COLDplay in HOTlanta

Matt and I went on a little getaway to the lovely city of ATLANTA at the beginning of the week.  We've been through Atlanta countless times traveling to and from Valdosta to Bowling Green (when we lived in Georgia).  However, we only went there once on a youth trip to a Braves game.  That was our only Atlanta experience.  I was excited about seeing a new place.

The purpose of our trip was for a Coldplay concert.  Matt has been a Coldplay fan for YEARS, and Atlanta was as close as they got to us on their new Mylo Xyloto tour.  The tickets were insanely expensive but completely WORTH it.  We had an awesome time in the city.  We stayed at the Omni Hotel-CNN Center which is attached to Philips Arena--where the concert was.

We requested an upper floor which landed us on #14.  This is the view from our balcony.  It was a BIT high but nice view of the skyline and of the Georgia Dome.

Here was our cool king-size bed and lovely decor.  We were pretty hungry when we arrived and were a little pressed for time because we had scheduled a couples massage at the Loews Hotel at Exhale Spa.  We found a Subway restaurant near the hotel and ate there.  Little did we know in our hotel courtyard there were TONS of different places to eat (like a mall food court).

This is the courtyard in our lobby area.  I wish we had done a bit more exploring before settling for Subway and getting out in the awful heat. We wanted to clean up a little before our massages and ended up getting stuck in the elevator.  Luckily, it was close to the ground floor.  After ringing the emergency bell a couple of times and trying to get a cell phone signal, Matt pried the doors open and we escaped.  I told him we needed to say something to the front desk with secret hopes we'd get some kind of freebie.

 The CNN Center.  We had fun at the Cartoon Network Store.  Isaac LOVES Adventuretime so I was sure to get a picture with Lady Rainicorn (part unicorn, part rainbow).  We did the CNN Studio tour on the last day of our trip.  There wasn't a whole lot to photo.  Most of the tour consisted of learning the in's and out's of the broadcasting process.

I didn't take any pictures of the spa--seemed a bit odd doing that, but the massages were superb.  After an hour and a half of pure relaxation, we headed a couple of blocks up the street to The Vortex restaurant for dinner.  Matt was excited to catch the end of the AT&T National golf tournament. 

  When we got back to the hotel, a yummy treat was waiting for us in our room with a note of apology from the hotel.  SCORE!  I knew they would do something nice for us.  We loved our truffles, the perfect end to our day.  Later that evening, we received a phone call from the manager who told us we would also receive a complimentary breakfast at the Prime Meridian restaurant in the hotel the next morning.  BONUS!  This was some seriously good customer service.  We joked that we should try to get stuck in the elevator frequently during our stay =).

Here we are enjoying one of THE BEST breakfasts there is in Atlanta.  The food was absolutely delicious.  We both OVERindulged, compliments of the Omni.

After breakfast, we headed over to Centennial Park on our way to the World of Coca Cola.  Everything was centered around the 1996 Olympic Games.  I had completely forgot about the bombing that took place there.  The Olympian statue Matt is standing next to apparently has a bomb mark(ing) on it?  It was a very neat park featuring the fountain of rings which was FULL of playful children running through the sprinklers and lots of neat monuments and sculptures full of history.

WORLD OF COKE VISIT.  Here we are at one of Atlanta's TOP attractions.  I have ONE child who loves Coke and that is Isaac Matthew.  He would've had a field day here.  I thought the tour was neat, very informative.  In a nutshell, an Atlanta pharmacist named John Pemberton stirred up a fragrant, caramel-colored liquid and, when it was done, he carried it a few doors down to Jacobs' Pharmacy. The mix was combined with carbonated water (by accident I believe).  Customers loved it and Jacobs' Pharmacy put it on sale for five cents a glass.  Unfortunately Pemberton died two years later but not before selling his product to Asa Candler for $2300.  Little did he know what a HUGE success Coke would become.  Candler, years later, sold the product to Robert Woodruff for $25 million (quite a profit, eh?).  Woodruff was a marketing guru and is actually the person who MADE Coco Cola what it is today--through advertising and marketing.

 Matt mixing up some new flavors.

The secret vault that houses the recipe for Coke.  This is known by only a handful of executives today.  At one point (years and years ago), two people had two different parts of the recipe so no ONE person would know it.  It's highly guarded as there are many imitations on the market.  Here is a picture of THE VAULT.

I liked the old Coke vending machines even though there was a paparazzi photographer (someone who takes LOADS of pictures of the same thing) who kept getting in my way--you can see part of his head in my picture.  Move on weirdo!

