My Fair Country: Centennial Olympic Park (Atlanta)

The revitalization of downtown Atlanta probably began with the building of Centennial Park for the 1996 Olympic Games. Parts of the original park remain and is a nice central spot in the middle of the urban landscape for Atlanta residents to enjoy a little greenery.

I spent quite a long time watching the Fountain of Rings and those who gathered around it on my last day in Atlanta. Although the air was cold, the sun shined the entire day, so it was perfect weather to just sit and enjoy the outdoors.

Still can't get enough of the fall colors

Centennial Olympic Park
265 Park Ave West N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30313-1591

NomNoms: Legal Seafoods (Atlanta)

Getting around Atlanta was not an easy feat for me, so I was not able to eat any Southern food the entire trip. Instead, I opted to stay in downtown Atlanta and eat more seafood. I had the lobster roll from Legal Seafoods for my final meal. The brioche bun had way too much butter on it, so I ended up just eating the lobster meat and very little of the bun. The location was very beautiful so it was nice to sit on the second floor and look out the window while enjoying my lobster roll!

Lobster roll on a brioche bun, cole slaw, and fries

Legal Seafoods
275 Baker Street NW Atlanta, GA 30313

My Fair Country: World of Coca-Cola (Atlanta)

I admit it. I'm an addict. A Coca-cola addict. Regular, not diet. As a self-professing addict, I absolutely had to go to the marketing extravaganza that is the WORLD OF COCA-COLA!! I wasn't completely convinced that I should go after reading reviews, but I managed to convince myself that the Tasting Room alone would be worth the $15 admission charge.



Exterior of the building



Welcomed by giant Coca-Cola bottles

The tour begins in a room that contains the largest collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia and represents advertising from all over the world.



Next, we watched a short film called "Inside the Happiness Factory," which was a cartoon documenting what goes on inside a Coke machine. It was a little too cutesy for me. Little puppies kiss the bottles to give the drink "love", the bottles go through a snow storm to get chilled. Blahblahblah....



After that, we got to take pictures with the Coca-Cola Polar Bear. He blinks and opens and closes his mouth. Here he is looking pissed off and grumbling.



The rest of the experience is self-guided and starts off with a history of Coca-Cola: how it was invented and then went on to become a global commodity. There was also a gallery of pop culture art that shows pieces of artwork made from or featuring Coke products. They had some of the pieces that are very common in South Africa, the cars made from Coke cans and the like! We also watched a horrible "4-D" film with 3-D glasses and moving seats and terrible acting.

In addition, there was a fully-functioning bottling line, but I don't think it was functioning when I went through.


Finally, I reached the piece de resistance: The Tasting Room! I thought that what we would be tasting is different formulas of Coca-Cola from around the world, but really it was different Coca-Cola products from around the world. My favorite was the Apple Kiwi Fanta from Thailand.



Tasting Room



At the end of the tour, we were given a souvenir bottle of Coke, which was subsequently confiscated by airport security. Le sigh...

World of Coca-Cola
121 Baker Street NW
Atlanta, Georgia

NomNoms: Atlanta Fish Market (Atlanta)

For our group dinner, we were taken to the famous Atlanta Fish Market, located in a section of the city known as Buckhead. As you arrive, you are greeted by a 65-foot copper fish. My photograph of the fish didn't come out well, but you can see how big it is.

For dinner, we had a selection of appetizers including jumbo shrimp cocktail and crab cakes. For my entree, I ordered the Atlantic salmon with mango papaya salsa, whipped potatoes and green beans. I was reminded why I don't like cooked fish, besides black cod. There's something about it that just really doesn't appeal to me. But in my mind, I had to order fish at the fish market! Lesson learned.

Dessert was also a selection including chocolate mouse cake, double chocolate cake and key lime pie, which I had a whole piece of.

Mural inside the dining room

Here's a better photograph of the copper fish

Photo by Julestoo

Atlanta Fish Market
265 Pharr Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30305