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Atlanta, GA!

The first night, we had dinner with Allen at The Vortex. We ate outside on the patio and just people watched before we chilled at the hotel watching TV. The next day we went to The World of Coke.

Right before they let us into the factory, we had to wait in a room with large coke bottles from different parts of the world.

Once they let us in, there was another room where a guy came out and talked to us about some of Coke’s history. It’s interesting how a soft drink product can remind you of the past.

This painting is the most expensive item in the collection ($2 million!).

These aluminum bottles are currently only available in the European market and are filled half way with Coke. They are purchased in bars and night clubs and the bartender fills the rest of the bottle up with your choice of alcohol. Did I mention that they glow in the dark? Pretty cool! These bottles should be available later this year in the US market.

After the history lesson, we walked into a movie room for a quick commercial. After the show, the screen went up and we walked into the lobby where a polar bear greeted us. The bear was quite impressive. Although it kinda reminds me of the puppet from the movie Saw. His eyes and mouth move, and as he was “talking” to us, he knocked Teresa’s sunglasses back on to her face as we were taking the picture.

Exhibits and more history.

Next we watched a 4D movie. It was something about finding the secret ingredient. I think the 4th dimension that was added made it more fun. Otherwise, I think the show would’ve been a snooze.

Some artwork with Coke placement.

Now it’s time for taste testing! There were 64 different Coke products to sample. We tried them all! Some of them were just plain gross, as you can tell from our facial expressions. I was so bloated afterwards.

We even got a free Coke bottle after the whole tour was over!

The next stop in our day was the Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in North America.

Baluga Whale.

Diver cleaning rocks.

Touching anemones and starfish.

Cool seahorse.

Their version of Nemo, Deepo.

Poisonous dart frogs.

Alligators.

Touching sting-rays and sharks.

Cheese! And touching more stuff.

Jellyfish.

This display was really cool. The waves were timed to music. So the waves would crash at the same time as the music. I’ll try to post a video of it later.

Sharks, whales, and sting-rays. Oh my!

More of Deepo.

After the Aquarium, we went for a walk in the Centennial Olympic park where you could see the CNN headquarters.

Here is a shot of downtown Atlanta from Allen’s hotel room.

Allen had dinner with his co-workers that evening so Teresa and I explored Piedmont Park. We watched a kickball game at first and then found a place to eat afterwards. We ate at The Nook, which is known for their tatchos. They’re like nachos but instead of chips, they used tater tots. We decided to get the  Redneck Tatchos. They were pretty good! Teresa also ordered a drink called Cheerwine. It’s like a cherry soda. It is produced in North Carolina,  but we didn’t get a chance to try it while we were there so we decided to try it here. It’s not bad. Oh, and the owner named it Cheerwine because he was following the trend of non-alcoholic drinks that sound alcoholic. For example, Root Beer and Ginger Ale.

There was a Marriott across the street from Allen’s hotel. We wanted to check it out so we took the elevator to the top. It’s a really nice hotel, but standing at the top and looking down is scary!

While we were in ATL, the Black Shriner convention was in town. The women stayed in our hotel, The Hilton, and the men stayed in the Marriott across the street. It was a pain getting an elevator to the 24th floor. This is a spy-cam shot of a group of Shriners. You can tell by the way they dress.

Later that evening, Allen rejoined us for dessert! Oh boy, we didn’t know what to expect, but we sure wasn’t expecting what came out. We ordered a strawberry shortcake and chocolate nachos. We were already full from dinner, but we didn’t want the desserts to go to waste so we tried to eat as much as we could. By the end of the night, we were all stuffed and bloated. We lounged around the bar in their recliners and watched TV until it was time for bed.

So our next stop was North Carolina but we didn’t do much there except eat and sleep. These are our only pictures from there. What a lame sign, huh?

Next stop was South Carolina.

BMW factory!

Teresa was making fun of me because I was uploading a pic to Facebook.

Here are some of the sights inside the factory.

This would never actually happen.

Mmmmm, E30 M3!

We did the factory tour while we were there. They didn’t allow cameras so no pictures in the factory.

Our next stop was Atlanta, GA, but before we got to the border, we needed to eat. Teresa has never been to Cracker Barrel so that’s where we stopped. Cracker Barrel meatloaf… mmmm…

The Great Smoky Mountains!

We met another couple at this sign from Texas. They took our picture for us.

Our first encounter with nature is a black bear cub. He was pretty close to the trail.

After hiking for a while, we came to our first waterfall, Laurel Falls.

We climbed down to take more pictures.

Thirsty?

Pictures from the bottom of the waterfall.

On the auto touring trail, we spotted a mother black bear and her three cubs.

Trail scenery

Salamander

Teresa was walking in front of me on this trail and I noticed something poking out on the left. I called out Teresa’s name and she stopped and turned. I probably should’ve not said anything and let her keep walking passed it. Teresa stopped right in the path of a snake making it’s way across.

There were mysterious poop droppings. Or as the kids behind us would say, “poo-berries”.

The “poo-berries” belonged to this group of llamas.

Here’s our second waterfall, Grotto Falls. It’s not as tall as the first one but it was nice.

I debated walking into the waterfall but it was way too cold.

I decided to walk down the stream while Teresa walked on the trail.

Further down the stream was a smaller waterfall.

Picture of the car in nature.

Clingman’s Dome was suppose to be an easy .5 mile paved trail. It definitely was not easy. It was a steep incline to the top and it was really cold. This is the highest point in the park.

Views from atop Clingman’s Dome

The different directional views.

On the way back to the car. We saw an Elk, or a buck, as the redneck put it.

It was a pretty long, eventful day so we ended up heading out to Asheville, NC for the night.