A river, a factory, and a mountain

Tuesday September 20 I took Sharon, Jen, and Kristie to the Augusta canals, also known as the Savannah Rapids park. It is beautiful here. This is one of my favorite places in Augusta. We were looking for turtles swimming in the water. We only saw a few. Kristie, Jen, and Sharon looking over the wall at the Savannah River. Poor Jen. I happened to see Jen standing on this little stool to see over the wall. :) I love this picture. I think it is hilarious! This is the Savannah River. After we were at the canal we headed to Mark & Haley's for "supper". Haley wanted to cook us a real southern meal and it was delicious. Unfortunately, I didn't take one picture there!?!?!? Grrr! She was a surprisingly efficient hostess and we had a great time. :) Thank you so much!
Wednesday, September 21 we headed to Atlanta to go to the Coca-Cola factory. I have only been to Atlanta one other time and we didn't venture anywhere near downtown. It was an adventure and it was great. Outside of the factory. Jen sure does make friends quickly. Cheers! We learned that the Coca-Cola logo was written free-hand by a bookkeeper. We even tried to imitate it on our own- no such luck.
An original bottle mold. I thought this was neat. Say "Cheese"! Why pay $30 for a picture that employees take of you with a bear, when you can con someone else to take the picture for you with your own camera!? I think it turned out cute. Coca Cola is an Olympic sponsor. Here are some of the more recent Olympic torches from the games. I thought they were neat. Now we are all rich and famous...not really. This is the American Idol couch from Carrie Underwood's season. Do I watch American Idol? No. But I sat on the couch. Doesn't that count for something? :) We watched a 3-D movie about trying to discover the secret recipe for Coca Cola. We got wet, got punched in the back, and a little car sick. Regardless, those glasses are awesome! The self guided tour stops with all you can drink Coca Cola from around the world. Some drinks were okay, others were horrible. After we already had a sugar high, we had to wash out the "foreign flavors" with the "real stuff". Now S-dawg looks really happy with her diet coke! :) The only thing missing from our afternoon was a river made of chocolate, a crazy guide, and a room full of bubbles. Oh well. The room full of many flavors and being able to take home a glass bottle of coke will just have to do. It made me feel like a kid just reaching in the prize chest... :) After we were finished at the Coca Cola factory, we drove to Stone Mountain. Luckily we escaped downtown Atlanta before rush hour hit. That could have been cRaZy! Stone Mountain is pretty neat. I am excited to go back. It was beautiful! Stone Mountain is the largest exposed piece of granite in the world. One side of the mountain has a carving in it. It is a monument for confederate soldiers. This gives just a little bit of an idea in the scale of this mountain with the lake and trees below. You can hike up to the top, but we didn't have time (and lets be honest, we drank too much coke!) Closer look at the carving. The 3 confederate generals are Jefferson Davidson, Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E. Lee. A 6' man standing would fit in the horse's mouth. It really is amazing to see. I can't wait to go back and take Josh with me :) We had such a busy week! We are so glad we were able to go so many places and just be together. Thanks for coming!