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Atlanta, Georgia
My thoughts, all noise, fake smile, decoys
Atlanta is a fun place and a great place for a weekend trip. There’s lots to do, at Centennial Park alone there are museums about human rights, college football and Coca Cola, as well as a Ferris wheel and an aquarium with a whale shark. What more could anyone want?
There’s even more to see if you leave the tourist friendly confines of Centennial Park. Things like talking hot dogs at the Center for Puppetry Arts, a terrific museum all about puppets. This talking hot dog was actually part of a larger, well presented exhibit all about Jim Henson and the Muppets, which included all of the ones you would expect to see, as well as some (like this talking hot dog) that you might not expect.
The Atlanta Botanical Garden in Piedmont Park was spectacular. I’m not sure how many times I have been to Atlanta, although somewhere around ten is probably a safe and somewhat conservative guess. Of all those times, this is the first time I made it to the gardens. What I’ve been missing all this time are things like giant green heads, some nice Dale Chihuly installations and an impressive elevated walkway that snaked its way right through the forest. Definitely worth the trip and a real reminder that despite having been to Atlanta around ten times (probably a safe and somewhat conservative guess) there are still lots of top tier rhinos I still haven’t seen.
On the map, a drive up to Chattanooga doesn’t seem too bad, but in reality it’s kind of hellish. Lots of terrible traffic and terrible drivers who like to slow down and stop for absolutely no reason, but at least on the way there are places to stop, including this, my first ever Buccees. I’m not sure exactly what to think of it. Obviously it was overwhelming and very, very American, but I’m not sure if it’s good or not. I still like my local Wawa and I still like Sheetz in Pennsylvania as solid places to stop. Buccees is at a different level in terms of size and experience which, if nothing else, certainly is memorable.
There are probably lots of reasons to drive up to Chattanooga, but for me, seeing Rock City again was it.
Rock City is far more impressive than you think. The rock formations are actually quite beautiful, far better than you might expect from a tourist trap (which Rock City most definitely is, although it is one in the best possible way). The trails and bridges are rock formations and waterfalls and views are all first rate, and the experience is definitely one that makes it feel like that hell drive up I-75 from Atlanta was worth it.
Amicalola Falls are in Georgia near the very start of Appalachian Trail, in fact the lodge in the state park not only regularly hosts departing hikers, it has a very, very long map of the whole trail on display in the lobby. The falls themselves are not on the Appalachian Trail, although maybe they should have been considering how close it is to the trail in the first place.
If you’re me and you’re going to Atlanta, you’re going to have to deal with Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, which normally isn’t fun but, after a round of early summer thunderstorms, makes you miss the simple awfulness of that I-75 hell drive to Chattanooga. One of the problems is that the airport waiting area is just not big enough, and as delays and cancellations mount, there’s just nowhere to go. You always hear terrible things about how bad the local New York Airports are, but at least in Newark you can move around if you wanted to.
