Discover Happiness @ World of Coke Tour: Atlanta, Georgia

My daughter Trina was able to bag a research assistant post at the University of Georgia in Atlanta. Having come from the glacier cruise in Anchorage, Alaska, we took a ‘red-eye’ flight to Atlanta via Delta Airlines, operated by Alaska Airlines, with a stopover in Seattle. With the different time zones from west to east, I forgot how many hours we spent waiting in airports and travelling on air. We just found ourselves retiring to bed right after dinner in our Atlanta hotel.  

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, the busiest airport in the world.

Centennial Inn, Cone St. NW, Atlanta, the CNN building (L) and Omni hotel (R).

I could not contain my excitement the following morning because my childhood friend and classmate, May Guanzon-Godfrey, was about to pick us up from our hotel. May, up to the present, is based in Southern California and graciously offered to host us in this part of the USA. 

Me (L) and May (R) in Pemberton Place, Atlanta, right in front of the World of Coke building, our first-stopover in Georgia.

Coke fans, all over the world should be excited to visit the World of Coke in Pemberton Place which was completed in 2007. Here, we were able to discover the captivating story of the world’s most famous beverage, except for the formula of making Coke, which, most of us know is one of the world’s best kept secrets. Admission ticket costs $16/adult and $12/child. 

The World of Coke building.

Me at the lobby with the names of Coke in different languages.

Truly, an international brand, the lobby shows off photos of the different faces of people who drink Coke. Photo below shows Trina with the people drinking coke from all over the world.

The lobby also features these beautifully designed bottles as shown in the background.

Inside The Loft, a guide explained to the guests about what to expect inside the exhibit areas. The Loft also featured Coke artifacts from the past.  

The friendly guide. 

The Guide and me in the Loft.

Coke artifacts.

Old Coke bottles.

From the Loft we went in the theater where we were treated to a 6-minute film about Coke and the happiness it brings to the world. “It features nine mini-stories of people in various life stages and cultures experiencing universal moments of happiness (http://www.worldofcoca-cola.com/exhibits/moments-happiness-film/).

We, then proceeded to the exhibit area. In the exhibit is the delivery truck (below). These yellow trucks were used to deliver the popular cola to their customers. The delivery truck is an example of a dramatic style of the late 1940s truck design.

Delivery truck in the 1940s.

A description of how Coke was invented is explained below (L) while the popularity of the original Coke is depicted on the newspaper clipping (below R).

How is Coke made? The process of making Coke is shown below. The exhibit also features the different tests made to ensure the quality of every bottle of Coke. 

Coke lovers! We come to the most awaited portion: the free taste of more than 100 flavors of coke produced around the world. 

Trying out the most ordinary and the most outrageous Coke flavors.

Different Coke flavors around the world.

Photo below shows me (L) and May (R) at our bonding moment while tasting the different Coke flavors.

Aside from numerous “interactive experiences, video highlights, images and descriptions”, each guest gets a chance to take home a FREE commemorative 8-ounce bottle of Coca-Cola. Should you want more souvenir items, you can purchase them from the Coca-Cola store. I bought a baseball bat for my husband, Leo, because he is a fan of baseball. Photo below shows the bottles of Coke that each guest could take home.

There are many interesting things to learn and see at the World of Coke exhibition, specially, if you’re a fan of Coca-Cola. Tickets may be bought at their ticket booth or you may purchase your tickets online at their website (http://www.worldofcoca-cola.com/purchase-tickets/). Their website also provides information about your different concerns about the World of Coke tour. 

Why Hunt Ghosts in Greenville, South Carolina

We were in South Carolina because we ‘invited’ ourselves to my friend’s territory, as my childhood friend, May Godfrey, could not help but offer her house to us for a short stay. May accompanied us around parts of South Carolina, including an out-of-this-world adventure: the Greenville Ghost Tour. The Philippines has enough ghost stories to scare us, but hunting for Greenville ghosts was surely an intriguing adventure.

Since, the tour would involve about one-and-a-half hours of walking, May thought that we should have dinner first. It was also a good time to meet her daughter, Camille and husband, Mike Hammond. Camille and Trina, my daughter, were classmates in their kindergarten days in the Philippines. We were also joined by Lei, our Asian friend. Since, May had been pumping us with food the whole day we contented ourselves with chips and iced tea.

(L-R) Me and May munching on chips before the tour.

(L-R) May, Camille, Mike, Lei and Trina.

Greenville has been fast becoming popular with tourists. A one-of-a-kind adventure that tourists choose to do is the Greenville Ghost Tour. Led by Jason Profit, “a psychic and paranormal researcher, the tour he created is an amazing tour of lovely downtown Greenville, South Carolina. The tour provides interesting yet chilling things about this gorgeous southern town in this exclusive haunting and historical city (http://greenvilleghost.com/).”

The tour started at around 8:00 pm in front of the Army-Navy store on Main Street in the West End of Greenville. Jason led us into downtown Greenville where ghosts have been reportedly seen. Accordingly, “there was room 1408 where a ghost killed a resident. The elevator of this same building plummeted down four floors in 2009 (http://greenvilleghost.com).”

