Georgia on our Minds...

August 9th, Charles and I attended a wedding in Tupelo and from there drove to Birmingham for the night...And on the 10th, we were Georgia bound...

We arrived in Atlanta around lunch time and enjoyed a delicious lunch, with a piece of cheesecake for dessert, of course, at The Cheesecake Factory...

We then drove to the Atlanta History Center. We arrived a little too late to be able to tour the museum and the houses on the property (one showing how a Georgia farming plantation house would have really looked and been furnished and the other - which is the one I would have liked to have toured which reflected an affluent Atlanta house of the 1920's - 30's), so we decided to tour the different exhibits in the museum.

We started with the Olympics museum. As we entered, we walked across a wooden floor which was part of the floor used in the Atlanta games basketball competitions (Charles is standing on it in this picture)...

When we walked in, the wall was lined with screens which showed all of the venues for the games through the Atlanta games. These were neat because they showed the posters, medals and even torches in some that were used for each Olympics...

The museum had on display many artifacts from the Atlanta Games - Olympic pins, medals, shoes and other equipment used by many athletes.

They even had a medal podium set up. As you can see, Charles won the gold!

We then toured the Civil War museum which was very informative.

This exhibit showed a Union soldier and Confederate soldier in full uniform. Many exhibits in this museum were interactive. This one allowed us to pick up a replica of the soldier's rifle, ammunition bag and knapsack so that we could feel just how heavy they each were.

I really liked this display. A commander had written each battle his unit had been in on his tent...
We saw cannons and other artillery used in the War and saw how the soldiers dug and prepared earthen fortifications...
We also saw a typical widow's parlor and learned how she would have worn black and then other somber colors such as gray and lilac for many years...

This is an actual loyalty oath that was signed by a Confederate soldier...
A pardon was also on display.

This display showed a mourning band that would have been worn after Lincoln's assassination and also contained pieces of Jefferson Davis's china that had been given to him for his escape...

We then toured an exhibit on folkart and saw many examples of pottery - vases, face jugs, and pottery made by Peter, a slave - quilts, and other crafts by Georgians.

Then we toured an exhibit on golf great Bobby Jones. It was neat to see how the golf clubs and especially golf clothes have changed since he played. His trophies were also on display.

We then toured an exhibit on the Mississippi Indians...

From there we toured an exhibit on how Atlanta was established and grew.

Here I am with a replica of the railroad post which marked the terminus of the line. Apparently, the real one still stands in its original position in Atlanta...

I just thought that this roof topper was really pretty and wanted a picture...

Of course, all of the original homes in Atlanta would have been log cabins...
This exhibit showed how everything, included transportation, evolved...
This exhibit also contained this stained glass window which had rabbits on it - we just had to take a picture!
This exhibit not only showed the technology driven changes Atlanta has grown through but also reflected the social changes by having pictures, etc. on display from the Civil Rights Movement...

After touring the Atlanta History Center, we drove to the Oakland Cemetery. This is where Atlanta's prominent sons and daughters, Confederate (and I think 16 Union) soldiers, and paupers are buried. Its historic tombstones coupled with the large, old trees made this a very peaceful place.
We headed first to the Bell Tower which serves as the visitor's center and bought a map of the cemetery...
We saw the resting places of Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell...
Golf great Robert Tyre Jones, Jr. ... Julia Carlisle Withers, Atlanta's first baby...
and Tweet, a mockingbird - the smallest grave in the cemetery...
We also saw the vault where Alexander Hamilton Stevens, vice-president of the Confederacy was buried prior to being moved to his home...
We saw the resting place of William Fuller of the Great Locomotive Chase fame.

We also saw the African-American grounds, Jewish grounds and paupers' grounds.

We then saw the Confederate soldiers' burial ground...

This section is marked by the Confederate Obelisk...

To the side of the obelisk was the Atlanta Lion who guards the Unknown Confederate Dead...Because Oakland Cemetery is a Victorian cemetery many of the headstones were engraved with various symbols. We saw many beautiful tombstones...
and several beautiful mausoleums and vaults...

After touring Oakland Cemetery, we drove to The Varsity for a delicious dinner! Here is Charles ordering our hamburgers, fries and onion rings...

The Varsity is known for its FO (Frozen Orange). Charles used the proper lingo to order it, and it was really good - it tasted like a push up. However, he did not use the proper lingo for my chocolate shake. He ordered a PC which is actually iced chocolate milk - a carton of chocolate milk and a glass of ice, so he had to go back an order my milkshake which was worth the wait!

