Atlanta
A few weeks ago we took a long weekend trip to Atlanta. It was our first visit there. Wonderful trip!
We stayed up in the Buckhead area, at the Springhill Suites. I think that's my favorite chain to stay at with kids. Plenty of room for both kids and grown-ups, free breakfast, and a really good rate! I think the boys mostly enjoyed the indoor pool!
The first day we went to the new Georgia Aquarium. It is the biggest aquarium in the world, from what I've heard. Matthew's favorite was the otters. Michael's favorite was their mascot fish that looks a little like Nemo. Greg liked dreaming of scuba diving. And I think I liked the beluga whales most. The only negative about the Aquarium was that due to construction, there was no covered walkway from the parking garage to the entrance. Given that it was pouring rain, this was pretty big!
The second day we went to Zoo Atlanta. We happened to be there while they were celebrating the birthday of one of the baby gorillas, so we all got cake. Don't worry, it was real cake, not gorilla cake. I loved seeing the panda bears, something I miss from the DC zoo. There's even a new little baby panda, but it is not out on display yet. All we could see was a closed-captioned picture. It was a fun zoo! Nice and clean too.
Afterwards, we went by the Westin hotel in downtown Atlanta. The Westin is 73 stories tall, and is the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere. Earlier I had contacted the hotel to see if it was possible to go up to the top of the hotel. Michael is fascinated with skyscrapers (although until this trip, he thought our 16 floor building in Greenville was a skyscraper!). The concierge there contacted me and said to ask for him when we came to visit. He wound up taking us on a private tour up to the observation level, and pointed out all of the different things we could see. As we were leaving, he gave both of the boys special Westin Kids Club bags too! He treated us so well! The Westin definitely knows how to treat people right!
The third day we went to Stone Mountain. This was the highlight of the trip for me. What a neat place! Stone Mountain is the largest granite outcropping in the world. We went on the skyride to the top several times. What a great view! They also have a train-ride around the base of the mountain, and with our boys, that was a hit! I wandered in to the little toystore, and there was Larry the Cucumber! Live in person! Well... live in "cucumber"! The boys love VeggieTales, so they were really excited to meet him! If we lived closer, we would definitely have season passes.
On our final day we went to the Fernbank Museum. The museum has the world’s first fully mounted Argentinosaurus, the largest dinosaur ever classified, and the Giganotosaurus, the largest meat-eating dinosaur. I think the boys especially liked the kids play areas and the sensory rooms.
That evening we had a nice visit with Greg's cousin Carol. We hadn't seen her in a few years, so it was really nice to catch up and have the boys get to know her.
So it turns out that each day we saw something that a "biggest" of some sort. The biggest aquarium, the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere, the largest granite outcropping, and the biggest dinosaurs!
We can't wait to go back again!
We stayed up in the Buckhead area, at the Springhill Suites. I think that's my favorite chain to stay at with kids. Plenty of room for both kids and grown-ups, free breakfast, and a really good rate! I think the boys mostly enjoyed the indoor pool!
The first day we went to the new Georgia Aquarium. It is the biggest aquarium in the world, from what I've heard. Matthew's favorite was the otters. Michael's favorite was their mascot fish that looks a little like Nemo. Greg liked dreaming of scuba diving. And I think I liked the beluga whales most. The only negative about the Aquarium was that due to construction, there was no covered walkway from the parking garage to the entrance. Given that it was pouring rain, this was pretty big!
The second day we went to Zoo Atlanta. We happened to be there while they were celebrating the birthday of one of the baby gorillas, so we all got cake. Don't worry, it was real cake, not gorilla cake. I loved seeing the panda bears, something I miss from the DC zoo. There's even a new little baby panda, but it is not out on display yet. All we could see was a closed-captioned picture. It was a fun zoo! Nice and clean too.
Afterwards, we went by the Westin hotel in downtown Atlanta. The Westin is 73 stories tall, and is the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere. Earlier I had contacted the hotel to see if it was possible to go up to the top of the hotel. Michael is fascinated with skyscrapers (although until this trip, he thought our 16 floor building in Greenville was a skyscraper!). The concierge there contacted me and said to ask for him when we came to visit. He wound up taking us on a private tour up to the observation level, and pointed out all of the different things we could see. As we were leaving, he gave both of the boys special Westin Kids Club bags too! He treated us so well! The Westin definitely knows how to treat people right!
The third day we went to Stone Mountain. This was the highlight of the trip for me. What a neat place! Stone Mountain is the largest granite outcropping in the world. We went on the skyride to the top several times. What a great view! They also have a train-ride around the base of the mountain, and with our boys, that was a hit! I wandered in to the little toystore, and there was Larry the Cucumber! Live in person! Well... live in "cucumber"! The boys love VeggieTales, so they were really excited to meet him! If we lived closer, we would definitely have season passes.
On our final day we went to the Fernbank Museum. The museum has the world’s first fully mounted Argentinosaurus, the largest dinosaur ever classified, and the Giganotosaurus, the largest meat-eating dinosaur. I think the boys especially liked the kids play areas and the sensory rooms.
That evening we had a nice visit with Greg's cousin Carol. We hadn't seen her in a few years, so it was really nice to catch up and have the boys get to know her.
So it turns out that each day we saw something that a "biggest" of some sort. The biggest aquarium, the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere, the largest granite outcropping, and the biggest dinosaurs!
We can't wait to go back again!
posted by Susan | 3:32 PM
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