Another haunting story according to Jason was “about the founder of a local business who reached out from beyond the grave to speak the names of local radio personalities during a historic paranormal investigation.  Moreover, the tour provides some of the shocking evidence uncovered on one of Greenville’s most haunted blocks (http://greenvilleghost.com/.”

                It was still light when we started this Ghost Tour. It was not the most appropriate time to be scared. But even as we finished the tour in front of Hyatt Regency Hotel, I did not feel goose bumps nor did I get any hints of any sightings to make me fear the ghosts of Greenville. We reviewed the pictures that we took, anticipating mysterious lights or orbs to signify the presence of ghosts, but we were disappointed. The famous Greenville ghosts did not show up in our tour. We got tired walking around Greenville for more than 1 and ½ hours, but we appreciated that we were able to see much of the history and architecture of this fast rising city. Admittedly, I don’t have the ‘feel’ for ghosts. But there are some who can see ghosts. Maybe they should try this Ghost Tour in Greenville. For after all, to see is to believe.

A urinal on the street.

For your tickets to the Ghost Tour, you can buy online at their website (http://greenvilleghost.com/). Ticket costs $20/adult and $10/child. The Ghost Tour is open all-year-round. Who knows, the Greenville ghosts might show up when you visit.

Visit and Enjoy the World’s Biggest Aquarium: Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta

My childhood friend, May Godfrey, has been residing in South Carolina for quite a while. So when she learned that my daughter Trina and I would be in Atlanta, Georgia, she immediately volunteered to pick us up and take us around this part of town. When in Atlanta, a visit to the Georgia Aquarium, the world’s biggest, is a must. And so May, dutifully brought us there. Photo below shows us (standing L, May; R, Trina; sitting, me) outside the Georgia Aquarium, Pemberton Place.

The Georgia Aquarium is home to more than 100,000 animals, representing 500 species, all of which reside in 10 million US gallons (38,000 m³) of marine and fresh water. Each entrance ticket for adults costs around $32 and $26 for children (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Aquarium). Photo shows part of the interior of the aquarium. Notice the changing color of the lights that provides for a delightful aquarium atmosphere.

The aquarium is grouped and named accordingly: Ocean Voyager, Georgia-Pacific Cold Water Quest, River Scout, Tropical Diver, Georgia Explorer, and Dolphin Tales. Before the entrance to the main exhibition area, we were amused to find these pompano and trevally, as they are popular dishes in the Philippines whether, grilled, steamed or fried. 

Inside, is the Georgia Explorer. This gallery is a highly interactive gallery with touch pools full of horseshoe crabs, sea stars, stingrays and shrimp. The touch pool offers the guests an opportunity to touch an animal they may have only seen in books or on television. The sandy bottom represents a coastal region where several species of sharks and rays can be found (http://animalguide.georgiaaquarium.org/home/galleries/georgia-explorer/exhibits). Photo below shows a stingray at the touch pool.

Beside the Georgia Explorer is the River Scout. In the River Scout gallery, we discovered a wide diversity of animals found in the rivers of Africa, South America, and Asia. Interesting animals in this gallery are the albino alligator in the picture below (L) and the man-eating piranha(R).

We walked further along the aquarium and found ourselves inside the Georgia-Pacific Cold Water Quest gallery. This gallery showcases animals found in cold marine waters. What we found were these interesting mix (photo below: upper L, Japanese Spider Crab; upper R, Garibaldi; lower L, Beluga Whales; lower R, Weedy Sea Dragon).

We walked past the food court, where guests could take refreshments, into the Ocean Voyager.  This is an interesting area because we walked through an acrylic tunnel and a gigantic acrylic viewing window where we witnessed thousands of fish swimming overhead and in front of us (photo below L-R). With 4,574 square feet of viewing windows, a 100-foot-long underwater tunnel, 185 tons of acrylic windows and the second largest viewing window in the world at 23 feet tall by 61 feet wide and 2 feet thick, visitors have multiple opportunities to view all of these magnificent animals (http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/explore-the-aquarium/exhibits-and-galleries/ocean-voyager.aspx).

 

 We were specially intrigued by the whale sharks, the largest fish in the world, because my husband comes from the ‘Whale Shark Capital’ of the Philippines, Donsol, Sorsogon. Donsol is also a diver’s paradise to swim with manta rays. Photos L-R: (upper) Trina seriously viewing the fish overhead the round acrylic; manta ray, (lower L-R) whale shark and other species, and me pointing at the whale shark.

 The last gallery that we visited was the most relaxing and the most colorful, the Tropical Diver. It is home to one of the largest tropical coral reefs on display in the world. Photos L-R: Yellow Tang, Bartlet’s Anthias, Lagoon Jelly, Lion’s Mane Jelly and Garden Eel (below). The background photo is a large living coral reef. Benches are provided for guests to take a seat and drink-in the view.