From The Varsity, we drove to the Georgian Terrace Hotel and checked in. We were really pleased with the hotel...It was built in the early 1900's to resemble a Parisian hotel, and it is just beautiful - and conveniently located on Peachtree...I love old buildings because of their character, and this one had lots of character -- the workmanship, moldings and large doorways were just beautiful.

Even the new addition which was more recently added kept with the hotel's original architecture and charm...Here is a picture of the hotel's Peachtree side and restaurant entrance...All of the rooms are now suites, and our room was very comfortable. This was the view from our room...and a view of the lobby from our room on the fourth floor...Here is Charles waiting on the comfortable benches for the valet to bring our car...The Georgian Terrace Hotel is very historic. Many notable guests have stayed here. When the New York Metropolitan Opera used to have a season in Atlanta, the Met performers would stay in this hotel, and, as the story goes, a red carpet would be unrolled from the hotel across the street to the Fox Theater prior to each performance. Arthur Murray apparently gave dance lessons in the ballroom while he attended college. Waren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Charles Lindberg, F. Scott Fizgerald and Rudolph Valentino are among the famous guests who stayed here.

Clark Gable and Vivienne Leigh also stayed here while in Atlanta for the premiere of Gone With the Wind. The Gone With the Wind reception following its premiere was held in the Grand Ballroom...The doors to the Grand Ballroom kept being closed which disappointed me because I love GWTW and wanted to see where the reception was held...We finally got lucky and were able to go inside. It was absolutely beautiful! Another beautiful part of the hotel was its roof which held a pool and sitting area...We saw great views of Atlanta...It was especially nice in the evening as the lights of the city were coming on and a nice and relaxing breeze was blowing...It was so pleasant that Charles and I decided to enjoy breakfast one morning (a Georgia peach muffin) on the roof...

Monday morning our plan was to have breakfast at Sweet Auburn Bread Company and then tour the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site. However, as we drove by the Sweet Auburn Bread Co. was closed. Since we had an hour before the MKL Site buildings opened, we went to the Centennial Olympic Park.

We entered the park by the quilt plazas and enjoyed looking at each of them...

We had to see the Olympic Rings Fountain!We then strolled through the park...

and then returned to the MLK, Jr. Site.
We began with a tour of his birth home. This tour departed from Fire Station No. 6...

While waiting for the tour, we looked at the exhibits in the fire station. They had a fire truck as well as this display which was interesting - especially the telegraph machine. Each area in Atlanta was numbered, and the firemen had to know what numbers were in their area. When a fire broke out, the telegraph machine let everyone know what number it was in and those firemen rushed to put out the fire. This technology endured until the 1980's...
We then toured MLK, JR.'s birth home.

A lot of the homes in this historic area were really pretty and full of details. I really liked the round picture window on the front porch which allowed light into the house without visibility...

We were not allowed to take any pictures inside the house, but it was really neat to see. The house was furnished with actual family pieces as well as reproductions. Our tour guide provided us with a lot of information, and since we were the only ones on this tour, answered a lot of our questions. Not only was it interesting to see the room where Martin Luther King, Jr. was born and the room where he grew up - with a baseball and glove on the bed, the family dinning room where each child had to recite a Bible verse before having dinner and conversation with family, college students from Spellman who lived with the King family in one of the upstairs bedrooms (it was common for students to live with families in the area due to their inability to rent apartments, etc. because of the Jim Crow laws) and friends must have been lively and the study where the children played games such as Monopoly but it was also interesting to see how people of that period lived - the kitchen and laundry room were especially interesting because of how different these rooms are today.

We then walked through Freedom Plaza and saw his resting place, the reflecting pool and eternal flame...

We then toured the King Center.

Here I am in the peace garden in front of the Center...Inside were many exhibits on Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King.

I thought that this quilt was interesting. It included many of his famous quotes and depicted moments in this life as well as symbols of his message...

There were also rooms dedicated to exhibits on Gandhi and Rosa Parks...
Also in this historic district was the Ebenezer Baptist Church where the King family preached. We wanted to look inside, but it was closed for renovations...
Shotgun houses were located across and down the street a little from MLK's birth home...
After finishing our tour of the Sweet Auburn District, we stopped by the Sweet Auburn Bread Co. and enjoyed delicious sweet potato cheesecake!
We then drove back to the hotel and then walked to Mary Mac's Tearoom for lunch...

