Atlanta Was Epic

We arrived in Atlanta, grungy and shell shocked from the swamps of Georgia's coastal islands. All of us were covered in hundreds of bug bites, mostly sand gnats with some mosquitoes thrown in there for variety. The kids were fed up with camping and the grown ups were somewhat fed up with the kids. We had been invited to stay with our friend Marisa in her Atlanta apartment. Little did we know that Marisa now lives in a gorgeous executive style apartment on the eleventh floor with huge windows that look towards downtown Atlanta. When we finally got past the confusion of the concierge downstairs we were greeted by an amazing late afternoon view, and a sweet welcome sign made by Marisa herself.

Marisa's Beautiful Apartment

She set us up with wonderful beds for everyone, our own bathroom and a fridge full of yummy produce, which anyone who has traveled through the south will know is a grand necessity after all the fried and bacon encrusted southern style cooking.

Our first night we stayed in and had a great homemade meal. The next day we were ready for adventure. Elijah started by taking the kids to the swimming pool which is on the roof twenty stories up. Then when they got back and we were all dressed and presentable Marisa steered us towards downtown Atlanta to visit the largest aquarium in the country. We were surprised to discover that the city was hoping that day and we would get to witness all sorts of other sites as well.

It began with the crowds heading towards a college football bowl game. Auburn was playing and thousands of people were out in the streets dressed in orange and blue. A southern football crowd is quite a site. It was like a special holiday (of course it was labor day weekend to top it off) all the people excited, every parking lot full to overflowing with tailgate parties, women wearing cute summer dresses in the team colors, sports bars with lines out the door. The parking lots were so full that Marisa led us towards the CNN parking lot where she works.

We walked through the CNN building to get to the aquarium. It was like a small city inside the building. The food court includes an array of restaurants and a huge open space with offices rising on all sides, like something out of Blade Runner but without the rain. She pointed to the office where she works on the way past, but the place was filled with football fans waiting for the game to begin within the comfort of the air conditioned building. It was total chaos. Someone should definitely film a thriller inside that building during an event. It's got all of the proper stressful emotions for that sort of a film.

When we left the CNN building we headed towards Centennial Park, the aquarium is just on the other side of the park so we thought it would be a quick way through. But today the park had a free concert and we had to stop and get searched in order to pass through. Later that night on the way out we heard Smash Mouth playing on the stage, a very small audience, guess they are now no longer the hit band they once were.

We wanted to get to the aquarium quickly because the whole place was going to shut down early that day to allow the Dragon Con people who were having an evening event at the aquarium to come in. As it was we already began to see lots of people in science fiction costumes throughout the area.

The aquarium was huge and crowded and filled with product placement signs all over the entire building. The kids absolutely loved the marine animals, and we grown ups were pretty into it too.

Marisa works really hard, even on weekends

We all especially liked the large tank with the wales and sharks in it, and the otters.

Eli: We went to a aquarium. My favorite thing was the otters. There were two types of otters, river otters, and sea otters. The sea otters refused to leave the water. The river otters on the other hand refused to get in the water, but it didn't make them any less cute.

The Otters Move So Fast It's Hard to Get a Picture of Them

I Had To Settle For Pictures of the Kids' Reactions To Them

The Asian Land Otters Were Even Harder to Take Pictures of Because They are Farther Away From the Glass

But You Can Tell How Cute They Are By the Expressions of These People

The one thing we found unimpressive was the dolphin show. A quasi Broadway/Disney/Magic show with the occasional jumping dolphin. As Izzy put it, "I didn't expect there to be singing, and I didn't expect it to be so dark, I expected there to be more dolphins, doing tricks and stuff." Definitely not worth the time, and a little embarrassing and at times uncomfortable and weird.

One of the Rare Moments In Which Dolphins Were Actually Doing Something In the Dolphin Show

Though there was one moment when the synchronized dolphin trainers were jumping into the water and swimming and I had the impression that the dolphins were choreographing the humans doing tricks, and it was a pleasant reversal. But then the guy started singing again and put on a multicolored electrified cape and the pleasant moment was over.

After the aquarium we had dinner at a burger place in the park and watched all sorts of people roaming through Centennial Park and playing in the fountain as the warm evening sun set.

We finished the day with amazing gourmet ice cream at a place called Morelli's. It was a good day in the city. Atlanta is definitely interesting, though it seems more just city and less specifically southern than a lot of the other places we have been in the south.

Fort Pulaski on a Rainy Day

On Friday we went to visit Fort Pulaski just outside of Savannah, GA. The Fort was captured from the Confederates during the Civil War and became a strong hold and prison for the Union. I was curious to see how this Union history would be presented in a southern state. The boys were very excited to see a real fort.

The excitement was palpable as we approached the fort. It was a tidy brick structure with perfect lines but the moat and the narrow slit windows were reminiscent of a medieval fortress.

When you first cross over the moat there are grassy mounds that hide the entrance to the fort. Underneath these mounds is a labyrinthian series of passages leading to storage rooms used to house munitions.

The steps going up out of the passages were slick from the rain. When you first come up out of the ground there is a sense of relief.

The relief turns to confusion when as we were presented with another passage. The only other option was to climb over the wall and jump into the moat.

