Atlanta -- Georgia Aquarium & Centennial Olympic Park

In our determination to find more to do in Atlanta, we decided to check out the Georgia Aquarium.  Our friends, Tim & Denise, and Denise’s Mom and Step-Dad went with us.  The Georgia Aquarium is advertised as being the largest indoor aquarium in the US, and it certainly appeared large and overwhelming as we walked through the entrance.

The large central area is home to the Gift Shop (a.k.a. the Exit, in Disney-style) and the Food Court/Restaurant area, as well as several Customer Service Counters . . . where you can get a map and figure out how to tackle all of the exhibits. 

We decided to start in the Cold Water Quest, home to the Beluga Whales, Penguins and other cold water creatures.

The Beluga Whales were so cute, and probably my favorite of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one really liked the little kids, and kept coming right up to the glass to look at them!

We dragged ourselves away from the belugas and continued on to the penguins, who were also very cute,

and then the seahorses and giant crabs.

Tom was wondering how many crabcakes he could get out of that guy!!

 

By the time we exited the Cold Water Quest, it was almost noon and our plan was to get our packed lunch out of the car and go over to Centennial Olympic Park to watch the Fountain of Rings Show at 12:30 and eat our lunch, and then be back in time for the Dolphin Tales Show at 1:30pm.  The others didn’t want to make the walk over to the park, so it was just the 3 of us.

We walked past the World of Coke, heading towards Olympic Centennial Park.

It’s a beautiful park,

 

with lawns and gardens, sculptures,

and the remnants of the 1996 Olympics at the far end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 5 Olympic Torches encircled the Fountain of Rings, along with the flags of all the countries that participated in the 1996 Olympics.

There are benches all around the Fountains, so we sat and ate our lunch while we waited for the 12:30 show. 

The fountains run all the time, and kids run around in the water, but several times each day, the area is closed and the fountains are choreographed to music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water show was really good, and only 15 minutes long so we easily made it back to the Aquarium in time for the Dolphin Show at 1:30.

We found the others when we got back inside, and managed to get seats together in the auditorium.  We had to sit pretty high up, but we were right in the center, so the view was pretty good.

 

The “storyline” was a little hokey, but the dolphin performers were really amazing!  We weren’t allowed to use a flash, and with the low lighting and quick movements of the dolphins, it was difficult to catch many good pictures.  I got a couple marginal ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We all really enjoyed the show, and it’s definitely not to be missed . . . and they only offer it once per day.

After the show, we walked through the other exhibits.  First was the River Exploration, with lots of colorful fresh and saltwater fish from around the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were also otters,

alligators (which we couldn’t see very well through the crowd, but we’ve seen enough of them in Florida!), and the ever-popular Piranha.

They really look harmless!

Next up was the Tropical Reef, where we saw more colorful fish,

and even more colorful coral.

Our last stop was the Ocean Voyager Exhibit, which is the largest tank in the world.  It’s 3 football fields long, and I can’t remember how many gallons of water it holds, but it’s a LOT.

They have 4 whale sharks in this tank, which are the largest fish in the ocean.  These guys are still juveniles, too – they are not anywhere near full grown yet!

There are also several giant manta rays, and they were really interesting to watch – so graceful as they just glide along in the water.

There was one that kept doing somersaults in front of the glass – it was pretty cool!

The other fish in the tank just follow along behind the big whale sharks . . . apparently they are not threatened at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could have sat and watched these guys all afternoon. 

 

We were just in time to watch the whale sharks get fed, and if they hadn’t had somebody there talking about it, we almost wouldn’t have noticed.  There were people in rafts on the surface dropping scoops of food into the water for each of the 4 whale sharks.  They swam along behind the raft with their mouth open, sucking in the food and water.  They are called filter feeders, because the filter the food out of the water and then blow the water back out through their gills.  It was pretty cool to watch!

 

 

Bryce was getting hungry then, too, so we decided to get an early dinner of burgers and shakes at Johnny Rockets across the street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a pretty good day spent playing tourist in Atlanta!

A couple of nice celebrations

 

There’s been a steady stream of RVers moving out over the last couple of weeks, and it’s really starting to quiet down around here . . . but try to drive through Ft. Myers on a Friday afternoon, and you’ll doubt if anybody has left town!!

Our time here is winding down too, and we’ve been wrapping up a few projects that we’ve got going, and getting a list of maintenance items ready to be done over the summer.

 

 

 

Even with temperatures reaching into the 90s, it’s been quiet at the pool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took time out on Saturday to make our Easter Bread, even though I’ll probably have to make it again when we get to Charleston . . . it’s Nicolas’ favorite!

 

We sent some Easter treats to Nicolas with his quilt, and Bryce got his own little stash . . . can you guess what his favorite Easter candy is??  We had to get a box of each color!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The organized activities in the Resort are done for the season, but Bryce still has a small group to play pickleball with a few morning a week, and we had enough people to get together for an Easter potluck dinner.  The resort offered to supply a few hams for dinner, but the Activity Director wasn’t going to be here, so Tom and I offered to take charge of the dinner.