I think this was my favorite restaurant. The food was delicious, and I loved the way we ordered. After seating us and giving us a menu, we were given an order form - a printed sheet to write in what we wanted for appetizers, entrees, sides, bread, drink and dessert. We enjoyed fried green tomoatoes with dipping sauce for an appetizer, and I think that they were the best I have ever eaten! I enjoyed fried chicken, sweet potato souffle and fried okra, and Charles enjoyed some spicy fried mudbugs with a vegetable plate of rice with gravy, mac and cheese, fried okra and green beans, and we shared banana pudding for dessert. We drank some of the sweetest sweet tea I have had, and our server was great and so friendly!

Because this was our visit, we were brought some pot licker - greens and crackling. I have never tried greens before but I told Charles that I thought that it was too appropriate for me to try my first taste at Mary Mac's. (Samella used to keep me when I was little, and she taught me the Mary Mac rhyme. I used to always visit her one day each summer to see her and play with her grandchildren. I always had the best time! Well, on one visit, I "helped" Sam wash some greens which she cooked but I would not eat)

Anyway, I tried the pot licker, and it was pretty good!

After lunch, we walked to the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum. We joined the tour a little late, so we did not take any pictures of the front of the house (but I bought a postcard for the scrapbook!), but this is a picture of me at the back of the house...
The tour was really informative. I really enjoyed hearing all the stories. Margaret Mitchell and her husband John Marsh lived in a little downstairs apartment. She referred to it as "the dump," but this is where she wrote Gone With the Wind. The house was small, but we saw the parlor where they entertained and where she wrote the book, their small bedroom and the kitchen. The house was furnished with replicas of the Marsh's furnishings.

She wrote the book by chapters but not from beginning to end and kept all of the individual chapters in individual envelopes. She was apparently attending a writers luncheon one day at The Georgian Terrace Hotel when they were asked if anyone had any writings to submit. Apparently one of the ladies at the table made a sarcastic comment that yeah sure Peggy (as Margaret was called) had some writings which made Margaret run all the way home, gather the envelopes and return them to the hotel. The man she gave them to had to buy a new suitcase to carry them all with him, but he had the entire manuscript read by his next stop, New Orleans and decided then and there that the book must be published.

Margaret also apparently each day as she went out to get the mail rubbed the nose of this lion head bannister outside her apartment for luck, so, of course, I too had to rub it!

On display at the house were also letters - written in the Round Robin style - that Margaret and John and their family wrote. These were interesting because there were letters from the before GWTW as well after Margaret had gained notoriety for it.

After touring the house, we toured the museum which was mostly about the movie. We saw watercolor theater posters for the movie, read information about the casting and actors in the movie and saw the original door of Tara and painting of Scarlett...

Also on display was this picture of Peachtree and The Georgian Terrace Hotel at the movie's premiere... I thought that this picture was really interesting. For the premiere, the Junior League of Atlanta wanted to hold a ball. Margaret declined to attend as she had never forgiven the Junior League for not inviting her to join following her debutante ball where she and her escort performed flapper dances. However, the ball did go on. The Junior League had asked several black churches to attend dressed as slaves which many understandably declined. However, the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church asked his congregation to participate to show the changes already made and those that still needed to be made.

That pastor is on the front with the guitar and his son is sitting in the front with the hat on his head...

The pastor is Martin Luther King, Sr., and the son is Martin Luther King, Jr.

We next visited the New World of Coca Cola...
As we entered, we were greeted by bottles from around the world...
Different bottles were on display throughout, but my favorite is the white bottle with the red bunnies all over it!
We were greeted by the Coke Polar Bear...

We saw exhibits on the founder of Coca-Cola, saw a replica soda fountain, saw how Coke machines and bottles and cans and advertising had changed through the years, and we saw an exhibit of Penley paintings. This was one of our favorites...
Since Coca-Cola is a sponsor of the Olympics, a Beijing torch was on display. It was pretty neat to see this as the Beijing games were taking place...
After the tour and a short 3-D film, we ended our visit in the tasting room. We tasted Coke products from all over the world. Some were pretty good...
but others just made us really happy to finally taste Coke and Diet Coke again!
After our tour of the New World of Coca-Cola, we had dinner at Gladys Knight and Ron Winan's Chicken and Waffles! Apparently, this became popular with entertainers who worked at night until the early morning; when finished performing, they could not decide between dinner and breakfast, so they had a little of each.

I enjoyed an Uptown (tea and lemonade) and the Midnight Train (chicken wings and waffles), while Charles was a little less adventurous with tea and smothered chicken with sides. Although he did have a taste of my Midnight Train!

