Adventures On the Road

But I definitely did not see it. We just left Atlanta, Georgia after spending four nights and three days in the supposed “Hotlanta”. I think we hit right in the middle of a storm so we experienced a lot of wind and rain and that drizzly mist that reminds me of fall, winter, spring (and some summer) days in Vancouver. 

We were there for an industry event for the Atlanta Apparel Exhibition, a large tradeshow for urban and streetwear.  I was the hit of the show, because you just have to think urban streetwear when you see me walking down the street. Kidding, kidding.  I definitely don’t have the street cred to pull off the urban look and sound legitimate when I say “hey girlfriend” with a little snap at the end.  But let me tell you, I did have someone educate me on the religious practices of the korean culture (thinking that I was korean) and  I had an up and coming clothing designer outfit me.  Very fun. 

So Nathan and I had a very eventful weekend there.  We went into the city and visited the largest aquarium, where you actually walk through a tunnel in the water with whale sharks, hammer head sharks, manta rays, and other ocean fish swimming around you.   It was a Saturday afternoon, and if you saw this place you would say “what recession?”  It was sooo busy you could barely move without stomping on someone. 

 We spent a lot of time looking at the beluga whales, where it is very apparent that the aquarium staff is hoping for a baby beluga whale.   There was desperation in the commentator’s voice when he told us that the water is a perfect 55 degrees – the perfect temperature for mating!   It seemed to be working, because Nico, the male beluga,

was showing his junk for all the world to see – not very camera shy at all! 

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Sea World when you were younger, where there are these shallow pools of water with sting rays and other fish that you can stick your hand in the water and touch.  Well, I have definitely dipped my fingers in these pools before, enthusiastically and without any doubt.  This time around, I started rolling up my sleeves (Nathan ready with the camera), and I hesitated.  I looked around the pool and saw all these kids, leaning so far that half of their bodies were in the pool, ready to manhandle all of the fish.  I decided to roll my sleeves down, because this wasn’t fun anymore…..this was fish cruelty!  So I kept my hands away from the sting rays and brown and white shrimp and left them in peace. 

Our next step was the Coke Plant, only we didn’t have enough time for the full tour, so we just went to the gift shop.  We came out with some lovely apparel, a new coke hat for Nathan, which will become part of his self identity, and 2 bottles of coke that cost us $6. 

Last thing I’m going to mention about our Atlanta trip.  I made my very first 911 call.  We were on our way to pick up a colleague at the airport and someone rearended another car and they both went into the center median.  The car that had caused the crash had so much speed and momentum built up that he hit the wall and skidded right back across all lanes of traffic and ended up in the ditch.  This happened right in front of us.  Nathan stopped the car and got out to help one of the drivers, and I called 911.  No one seemed to be seiriously injured, but the women in the car was disoriented, both airbags had deployed, and her grandson had a cut on his head.  The other car, which was in the ditch, was being helped by other people who had stopped, but they just kept unloading car seat after car seat.  They probably had about 4 kids in there.   Definitely scary.

and on that note…