Atlanta: The Varsity and Coca-Cola

Atlanta is my home(town).

It is also the home of:
Coca-Cola
CNN
The Hawks, the Braves and the Falcons (name that 90's rap song...)
The Varsity
Delta
Elton John
and the 1996 Olympics.

It's a busy place.

Determined to act like tourists over the holiday, The Canadian and I set out for a little field trip downtown. The mission? The Georgia Aquarium.

We went with my wonderful friend, Sally, and her son, Conner. The plan was to hit up a well known restaurant for lunch then cruise through the Aquarium and head home in the afternoon.

The first stop was the Varsity.

The Varsity is an Atlanta tradition. The place is packed all the time. Non-stop. This is only about one third of the registers, if you can believe it.

The food is quick, cheap and exceptionally greasy. And delicious. It's a heart attack on a plate and I didn't care.

And you have to wear a hat, just like the employees. It really adds to the experience, I think.

When we were done stuffing our faces and had wiped all the grease off our chins, we headed even further down town to the Aquarium.

Traffic was light.

Parking wasn't a problem.

Then we walked up a side street just to turn the corner and find a two hour wait.

Well, this was just not going to work. Not when you've got a very excitable 12 year old with you. Not to mention the 32 year old. They needed to be entertained.

Thank goodness for the Olympics over a decade ago. For the Olympics the city built Centennial park right next to the Coca-Cola building and store. Then the Aquarium people were smart enough to build right next door. Crisis averted. We could play and shop.

We wandered over to the Coke store (not the tour, that was a two hour wait also). I didn't know what could possibly entertain us in the Coke store, but I figured we could stretch it out for at least 15 minutes or so.

I was right. The Coke store has everything.

Did you need a new t-shirt? Perhaps one that smells like root  beer? How about Fanta Grape? Take your pick.

Here. Have a seat. These chairs are made of 111 recycled bottle each. And they're only $200!

How about a new clutch? You might even be able to pass it as a wallet.

You could decorate 80 Christmas trees with all the ornaments.

Need a baseball? A football? Frisbee? Soccer ball? Golf ball? They've got them.

In the end we each bought a glass bottle of original Coca-Cola.

Note: These empty bottles made the trip back to Canada with me where they will be making guest appearances as vases and centerpieces.

 

Then the overactive boys played with their new toys and serenaded us ladies. Okay, fine. Maybe we all played a little.

When we were finally done entertaining ourselves with Coke products the hour and half wait was over. We headed over to the Aquarium...that I'll tell you all about tomorrow. Well, tomorrow is Friday and we're going skiing...so maybe I'll tell you about it on Saturday. Brace yourself.