Atlanta Vacation - Part 4

On Thursday  we traveled to the Atlanta History Center.  I was impressed by the Centennial Games Museum.  There were multimedia presentations and interactive displays which showed how Atlanta won the games and how the events transpired in July 1996.

Another exhibit Turning Point: The American Civil War offered over 1400 original and confederate artifices detailing the history of that conflict that resulted in 670,000 deaths.

We also saw the Swan House built in 1928 by distinguished Atlanta architect Philip Trammell Shutze for Edward and Emily Inman.

Atlanta Vacation - Part 3

Back in the 1990s whenever I traveled to a new city I would always air check the major radio stations.  I stopped doing that for various reasons.  In this internet era I can listen to radio stations from all over the world so I can listen to an Atlanta radio station any time.  On Wednesday morning I took out may AM-FM Walkman (remember those?) and scanned the radio dials.  There were several sports talk stations but no oldies or classic hits stations.

After 9 AM we hopped on the MARTA and traveled to the High Museum of Art.  I am not an expert in art but there were several exhibits featuring American and European art from the 14th century to the present.

From there we went to the Margaret Mitchell House, the birthplace of the author of Gone with the Wind.  The tour guide gave a detailed biography of Ms. Mitchell.  She was quite knowledgeable about the famous novel.  There was also a small exhibit devoted to the movie version.  The tour guide was emphatic that the book was better.

The third stop of theday was the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Visitor Center and Monetary Museum.

Our last stop of the day was the Hard Rock Café.  Whenever we try to go to the one in Times Square, we go away since we don’t want to wait for 90 minutes.  In Atlanta we were served right away.

Atlanta Trip - Part 2

On Tuesday July 9th, our first full day in Atlanta we visited the Georgia Aquarium which is in the same vicinity as CNN and the World of Coca Cola.  Now this is three vacations in a row that we have visited aquariums:

• 2011 - Long Beach California
• 2012 - Baltimore
• 2013 -  Atlanta

In all cases the attractions were more for small children.

From there we took the MARTA to the Martin Luther King Jr.  National Historical Site.  Our first stop was the house where Dr, King was born in 1929.  From there we went to Freedom Hall which featured exhibits about Dr. King and his role in the civil rights movement.  There was a reflecting pool which surrounds the tombs of Dr. and Mrs. King.

Atlanta Vacation - Part 1

Bruce’s Journal was on hiatus for the week the family was away on vacation in Atlanta.  A few years ago I was advised not to report on the open web that I was on vacation since  someone could look up my address and rob my apartment while I was away.  So there will be several entries describing this vacation.

It is always good to take an early flight when leaving on vacation so you have most of a day to pursue activites at your destination.  Our flight left LaGuardia at 8:40 AM and we were settled at our hotel by 11:30 AM.  So by noon we were ready to start to explore the city.  Our hotel was within walking distance of the Georgia State stop on the MARTA, the light rail system of Atlanta.  We took the train to the CNN Center where we got  a tour of the facility.  We were shown the newsrooms of CNN and HLN.

From there we walked to the World of Coca-Cola, a museum devoted to the famous soft drink.  There were many artifacts dating back to the founding of the company in 1886.  We saw the vault where the secret formula of Coca Cola is kept.  I enjoyed the feature were visitors could sample the many soft drinks sold by the company all over the world.  At the end of the tour we were given and 8 once bottle of Coke.

Congratulations to Dave Wright and Matt Harvey

Congratulations to David Wright and Matt Harvey for their selection to the 2013 National League All-Star Team.  Congratulations are also in order for Robinson Cano and Mariano Rivera for their selection to the American League team.

We Didn't Stay till the end as the Mets Lose to Arizona 5-4 in 15 innings

For many years we have bought tickets to Met games in advance.  We have observed that there are plenty of empty seats at Citifield.  So yesterday we decided to go the ball bark and buy the tickets at the window as we did for many years at Shea Stadium.  We took a little walk around the ball park and saw Mr. Met with his wife at the Fan Fest.  After all these years I didn't know that he was married.

We went to our seats in the Promenade behind home plate.  Sadly Alan Berman was not there as he regularly goes to day games at Citifield and Yankee Stadium.  It was a typical Met game with excellent pitching, but no clutch hitting.  It was still tied at 2-2 after 12 innings as I said to Karen that we were all tired and hungry and would leave at the end of the 13th inning no matter what.

In the 13th inning Cody Ross drew a bases load walk from David Aardsma to take the lead.  But, in the bottom of the 13th Anthony Recker homered off ex-Met Heath Bell to tie game.  We left at that point, but Alan Berman, may he rest in peace, would have stayed to the bitter end as he did in the 20 inning loss to the Miami Marlins on June 8.

In the top of the 14th Arizona scored on a bloop single, but the Mets tied it up with a home run by Kirk Nieuwenhuis.

Arizona rallied to score a run in the 15th, but there was no Met magic in the bottom of the inning as the Amazins lost 5-4 in a 5 hour and 46 minute marathon.

Game Recap

Why This Will Be a Cool Summer

Every time you remember to bring an umbrella, like today, it doesn't rain.  Today we had a new air conditioner for our bedroom delivered.  It will be installed tomorrow.  So of course, it means this will be a cool summer.