Fort Pulaski is a noted technological military victory. The union used a howitzer gun which blasted holes into the masonry walls of the fort, that had been safely out of range of other older weapons. When you first walk through the entry to the fort you are greeted by the howitzer pointing directly at you.

Brick was not used to build forts after this. The tidy brick lends itself to a feeling that the ancient systems of protection were transforming into a modern more rational structure. The boys were extremely excited by all of the big cannons.

There was a strange beauty to the red brick colonnades juxtaposed against the lush green lawns of Georgia.

The kids looked in every room of the fort. The barracks and officers quarters as well as the guard house. The signs posted to describe the various rooms emphasis the places where furniture was used that had been confiscated from southern homes by the union soldiers.

The views of the moat from every window was picturesque but also an interesting reminder that this is a protected space. Apparently alligators show up in the moat when the waters are low.

When we first arrived we were informed that there would be a musket demonstration at 3:30. We hovered near by so that we could see it.

I was surprised when the ranger who came out to give the demonstration was in Union garb. I did not expect that after so many days traveling through Confederate country. It turned out that the man was recently in the military. He did not have a heavy southern accent, I was not brave enough to ask if he was from the south. He was very friendly and gave a very interesting lecture on the uses and technology of the guns used at the fort, and during the Civil War.

The gun he is shooting is a Springfield. The union army had a contract with Springfield. At one point they were making a 1000 guns a day to provision the troops. The firing mechanism is a little cap that is not different from the caps used for toy cap guns. It's very loud when fired so we all had to cover our ears. Afterwards the ranger had a mouthful of gun powder. It turns out that shooting these old guns is messy. He had gun powder all over him. He was very friendly about answering all of Eli's questions about historical weapons.

These narrow windows are reminiscent of the archery windows in ancient castles.

We were allowed to go up on the battlements and look at the cannons.

It was raining, but after the muggy heat the night before we were glad of the cool rain. The mosquitoes kept biting us even in the rain.

The grooves in the floor are set to reposition the cannons which are on big wheels. They can be angled in any direction from the windows of the fort. Only a few cannons were positioned for display, but I imagined the intensity of an entire two story row of guns blasting out from the fort in battle. I wonder if the men who fought here lost their hearing early.

One of the striking exhibits within the fort was the prison. During the war Fort Pulaski became a holding tank for Confederate prisoners. The display of this section of the fort was filled with pathos. Set up to make it clear how horrible conditions were. I can't imagine sitting in that heat for years at a time, no protection from the bugs. The only thing worse would be the windowless powder room that had been turned into a prison farther over in the corner of the structure.

The plane bunks of prisoners of war doesn't seem to change. There is a language of austerity that humans use to state how much or how little they value the individuals sleeping in any given bed. The only difference between these beds and the guard quarters was the lack of paint used on these beds.

Izzy became silent and thoughtful while walking through the prison section. He has been mostly very loud and talkative over the last couple weeks, in a constant state of motion.

Eli listening to a recorded story of Confederate soldiers attempting to flee the prison, only to be caught and brought back. The recording made a point to mention, by name, men from a number of southern states. There was a continuous struggle within the narrative of the fort displays as to whether this was a display of "northern aggression" or a display of the military prowess of the union "triumphing over the south." In the end it came off as fairly balanced, but I still am uncertain whether this was the intention, or simply the artifact of the internal conflict that comes from a southern display of northern history.

It rained the entire time we were in the fort. The effect was to make the brick building seem that much more like a European castle.

One room displayed the kegs of gun powder that would have been stored in the fort. My little racoons were especially excited to go into this room and pose for a picture. These kids get a little excited about weapons.

Apart from the moat one of the most striking ancient remnants to the fort was the drawbridge and entry gate.

On the way out we examined the moat, looking at the creatures living in the water. Mostly fish and crabs.

One of the most interesting facts about the fort came to us when we were leaving. It turns out that the military is often far more progressive than the rest of a country. This often comes from the necessity of needing men who will hold guns, but it should be noted that in our own times it is the military that has begun to openly prepare for the issues that may come from global warming while the government still debates whether there is such a thing. Just something to think about.

The Pirate House in Savannah

by  Elijah & Rebekah

One of Elijah's co-workers insisted that the Pirate House was an essential point of interest when visiting Savannah. Including the oldest building in Georgia, the Pirate House is a collection of old houses on a corner of Savannah's historic district. It is now a restaurant that serves quite good southern food. The part of the restaurant that had once been an inn actually used to serve a clientele that included the pirates who sailed the waters of the Georgia Coastal Islands.

The restaurant is fun, all the menu items have been pirated up and there is a pirate who roams the tables interacting with the customers and entertaining the children. On our night the pirate was a woman which thrilled Hannah who immediately dubbed her a pirate princess.

Is the theme restaurant a specifically american experience? Do other countries have restaurants where you get to play pirate? We often talk of this kind of high level make believe as a "Disney experience". Here we are being pirates:

The real treasure at the pirate house? The biscuits. Really good biscuits. Biscuits so good, you want to move to Georgia. Biscuits that are as good as croisants.

Thanks Mike!

Advertising Works

After a day in the shadow of sprite billboards in downtown Atlanta, both boys insisted on soda instead of ice cream. Q.E.D.

Toy cars

Eli and izzy realized that from 20th floor, cars look like toys, and start discussing which one they want: