Day 2 in the South

We spent today in Atlanta as well but decided to get outside the city for the night. However, today was a big sight seeing day. We began at the World of Coca-Cola exhibition down near the Centennial Plaza, where the Olympic games were held a few years back. The World of Cole was a huge self-promotion tourist attraction which wasn't a surprise but it was amazing just how big a deal it was. Entering the exhibit you were introduced to the history of the product, the advertising and coin operated dispensers. Many were familiar and part of our growing up so that was fun. Then we wandered through one exhibit room after another. You could even get your photo taken with the Coca Cola polar bear. Other rooms had more advertising displays, art and historical artifacts. The tour ended (well of course before the gift shop) in a room filled spigots dispensing Coca Cola products literally from around the world. Each continent had its own kiosk with products you could try as part of the price of entry. By the end you were pretty bloated. We had brunch at the Silver Skillet. Here we found an authentic diner serving southern-style breakfast food. We had heard that we had to order the Lemon Ice Box Cake which is actually a pie but who cares. They only make one a day and it goes fast so we asked if they had any left. Our perfect waitress (see the previous log entry) called us hun and said they did still have some. We asked her to bring us a slice before we ordered our breakfast. It was wonderful. Much like key lime pie except it is covered with a meringue and has vanilla wafers incorporated into the crust (at least this one did). Next we ordered breakfast. The waitress actually moved us to a bigger table. She said you'll need it. So we moved and then our food came. Oh, lordy! I had two perfectly deep-fried pork chops, eggs, grits, and biscuits. Leslie had pretty much the same except she had a slice of ham that was to die for. We drove over to the Martin Luther King Jr. area of town where the National Park Service maintains the birth home of Dr. King, the Ebenezer Baptist Church is there, Dr. and Mrs. King's gravesite and a number of period homes are also there. After our visit with the Dr. King exhibits we headed out of town to stop part way to our next destination--Birmingham, Alabama.