Thanksgiving in the Peach State

For the first time in I don't know how many years, I did not spend Thanksgiving in New York City.  And for the first time, I went down to Atlanta.  My sister's in-laws are down there and she spends every Thanksgiving in Hotlanta, so my friend Melanie and I joined them.

We saw all of the major sights that were on our list:  Georgia Aquarium (whale sharks!), Zoo Atlanta (pandas!), and the World of Coca-Cola (soda galore!).  There were a few things we didn't have time for, many of them Civil War related (ahem, the Union won) but I am satisfied with what we did see.

Whale shark on top--world's largest fish species in the world.

Behind the scenes view of the gianormous tank
--it is about the size of a football field!  This tank is the world's
largest, holding 6.3 million gallons of water.

Melanie diving with the giant manta

While Melanie was getting ready for her big dive, I went to check out CNN.  Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for the guided studio tour.  And there were too many families in the lobby taking pictures with the big CNN logo so I didn't get a chance.

I also walked through Centennial Olympic Park, which serves to commemorate the Centennial Olympic Games (held in ATL back in 1996) as well as part of the revitalization of downtown Atlanta. There wasn't much except the Olympic ring fountain.

After the aquarium we headed across the plaza to World of Coca-Cola.  Atlanta (and perhaps Georgia itself) is Coke-Land.  I was actually shocked to see Pepsi sold in stores.  Highlights of the tour were photo ops with the Coke polar bear and Coke Mecca--getting to taste a ridiculous number of Coke products from around the world.  My faves were the bitter lemon from the UK (a zippier tasting Sprite) and gingerale from Africa--very gingery and zingy.  The biggest lesson learned?  Stay away from the fruity sodas.  Except for orange Fanta.

mmmmmm...Coca-Cola products from around the world...

Last but not least, we hit up Zoo Atlanta. 

Sleeping panda.  Actually, the other pandas
were very active, wandering around. 




 

 



Gorilla soap opera!  There was a lot of drama amongst the gorillas.  The big silverback alpha male was pounding his chest, two smaller males were trying to get to one of the females with a baby.  Then one took the baby and seemed to be using him as a shield from the silverback.  Craziness! 

Meerkats!

Day Tripping: OHNY

For some reason, I am usually out of town for Open House New York.  It's the one weekend chock full of behind the scenes (and not so behind the scenes) tours of places throughout the city.  This year I was around, so 5 and I got tickets to tour 7 World Trade and the future Moynihan Station in the current Farley Post Office building at 34th Street.

 7 WTC was the first tower rebuilt at the World Trade Center site post-9/11 (opened in 2006).  The building is 52 stories and houses a ConEd power substation. It is a certified green building and has enhanced safety construction (lessons learned from 9/11, I suppose.)  I have to say, the view from the 48th floor was amazing.  Granted, the southern view was of the 9/11 Memorial (sad), but the other views were pretty damn awesome. I was also very jealous of the fancy conference room up there. The ones at my work don't even have windows. At all.

North view from 7 WTC

e+5

5 at 7 WTC with 1 WTC behind him

9/11 Memorial

Taking charge in a conference room at 7 WTC

Moynihan Station will hopefully be the west side counterpart to Grand Central Station.  There are high hopes that it will outshine the strangely smelling hellish commuting mecca that is Penn Station. Construction has not begun, but Phase 1 will take at least four years to extend the rails from Penn Station through the Farley Post Office Building.  The budget for Phase 1 is $267 million. Yikes. One of the obstacles the project has faced is having so many stakeholders to placate: NYC, New York state, and federal levels, as well as the Post Office and many trains (Amtrak, LIRR, NJ Transit). Oh, and the Farley Building is landmarked, which limits the type of contruction for some parts of the buildling, and contruction can only take place at night and on weekends since train service cannot be disrupted.

I will be very curious to see how this turns out. It is possible that I will be pretty old by then.

What will one day be the central hall at Moynihan Station

Waiting in front of the rendering of Moynihan Station

Postal office after office in the Farley PO Building

Come and knock on our door: San Diego

Okay, Three's Company actually took place in Santa Monica, but I swear there was a scene from the San Diego Zoo in the opening credits.  Same-same.

I went to San Diego for a conference this past weekend.  This was only the second time I've ever been to California (airport layovers not included) and I have to say, the weather was fantastic.  SoCal living, woo-hoo!

It was a very short trip (4 days) and highlights included the seals at La Jolla, and the pandas and koalas (oh my!) at the San Diego Zoo.  Oh, and I had my very first In-N-Out burger.  Please don't send me hate comments, but that burger did not change my life as I had hoped.  I realize it is a favorite of legions, and anyone who formerly lived on the West Coast dreams of them.  It's not that it wasn't good, it just did not blow me away with its awesomeness.

Seals at La Jolla!

There's a panda lurking behind me

Snacking on bamboo

Koala!  They sleep up to 22 hours per day.
I did not get to hug him. Boo.

La Jolla.  I got splashed shortly
after this picture was taken

non-life changing In-N-Out burgers

On the downtown streets of San Diego.
Yeah, that guy is shaking that weight.

Day Tripping: Governors Island

It was a beautiful September day so we crossed another item crossed off the e+5 To-Do list:  bicycling on Governors Island.

Yes, I know I don't ride a bike.

Since a tandem seemed too stressful, we opted for a 2 person quadcycle.  I've been assured that real bikes are not as hard to pedal as these monstrosities.  After an hour riding around trying to find the Mr. Softee ice cream truck, we were exhausted and without Mr. Softee so we went back into Manhattan and took a scenic rest on the SI Ferry.

10K Lakes Reunion

No one has state pride like we Minnesotans do.  Over Labor Day weekend we had a small MN-raised family reunion: me, my sister and her family, and our cousin David and his family all got together for, well, the Great MN Get Together (a/k/a MN State Fair). 

We took a quick requisite trip to the Mall of America. It's funny, even though it's been about 15 years since I worked in the Mall, I still know where all the stores are located. We spent another day at the MN Zoo for the most fantastic all-day VIP tour from Melanie. And we spent the other full day at the Fair. The kids had fun, but I don't think they enjoyed it quite as much as the grown-ups. Except maybe riding the giant slide.

  

Fair foods consumed:

• breakfast lollipop (sausage patty dipped in corn muffin batter, deep fried and drizzled w/ maple syrup)
• mini-donuts
• corn dogs
• cheese curds
• Sweet Martha's chocolate chip cookies (rumor has it they make $3 million during the 12 days of the Fair)
• deep fried pickles
• fried green tomatoes
• pizza on a stick
• hot dish on a stick
• deep fried thick cut bacon
• chicken fried bacon
• kettle corn
• corn on the cob

It was a great time and way too brief. I didn't get a chance to fully shop the Mall, or see all of my friends from home. I am also currently on deep fried food detox--there is only so much a body can take...



The crowd at the Fair





Sweet Martha's Cookies. Straight out of the oven!

Not a prize winner, but he's a looker.

Grooming the goats

Fresh Kettle Korn!








The best mini donuts. Ever.







Melanie. And Melanie (poster).  At the MN Zoo





Family portrait at the liquor store



Daytripping: Rye Playland



 

5 and I took a day trip out to Rye Playland.  This is where they filmed the Zoltar scene in the movie Big.  We looked, but there was only Mrs. Zoltar in the arcade.  I have to admit, the website made Playland seem much larger and the rides much more exciting.  But we had a good time anyway. 



Too tall to ride the Crazy Mouse ride


 

Steeple Chase.  I thought I was going to fall off.




Post- log ride. It was very wet.




Return to Brotherly Love

5 and I took a quick trip down to Philly.  It was a sweltering 90 degrees or so and we walked for miles and miles. And then some more miles. 

It's been several years since my last time in Philly, but not too much has changed and it was nice to see familiar places.  There are very few cities that I feel I am fairly familiar with (NYC, St. Paul...), and Philly is one of them. 

Tour of the U.S. Mint

The Wannamaker Organ in Macy's. 
Estimated to be worth $73M.

No trip to Philly is complete without
a visit to the Liberty Bell

Philly Phanatic

Victory!

Homemade Cheese Puffs at Village Whiskey. 
Meh. I was expecting something more like Jax.