Tuesday, we wanted to start the day at the Georgia Aquarium, but I guess that they are already on Fall hours because we were informed that it would not be open for another hour. So, we decided to walk to the CNN Studios. We walked just a few feet further to see the Phillips Arena...

Then we walked back to the CNN Building and took the inside CNN studios tour... We weren't allowed to take any pictures on the tour, but it was a really neat look at how the news is gathered, processed, reported and projected into our homes. We saw how a control room works, the actual CNN newsroom filled with people behind the anchors' desk, the Headline News newsroom, and learned a lot.

After the tour, we headed back to the Georgia Aquarium...

When we first entered, we encounter this huge wall of a fish tank...
We saw all kinds of pretty and interesting creatures in the different exhibits.

Some of our favorites were:

the colorful tropical fish...

the octopus...
the penguins...
Gracie who was just relaxing with her toy and enjoying a snack...

the electric catfish - which lit up and turned red when they fought...
and my absolute favorite, the beautiful and peaceful Beluga whales...The tank which surrounded us on both sides and above our heads was really cool! We stepped on a moving belt which slowly took us through the exhibit. It was filled with all sorts of creatures including stingrays, sharks and swordfish...
The Aquarium also had a hands-on exhibit where you could touch anenomi - which was really neat because they gently sucked onto your fingers, shrimp, crabs and other little creatures.

It also had a tank where you could touch stingrays and sharks. We arrived at this tank during one of their 15 minute no touch breaks. While we were standing there, the stingrays kept swimming right us to the side of the tank in front of us as if they were telling us hello.

Charles touched both the stingray and the shark, while I only touched the stingray...

The stingray was very slimy feeling, but Charles said that the shark was not slimy at all and was actually smooth feeling.
After lunch at the Aquarium which included Whale Tails chips, we watched the cutest 4D movie where we were squirted with water, had bubbles blown at us and had jellyfish tenicles drop down to get us! We really enjoyed the film.

We then drove to Grant Park and visited the Cyclorama...

The Cyclorama is the neatest thing! It is a 360 degree painting which has a diarama in front of it. They blend seamlessly into each other. We were seated on revolving bleacher seats and as we turned to see the full cyclorama, we were told about different scenes in the painting and the Battle of Atlanta. The story and the cyclorama itself were so interesting!
The story goes that when Clark Gable visited the Cyclorama duirng his visit for the GWTW premiere, he made a comment that the only thing missing was Rhett Butler. Well, we were shown a figure in the diarama which was added after his visit. The face sure looked like Rhett Butler, but the figure was dead and in a Union army uniform!

We then toured the museum which had many exhibits on the Civil War, including the Texas from the Great Locomotive Chase...

We then walked to the Atlanta Zoo...

We saw all kinds of animals:

flamingos... elephants...
This elephant was so funny. We were standing in front of its exhibit, and we could barely see it. I had just said that I wished that it was closer to us when it began walking right toward us. It then circled in front of us and walked back to where it started from.

gorillas...

I don't know if these gorillas were hugging or play fighting, but I think that they were giving each other a sweet hug.

And this big Silver Back Gorilla was enjoying a snack...We saw the cutest orangutans. The one on the right was too funny! It posed for me to take its picture and then as soon as I had, it covered its head with branches as if to say no more pictures!

We caught a glimpse of a red panda...
and then saw the giant pandas!

The mama panda was laid out sleeping, and the baby panda was just resting in a corner when we got to the panda exhibit. However, not long after we found the baby, it starting walking. It walked to the back wall to check out what was in the next room...

then it walked over...
to a little water fountain where it pressed the button and drank water! It was so smart and so cute to see! Unfortunately, we did not get a picture of it drinking.

We also saw kangaroos and wallabys...

We then returned to the hotel for a quick rest before heading to Turner Field for the Braves/Cubs game.

On our way to Turner Field, we got a picture of the Georgia State Capitol. (We didn't have enough time to tour it.) Its dome is covered in 24 karat gold from nearby Dalonagha, GA...

When turning on the road into the stadium, we passed under this arch left from the Atlanta Olympic Games...
All day the weather had been nice, but as you can see, it had started to lightly rain for a little while before we got to the stadium, and it just kept raining.

Despite the rain, we made it to Turner Field...

and this was the scene we were greeted with...
After enjoying a hot dog while sitting on a concrete pilon of a supporting post under the concourse, we found our front row seats...These seats were really close to the action. Too bad they called the game due to rain, so there wasn't any action to watch!