We got the hams in roaster pans when we got back from church, and decorated the tables with “Easter nests”.  At 1pm, everyone started to gather for some social time,

 

and Bryce made sure that the buffet table was ready.  As usual with a potluck, we had LOTS of delicious food!

Nobody left hungry, and Bryce got a full container of ham to have for lunch all week . . . but fortunately we ate dinner early enough that everyone was ready to go back in the evening for the Sunday night treat – homemade ice cream! 

 

 

 

 

It’s time to start clearing out the refrigerators and freezers, too, so when the Activity Director noticed a whole case of frozen hamburger patties, she decided to have a Pool Party/Cookout on Wednesday.  With temperatures reaching the 90s this week, it was a good day to be at the pool!

Several of the guys fired up the grill, and in addition to burgers, they also grilled bacon and mushrooms to put on the burgers . . . delicious!

It may have been a little smoky, but the burgers were great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, there was no shortage of food, and we had a great turnout on this beautiful afternoon!

Our friends from home, Todd & Sue, and their kids Josh and Kylie, are visiting Ft. Myers Beach for spring break this week, so they joined us for the cookout and pool party, and spent the afternoon at the resort.

We visited them at the beach, too, but that will be a blog post of it’s own!

Volunteer Appreciation Picnic, Tire Covers, and a visit with friends

Saturday was the Florida Park Service, District 4, Volunteer Appreciation Picnic at Lake Manatee State Park in Bradenton.  It wasn’t too far from where we are in Thonotosassa, so we made plans to meet up with our Lovers Key friends and enjoy a day of fun & food!  Other than Gloria and Katie, who were working,

we were the 1st of our group to arrive at the park.  We gave the games a try, and did pretty well, earning ourselves a few prizes.

The paddle game was the easiest, as Bryce demonstrated.

Tom and Nicolas had a little trouble with that one, but even after dropping the balls a few times, they managed to finish in the 1-minute time limit.

I tried it then, and blew them all away . . . I guess it was all those years of carrying coffee to my Dad . . . steady hands!

Next up was the lampshade game . . . it certainly looked silly, but was fairly easy.

Pam got into the act, too, and easily docked the lampshade with Bryce’s directions!

The last game involved rolling a ping pong ball down a tape measure into 3 little cups . . . we all had about the same level of success on that one! 

The first cup was fairly easy, but nobody could get get it into the other two.

By the time we made several attempts on that game, it was time to move to the pavilion for the Award Ceremony and lunch.  Each of the Park Managers had a minute or two to recognize their volunteers, and awards were presented for Long and Short-Term Volunteer Projects. 

The Lovers Key team of volunteers won the short-Term Project Award for the “Bridge to the Beach”.

That’s the point at which my camera battery died, so I couldn’t get a picture of the group receiving their award . . . I think we had the biggest group of volunteers at the picnic, though!

After the awards were done, it was time for lunch.  We enjoyed a delicious catered lunch of pulled pork or BBQ chicken, and then too a tram tour of the park where we learned about how fire is used to control and manage the plants in the park. 

By the time our tram tour completed, the picnic was wrapping up, so we said our final good-byes to our Lovers Key friends (for now), and headed out.

We had made plans to meet up with Rick & Kathy, who we had met at the RV-Dreams 4th of July gathering back in 2010 at Thunder Bay in Michigan, so we gave them a call as we left the picnic to let them know that we were on our way. 

They had just arrived at an RV Park in Largo, FL, so we got to experience the drive over the Sunshine Skyway bridge.  Nicolas was driving on Saturday, so that was a brand-new experience for him!

 

 

We met Rick & Kathy at the Chick-Fil-A just down the road from their RV Park, and all enjoyed chicken nuggets and milkshakes – YUM!  Afterwards, we followed them back to their RV where we continued to catch up on each others’ travels and we saw their new RV and the modifications that Rick has made to it.  He’s pretty handy . . . I wouldn’t mind being parked next to them so he could take care of some projects for us, too!

As the sun fell lower in the sky, it started getting chilly, and we needed to get back to our RV to rescue Casey from her crate where she had spent the day.  It was time to say good-bye, but hopefully our paths will cross again . . . and sooner than 2-1/2 years from now!

On Sunday, we got the laundry done and made our new tire covers from the fabric we bought at Beasley Manufacturing on Thursday.  We have one more to make as soon as we get a couple more suction cups, but what we did finish looks pretty good.

We need to add one more section over that first tire on the back of the RV.  Once we do, all of the tires will be fully protected from the harsh rays of the sun!

 

 

Our other project for this week will be a sun shade to hang from the awning – that one requires a small amount of sewing!

With the higher temperatures on the weekend, we were able to get some use out of the pool . . . even AFTER dinner (we LOVE daylight savings time!)

Today was moving day, so after a little bit of schoolwork, we got packed up and hit the road . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just 75 miles today, though – an easy drive!