Atlanta, GA

Our favorite thing in Atlanta was definitely the Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world.  First, we got a military discount.  Right then we knew it would be a great experience.  The place was surprisingly easy to get around, and we even went back around to some exhibits for a second look.  I especially liked the "giants" section which had sharks, manta rays, and huge fish.  We were also lucky to see the river otters playing!  They were very very cute.  We touched some anemones and some rays, and mostly just took our time to see everything.  I was very impressed; definitely a must-see for Atlanta, if you ever go.

After the aquarium, we went to the world of Coca-Cola museum.  I wasn't expecting anything too exciting, especially because I don't really like Coke in the first place, but it turned out to be pretty awesome.  The museum had a 4-D ride (the kind where the chairs move too) that was cheesy but well-done.  There was a ton of memorabilia (funny word) that was cool to look at.  We sat for a while in their theater which played Coke commercials from around the world, and talked about Coca-Cola marketing.  I left there humming "Always Coca-Cola!".  And of course we loved the tasting room, which offered tastes of 60 different Coke products from around the world.  I liked most of them (a few distinct exceptions), and felt pretty bubbly when we were done.  Another must-see in Atlanta (that also gave us a military discount)!

That night we wandered around downtown some.  We bought metro cards so we didn't have to drive into downtown, which was a great idea.  We walked in Underground Atlanta, which looks like it would be awesome on all of the brochures we got from our hotel, but actually is just a run-down underground mall with a food court.  We also walked past the Georgia Dome, and the CNN building.

Later, at dinner at a place called Michon's I got some ribs.  And my oh my they were so good.  Just had to mention them.  :)  Also, while we were there we hit up The Varsity (very good onion rings, you were right Kels!), and Landmark Diner which has awesome desserts. 

On Sunday we went to church just north of Atlanta in Sandy Springs.  We chose to go up there because the temple was nearby and we wanted to walk around.  We knew it was undergoing renovations, but didn't realize the grounds would be completely shut off, so I had to just snap this picture from the car and call it good.

We went back to the hotel to change and then decided to do a little park hopping.  We took the metro to Piedmont Park, and on our way walked by the Margaret Mitchell house and museum.  Then we ran into something we didn't expect: a gay pride festival and parade!  We tried to enjoy the park despite all of the noise and people, and found a nice spot by the water to chat.

We got a little lost going back to the metro, but ended up walking through some large beautiful houses and past the Arts Center.  Then we went to Centennial Olympic Park and had some peach milkshakes that were very good.  It was a lot quieter here.  I found a cute brick right in front of the bench we were sitting in.

That night we decided to go to Turner Field to see if we could sneak into the Braves game somehow.  We got off at the closet metro and walked about 3 miles.  We didn't know it, but apparently bums and homeless guys frequent that metro, and I was a little nervous.  I kept thinking, "walk with purpose"!  Once we got there we found out they weren't selling any more tickets and no one was offering theirs or scalping.  We peered in for a while but eventually just headed back.

We were going to stay in Atlanta on Monday, but couldn't find something cheap that was open on Mondays that we both wanted to see, so we came back to Montgomery early. 

I thought Atlanta was great.  We probably could have seen a lot more had we planned a little better, but I was happy with everything we did see!  Can't wait for our next trip!