Day 7...Atlanta

Our second day in Atlanta proved to be both educational and informative.  We woke up to a pretty decent free breakfast at our Wingate, which was nice because it turned out we were running late for our 10:00 AM Coco-Cola Factory tour.  We were able to get a shuttle from our hotel to the local mall and caught the Cobb County bus to the MARTA subway stop that would take us to the factory.  We handled all that pretty well and got to the factory a few minutes late, but it turned out to be mostly self-guided, so they let us in.  The tour was really, really interesting and had tons of cool memorabilia, a few different films and a 4D movie "experience."  All this was great, but the highlight had to be the Taste Room where you get to try 64 different types of Coca-Cola drinks from all over the world - I would say we had our fair share of at least 50 each.  You even get a free mini glass bottle of Coke to take home with you - nice job, Coca-Cola...nice job.

From there, we were going to get lunch at the Gladys Knight and Ron Winan's Chicken and Waffles, but we were actually full from all the soda, so we decided to take a cab to the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, a newly renovated project that was also really well done.  It was all self-guided and it was huge, with a ton of historical items and interactive exhibits.  I have to admit I wasn't all that well schooled in Jimmy Carter's presidency and I think this was a great way to learn more about him - I know he isn't exactly America's fave, but he really did accomplish a lot and him and his wife are still doing good work around the world.  It must be nice to have a such a nice place dedicated to you while you're still alive to enjoy it. 

We still wanted to make it to see Gladys and get to the Federal Reserve, so we left Jimmy Carter and decided to take the city bus back downtown, since I am a firm believer that we got screwed on our cab ride charge the way there.

Moving on...we got to Gladys' and would you believe it was closed?  No excuse...just a note on the door saying it will be closed until further notice.  Thanks for nothing, Gladys...unless it was Ron's decision...but I don't know who he is, so...Anyway, we wound up stopping in a generically nice bar/grill called Publik, and had some burgers.  Unfortunately, it seems our Atlanta visit will cease with no chicken and waffles (at least on the same plate.)

From there, we walked over to the Federal Reserve - it's free, which is the first plus, and we went on a Thursday at like 3:30 PM, so we were pretty much the only ones there.  It was amazingly just as nice as the other two places we went today.  It was really cool to see all the artifacts relating to the history of money from all over the world and you even get to watch the crazy automated robots that handle all the money that is made each day.  This particular Federal Reserve location (there are 12) shreds some insane amount of money everyday that is defective and gives it out free in little bags...not sure why, but this way quite exciting.  So, we're now the proud owners of two small bottles of Coke and one small bag of shredded money.

As I type, Andy is out hunting down some peach cobbler for us...two goals for Atlanta: that chicken and waffles meal and some peach cobbler.  It has become dire that we at least get the peaches.  We are pretty much done with Atlanta at this point, so we'll be getting up early to head onward and northward to the Great Smoky Mountains!