GOODE TIME GIRLS!: September 2011

Thursday, September 29, 2011

GEORGIA AQUARIUM!

We took a mini vacation this weekend to Atlanta. Stephen had a meeting there last week, so we drove down and met him. It was fun to take the first road trip in my new ride and also see Atlanta. I usually just flew into Atlanta for work and flew home, so this was much more enjoyable. I am all about residential areas. I LOVED Ansley Park! As in, LOVED. You are so close to downtown, but then there are these huge parks right in the middle of the neighborhood. And absolutely gorgeous old homes that have been restored.

We stayed at the CNN Omni Atlanta. I would not recommend. Way too busy for me! Ha. There was a football game going on next door and approximately 40,000 fans were at our hotel (college students) and they were loud, rowdy, and smoking off the interior balcony and managed to set the fire alarm off by lighting a coat on fire. So we had to evacuate down 11 flights of stairs at 11pm. Mama was NOT happy. Needless to say our room was comped thanks to my complaining. My vote was for the W and that is where we will stay next time. Ha.

The best part of our trip was the food! We ate lunch at Legals Seafood. Fantastic. Great service, drinks, and crab cakes that were out of this world!! We also shared a piece of pumpkin bread pudding. Ridiculously good! (Maybe I will search a recipe on pinterest)

After lunch, we hit the Georgia Aquarium.

It was unbelievable! The Beluga Whale exhibit is out of this world and it should be for what we paid to see it! It costs $100.00 for 2 adults and a child. I also loved the close ups of the seahorses, the jellyfish, and the videos showing how they UPSed 2 whales to the exhibit. They reconstructed two planes to get them here. It was fascinating!

The bad parts of the aquarium were the amount of people who are touring (I would NEVER EVER go on a Saturday/Sunday again) and the fact that they don't limit the amount of time they let people stay in one area. They should prod them through (kidding) or something! People would stand at the glass and take pictures for 20 minutes. Who wants to see that crap? Your family does not want to watch a slide show of your vacation. And PS-They can google an image of a whale shark. The aquarium is also the largest in the world for water mass, so just keep that into consideration when you go. It's not the size of Rhode Island because that's what I was expecting!

My favorite parts of one of the exhibit was this IMAX screen window that was an underwater aquarium. It was like being in a submarine. We sat right at the glass on the floor and sharks are inches away from your face. Paisley poufy heart loved it...

The jellyfish exhibit was amazing!

I love love love lion fish. I want a saltwater aquarium for this fish alone!

Due to the power of my persuasion, Paisley got a stuffed dolphin and saved me a trip to the American Girl store (she also has a bamboletta, so that is her AG doll)...

On Sunday morning, we woke up and went to eat brunch at Murphy's. Probably the best brunch I have ever eaten. I had this chicken and tortilla dish covered in avocado, sour cream, and cheese. SO healthy....:) :) :) It was slap yo mama good!

I wanted to hit H&M before we went home (since Nashville stinks and does NOT have an H&M. Makes me mad just thinking about it!!) and it didn't open until 12pm, so we hit a local park in Ansley. Look how beautiful!!