Georgia!

Brad had a business trip in Atlanta Georgia and since it was during my birthday and anniversary and because we haven't been away without the kids for a long time we decided it would be fun to go together. Brad's mom watched the kids while we went and I think they had a great time. Big thanks to Diane for helping us to with them so we could go! Brad stayed a week and I went for 4 days. The first day we spent flying and getting to our hotel. The second day we got to spend together since the conference didn't start until the next day.  I bought a city pass which had a list of several things to do that I could pick from. As I was planning the things I wanted to do while Brad was at the conference all day the History museum was the first thing I crossed off my list because it sounded kind of boring. When Brad saw it on the list he was like, "Wow! I want to see if I can go to that with you!" so we went and it was really awesome! Below Brad and I are posing in front of some massive gardens at the history museum. First we went through a section about African-American history which was really interesting and then we decided to go through the homes that were at the museum to tour. 

Below is a picture of the Swan house, it use to be a home that was on a cotton plantation. It is also the place were some of movies Catching Fire and Mocking Jay were filmed!!! We didn't know that before we walked into the house! This is a picture of the front of the house.

 This is a picture we took in the kitchen. There was a lady in there dressed like a maid and role playing as if she had lived and worked in the house. She shared a lot of neat tidbits about the people that lived there and what life was like. The lady who owned the house originally bought this oven and when it arrived she decided she didn't like it but she never sent it back, and never used it.

 In the movie Catching Fire when President Snow comes out on the balcony to talk to the people of the capitol while at the party this is the view of the garden where all the people were standing.

 Below is the same pic but looking from the balcony President Snow stands on

 I thought this stair case was awesome.

 This is the back of the house, the doors in the middle are the ones President Snow comes out of for his little speech

 This is a picture of the back of the Swan house. Unbelievable how massive the back yard is! I'd hate to mow that back in the day before riding lawn mowers!

 Next we toured a home of a family who owned a farm in Georgia and who had slaves. We learned a little bit about how the home was run and toured the home where his slaves stayed. They had an actor there too that we visited with. They had everything set up like it would have been back during it's time including chicken, sheep and a vegetable garden. Below is a fantastic picture of Brad holding a mop that they used made up of corn husks

After the museum we went to a Braves game. They won! Yeah! 

The next day was our 11th anniversary! Brad had class all day, so I was on my own. First I rode the metro and then walked about a mile to the temple. I was a little nervous about being on the metro alone and also about the walk. I was so scared I'd get lost, mugged or that it would rain while I was walking and then I'd be wet all day. It was suppose to thunder shower all week. Everything worked out, and the weather was beautiful. 

After the temple I got back on the metro and went to the art museum. This was one of my favorite paintings. It's of a mother and her daughter together at the table.  I took a lot of pictures but a picture of a picture isn't as good as the real thing so I just picked one to share.

For dinner we went to a place called Pitty Pats Porch.  The food was amazing, and very southern. I had crab cakes, cheese grits, vegetables and peach cobbler with cinnamon ice cream. Brad had fried chicken, ribs, collard greens, black eyed peas and the best pecan pie I've ever tasted. The guy playing the piano played us a song for our anniversary and asked us to get up and dance...it was fun but I felt kind of silly because people were watching and taking our picture. 

 He played, "You are so beautiful." He was a great pianist, his father use to play at the restaurant before he started

 This is what the restaurant looked like when we walked in. We ate down stairs

The next day I was on my own again.  First I went to The World of Coke. It was fun to taste all the different kinds of soda from around the world, some of it was really yucky. I enjoyed learning about the process of making coke, and bottling it. I watched some old commercials about coke and saw the vault where the "top secret" recipe is kept. I had a good time looking at everything.

 Outside the world of coke

 This is a machine that shows how an assembly line of coke works

After the world of coke I went across the street to the aquarium. The first part of the aquarium is all about what's inside or ocean creatures. It was really neat to see sharks, fish,  manta ray and octopi that had been preserved and opened to see their gills, fins, brain and everything else.

I took a lot of pictures, I loved the aquarium and wished my kids could have seen everything. That being said it was nice to wander at my leisure and not worry about snacks, naps and potty trips. 

 One of my favorite things was the albino alligators, there were 2 of them swimming around in the tank

 I also liked the lion fish

 I didn't get to watch the dolphin show but went up after everyone had left the show and watched the dolphins swim. This one kept doing a nose stand

 I loved watching the 2 belugas

 My most favorite thing was the whale sharks! There were 4 of them, they were SO big!

The last thing I got to do that day was a tour of CNN. It was neat to see everything that goes into it. I rode the escalator below up inside the globe. It is 8 stories, the longest free standing escalator in the US 

 The building this is in is like a mall, and a hotel and CNN and the spanish CNN all connected. It was huge

I flew home all the next day and made it home for Ethan's first baseball game! Go Cardinals! They played the Dodgers..the only time the Cramers had to cheer against the Dodgers. It was a great trip, a lot of fun to get away. I was ready for hugs from my little people when I got home.