April 1st arrived so quickly, and it was time to start heading back to the St. Louis area. We did have a special “stop” planned though. We packed everything up and headed north, out of Florida.
We spent one night on the road, and then the next day we made it to our first destination: ATLANTA! I should say the Marietta, Georgia, area which is on the northwest side of Atlanta.
Jack’s roommate (Bill) from our college days, and his wife (Reba), live in that area. We haven’t seen them in years, and since we were going right by there on our way to STL, we called a couple of months earlier and asked them if we could spend some time with them and visit. They were thrilled and so were we. We stayed for four days and had a wonderful visit!
Here is Jack and Bill:
One day we went to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. We didn’t hike up the mountain, but we did go through the museum. It was very interesting to read about the battle at Kennesaw Mountain during the Civil War. We were not allowed to take photos in the museum. I did take a few shots of the park area around the museum. It was a LOVELY spring day!
Atlanta is home of Coca Cola, Waffle House, and Chic fil a. There is a very interesting Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the Atlanta area, also (even though it was not founded there). Locals call it “The Big Chicken.” The pictures will explain why:
That is one huge chicken! And, believe it or not, the chicken’s beak opens and closes and the black part of the eye goes around in its eyeball. Needless to say The Big Chicken is a local landmark, so, when the restaurant got too old and needed remodeling, they refurbished the chicken and rebuilt a completely new restaurant. We ate supper there one night.
One day Bill took us to downtown Atlanta. There is A LOT to do and see there (numerous museums, an aquarium and more)! We only had time to visit the Coca Cola Museum. If you are a little short on time like we were, definitely choose to visit THIS museum! It is well worth it!
I took SO many pictures, but I’ll only bore you with a few:
The best part was at the end. There was a huge room where you could taste as many Coca Cola products from around the world as you wanted (or as much as your stomach could stand!). Some of them were really strange tasting, some were really good, and some were really awful!
On Saturday Bill and Reba took us out to Stone Mountain. It was a great experience. We took the train ride around the mountain, walked around the park and looked at some of the shops, and ate a funnel cake for lunch.
Then we took the tram to the top of the all granite mountain and got a close up look at the carving on the side of the mountain. The history of the carving is interesting, so we watched a short video about it in one of the buildings on the way to the tram. You won’t want to miss the video!
While at the top, we walked around and enjoyed the views. Even though it was a little cloudy at times, we had a great day.
Another view from the tram.
As you could see from one of the pictures from the train, they had a putt putt golf course. They also had to a lot of kid-friendly activities, videos, etc., if you have children. We didn’t do any of those things, but they looked like fun. If you are in the Atlanta area, you won’t want to miss Stone Mountain!
We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Bill and Reba. All too soon it was time to pack up and continue our northern journey to St. Louis.
So, for now ….. “On the Road Again!”
Betty