Angel

     A weekend trip to Atlanta last June 23-25 was more than just the basketball Bong and Enyel had to play.  Unlike the last time, we were able to tour the streets of Atlanta.                       

       Starting off on Friday night, June 23, before heading to donnie’s house, we added a waypoint to the Centennial Olympic Garden.  We’re not able to go to the fountain area since there is an event going on and there are lots of people out there, we just went to the Statue of whoever that was.. hehe.. to take our picture and the fantastic view of Atlanta by night. The tiresome 7-hour travel was forgotten when we came by Downtown Atlanta and we were literally awed by uniquely designed architecture and their lights.  Anyways, buildings in Atlanta are most beautiful by night and are just plain by day.  The lights give them a sort of life.

     After a few minutes of staying at the park, we headed to Donnie’s home where we had sinigang and crispy pata.  We soo missed sinigang, ate Mel’s version is very tastful. Eversince I got here i just cooked sinigang twice, I don’t know why… maybe coz it’s too hard to find kangkong out here.  I might cook one after we got settled in our new apartment (different entry).

     The next day, Saturday June 24, we woke up early to get ready for the  Basketball Tournament in Atlanta where Enyel and Bong joined.  We were pressuring them to win since it took us 7 hours just so they can play basketball.  Nonetheless, they lost in I think, 6 points. In the first few minutes they were overthrown by 26 points, but they made it up to just 6 points with their fastbreaks.  I’m not really familiar with the games’ rules and jargons, but I really enjoyed watching the game and cheering for our guys.  It’s just so sad that only ate Mel, Irene and I watched the game plus the kids, it would’ve been very nice if their (the players’) wives were there.

     After the game, we just had lunch and headed off to the Georgia State  Capitol.  The gold-domed Capitol Building is just as fascinating, with Miss Freedom, a 22 1/2 foot statue atop the dome.  It’s nice to have a bit of a historical tour, only if we know the history of the capitol..hehe… all I know is that it houses the governor’s office and the state legislature and that it is made of Indiana limestone and Georgia marble and it stands 240 feet high from the rotunda floor.  I wonder who was the statue right at the back of Bong riding a horse…

    After marvelling the Capitol’s beauty, we headed off to the mountains.. er… the Stone Mountain Park which took us almost 45 minutes from the State Capitol.   Well, what can I say… the view from the top was heavenly, and the cable car ride was quite an experience…the first one was good, but the ride back was bad… well, we stood side by side with stinking guys.. eew… I never will stand beside any I_d_ _ n ever!!! 

     We rode the cable car at around 8pm, and they were closing at 8:30 which means we have to get in the line for the ride back before 8:30 to save us the energy of going down from the mountain by stairs.  So we just spent about 5 minutes atop of the mountain… the views are as I have said, heavenly… it’s kinda like singing the Carpenter’s Top of the World… well, we’re just on the top of Georgia…hehe…

   The following day was our day to go back to Raleigh, so we went to Downtown once again for the last minute tours.  Our first stop is the CNN Center where we were not able to tour inside  because we don’t have the time to do it anymore… so we just had a couple of pictures outside and at the entrance where different shops stood.  We did a little shopping inside and went out with the usual:  keychain for my collection, fridge magnet for bong’s collection, a CNN shirt for me (I once dreamed of being a reporter) and a collector’s pen for Bong.

     Last stop : World of Coca-Cola.  Well, Coke has been part of every Filipinos’ life, whether here, or back home, and I think the Coke people know this coz right upon entering the building’s 3rd floor, our flag greets everyone right at the doorstep.  The Coke museum was just small, they just featured Coke’s history (malamang!), how the bottles were embossed, and the all time favorite - Coke tasting!!! As if we don’t know how Coke tastes like huh, well, no…. there are 40 different kinds of Coke products here, from all over the world.  When you taste some of the Coke products, like  the Ginger Beer from South Africa (sorry), you’ll know why it’s not available in our country… try it so you’d know. hehe…

     We planned on going to Gaffney, SC for some outlet shopping, but the weather was so horrible that we just went on driving straight to Charlotte where we celebrated with our friends for Anni’s Baby Shower.

So that’s it, a tiring but exciting Georgia trip.  We’ll be back for the aquarium though coz we were not able to get a ticket for this trip (SOLD OUT).  I wonder where our feet will take us to next time.

Ciao!