The next morning, we walked across the street to tour the Fabulous Fox Theater...

It was built in the 1920's as a grand movie house. The objective was to make patrons feel as if they had traveled somewhere else. Its side facade was patterned after Moorish architecture...
The tour was really interesting and informative, and the inside of the theater was even more spectacular than the outside.

The building was built by freemasons, and here is a picture of Charles in the Mason and Shriner entrance which is done in a Moorish theme...

This room had a mosaic tile inlay on the floor which depicted several objects including the Sphinx which resembled George Washington, a Mason.

We then stopped in the Arabian room which again had Moorish architecture. This room was beautiful...

The chandeliers each had a chili pepper hanging from them which is apparently a custom in Middle Eastern countries to keep bugs away.

The room also contained one of the three indoor fountains at the Fox...

Each of the fountains were so pretty and were tiled with tiles that have its images raised. Apparently, this way of making tiles is not good for the environment and is no longer practiced.

From this room, we stepped out onto the terrace where we got a good look at the Ponce de Leon Apartments across the street. These were built as luxery apartments at the same time as The Gerogian Terrace Hotel as built. Both buildings were designed by the same architect and the curves on each complemented each other beautifully. From the terrace, we heard many stories about the GWTW premiere and the history of the Georgian Terrace Hotel.

We then viewed the Egyptian room which was filled with Egyptian symbols: papyrus, lotus, scarab, pharohs, and heiroglyphs...

We were then taken to the ladies room which was decorated in an Egyptian theme and just beautiful! Upon entering, we saw this sitting area complete with throne chairs...
The ladies room had two public phone boothes and the actual rest rooms to the left of the sitting area and to the right was the ladies dressing room. This is where the ladies of the day would come to gossip, re-apply make-up (which is was not proper to do in public) and step out onto the smoking porch (because is was not proper for ladies to smoke in public). This room had several stations around the walls with mirrors and stools for touch-ups.

We then toured the men's room which was decorated in the Moorish theme but also spectacular. The fireplace actually houses ductwork for the one air conditioning unit which was replaced in the 1940's and still cools the entire theater!

The men's room was tiled so that ashes would not burn the carpet and create a fire hazard. This room also had public phone boothes. The toilets in this room also flush automatically every few minutes to keep everything moving, and this technology was original to the theater.

After touring all of the other rooms, we toured the second floor of the theater itself. It is spectacular! After seeing the theater, I know why they call it the FABULOUS Fax Theater...

It is, again, decorated in a Moorish or Arabian theme. The back ceiling was plastered and painted to look like a striped canopy - this actually helps with the acustics of the room.

The stage had rugs hanging from the turrets which actually disguise the speakers.

The ceiling was magnificent! It was the bluest, most brillant azure color with stars - some of which actually twinkled and clouds that were projected and moved across the sky! (It takes 45 minutes for the clouds to make it one way across, then they turn and move back for another 45 minutes) How wonderful would it be to watch a movie or performance here?

We then toured the first floor of the theater and got an up close look at the organ.

We then returned to Turner Field to catch the 1:30 make-up game.

Even though they were playing a double header, most of the regulars were playing, and we saw pretty much all of the players before the game was over (either playing, in the dugout, or after the game).

We caught the pre-game stretches and warm-ups.

We saw Reid Johnson...

Edmounds and DeRosa...After the National Anthem...

it was time to play ball!

Soriano saw the first pitch of the game...

And Marquis threw the first pitch for the Cubs...

Here is Charles in his seat, really close to the action...

We were so close to the action! We could easily see 3rd baseman, Aramis Ramirez...
The flag on the scoreboard was at half-staff in memory of Skip Caray...

We were able to keep a close watch on the dugout and see Dempster and others watching the game...

Celebrating runs...and just goofing off... Here is Soto rounding the bases after a home run...
We saw Quade giving signs...and even saw Lou talking to the umps...This was after Bobby Cox and a pitcher for the Braves had already been ejected, so Lou didn't put up too much of a lengthy argument!

We saw Samarozija pitching...
The stadium was filled with Cubs fans. Here we are standing up for the last out of the game...
Cubs Win! Cubs Win!
After the win, the outfielders did their customary leap...
After the game, Wood ran out of the bullpen to join the team... as did Marmol and Gaudin... Go Cubs Go...

We had a great time in Atlanta and throughly enjoyed our trip!