Atlanta

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The fellows and I decided to take a trip to Atlanta this past weekend. The purpose of our trip was twofold. First, and foremost, to spend some time with our dear friends. And second, to squeeze in a little sightseeing with the boy.
 

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We kept the boy out of school on Friday, rose early and made the four-hour trek to Hotlanta. Our first stop was The Varsity for a quick bite to eat. The Atlanta landmark has been serving up it's legendary burgers, hot dogs, fries and shakes for over eighty years.

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With full bellies, we made our way to the Georgia Aquarium. Billed as the largest aquarium in the world, it is home to an amazing selection of marine species. Among my favorites were the whale sharks, manta rays, sea turtles and beluga whales.

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A large percentage of our time was spent gazing at the 6.3 million gallon tank that houses the whale sharks, manta rays and nearly 100,000 other fish. It was incredible.

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Imagine our delight when one of the employees announced that it was time to feed the whale sharks. Each of the four fish had been trained to eat their tasty meal of krill and plankton from a specific ladle in one quadrant of the tank. Schools of little fish swarmed around the shark's mouth hoping to sneak a bite or two for themselves.

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The boy's other favorite exhibit was River Scout, a hands-on facility where he was able to touch everything from shovel nose sharks, horseshoe crabs, star fish, sea urchins and cownose rays. The child was in heaven.

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On Saturday, our friends decided to tag along on a tour of The World of Coca-Cola. While the history and manufacturing process was quite interesting, the kids had one thing on their mind... the tasting room.

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Located at the end of the tour, the tasting room affords visitors with the opportunity to sample over sixty different soft drinks sold throughout the world by the Coca-Cola company.

As I've mentioned previously, I don't drink soda, ever. I find it to be entirely too sweet for my taste. Not one to be a party pooper, I agreed to sample as many different beverages as possible. Most of them were nauseatingly sweet.

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To my boy's horror, my favorite was a bitter, grapefruit-like Italian soda called Beverly. I can say with all certainty that I was the only person in the crowd that enjoyed its zing. I guess I am a bit of an oddball.

The rest of our trip was spent just hanging out with our friends. I have really missed them.