The Georgia Aquarium is one of the best in the country. Complete with Whale Sharks, Manta Rays, and the largest tanks in the US. We got to walk around the Tropical Diver exhibit, the Cold Water Quest exhibit, the River Walk, and so many others! The Georgia Aquarium has so many breathtaking spots where you can just stop and enjoy the fish. Be sure to stop and just admire the animals, as it is so peaceful just to watch the Beluga Whales, Sea Turtles and so many other animals just swim around gracefully.
They also have multiple shows to see with price of admission! Some of these include the AT&T Dolphin Celebration and the Sea Lion Show. It turned out that you couldn't take pictures in the Dolphin Celebration though. The Georgia Aquarium did have a fun Penguin Waddle! Basically it was the penguins on parade! They got to walk down a little ramp, and you can get an up close look at the fun and cuteness of the penguins! After we watched the penguins we walked around the gift shops, the cafe(which had lots of options!), and just took in everything else the aquarium had one more time.
After the aquarium we made our way to the World of Coca-Cola. This is very close to the aquarium...like it's right next door! The small open area between the two places offers a few restaurants and places to grab a quick bite, as well as some great view of Atlanta. On the other side of the park is the Center for Human and Civil Rights(think of this as a triangle with the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola, and the Center for Human and Civil Rights). We did stop and take a minute to grab some pictures and take in the views. We had to skip the Center for Human and Civil Rights this trip due to timing, but we would like to go back at some point to learn about the important history this place shares.
Once we had admired the views we made our way to the World of Coca Cola! One word to describe the feeling once you walk in? Happiness. Everyone was happy who worked there and all the visitors were happy too! Part of this could be because you get a free bottle of cold refreshing Coca Cola, Diet Coke, or Coke Zero when you walk in to take on your tour, but there was just a nice feeling being in this museum. At the beginning you wait in the lobby until it is your group's turn to go in, then they let you walk into a room full of Coca Cola memorabilia. Once in there a Tour Guide talks you through some fun history of the company, and then you watch a 6 minute video just about happy moments. While neither of us are huge soda drinkers, we had a great time here. The ambiance was amazing, and the history they had was fun to see! Don't forget to try out the flavors of Coca-Cola from around the world! They have five different stations where you can try over 100 varieties! Kat made sure to try one type of soda from every station. The one she had from Africa was incredibly sweet!
We were starting to get slightly hungry at this point, so we decided to make our way to the CNN World Headquarters by way of Centennial Olympic Park. Centennial Olympic Park was used in the 1996 Olympic Games, so walking around you can see different elements from that. We saw the Olympic Rings in multiple different spots around the park, and where the Olympic Torch was once lit. Today they hold events for the city(when we were there they were cleaning up from an American Heart Association event), and they have a large fountain for kids to play in. There is a ferris wheel at the other end, if you wanted to take in some more views. The ferris wheel does cost money though. Overall the park was a fun and free sight to see!
The CNN World Headquarters, as well as the College Football Hall of Fame are on the other side of the park. Due to time we were unable to go to the College Football Hall of Fame, but for any sports lovers out there we're sure this would be a great stop. There are multiple parts to the CNN Headquarters. There is the free part where you can just walk inside the building, see multiple signs that say CNN, and take in how big the place is. There are also gift shops, and a huge food court! This is where we decided to grab a snack. Elle had Subway, and Kat had Chick-fil-a. Fun fact, Chick-fil-A started in Atlanta! Anyways, CNN does offer 50 minute guided Studio Tours. We decided to not go for the tour since it was guided, and we didn't know if we would be able to do the time constraint. Pictures weren't allowed on the tour as well, so it didn't seem the best use of our time. CNN was a fun stop to see though and the large food court would be great for any family!
It was around 2:30pm at this point in our day, and our flight left at 7pm. Due to the size of the Atlanta airport we wanted to make sure to allow plenty of time for security, so we knew we wanted to be back at the airport between 4:30 and 5. This meant we had time for one last stop...Zoo Atlanta! When we walked in we got a Disney's Animal Kingdom vibe from the place. It was very well decorated, and so many things were going on. We had CityPasses for this trip, and that also gave us a free ride on the train. When we looked at the schedule they gave us we saw that there was a giraffe feeding going on, so we went there. For $3 you could feed the giraffes lettuce! While we didn't pay for that we did get to see the giraffes up close! We learned that their tongues are around 18 inches long!
After the giraffes we got to see some gorillas, naked mole rats, zebras, and kangaroos. This zoo is one of four in the US that has Giant Pandas, so we made a special stop to see them! They were so cute and playful. We ended up not riding the train, but if you are interested in this, it is located in the Children's portion of the zoo. Visiting the zoo was definitely a great experience for us!
It was around 3:30 at this point, and even though we still had some time left in our day we decided to just head to the airport. It was really hot outside, we were both getting tired, and the idea of being through security and just having time to explore the airport seemed nice. With that, we called an Uber and headed on back. On the ride back we learned that the Atlanta airport is now divided into two separate parts where one is all International and one is Domestic. This at first confused our Uber driver, but he was able to sort it out, so that's just something to note. The airport is huge though, and since we had time to explore we got to see some of the artwork they had when you are going between terminals! Instead of taking the train, we walked, and we got to see some really interesting signs about the history of Atlanta but also some cool light displays!
We had a great time in Atlanta. Our big note would be that some parts of it are not as walkable as other cities have been, so we ended up having to take a couple extra Uber rides, but thanks to codes we never had to pay for one! Below is a map of the places we went to, and has some extra points for places we recommend going if you have extra time! We were a little sad we didn't get to see The King Center, as this was another area that showcases important US History and the life of Martin Luther King.
What did we miss in Atlanta that you would have seen? Thanks to Skyscanner we were able to get this cheap flight so we could see the wonderful southern city! Up next we are looking at Las Vegas. We are currently trying to find the best time to visit Indianapolis, Chicago, and Tampa Bay! Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook!
Blue skies,
L&K
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