Breakfast was included at the Country Inn and Suites. They had a good range of stuff – three fruit juices (apple, cranberry and orange), waffles, sausage, eggs, potatoes, choice of cereals, yoghurt, several breads, including three types of bagel, with syrup, jam and cream cheese. Oh yes, and coffee. Quite the spread. Also, there were quite a few tables, and expansion room into a meeting room off the lobby so we even managed to get a table. A pretty unusual feat!
We had a nice ‘late’ start (for these trips!) – 8.30am in the lobby to meet the bus. We arrived at 8.25am and the lobby was empty! It seems everyone else was already on the bus! Hey ho. So much for 8.30.
Brenda felt we should all introduce ourselves – there were mostly US and UK folk, with one or two Australians. I had already forgotten the names before they’d finished speaking! Oops. There were several seasoned Cosmos travellers on board, some having travelled with Tour Director Brenda Brooks and/or Driver David Stovall before. Our driver, David, was one of our quieter characters. He didn't say much, but as long as we got from A to B safely, he didn’t really have to.
Brenda gave us a little history of Atlanta as we started our included morning tour. Arby’s, Home Depot, Chick-Fil-A all started in Atlanta. Delta Airlines has a hub here. Our hotel is in the Buckhead area which is quite upmarket, having been established by those who made their money in the likes of Coca-Cola. The houses are pretty nice, and the streets tree-lined. The name comes from a bar with a buck’s head over it – people would meet at the buck’s head and the name kinda stuck. As we were driving, we passed by The Cheesecake Factory I’d found on the internet. Unfortunately, it’s a little too far from the hotel to walk so, unless we get a cab we’re not going to make it this trip. Shame!
We drove past some nice houses in Buckhead, and also the Cathedral of St Philips. Then we entered the city of Atlanta and spotted the Georgia Aquarium and the Westin Peachtree Plaza, with its revolving restaurant. After our (un)exciting trip to the top of the Westin Bonaventure with another revolving restaurant last year, we decided to give this a miss. That and the fact we were about eight miles out of town at our hotel! We passed by the CNN building where Ted Turner set up the 24-hour news channel, Cable Network News. Then we passed Philip's Arena, with its structural pillars spelling out ATLANTA.
As we were travelling, Brenda went through the optional trips on this tour. They were a bit sparse – and samey. Three optionals, all shows, either with or without dinner. The first was to be the Carolina Opry in Myrtle Beach, but it was to be preceded with a buffet – of 170 items! Well, we’re not big on buffets as we believe you have to eat a lot of all you can eat to get your money’s worth and there seemed to be a lot of shell-fishy stuff on the menu (Paul is allergic). We figured we wouldn’t bother, although there doesn’t seem to be much else to do at Myrtle Beach that we’ve found. Yet anyway. Well, there’s a beach, I guess. We’ll have to see.
The next optional was a Carolina Dinner Cruise on the Spirit of Carolina. Another dinner option, but in the estuary and I’m not sure Di’s stomach would be up to it – she’s not good on boats. We’d chosen not to do it on our last two trips to Charleston so figured we didn’t need to do it this time either. The final optional was the Savannah Theatre, which offered yet another show. We weren't keen on the show on offer on our optional night and we'd been to Savannah before, so we figured we could find something of our own to do there – we’d be there for two nights. So, again, we cried off that one.
This is the first time I’ve been on an Archers/Cosmos tour where I haven’t done a single optional excursion. I can’t believe there are so few but it remains to be seen as to why. Maybe there’s just not enough free time, although I was expecting a Fort Sumter boat trip as that is one of the key places to visit in Charleston. I’ve been twice, but Dave hasn’t been so I’m sending him along there – after the Magnolia Plantation. It’s only at the end of the street our hotel is on, so I just have to decide if I’m going with him or not. Too early to say.
