Atlanta
Our day began with some quiet reflection on the fine quality of Best Pizza's pizza last night. Then we moved on to a decision to stay another night in the hotel, so we could have a look around Atlanta.
We ate at the Waffle House next door (Debbie: a waffle and bacon. John: a waffle and bacon and an egg), then took the hotel shuttle to the airport, to pick up our car.
At the Alamo office, the nice lady at the desk flattered Debbie by saying the was young enough to pass as a student, so we could get a midsize car for a student rate. This is how we ended up with a rather fancy Chrysler convertible.
We dropped the top, and drove to downtown Atlanta with the wind in our hair. We stepped out of the car park, and paused to try and work out where World of Coca Cola was. We looked up, and there it was.
World of Coca Cola was an odd experience. A couple of years ago their centrepiece film presentation, a montage of people drinking and bottling Coke across the world -- from Buenos Aires to Wakefield -- would have seemed fine, but now we're all so accustomed to criticism of globalisation, it does seem like crass cultural imperialism. Yet so yummy and packed with caffeine goodness.
There was also the opportunity to taste a number of Coca Cola products from various countries. Two cups, and I was scared I might develop diabetes, so we stopped after the German Orange Coke.
Nearby was Atlanta Underground, basically a set of underground shops, with nothing all that exciting, so we didn't stay long.
The State Capitol (US spelling) building was nearby, so we strolled up for a look. The building was very similar to other State Capitols we've seen (notably Springfield, IL). This one was surrounded by statues of dead (and living) white males.
I found a kindred spirit in Jimmy Carter:
A war memorial conflicted with our historical general knowledge. Actually, it makes me rather relieved to know that World War I only lasted 18 months. I had it down as a long slog.
The landscaping around the capitol building was let down only by an unsightly pipe coming out of the ground. If only there were some product they could have used to conceal it. We'll certainly keep our eyes open for something appropriate.
Leaving the downtown area in the car, we decided it was high time we got some maps (our USA road atlas is somewhere in our house, but we've moved house recently and we couldn't find it). So, using only the shoddy map from Alamo, we went in search of a bookshop.
We picked somewhere marked "shopping centre", drove to it, and found it to be a scrappy collection of nail bars, car parts stores and a Family Dollar. Family Dollar is really depressing. We know this from experience and it is an experience we did not repeat.
Over some soft Taco Bell tacos, we re-planned.
Recently we observed that we'd never tried Kentucky Fried Chicken in the US. The reason for this is that every KFC we've found is also a Taco Bell, and who'd pass on a taco? This KFC / Taco Bell had crossover combos! What a solution!
We tried a further flung mall, and indeed, it had a bookshop. However, it turned out to be a specialist bookshop for "African American Origins".
One place we knew had cheap road atlases is Walmart. We drove back to the hotel and looked for a Walmart in the phone book. Before long we were browsing the cheap T-shirts like the old pros we are.
For dinner, we ate at a nearby Mexican restaurant, and very nice and very filling and very cheap it was too. Some friends of mine collect pictures of tasteless car modifications. Here is a gift for them from the Mexican restaurant carpark:
We're now back in the hotel enjoying new episodes of The Simpsons.
One advert was for a radio station featuring a regular "50 minute music hour"...
Fox is trailing a programme called "The Swan", in which ugly people are given plastic surgery then entered into a beauty pageant...
Hey! We're in America.