Atlanta

In Atlanta we headed to The World of Coca Cola. We saw the vault where the secret recipe is hidden, watched commercials from other countries as well as some classics from our own, and had our picture taken with a mascot.

My husband is a die hard Dr. Pepper drinker, but so was his uncle. His aunt and uncle visited The World of Coca Cola and he knows the exact moment in the video that he began to start craving Coke. (That explained why he had Coke and not Dr. Pepper in his frig when we went to visit!) Rick was not converted on our visit. Maybe because we were “ready” for it. He enjoyed his refreshment after our tour.

Centennial Park was a beautiful park right downtown. It’s a nice area with Coke and the aquarium and CNN surrounding it. It was a nice day and people were playing in the fountain.

We went to the CNN building & but we didn’t do the tour. It was fun just wandering around and looking in the gift shops.

In addition to being home to Coke and CNN, this area is known for the birth of Chick-fil-A. We’d hoped to tour the headquarters, but they aren’t set up for daily tours at this time (although it sounds like they might be on the way.) We did enjoy our favorite fast food in its hometown though.

Stone Mountain was something I was looking forward to seeing. I’d never heard of it prior to this trip. Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Gen. Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson are carved into the side of the mountain. This is the world's largest bas-relief measuring three acres. The work was started by Borglum in 1923 who left to work on Mt. Rushmore. The project changed hands over time, but was finally completed in 1972.

Martin Luther King, Jr was born in Atlanta. His birth name was Michael, but they began calling him Martin shortly afterward. His house still stands and is part of the national park’s historical site along with the church where he and his father and grandfather preached- Ebenezer Baptist Church. We learned more about him and civil rights during our visit. Faith earned her Jr Ranger badge for Georgia bringing her total to forty!