purchased our senior tickets and went on it.  It is a pretty good tour.  You actually get to see some of the operating studios and the backstage areas.  The tour takes about an hour and there are a few stairs you have to climb.  You have to pass through a security area before you go up an 8 story escalator.  I was surprised my knee didn't set it off. 

On the main level they have stores and a food court.  I guess they need that because of the many people who work there, they don't have to leave the building!  The food court was bigger than some malls I have been in.  After the tour we had lunch in the restaurant, Dantanna's.  The food was good and plenty of it, but a little expensive.  It was either there or one of the fast food places. 

When we left CNN we walked across the street to the Centennial Olympic Park.  This park was originally built for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.  This is also where the bombing took place.  There are three water features and the park covers 21 acres.   It is really very nice.  It would be a great place to have lunch in or to bring the family for a picnic. 



At the opposite end of the park is the World of Coca-Cola.  Atlanta is the International headquarters of Coke.  They were really smart when they built this.  Inside you are taken through the history of Coke.  It is setup really well.  One great thing, they let Bill in free because he is retired from the Marine Corps.  I had to pay to get in but he was free.  Coke was invented in 1886 by Dr John Pemberton.  New Coke was introduced in 1985, the first change in the formula in 99 years, and was quickly removed from production because so many people complained!  The World of Coke has many displays of advertising items, old Coke machines, and other items.  There is one room that features art work with Coke in it.  There is also a tasting room where you can taste Coke products from around the world.  Some of them were pretty good and some were awful! 

You can spend a lot of time in here.  We spent a couple of hours.  My legs were complaining by that time so we slowly walked back to our car and joined the many people driving away from downtown.  We did make one stop on our way back to Stone Mountain.  We found The Varsity drive-in.  It is suppose to be the World's Largest Drive-in.  It covers two acres and 600 cars can park there.  We weren't hungry so we decided to get dessert.  Since 1928 The Varsity has been a downtown staple in Atlanta. 

Now we really were in some heavy traffic trying to get back to the campground as it was after 4:00 PM. 

When we made it back, we decided to drive around the park and check it out.  We saw some of the places we are going to visit tomorrow.  We also drove over a 100 year old covered bridge. 

I wanted to see the carving of Stonewall Jackson, General Lee and Jefferson Davis.  Everything was closing for the evening so we didn't get to ride anything.  Tomorrow we will take the tram to the top of the mountain and ride the train. 

One odd thing we saw was a snow making machine and a pile of snow.  We couldn't figure out what it is for.  Tomorrow night we are going to see the laser show on the mountain. 

Back at the rig we rested and I made soup for our dinner.  The campground is filling up today.  Most of the sites by the lake are now full.  I hope nobody comes Trick or Treating because I don't have any candy.  Of course, we will be at the mountain watching the show at 8:00 PM. 

That was our day in Atlanta.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.