 I also liked the wall of all the different Coke products.  We later got to sample all kinds of different Coke products from our nation and all over the world.  I would highly recommend this inexpensive tour to anyone.  I hope to take Isaac there one day in the future.

After the Coke tour, we headed back to our hotel and got a quick bite from Moe's in our hotel food court.  And then, we made our way to Philips Arena for the Coldplay concert.  

  Everyone at the concert got one of these bracelets.  Coldplay spends around $550,000 per concert to provide these to patrons.

This is what they look like all lit up, just like Christmas lights.  The bracelets are controlled by a transmitter which coordinates with the music and stage lighting (with LED lights).  It's, by far, one of the neatest things I've ever seen.

Okay so here is the BUMMER part of the night, I ONLY took my camera phone, not my GOOD camera.  Booo!  My camera phone hardly captured anything. Especially when....

Chris Martin was a few feet away from us for the bands encore.  I don't think this picture is THAT bad, but I would've loved my GOOD camera at that point.

 Terrible camera, blurry people =(!

We left on Tuesday but not before visiting the Martin Luther King Jr. national historic site.

I got emotional in the "funeral" area of the site.  There was a case that housed some artificial carnations and said they King was always sending his wife fresh flowers but one time sent her  artificial ones instead.  This was days before he was assassinated, kind of ironic, like he knew it could happen and wanted to give her something that would last.

Ebenezer Baptist Church where his father preached.  I wanted a picture of MY preacher in this church.  There was a spirit in that place.

 His burial site and the eternal flame.  He stood for FREEDOM and Matt and I had a taste of that this week--freedom to stay up late, eat whatever we want, enjoy uninterrupted time together and experience Atlanta.  We headed back to B.G. after our visit there.  It was the perfect getaway!!!

Future OSCAR WINNER

Karson had the opportunity to work with The Missoula Children's Theater last week at theater camp at SKyPAC.  She participated in Rumpelstiltskin.  I felt quite confident that she would have an AMAZING week, and she absolutely did.  MCT is a traveling theater company.  They go all over the states and even some other countries and provide a week long camp to youngsters.  There are two performances at the end of the week.  Karson came home every single day talking about camp.

She told me they played a lot of games the first day of camp.  I'm sure that was done in order to figure out the different personalities in the mix of kids.  Everyone was cast in a role by the end of the day.  Karson was chosen as a wizard.  She told me she wanted to be a gnome but didn't have a grumpy enough face.  

 

Karson's friend Leslie was at camp with her this week.  It's always nice having a buddy to hang out with.  Leslie's brother Logan was also in the production.  I like how he's striking a pose in this picture.

 I spent the week working at SKyPAC so I was able to enjoy seeing my girl everyday.  I could tell by the "bounce in her step" how much she was enjoying herself.  The brothers came to see her after her first day of camp.  We headed over to the fountains directly across the street to cool down afterwards.  It has been insanely HOT in this area.

 Karson ready to for DAY TWO of camp.  She wanted to wear her hair in pig tails that day.  What a beautiful child she is!

Production day is here!  SKyPAC put out this cool advertising poster.  LOVE IT!

  Fans are arriving for SHOW!

  We take up an entire row of seats.

I wasn't able to take pictures of the production, but it was great.  I'm so thankful that Karson enjoys this past-time as much as she does.  Theater is an incredibly hard commitment during the school year.  I love that our community offers a variety of summer camps for those interested in theater.  It's the RIGHT amount of time for our family of five.  However, towards the end of the week, Karson started telling me that she REALLY wanted to come to MCT's session which starts next week--Little Red Riding Hood. She just can't get enough.

   Karson and her wizard friends.  She told me she was sad the week was over because she was going to miss her new friends.  The girl on Karson's right (in the bright red wizard suit) became a FAST friend.  She and Karson really hit it off.  She's a 5th grader at Richpond.  Karson always seems to connect with older girls. 

Cast Photo Call

 Me and my adorable wizard in-between shows.  AND, more pictures of the cast.

Some more of Karson's adoring fans.  A majority of the family came to the first show.  Matt and I stuck around for both performances.  Our friends Josh and Sarah Owens and their daughter Lydia came to the evening show  Along with...

 Aunt Lisa who grabbed a kiss -AND-

 John and Laura.  Thanks everyone for supporting our girl!

 Karson and Andee Rudloff, SKyPAC's education and outreach director, and personally, one of my favorite people.  Andee always has the best attitude and kindest things to say to everyone she meets.  We're lucky to have her at SKyPAC and thankful to her for bringing MCT to our community.