This morning, I went to Atlanta's number one attraction, World of Coca-Cola. Was expecting teeming crowds, but thankfully I arrived before the rush. World of Coca-Cola is basically a big marketing building for Coke - it's full of advertising throughout the ages, and information about how the brand has spread worldwide. There's no information on the secret recipe! It was all very glitzy. At the end are two rooms where you can sample different Coke drinks from around the world - I thought that there would be some variety of different Coke flavours from different locations, but it was actually things like Ginger Beer and Mello Yello. Some of the excitement of unlimited Coke was tempered by the fact that I was on my own, and that it was about 10.30 in the morning! The gift shop downstairs was almost as large as the museum, and I succumbed and bought a Tshirt.
Next, I caught the bus to Athens, Georgia, the home of REM and the B52s. The Greyhound terminal where the bus left from was a little dodgy, but once on the bus, it was fine. Drive down took about an hour and a half, and like a cliche, I listened to REM the whole way! The bus driver gave everyone a strict talking to on the way down, laying out the kind of behaviour he expected. I was fascinated by the Kudzu vines that covered many trees, bushes, power lines and telegraph poles. They looked like they were smothering and taking over the landscape - quite creepy!
Had the afternoon in Athens to have a look around. There isn't actually all that much to do, but it was pleasant to walk around a typical American college town. There was a music heritage walking tour, but many of the buildings marked were old clubs and venues.
Back in Atlanta, it was dog appreciation evening at the hotel! On the front porch, about 30 people were sitting with their (small) dogs, having a drink and buying merchandise.
Walked down to Mary Mac's Tea Room for dinner - this is an Atlanta institution and offers real Southern cooking. They gave me some free collard greens for a starter - can't say I'm a fan! But then I had some delicious southern fried chicken, sweet potato souffle (gorgeous!!) and broccoli. I even had a 'Hurricane' ######## ("reminiscent of New Orleans"). (for some reason, Blogger isn't letting me publish the word '########' - so that you're not kept in suspense, it's a concoction of alcoholic liquor).
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