One of the things we had wanted to see in Atlanta was the aquarium. Of course Altanta is someway from the sea but they have built the world’s largest aquarium right in the centre of the city. We had been following the story on television of a sick beluga whale at the aquarium who had been distressed since Thanksgiving. Unfortunately the whale died the night before and Emily was most upset.
The aquarium was absolutely fantastic – right down to the most excellent selection of food in the cafeteria. The design of the building and the exhibits were amazing with incredible attention to the details of the design. We started with touch tank where we were able to reach down and touch sting rays and small reef sharks – around the same area were other touch tanks with star fish, hermit crabs and shrimps. There was also a tank with a huge loggerhead turtle that playfully played with a diver who was cleaning the tank and was using a brush to amuse the turtle so it didn’t try and eat his oxygen pipe. The next exhibit was focused on colder climates and in here they had large Japanese spider crabs which were large enough but could apparently grow to the size of a small car (which would be scary). The primary exhibit here was the beluga whales; the timing of our visit being poignant with the death of one of the whales the previous day. Fortunately they still had three more whales on exhibit and it was fascinating to watch them playfully swimming around the tank, we sat there for quite a few minutes just marvelling at their grace in the large tank. Right next to the belugas was a giant octopus who was playing ball with the tourists this particular day by attaching itself to the glass window of its tank – which apparently is rare. We then got to see some very cute sea otters, seals and penguins. It was difficult to imagine what could beat these displays but in the next area, entitled 'Ocean Voyage' you get to see the enormous tank containing thousands of fish of different sizes including hammer head sharks and the world’s largest fish -the whale shark. The have 3 in the Georgia aquarium, one of which is around 20 feet long – but these giants of the sea grow to be greater than 40 feet in length. Fortunately the largest things they eat are plankton otherwise we might be in trouble. The best bits of this display are the acrylic tunnel where you can watch the fish swim right over your heads and the large 450 square foot window on to this wonderful undersea world. Jack in particular was mesmerised by this area and we had trouble dragging him away. Lastly we went into the display “Tropical Diver” which takes you into the realm of the tropics with displays of colourful exotic fish, coral sea beds and the gently waving tentacles of sea anemones. It the most peaceful experience in the world to watch these brightly coloured creatures gently manoeuvring their way around this brightly lit exhibit. All too soon it is time to leave.
Just across the way from the Georgia Aquarium is the World of Coca Cola. Atlanta is the home city of Coca Cola – where it was invented and today is still made (although there are many other plants around). This centre is a tribute to the Coca Cola Company and is a relatively new. As we walked across the building we noticed what we thought to be a brown matting – that actually turned out to be parched grass. The South East USA has had a very dry summer which has left water levels dangerously low so there has been no watering of lawns. Also the formal fountains and ponds outside the Coca Cola building had been drained. Once inside we treated to a bit of a lesson on the history of the Coca Cola company – firstly inside a small room full of memorabilia, then followed by a short film. Once your initial indoctrination is complete you are let into the rest of the building where there are several more galleries – one demonstrating the brewing and bottling process, another showing the development of the Coca Cola brand. One of the final exhibit areas is the tasting room – where they have 63 different Coke products on tap from around the world. You can more or less drink yourself silly on fizzy drink – which is of course what Emily and Jack proceeded to do. The aftermath of which was the most horrendous sugar rush and two children who could not get to sleep until the early hours of the morning.To finish the day off we decided to visit the Cyclorama depicting the Battle of Atlanta, one of most significant conflicts of the Civil War. In capturing Atlanta, the Union forces were able to cripple the supply lines of the Confederate forces by disabling the rail network. The Cyclorama itself is a pictorial and model representation of the events of the battle – the exhibit itself is circular and you sit down on a rotating platform which passes around the Cyclorama. The story of the battle is told through a narrative that accompanies the pictorial elements as they pass by.
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