I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing

Thursday in Atlanta was a gorgeous, sunny day. We slept late and drove about an hour to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. Jeff and I have been visiting these museums for years and I now have only two more to see, the two Bush's. The Carter site is very pretty and is adjacent to the Carter Center which promotes world peace and healthy environments among other important issues. The entrance has pretty flower beds and a water features.

Inside we watched a short movie and spent about two hours exploring the exhibits. You travel along a long path that takes you from the early years in Plains, GA, to the Naval Academy to political offices and finally the White House. At the end was Carter's Nobel Peace Prize, Grammy, and Bill and Melinda Gates Award. You learn lots about Carter's family and values. I really enjoyed a video exhibit that showed a sample day in the presidency. Also liked the peach decor in the Oval Office replica. All in all it was well done. Educational, interesting and fun.

Out back was a lovely walk along a lake with a statue about the river blindness in Africa. This was a major area that the Carter's attacked and have almost cured. There was a stunning Japanese Garden with a small waterfall. I was happy to see tulips and a forsythia bush.

By now we were hungry and Jeff found a place with four and a half stars on Yelp. We arrived at Hattie B's Hot Chicken and our tummies were so happy. They serve fried chicken in six degrees of hotness. Jeff went Southern which has no hotness. I tried mild which had a little bite and was delicious. I had pimento Mac and cheese and cole slaw while Jeff had fries. The food was really good and large portions. The place was packed and I encouraged the manager to open up somewhere near our hometown. Turns out they have locations in Nashville, Memphis and Las Vegas.

Now we were fed and happy to fight the terrible traffic and go into downtown Atlanta. Our destination was the Coca Cola Museum and it is now in a plaza with the Aquarium and Civil Rights Museum. They share a convenient parking lot which made things simple. This place is a huge ad for Coke, but still fun.

They give you a small can of soda when you enter. I tried the new Coke made with Cane Sugar and Stevia. It has 60 calories, tastes great and is now available in test markets. We wandered through the exhibits and saw a 4-D movie that was just okay. I had fun taking my picture with the Coke polar bear mascot.

At the end and before the gift shop is a large space with soda fountains. There are different Coke 

products from around the world. I loved one from Malaysia called Confetti Bon Bon. Most were awful.

 

We walked across the street and through the Centennial Olympic Park.

I had spotted a tall Ferris wheel on the other side and we decided to take a ride. We love Ferris wheels and this was fun seeing the skyline and things below. One cool thing was a covered parking area with solar panels atop the roofs.

Some of the cars were painted up for the Atlanta Braves.

 As we walked back we passed an area that is the five Olympic Rings that is a fountain. Some kids were dashing through and getting wet. I found an area where you could stand without a splash and Jeff took some pictures. Of course I had to be careful running out while the fountain was not spurting.

We drove home without too much traffic and shared some salad and pizza for dinner at Mellow Mushroom near the hotel. A little TV and some reading completed the night.

Wild Thing

Woke up to a sunny, cool day. We checked out and went back into the gardens to see the azalea bowl.

It is a pretty area and we walked on a nature trail with more azaleas and some other plants.

Then we went to the azalea overlook near the main entrance. This is the prettiest area in the gardens. The edge of the parking lot has beautiful Japanese Red Maples.

I walked down wide stone stairs to several level paths through an azalea forest.

Cedar chips on the ground made it smell so fragrant. There were colorful blooms everywhere and pretty trees and other shrubs.

We left around 11:00 and headed for the Wild Animal Safari. We love these drive though safaris and this one was highly recommended. We haven’t laughed this hard in a long while. We rented a small van and it was painted like a zebra and filthy dirty and that is kind. It had schmutz everywhere. We bought four bags of animal feed pellets and a slobber towel.

 

As we drove through the gate we were greeted by hungry buffaloes. They literally stick their head through the slats that replace the windows. They open their mouths and stick out their tongues so you can throw the pellets in. They were quite persistent and you had to drive away with their head still in the slats.

We saw lots of animals who appeared to be hungry, but were being fed by lots of people in lots of vehicles. I like the cows best as they have soft, pink mouths and very gentle. Some of the deer were sweet, but hyperactive in requesting food. One kept her head in the windows with her mouth and tongue moving nonstop. Some of the animals were a little frightening so we threw the pellets on the ground. There were warnings that the zebras and camels bite as well as the emus and ostriches.

Would you like to check out our teeth?

Baby piglet is so cute.

Big pig not so much!

Many of the animals slobbered all over us and the windows slats. Good thing we bought the towel.

 This way and that way...

We finally made our way back and left the filthy van for the next folks to enjoy. We headed toward Atlanta where we will stay the next few days.

About an hour drive to our hotel in Peachtree City, a southern suburb of Atlanta. We checked into the Crowne Plaza and a lovely room. I will be staying here through Sunday for a Hadassah Regional Conference. This is a beautiful area with lots of shopping and restaurants. We selected Ted's Montana Grill for dinner and really enjoyed it. It is a chain, but we had never heard of it. We were seated at a roomy wooden booth that was very private. There is a great menu and we decided to have onion rings as an appetizer. It turned out to be a large portion that we couldn’t finish. They also bring sliced half sour pickles which were delicious. Jeff had a burger and I ordered pecan crusted trout with mashed potatoes and a small kale salad. I laughed when the friendly waitress delivered my meal. The trout was enormous and literally took up an entire plate. The sides came on their own plate. It was delicious and I took home half to enjoy another day.

Back to stumble into bed and some serious TV.