I boldly stated that I am not a southern gal in my last post. I withdraw Atlanta Georgia from that generalization. I am deeply sorry to the people and state of Georgia, I liked it there.
The weather was certainly tolerable during my visit, mid-high eighties, humid, yes, but not too bad. To be honest it was refreshing to go outside and warm up. The hotels keep the air conditioning cranked, so I spent the majority of my time indoors at the conference shivering (even with a sweater and socks!).
The Georgian people are polite, friendly and helpful. I think I only met one cranky man the entire time I was there. (funny story that I will have to tell you all someday)
Atlanta is CLEAN! I was very impressed with how clean it is for a major Urban area. And kudos to the hotel that hosted a conference with over 4000 attendees plus their normal tourist load. They had the most immaculate public bathrooms I have ever seen. (it’s the little things that make me happy)
Atlanta also appears to be a safe and friendly city for families to visit. Coca-Cola Museum, Children’s Museum, Olympic Park, CNN and then there is the Atlanta Aquarium….
The highlight of my trip was attending a conference sponsored coffee & dessert reception at the Georgia Aquarium. http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/
It is the Largest Aquarium in the world! If you are into fish & aquatic life from around the world it is worth visiting the Georgia Aquarium.
Personally, if I ever had the opportunity to travel through Atlanta again I would take the lay-over and make sure I had a solid day to visit the fishes again.
My favorite part of my visit to the aquarium was this exhibit….
Journey with Giants
Walk through an acrylic tunnel or stand in front of a gigantic acrylic viewing window, and you will feel like a SCUBA diver in an endless blue sea, mesmerized by thousands of fish swimming overhead.
This exhibit was specially designed to house whale sharks, the largest fish species in the world. Schools of predatory trevally jacks, squadrons of small and large stingrays, enormous goliath grouper and hammerhead sharks all ply the waters of this captive ocean habitat containing more than six million gallons of saltwater. With 4,574 square feet of viewing windows, a 100-foot-long underwater tunnel, 185 tons of acrylic windows and the second largest viewing window in the world at 23 feet tall by 61 feet wide and 2 feet thick, visitors will have multiple opportunities to view all of these magnificent animals. No other aquarium in the world has ever attempted to manage the variety and size of fish in this major exhibit.
I could have sat in front of that giant tank all day with a book or my knitting and a venti from Starbucks.
I acquired some photography lessons from my visit to the aquarium. Particularly the fussiness of my camera’s ability to capture images through thick glass, and of reflection (note the red light that needs to be photoshopped out eventually)
Anyway, here are a few of my images from my visit…
Again check out http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/ There are a few videos on the site that will give you an idea of the scope of this amazing place!
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