2008 Vacation Extravaganza! Part 2
After going to Cedar Point for 2 days, Andrew and I drove 12 hours to Atlanta, Georgia. I was thrilled by this for 2 reasons. I had never been to Kentucky or Tennessee, and I was sure I would get some awesome postcards. Well, there weren't any postcards that weren't complete garbage, such as the "You might be a Redneck" if cards. The drive was rather uneventful. We did take note of how many sports teams are in Ohio since we had passed Cleveland on the way to Cedar Point and then Columbus and Cincinnati on our way south. I mistakenly ordered a large iced coffee at McD's, and good lord, that is a bucket of coffee. The drive was so worth it because we were in Atlanta early enough for a home-cooked dinner from Laura and Jon. I also have to add that the GPS is really freaking handy to have for this kind of road trip. We settled in, ate, drank, and played some Mario Kart while planning our touristy day in Atlanta.
Laura and Jon have been taking time off of work / were out of town and had to work on Thursday, so Andrew and I entertained ourselves. We decided to visit Stone Mountain, which is a stone mountain outside of Atlanta. It's the highest elevation and just is there. Hopefully the pictures will do it justice. We drove around the base before locating the carving dubbed "Mt. Rushmore of the East (or is it south?)" Then we parked and climbed the 1.4 miles to the top. It was starting to get warm, but at least this highly touristy place was relatively quiet - except for a bunch of school kids at the very top. On to the pictures:
Boy were we hungry after that climb! We had water bottles and there was a water fountain at the top, as well as a gift shop and the gondola stop. That water was seriously too cold to drink. We met up with Jon and Laura at Cafe Sunflower for lunch before heading over to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The theme of the art in the gardens was "Motion." The combination of flowers and art was definitely worth the entrance price. The neatest art was a marble table with different sized balls on it. Without noise, the balls were stationary and random. With noise, they moved around. There were lots of amateur photographers around and one of them sang "Ave Maria" to get the balls rolling. We also enjoyed the poisonous frog exhibits. There are way too many pictures, but here are a few of my favorites.
Art:
Flowers:
One we were pooped, we headed back to Laura and Jon's. There were fabulous postcards at the gardens, but I couldn't afford the $3 price tag! After a much needed shower, everyone assembled and prepared for a trip to Turner Field. Laura got beer and was hassled by people on the street. Jon got the cooler ready for the beer and we all piled into the subaru to get falafel! The drive to the field took a little while due to some road constructions and closures. We got to the field with plenty of time though, but it took forever to park. We tailgated - 3 bud lights before going into the park and ate those tasty falafels. I rarely drink that much beer that quickly, and I was stuffed. We sat above home plate in a pretty crowded section. We could hear the murmurs of a fan that had died after falling off one of the tiers. Apparently he (and the fan who died at Shea Stadium) was trying to slide down a banister and just kept going. Anyway, the game was a blast. The Mets went up 2-0 early in the game and Braves stuck it out, tied it up, and won it the top of the ninth. We took a bunch of pictures because Turner Field overlooks downtown Atlanta and the sunset was pretty!
As the night comes in:
Baseball:
We need to prep the d-slr before asking other people to take our picture!
Aren't we all cute though?
Laura and Jon have been taking time off of work / were out of town and had to work on Thursday, so Andrew and I entertained ourselves. We decided to visit Stone Mountain, which is a stone mountain outside of Atlanta. It's the highest elevation and just is there. Hopefully the pictures will do it justice. We drove around the base before locating the carving dubbed "Mt. Rushmore of the East (or is it south?)" Then we parked and climbed the 1.4 miles to the top. It was starting to get warm, but at least this highly touristy place was relatively quiet - except for a bunch of school kids at the very top. On to the pictures:
Boy were we hungry after that climb! We had water bottles and there was a water fountain at the top, as well as a gift shop and the gondola stop. That water was seriously too cold to drink. We met up with Jon and Laura at Cafe Sunflower for lunch before heading over to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The theme of the art in the gardens was "Motion." The combination of flowers and art was definitely worth the entrance price. The neatest art was a marble table with different sized balls on it. Without noise, the balls were stationary and random. With noise, they moved around. There were lots of amateur photographers around and one of them sang "Ave Maria" to get the balls rolling. We also enjoyed the poisonous frog exhibits. There are way too many pictures, but here are a few of my favorites.
Art:
Flowers:
One we were pooped, we headed back to Laura and Jon's. There were fabulous postcards at the gardens, but I couldn't afford the $3 price tag! After a much needed shower, everyone assembled and prepared for a trip to Turner Field. Laura got beer and was hassled by people on the street. Jon got the cooler ready for the beer and we all piled into the subaru to get falafel! The drive to the field took a little while due to some road constructions and closures. We got to the field with plenty of time though, but it took forever to park. We tailgated - 3 bud lights before going into the park and ate those tasty falafels. I rarely drink that much beer that quickly, and I was stuffed. We sat above home plate in a pretty crowded section. We could hear the murmurs of a fan that had died after falling off one of the tiers. Apparently he (and the fan who died at Shea Stadium) was trying to slide down a banister and just kept going. Anyway, the game was a blast. The Mets went up 2-0 early in the game and Braves stuck it out, tied it up, and won it the top of the ninth. We took a bunch of pictures because Turner Field overlooks downtown Atlanta and the sunset was pretty!
As the night comes in:
Baseball:
We need to prep the d-slr before asking other people to take our picture!
Aren't we all cute though?