real life adventures - Atlanta, Georgia style, part 2

Remember a couple weeks ago when I was in Atlanta? Well, this post has turned into Atlanta, part 2!

Before we left for Tennessee, we still had half a day to kick around in Atlanta, so the kids and I headed downtown. We parked and walked through the Olympic park, which is so beautiful. A huge green space with playgrounds, nice cozy nooks for sitting and relaxing, and beautiful reflection pools. There was also a splash pad that was crazy-busy, and my kids were disappointed that we didn't get to try it out!







After we walked around the park, I asked BJ was he most wanted to do, and he chose visiting Georgia's state capitol building. It's hard to miss the beautiful golden dome in the Atlanta skyline, and with his thirst for knowledge and love for history, it was sure to be an adventure!

We headed off on foot for the capitol building, and saw some sites along the way.

I loved these red doors so much. If there hadn't been construction on the sidewalk in front of them, I would have gotten closer and taken lots more shots of them.




Looking up at the inside of the dome

We learned that the dome is covered in gold leaf and it has to be replaced every 30-35 years. If you were to take all the gold off and wad it up, it would be the size of a soccer ball and weigh 900 ounces. BJ wanted to know how much it would be worth, and the guide told him about 35,000 bucks!

The architecture was amazing!


At the end of the tour, we were taken inside the General Assembly Room for some Q&A. Of course, BJ peppered our guide with questions about the architecture, the chandelier, and whether or not the legislators ate lunch at their wooden desks. Oh, and he also asked if they used the 2 fireplaces in the room (which they don't anymore).

After the tour, we grabbed lunch at Ted's (Turner) Montana Grill and it was fabulous! An awesome restaurant with a wonderful twist on Eco-Friendliness. Think drinking straws made out of recycled materials! As a matter of fact, the restaurant is 99% plastic free! All this, plus they had amazingly huge picture windows and great natural lighting.

After lunch, we walked back to our rental car and headed to the airport to pick up daddy. He was flying in to meet up with us for the Tennesee leg of our trip.

Click here to read Part 1 of our Atlanta trip!

Stay tuned for more from our trip. We did alot of really fun, family friendly things in Tennessee!

You can see the complete set of photos from the trip here!

real life adventures, Atlanta, Georgia style

I've never shied away from traveling with my kids. Road trips, plane trips, weekenders, or full-blown vacations. I've been blessed with good travelers. I'm pretty sure my OCD mad planning skillz have something to do with our great experiences while traveling.

This time around we're in Atlanta, Georgia and will be heading to various places in Tenneesee, including Clinton, Gatlinburg, and Pidgeon Forge in the Great Smokey Mountains.

Atlanta is a beautiful city and everyone I've encountered has been SO friendly. Must be that southern hospitality. I've also been offered sweet tea and called baby girl at least 1,487 times. Love that (even though I don't drink sweet tea!).

Yesterday we checked out the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola. I have to say that the Aquarium was the best I've ever visited, and despite the insane crowds and chunk of change we dropped to get in, we had a fabulous time. They have the Titanic Aquatic exhibit right now and all I can say is wow. Such an amazing collection of history and personal items from passengers who were on board the sunken ship.

The World of Coca-Cola was such a happy place! The tour guides clearly enjoyed their jobs, and the whole experience was amazing. There were rooms with Coke memorabilla, a bottling line, a Secret Forumla 4D theatre with an awesome short movie complete with a bumpy ride, and we even got to meet the Coke Polar Bear and pose for a picture with him! I have to say that this was our favorite part, well, and the sampling room where you could try each of Coca-Cola's 64+ drink offereings. There were fountain stations set up for each continent of the world, and it was a free for all. It's amazing the different tastes we all have, because some of them? They were so GROSS! At the end of the tour we each got our own souvenir bottle of coke. Fun!

After all the excitement, we were tuckered out and very hungry, so we hit the road in search of something quick for dinner. Chick-fil-A has always been one of our favorite (and one of the only ones we'll eat at!) fast food joints, so when I saw the sign, I whipped right into the parking lot. Only, this didn't look like the typical restaurant, and there certainly wasn't a playground. As we walked in, I noticed people sitting at an old diner style counter eating off of plates, and servers whipping around asking people if they "needed more sweet tea, sugar". We were seated and handed menus, and I'm sure the the server noticed my confused stare. She called me baby girl and asked me if we were from around here. I explained that we were from Texas, and she whooped (yes, I'm serious), and gave me the rundown. We were in the Chick-fil-A Dwarf House. The very first Chick-fil-A, which was opened in 1946. They had burgers and steaks on the menu y'all. Very interesting and such a great surprise!

Before we head out today for Tennessee, I thought I'd share some of our pictures from the trip thus far! Enjoy, and if you're even in the Atlanta area, be sure to check out the Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola and the Dwarf House!





We got to touch this sea amenome!






You can see the rest of our photos from Atlanta on my Flickr photostream!

Stay tuned for our exciting real life adventures in Tennessee.....