As we travelled along Peachtree Drive, we saw the Governor’s Mansion, but I almost missed it as we passed too quickly and I was on the wrong side of the bus! We saw the Georgia Dome - home of the Atlanta Falcons (American Football). Wrong side of the bus again! Sheesh. As we entered the federal area I spotted the Martin Luther King Jr Federal Building (my side of the bus!) Then I was on the correct side of the bus as we passed the Atlanta State Capitol Building. Unfortunately, this time, it was the sun’s turn to be on the wrong side of the building and you really can’t see there’s a building there at all. Would I lie to you?
We drove down to Turner Field (named after the CNN Ted) but, as Dave found out, all the local teams were either not playing or playing away in the short time we were in town. On the way back into town, I spotted the gold dome of the Capitol so managed to get you a shot after all. They do have one, see?
As we drove around we also spotted a few reminders of the 1996 Olympics that were held in the city. This bridge over the road has the Olympic rings and torch. We passed the State Capitol Building again, this time and I got some much better shots, so you can stop whining now. Got to say there doesn’t seem to be a lot to see in Atlanta. Or, if there is, we didn’t see it. It was a pretty unexciting tour, but at least it was included – explains why Grayline don’t do a city tour, I guess. Or have any kind of presence here.
We then made a 70 minute stop at the Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site. We'd been to this spot before, a few years ago, on our Deep South tour with Jetsave, but we only had about twenty minutes here so really only looked at the gravesite. This time we’d be able to see more on the site, which is managed under the Park Ranger system. We started off in the Visitor Center, with a short movie about King’s life. He was born and raised in Atlanta, and became pastor in the church where his father and grandfather had been pastor (that's their faces in the stained glass windows of the church). Unimpressed with how poorly blacks were treated, compared with whites, he began to do something about it. He studied for a month in India with Ghandi and came to believe non-violence was the best way to achieve his aims.
The Freedom Road Exhibit is the Site's memorial to everyday people, known as "foot soldiers" of the Civil Rights Movement. It was their willingness to peacefully stand before water hoses, police batons, and to march that led to the success of the Movement.
In 1963, King gave his famous I have a dream speech on the mall in Washington, DC in front of about 200,000 people. Following President John F Kennedy’s death in 1963, his successor Lyndon B Johnson passed the Voting Rights Act 1965 which outlawed discriminatory practices which had disenfranchised African Americans in the US. King was gaining ground, yet more violent groups were also getting a higher profile. In 1968, he gave a speech at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis where he claimed in a speech “I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you...” and he was right. That evening, on the balcony outside of his room, he was shot and died later in hospital. He left behind an admirable legacy.
They have a few exhibits in the Center, including the two-mule caisson used in King’s funeral procession on 9 April 1968. The mules led 200,000 followers from Ebenezer Baptist Church to Morehouse College. I love that the record shows the names of the mules were “Belle” and “Ada.”
There was a small exhibition as well, but with our short time, I didn’t have the time to look at it too closely. Outside I spotted a large mural that covers various events from his lifetime.
He was born just down the road from the Visitor's Center - what a coincidence! Okay, okay, I know. Anyway, the house where he was born is a short walk from Ebenezer Baptist Church where both his father and grandfather worked as pastors - as would he. There is a two-storey detached (single-family) house with big porch surround. While we could walk up to the porch, we couldn’t go inside as you have to book a tour at the Visitor’s Center and, again, time was too short. There is a small gift shop next door where I bought a small booklet about the house - I like to try and show support where I can.
We walked back towards the Visitor’s Center, but on the other side of the road to the Memorial Park where I had previously visited. There’s a reflecting pool, reminiscent of the one on the Mall in Washington DC where he gave his I Have A Dream speech. Surrounded by the pool, on a platform, is the grave of King and his wife, Rosetta.
There is also an eternal flame lit here. Across the road, alongside the Historic Site is the new Ebenezer Church where they hold services and community events - they don't let us pesky tourists in there! Probably wise. On our side of the road was the old Ebenezer Baptist Church. We did have time to go into this, which was another first.
