We drove to Atlanta today to visit my Papa's friend, Tito Ron. He's been inviting us to visit him for so long! Finally, after six long hours of driving, we arrived! Tito Ron took us on a grand tour of Atlanta. Yey! Unfortunately, we only had the weekend to tour the City, which is why we tried to squeeze in everything in 2 short days.
Since we arrived late last night, our tour started early Saturday morning. Our first stop was the CNN headquarters. We had our breakfast at the food court area and all the while my papa, mama and Tito Ron were busy looking around for celebrities (some CNN anchors took their meals there, we were told). Did I mention that my mama was surreptitiously hunting for Lou Dobbs? :P We hoped to join the tour of the CNN studios but they wouldnt let me in because I was under three years old :( So papa and mama decided to come back next time when I am old enough.
We also passed through the Olympic centennial park. My papa was a bit disappointed because he was expecting to see the giant arena where they held the ceremonies. Unfortunately, it was located in a different place pala! So we just took some pictures, and went on our way.
By the way, our car was parked at the Phillips Arena parking lot. The Phillips Arena is home court to the NBA Atlanta Hawks and the NHL Thrashers. It was a peculiar building because, the basketball court/arena was actually underground! The top floors were all parking spaces! Interesting use of space, don't you think? We have pictures here but it's till with Tito Ron.
Next we went to The World of Coca-Cola Memorabila Museum. Mama said her friend, Benz, would have loved this place. Tita Benz collected Coca-cola stuff. Anway, we had fun here especially my papa because there was free soda all around! :D I think he went to the restroom 3 times hehehe.
Our last stop was The Stone Mountain Park. The centerpiece of the Park is found on the mountain's North side, where we saw the world's largest high relief carving, depicting three heroes of the American Confederacy. Later that night, there was a laser show on the face of the mountain. It was really high-tech! That's an attraction one shouldn't miss when visiting the park. However, my favorite part of the day was when we rode the Skylift going up the top of the mountain. It was almost sunset so the view was very breathtaking. According to the Skylift operator, the sky was so clear that we could already see Tennesee on the east, and we did!
The following day, which was Sunday, we all trooped to Church. There were really a lot of Filipinos in Atlanta! Afterwards, we spent the rest of the day at the giant Malls! Mama was so excited because the malls in Lexington were so tiny compared to Atlanta's.
Anyway, we had a wonderful time. It was hard to say goodbye to Tito Ron because we will miss him so much. Like Georgia, he will always be on our mind. :D
Oh, and to paraphrase Mr. Rhett Buttler, frankly my dear, we do give a damn! :D
Our first stop of the day, the CNN headquarters in Atlanta.
We are the headliners.
The skylight of the CNN building gives natural lighting to the heart of the building. Papa took this nice picture.
With us in the picture is Papa's friend, Tito Ron, who's currently working in Atlanta. He's such a great host and tour guide!
Mother and daughter posing for posterity.
Here we are at the Centennial Olympic Park.
The fountain here is really nice. I wanted to walk around but I had no shoes!
Our next stop is the Coke Memorabilia Museum. We had to wait a few seconds to have this picture taken because the Coke logo spun around and around. To get here, we walked through the underground shops where papa bought me a new umbrella stroller, mama said I was getting too heavy to carry around.
We are inside the Coke Museum, and behind us is a replica of the bottling process. You wont really see it from the picture because the bottles are so small... ay!
Remember this guy? My mama does!
Everybody is busy drinking free Coke products. No soda for me! Papa couldn't squeeze in among the people to get his free sodas because there was a lot of people. So we just chilled.
Two heads are better than one... even if the body is made out of cardboard.
Byaheng Manila-Atlanta. Who would have thought the Philippine jeepney would be an attraction here at the Coke Museum. We just had to strike a pose.
Atlanta at our background. Georgia on our mind.
Our family on top of Stone Mountain. The perfect sunset was the perfect end to our trip.