Day Twenty One: So this is Atlanta.

This was our only full day in Atlanta so we got up early to make sure we got a chance to do as much as possible. First on our list was the CNN tour. We arrived there at about 10:15 and got tickets for the 10:40 tour. I recommend trying to get there for an earlier tour or one just after 12 o’clock as while we were there none of the news segments were being filmed live. So the studios were a little bit boring as they were empty.

CNN

Freestanding Escalator

Huge Newsroom

Some of the highlights included going on one of the world’s tallest freestanding escalators and seeing the huge newsroom. Heng was impressed although as he works in the same industry we didn’t feel that the tour went into enough depth or showed us enough of the areas. However it was still interesting to see the general overview.

Our next stop was the Coca Cola museum. The route there was supposed to take us through some lovely parks but there was a Microsoft convention in town and they had commandeered the parks for an event that was happening that night. We thought it was quite rude of them not to have invited us, as we are clearly international VIPs worth having at any shindig.

The museum of Coke is very informative and interactive. There were some absolutely corny bits where Heng and I groaned. Both of the shows in particular. Also there were some displays that were definitely aimed at children. However overall it was interesting to get the history, see all the Coke items and taste the many flavours as well as other Coke subsidiary products from around the world.

Heng having a Coke with the founder Mr Pemberton

I think we might be in the Coke museum

Heng and I made of Coke Bubbles

You can personalize your own bottle

We were hungry but not particularly thirsty afterwards so we went to Johnny Rockets. It is an old style diner burger chain. The burgers were good and we amused ourselves by picking the music that was on playing over the restaurant’s speakers from our mini jukebox at the table.

Heng enjoying his root beer float

My delicious burger

Next we made a brief stop at the underground shopping mall of Atlanta. There were not many shops that interested us. If you are interested in sort of nightclub clothes then there were lots of trendy stores for you. There was an “As Seen on TV” store where they sell all those products you see on infomercials. None of them really appealed in real life either. Although I would like one of those expanding gardening hoses…..perhaps if I had a garden. I also won a lot of candy from an arcade game at the arcade in the shopping mall. I wasn’t totally greedy. I did give a large handful to a very grateful kid who ran around laughing afterwards.

Yay we are underground

Pac Man was there too

We went back to our accommodation at the Social Goat B &B. It is a lovely old house with rooms full of antique furniture and lots of paintings with birds and flowers. There is also a garden where the owner keeps goats, turkeys and chickens. For Heng of course the highlight is two resident cats, one of which is super friendly.

Our B and B

The goats liked to take the high ground

Our very old fancy bed

At around 7 o’clock we headed out again to check out a local mall. This local mall turned out to be a little scary. Every place had lots of security including bars on all the windows and doors. One shop even kept our backpack at the desk as an extra precaution. It was very rundown and we didn’t feel very secure there. So we sat in the car and listened to Harry Potter on tape, which we have been doing on the long drives. We were waiting for it to get dark. Our next destination was the Drive In movie theatre.

It was only a short drive down the road and when we arrived there we still had plenty of parking places to choose from. We found a good spot and watched lots of other people arrive. It is good value for money. Only $7 each and you can stay for two movies. They aren’t reruns either but the latest releases. We were going to watch Despicable Me 2. The Minions are so CUTE!!

Heng enjoying the snacks waiting for other cars to arrive

Getting dark the movie is about to start

Many people bring chairs and little BBQ plates to grill on. They set the chairs up in front of their cars and watch the movie. We didn’t have chairs so we loaded up on movie food and watched from our car. The movie plays through your radio. It turned out to be really great. I loved the feeling of being outside. The screen was really clear and there was a great atmosphere. I would love to go again some day.