As you go in, you have to go upstairs and this brings you out on the main floor of the church (which you would normally expect to find on the ground floor). The floor falls away towards the front, giving the pews a tiered effect. I asked, and there is a community space underneath where they would hold Sunday School or community meetings.
This church has recently undergone extensive renovations and it was certainly worth it. It looks great. Either side of the staged area, are two stained glass windows, one portay’s King’s father and the other his grandfather, who had taken their places as pastor before King took up the position. There’s an additional seating area at the back, on a balcony.
When we'd seen enough, we headed to the little gift shop and bought a little something to support the church. We got an invite to a revival in the new church that evening, which was nice of them. Out of time, we headed back to the bus.
Our next stop was the Margaret Mitchell House. What do you mean, who? She wrote Gone With The Wind. No, not the movie, the book on which the movie was based. It was a best seller in it’s own right before the film became a phenomenon. Unfortunately, she sold the rights to the movie so, after the initial payment, she never made a dime from the movie. Well, unless you consider those who bought the book after seeing the movie, of course.
The apartment block was originally a single-family home on Peachtree Street but they picked it up and moved it over to Crescent Avenue, creating the Crescent Apartments. Margaret Mitchell took an apartment on the ground floor (first floor in American).
Once everyone was off the bus, we congregated outside the door of Mitchell’s apartment. There wasn't a lot of room and we were told it was going to be a little bit snug with everyone inside the apartment – all 28 of us and our guide. She was right, there is one main living room. In there there is a typewriter on a small table, but we weren't allowed to take photos - not sure why, they have photos on their website.
Before writing Gone With The Wind, she’d been a journalist, writing a gossip column for the Atlanta Journal but had had to quit when ankle problems re-surfaced and she became almost house-bound for a while. Her second husband would fetch her books to read from the library, but once she’d read them all he suggested “Why don’t you write your own?” So she did. IN this apartment. Sadly, none of the furniture in the room was hers, so it’s really just like it would have been rather than like it was.
I was quite surprised at the size of the bathroom in a one-bed apartment. It was pretty large, however the kitchen was fairly small. Apparently, Mitchell liked to entertain but didn’t like to cook. It’s said that by sticking with the small apartment, there was never any danger of friends overstaying their welcome. The guide said that Mitchell would sometimes hold parties for a hundred people which is why she thought the 28 of us would probably fit. I guess she was right.
The last room we saw was the bedroom. Someone said the bed looked small – and it probably was for her over-six foot tall husband, but it looked pretty good to me. Just right even! But they didn’t let me take a nap.
We exited the bedroom onto a porch area, which is now covered in but once would have been open to the elements. Built around this back part of the apartment is an exhibition room, with large photographs of Mitchell in her lifetime.
Mitchell came from wealthy parents, who also had a house on Peachtree Street. Even in her youth, she would write plays, novellas and stories. They had some replicas of those childhood stories on display. They did have the actual desk that she used at the Atlanta Journal, though the newspaper had had to cut the legs off as Mitchell was only four feet eleven inches tall. At least this was a genuine artefact.
There was a photo of her fiancée who was killed in the war, and also one of her then first husband with whom she had a short and violent marriage. She had been dating him and another guy at the same time. Eventually, the other guy would become husband number two. This time they were much better suited and were very happy together.
Once the novel was written, she was persuaded to show it to a publisher, who took it away with him to read. When she called to say she’d changed her mind he refused to listen, as he’d already begun to read it and thought it was good. He wanted to publish it.
The guide pointed out that, while Mitchell would claim the book was not autobiographical, there were certain elements of her life that do resonate with events in the book. Like when her mother fell ill while Mitchell was in college and Mitchell arrived home a day too late. A number of other instances were also referenced. Once published, Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937. It is claimed that the book has only been outsold by the Bible, which is pretty amazing, if true.
Once we’d seen all there was to see, we left the main building and crossed a grass courtyard to a second building. This room was dedicated to Gone With the Wind, the movie. I've never watched the entire film – it’s about four hours long and the characters are a bit nasty for my liking. Inside this room was the front door to the movie version of Tara. The plantation home of Scarlett O’Hara.
