Atlanta Trip: Part II

Playing with a train set at Ikea
"Free" souvenir samples of Coke bottles at the end of the museum
A family picture in the Coke household
A tuckered out Banjo
Inside the underwater tunnel
In front of a huge wall of fish
Taking in the live shrimp below
Looking at the first of a lot of fish at the Aquarium
Doing the Tomahawk Chop
Ben's favorite babysitter (he even volunteered to sit in Kristi's lap!)

Just to add a little more detail to Part I, the Gwinnett Braves are the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. This is their first season in Gwinnett. They previously were based in Richmond, Va. Chris Burke, the Gwinnett home run hitter, is a St. X graduate, and hit a big playoff home run for the Astros a few years ago. That's his claim to fame. Not that you care.

Saturday morning we went to the Georgia Aquarium, which has a lot of "most" and "only in the world" facts and figures. Things like 8 million gallons of water, the only (?)/largest whale shark in an aquarium. More than anything, it was a way to beat the early August Georgia heat and humidity. They had a hands-on area where you could pet baby sharks, stingrays (using two fingers), and shrimp.

After lunch at the Aquarium cafeteria, we walked across the courtyard to the World of Coke, where its AC was so popular we had to wait outside for what seemed like an hour, despite already having tickets. Ben nearly melted in the heat, but once inside, we all enjoyed the trivia and signage (Coke must've taken a cue from Imwalles). Then we sat in a theater and watched tv commercials from around the world, and across the decades starting when television was invented. Finally, everyone's favorite was the final step, the taste test area. Sixty four Coke products from around the world were available from several fountains. Andy's favorite was from South Africa. Kristi loved a Peru blend. Ben loved them all, and had a mustache to prove it.

Next, we stopped by everyone's favorite Atlanta tourist destination: Ikea! Fortunately, they had a kids area for Clara to play, and Ben and I entertained ourselves while Gracie, Andy and Kristi perused various household items, and scored some deals.

Finally, we went to Bruce and Carole's for dinner on Saturday night. We had steak tortillas, and homemade macaroni from the Bruce Cafe. The kids also enjoyed Gram's (Carole) collection of toys for the grandkids. The highlight of the evening, though, was the glow bracelets that appeared at the end, just in time to use after the sunset.