2015 - Asheville/Atlanta Roadtrip Summary

Duration: 9 days (Saturday June 13 - Sunday June 21)
Cost: roughly $1,000/person which covers all expenses (gas, accommodations, food, admissions)
Distance Driven: roughly 4,000 km

Top 3 Highlights (in no particular order):

- Georgia Aquarium, which this shouldn't be too much of a surprise for me since I did drive all the way to see it, it was still quite the sight to actually see it and compare it to what you had in mind.  While it wasn't as large as I imagined it would be, the star attraction that I went for, the whale shark, met my expectations.  What exceeded it was definitely the dolphin show.  I know that it has weird times and you need to make sure you get in while there are still seats, it was definitely worth it and I would say, makes the Georgia Aquarium, one of the must-see sights there.

Two whale sharks with two giant stingrays.

- Foam Henge, I know we didn't spend a lot of time at this free roadside attraction, but I think this is a surprising site that exceeded my expectation.  When you read that someone created a foam version of Stone Henge as an April's Fool joke, you expect something silly that is worth a short stopover, but, in my opinion, it is worth making the trip (although only if you are nearby).

Foam Henge!

- Humpback Rocks (Blue Ridge Parkway), we lucked out and this place wasn't a zoo when we arrived and it gives you a great view of the surrounding area.  Do note that there is quite a bit of a hike to get up to this point though.  Well worth it in my opinion.

Lowlights (only had one disappointment):

- Shenandoah National Park, while it isn't bad, it just did not compare at all, in my opinion, to what I got to see at the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP).  To add insult to injury, there is an admission fee to the park, mind you, it is only $20 and it is good for 7-days, you can get on the BRP for free and it is MASSIVE (over 490 miles).

Must try food places (in no particular order):

- Nine Mile, Allison really like the scallop and mussel pasta dish, and although my jerk chicken pasta was a bit confusing, given how much she liked her dish, I'd say it is worth stopping at.

- Sunny Point Cafe, both of our dishes here were really good and I really enjoyed the drinks and dessert that we had as well.

Huevos Rancheros.

Chicken and sweet potato waffles.

Ice Box Key Lime Pie.

What would I change?

- I greatly underestimated how large some of the areas that I was visiting and I should have done a bit more research.  Awhile I thought that we could do Clingmans Dome and Chimney Tops in the same day, it is a bit of a stretch when you include a lunch break inbetween and then having to drive all the way back to Asheville would have made for a really long day.  In hindsight, if I want to do more of Great Smoky Mountain next time, I would stay nearby in Cherokee which would save roughly 3 hours round-trip versus staying in Asheville.

Hope you enjoy reading about our trip.  If you have any questions about what we did, feel free to ask.

2015 - Asheville/Atanta Day 7-9 (Atlanta, Georgia)

Today is aquarium day!

Breakfast at Country Inn & Suites Atlanta was similar to the other location but it is nicer and has actually silverware and plates instead of Styrofoam.

Breakfast!

We ordered the early bird tickets where you could go to the aquarium at 9:00 am and we ended up spending about 3.5 hours there.  My two highlights was the dolphin tales show (when we went on Friday, we were told they have one at 11:00 am, one at 2:00 pm, and I think there is another after that) and the room where just sit and look at the whale sharks and stingrays swimming around.

2 Whale Sharks with 2 stingrays.

Went to Legal Sea Food for lunch.  Ordered the crab cake and fried clams both were really good. Also got the Boston Cream Pie which was very delicious.

Crab Cake.

Fried Clams.

Boston Cream Pie.

World of Coca-Cola was next.  Somehow spent 2.5 hours here.  Did all the exhibits, watched the 4D movie and waited for a picture with the bear.  At the end, you get to try all types of Coca-Cola drinks from around the world.  Personally, I didn't really like any of them, but that's okay.  It could also be that after about 10 samples, my tongue just couldn't differentiate tastes as well as at the beginning.  You get a bottle of coke on your way out which is a nice touch.

Us with the Coca-Cola bear.

Dinner was at the food court at the CNN tower. Walked through the Centennial Olympic Park and it is nice although not a must go for me.

CNN Tower food court.

Centennial Olympic Park.

I was initially going to include another post, but since we didn't really do much besides driving back to Toronto, I decided that I will end our June roadtrip posts with this one.  Hope you enjoyed the trips and pictures as much as we did!  Until next trip!

Future POIs - Georgia Aquarium [Atlanta, Georgia]

Aquariums and underwater life has always seemed interesting due to how little we actually know about it given that we have not uncovered everything there is underwater.  Did you know that there is a fish with a transparent head?  Shrimps that just by snapping their claw emits a bubble that travels as fast as a car (up to 62 mph)?

Courtesy of Wikipedia

I don't know why it is so interesting but I have always liked going to aquariums and in June, I finally get to go to the Georgia Aquarium which is the largest aquarium in the western hemisphere built in 2005 and was actually the largest in the world until 2012.

Courtesy of wikipedia

The aquarium has over 100,000 animals, spanning 500 species and all within 10 million gallons of water.  Surprisingly all funded by donations.  Some of the main things to see are the whale shark and the beluga whales.  This is the only place outside of Asia to have whale sharks!  All of them were imported from Taiwan.

Courtesy of wikipedia

There are six galleries, Georgia Explorer, Tropical Diver, Ocean Voyager, Cold Water Quest, River Scout and Dolphin Tales.  The only one to make note of is the Dolphin Tales exhibit, this is a indoor dolphin stadium where they have shows from time to time so make sure to check the schedule.  The rest you can do at your leisure.  There is also a movie theater for those interested.

Come back next Monday for another Future Point of Interest!