Our guide gave us a few quick words before leaving us to the exhibit and the movie playing in the background. When we’d seen the exhibits, including the full-height portrait of Scarlett - played by Vivien Leigh - on the wall, we sat down to watch a little of the Making of Gone With The Wind.
This was actually more interesting than I thought it would be. We couldn’t stay long, but we managed about ten minutes. There was stuff about the casting of Scarlett, with some interesting choices including Paulette Goddard and Jean Arthur. They also showed about the burning of Atlanta and how the effects were done. I could actually have watched all of this, though obviously I didn’t need to be in this museum to do so.
Time up, we headed back for the gift shop – nothing of interest to me, other than said Making of DVD but I didn’t bother to buy anything.
If I’m honest, Gone With The Wind has never held much appeal for me, and I’ve never watched the whole movie (all four hours or so of it). Overall, though, this is an interesting little museum. I did find Margaret Mitchell to be a person about which I’d like to learn more, but while I liked it, they did lose a Ted because of the dual guiding – two groups in virtually the same space being spoken two by separate guides at the same time. A bit distracting. Worse was when a guide brought in a group while we were watching the making of movie – as someone from our group pointed out to them!
Here’s one of those weird timing issues. We got seventy minutes at the Martin Luther King stop, with an exhibition, separate house, gravesite, church and not to mention gift shops. The Margaret Mitchell house is really a one-bedroom apartment with an annexe and yet we got 90 minutes at this second stop (although this was curtailed by fifteen minutes when we’d completed the tour quicker than expected). Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the Margaret Mitchell House, I just don't think we needed ninety minutes – in fact, Brenda cut the time by 15 minutes once we’d completed the tour ahead of schedule, so we only got seventy-five minutes after all! Anyway, enough of my moaning.
Our early departure meant we might just make it to the World of Coca Cola for the 1 o'clock VIP tour. When Brenda said we were being picked up from outside the World of Coca-Cola, we asked if we could be dropped off there too – the official stop was at CNN as they have a food court and people need lunch, right? She agreed and we were dropped outside Coke at about 12.50pm. Several others got off there too – no need to thank me.
Dave set off for the aquarium – he’d been told how good it was, but we were determined to go to the World of Coca-Cola. We ran to the ticket office, arriving about 12.55pm, to be told there was no 1 o'clock VIP tour today – hmph! She didn’t know why, she said. I suspect before us there hadn’t been any takers so they’d cancelled it, which was a bit annoying. That said, we saved $26 and figured we’d do the tour ourselves. They did have another tour at 3pm but, at ninety minutes, we wouldn't be done until 4.30pm and that was our bus pick-up time. A little too close for comfort!
Interestingly, they have security at Coke, pretty much like airport security and my guys carry a lot of stuff in their pockets. At least those nice sensitive security guys didn’t shove me through the x-ray machine. I got to be carried through. Makes a nice change.
The World of Coca Cola is set on two floors, with several numbered sections. We assembled in a room with a Coke delivery truck that had been donated. We had to wait for the next show time – about eight minutes. The Coke girl manning the door gave an announcement as the doors opened but we have no idea what she said. We asked if she said anything important but it seems not.
We walked into a room with lots of Coke symbols overhead, and memorabilia in cases around us. We walked down a ramp into a collection area where another Coke girl, this time with a tricky accent, began to tell us a little of the history of Coke. The big silver sign on the wall used to adorn the Corporate building.
Once she was done, we entered a small theatre to watch a short film. Seems they’d made a Coke advert with lots of animation and some guys in Amsterdam had made a longer version. They needn't have bothered on my account. I didn’t like the advert, or the movie. Didn’t really see the point of this stop, except to slow us down and give us value for money. There are far better Coke adverts out there, in my opinion.
