Marine life and coca cola

David had to go to Atlanta for work a couple of weeks ago, so the rest of us decided to invite ourselves along for the trip. I'm sure that exactly what David needed the night before his hearing was for five of us (including three violent sleepers who only sleep crossways or diagonally in beds so as to maximize the physical space they occupy) to be squeezing into two double beds. Jacob actually woke me up in the morning to tell me that Dad was missing. I mumbled that I was sure he was somewhere in one of the beds, but Jacob insisted that he wasn't -- and sure enough, we found him on the floor, where he had stacked some pillows to create a makeshift cot in the corner. He said that he actually slept great once he finally abandoned the beds.

In any event, we (I) figured that the kids and I could go to the famous Georgia Aquarium while David was in his hearing, and then he could join us after he was done. And other than the poor night's sleep, it worked out great!

Of course, penguins are a big draw at any aquarium.

Caroline with penguin friend:



Jacob & Elizabeth & penguins:



We went back to see the penguins once David joined us. Here they are, peeking at the penguins:



The belugas are amazing. I could watch them all day long.



The tropical fish tank:





The kids and I went to see the Dolphin Tales show before David got there, and everyone loved it. It's like this lavish broadway musical slash dolphin show slash laser light extravaganza -- seriously, what's not to love? Caroline was so overwhelmed by the magic of Dolphin Tales that she burst into tears when it was over, nearly hyperventilating as she tried to express her distress: "I . . . I . . . wan . . .wan. want . . . t-t-to . . . sw-sw-swim . . . wif . . . the . . . the . . .the . . . dooooolphins (SOBS)." She was basically inconsolable. Thankfully, right around then David texted me to say that he was on his way, and we met up with him, had some lunch, and she rebounded nicely.

We saw the rest of the aquarium, went back to visit a few other things one more time, and then made our way out. Caroline posed with every painted dolphin statue outside the aquarium:




I had heard that the GA Aquarium is huge, and while it is certainly big (as a matter of fact, it is the largest aquarium in the world), we got through it in less than a full day (coming on a weekday probably helped), so we decided to hit the World of Coca Cola next door before heading home. The World of Coca Cola is living proof that if you package something as a tourist attraction, Americans will pay money and brave crowds to see it. Even though I knew that I was basically paying Coke to advertise to me, I still enjoyed the vintage Coke exhibits and other features that Coke World had to offer.

Here we are in front of supersized, intricately painted Coke bottles from around the world:



It totally made sense at the time.

The Vault, where they keep the secret formula for Coca Cola:



The kids, attempting to create that perfectly balanced Coca Cola taste:



We all had fun in the tasting room:



The family consensus was that the best drink was Bibo, a pineapple-flavored drink from South Africa, and the worst was Beverly, a dishwater-flavored drink from Italy.

We're glad that David let us crash his business trip!