Woke up to a nice sunny day in Atlanta. We had a buffet breakfast as we were going to spend the day sightseeing.
A good choice at breakfast, very good service. We went for the buffet and had a load up. Cereal, omelette, you picked your own fillings, sausages, bacon etc. Unlimited coffee and fruit juice, followed by some fresh fruit, strawberries and melon.
It was delicious and we were both stuffed after that!
We knew where we were going today following our trolley tour, so off we walked to Coca Cola World.
We paid our money and in we went to be greeted with a free bottle of Coke. We were eventually ushered into a room full of memorabilia and were greeted by a bubbly American girl with a microphone. It was the full "Disney Experience" but with Coca Cola!
She pointed out various items of memorabilia, giving explanations as to the role in the history of the company.
We then went into a auditorium where we were shown a short film of the "valuable role Coca Cola" has played in society!
Once that had finished we went into the main area where we could look at various exhibits. The most interesting was the early history, how the company started, the "secret formula", how the bottle design came into being. There was memorabilia accompanying every exhibit, some of which was quiet fascinating.
The "secret formula" is supposedly housed in a vault. They let you look at it, the vault that is, but that is all. You have your picture taken as you enter the room, prints available in the shop after 30 mins. They even have a place where you can have your picture with the Coca Cola Polar Bear, but both times we tried he wasn't there! Too hot for him I guess.
They have a 4-D film about what Coke consists of, Sandra thought she had been duped to go on a roller coaster ride but the chair just moved about a bit!
You are invited to taste different versions of the company's soft drinks sold around the world, well over a hundred different types, flavours and brands!
As you leave you are given a free bottle of Coca Cola and you end up in the shop. I couldn't believe that a soft drink could generate so much merchandise.
People were buying loads of stuff.
We looked at our pictures, $30 for 1 or a selection of 4 for $35. However, there weren't 4 good pictures. These photographers at these places are useless!
We only bought our usual fridge magnet and left.
It was lovely outside and the attractions are set in a really nice park area with a good view of the skyline so Sandra and I grabbed a coffee, still stuffed from breakfast, and sat outside soaking up the sun and people watching.
After about 30 minutes we went to the Civil Rights Museum to have a look there .
We have been to a lot of places in America, especially in the "Deep South" where slavery and segretation were deeply entrenched.
We both found the exhibits deeply moving and cannot believe that as little as 50 years ago people were treated so badly, beaten and killed just because of their colour. They truly suffered for their beliefs and fight to be equal.
Lots of interactive exhibits, the worst one is where you put on headphones and experience what it was like when they did silent sit ins in restaurants that were for "whites only"!
It dealt with riding on the buses, getting votes and the marches undertaken by the activists.
The Southern states of America weren't shown in a good light.
It finished with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jnr and his burial.
Very powerful exhibition.
We felt we needed something lighter after that, so strolled home stopping off at a bar to sit on the terrace in the sun, have a few beers and watch the world go by.
It might have been the sun, the beers or a combination of both but we felt really tired so decided to eat in the hotel that night.
We both had burgers but I had to send mine back as it came with bacon, onions and mushrooms, none of which I ordered!
We had a few more drinks and went back to the room.
I did the packing so we were ready to set off on our road trip the next morning.
We've had a really good time in Atlanta, a nice city, lots to do without it appearing to be a major tourist attraction.
However, time to move on.
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