The next stop was The Vault. This is all very nicely done, with a line to enter through a big silver door that does look like a big bank vault or similar. I liked the key hole – in the familiar shape of a Coke bottle. Pretty clever. They claim this vault exhibit, which only recently opened, gives the public the chance to be the nearest to the top secret Coke formula than they have ever been.
They have a little history about the formula. Asa Griggs Candler began buying shares in 1888 and within three years he was sole owner of the Coca-Cola secret formula. Later the formula was sent to New York where it was held as collateral against a loan - they had a vault, too!
A little further on, they were able to put me into a glass of Coke. Well, sort of. This was cool. By stepping in front of the camera, I’d appear onscreen amidst a whole load of bubbles. As I moved, the bubbles moved with me. I even took a very short movie for you to see! No idea how it works, but I want one!
Eventually, they let us into a circular room and projected a variety of Coke images onto the walls all around us. This was leading up to the big moment – the opening of the walls to reveal the Vault! Unfortunately, they don’t open the vault itself – didn’t really expect them to, but they did let us take photos, in front of the vault, so here I am. Sooo close. Hope you’re impressed.
There's an area where they explain the making of Coca-Cola. Invented by Atlanta pharmacist John S Pemberton, he was tinkering with a soft drink creation when he came across a new flavour, a cola. He didn't see it successful, however, as he sold the company in 1888 and died shortly thereafter. It's his recipe, in that vault. So it says, anyway.
Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, came up with the name - Coca-Cola - and created the brand image when he wrote the words in his own hand (subject to a bit of tweaking over the years!) The next section was about branding and the Coca-Cola iconography. I’ve never liked the old fashioned boy and girl stuff, but I guess it was popular in it’s day, but I like some of the other imagery.
They go on to say how Coca-Cola president, Asa Candler, sold the bottling rights to Coke for $1! Stupid? Well, I don’t think he was convinced of the need for portability for one thing, or how practical it would be, but by allowing someone else to take the risk – and win – he was able to spread the word of his product much, much further, no longer tied to the usual dispensers and soda fountains. Progress. It also meant he could sell the beverage concentrates around the world, with the bottling factories supplying the water and sweeteners.
Once they had Coke in bottles, it became possible to distribute Cokes in vending machines. Once they invented chilled ones, you could get an ice cold Coke almost anywhere. And only 5c, too! Great work. It didn't take them long to come up with that iconic bottle, either!
Into the 1980s, they seriously started expanding the product range, too.
The next stop on our tour was the Bottling Works. This is the smallest bottling line in the world – producing about twenty bottles a minute, rather than twelve-hundred per minute, which is the norm in a regular bottling plant. At twenty bottles a minute they produce around four thousand bottles a day and these are given, one each, to the guests at World of Coca-Cola. They vary the numbers created based on the numbers expected to visit on a particular day.
If you time it right, you can follow the system around, from delivering the empty bottles by crane, which are placed on a conveyor belt. One by one they pass through the filling machine, then the capping machine before heading up a spiral conveyor belt that takes them way up high again. Eventually, these get to the same crane again and it puts the bottles into a crate.
They also show a small lab where the contents can be tested to ensure they have the correct quantities of water, sugar and syrup so the consistency is correct. Wouldn’t want to spoil it.
The next stop should have been a photo-shoot with the Coke Polar Bear, but he must have been on a break. Instead it was the bendy-headed guy from that awful movie so we didn’t bother to stop. That was pretty much it for the ground floor, so we headed up the stairs – an elevator is also available, for those of you who aren't carried!
The next stop was a 4-D movie. I picked up my special glasses and headed in to the theatre. Technically, the movie was in 3-D, but with moving chairs that added the fourth dimension (Wasn’t that a band? No? Maybe it should be...) Now, I’ve never really seen the point of 3-D, I don’t really see it, so it leaves me a bit cold. However, as a bear, they did let me ride – it’s not very rough – so for you more adventurous bears, you can join in.
A room of Coca Cola collectibles is the following exhibit. Coca Cola branding means that the portrayal has created a lot of collectible stuff, and they had some of it in here. Including an American Idol Coca Cola sofa! You name it and you can probably find a Coke version of it – I loved the Coca Cola ceiling fan, where the fan blades are in the famous shape of a Coke bottle. It made me wonder if we should change the theme of the games room at the villa, but I don’t think so. We have a Disney theme going on. Besides, my Memphis assistant, Kelley, already has her own Coke room, I wouldn’t want to upstage her!
As we crossed the landing, I looked down to the lower floor and spotted the Coke Polar Bear was now back, taking photographs with guests, but I couldn’t be bothered to go back down the stairs so you’ll have to make do with this long distance photo instead.
It was then time for the final stop on the tour. The Taste Center. This is where you can taste more than sixty world Coke branded drinks. They are separated into regions – North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia, with dispensers for multiple drinks outlets on three sides. You grab a plastic (well, biodegradable organic) cup and off you go. Taking as much – or as little - as you want (little is generally enough!)
Talk about bedlam! With a number or school groups in there, there were a lot of kids around each of the dispensers, making it tricky to get to the next brand. They were more intent on getting as much as possible and damn everyone else so it was a bit of a struggle. To be honest, it was a bit of a nightmare, with all the yelling kids and loud music, so it caused me to drop ‘em a Ted. I know it’s not their fault per se, but they were responsible for letting all these kids in at once – and for the loud music.
About fifty shots of Coke-products later and I was starting to feel a little sick. A lot of the drinks were not so good, and some were positively disgusting! There were a couple of nice ones, but really, out of so many I can’t imagine how they sell them. Then we found the ‘proper Coke’ area. A selection of Coca Cola Classic (America’s regular Coke drink), diet Coke, diet Coke with lime, Coke Zero, Cherry Coke and a couple of others. Phew, this was more like it. We grabbed a regular drink and sat down to recover.
We still had an hour to kill before our bus pick-up, so we grabbed our ‘free’ bottle of Coke – a commemorative edition to celebrate opening of the Vault - that’s the launch of the exhibit, not the actual opening of the Vault. They have a vast gift shop. All kinds of stuff that you’ll have seen before and a whole lot more. Way more. They had some really nice commemorative bottles, but I didn’t really think we’d get them home without breaking them. Overall however, the prices were way too high for me. It was $4.50 for a fridge magnet! The only thing I found affordable was a $2.95 shot glass, but I was too annoyed by their greed at this point to buy anything. So, we took our bottles of Coke and left.
We took a look at Pemberton Place, just outside from World of Coca-Cola across the Place was the Georgia Aquarium.()* Dave gave it an *honorary four Teds for me, but he couldn’t be bothered to give a full report, so you'll have to take his word for it.
We had a few more minutes before the bus was due, so we crossed over to take a quick look at Centennial Olympic Park – built as part of the 1996 Games, but we couldn’t stay long. We’d seen it before anyway.
After we had returned to the hotel, we decided to go to a nearby Pizza Hut for dinner – it was just a short walk away. It was a bit of a fiasco all round, I guess. They didn’t serve beer or wine, despite beer being on the menu, and the waitress didn’t know why, oh yeah, and they were out of personal pizzas! How does Pizza Hut run out of pizzas? Heck, they could have run across to Target and got some from their Pizza Hut outlet – probably we should have done that, too. Anyway, despite everything, we were too lazy to go anywhere else.
They did have a “box meal” offer with cheesy bread sticks, a pizza and cinnamon sticks for $10, which sounded like a good deal. Dave ordered a medium Italian pizza – I’d hate to see large!! We didn't make it to the cinnamon sticks that evening though as the pizza was pretty filling. At least that meant tomorrow’s lunch was sorted.
The service was okay, a very pleasant lady, but they were out of so much – or just didn’t sell it. I thought I knew where I was with a Pizza Hut. So, I had to dock them a couple of Teds.
Then it was back to the room to chill for the evening.
