Atlanta... Home of Furry/Non-Furry Friends, Babies, and Beluga Whales

This is the final recap of last week before I move back to the present...

I had a great time in Atlanta with one of my best college/KKG friends, KC!!!! I hadn't seen her for a few years and was pleasantly surprised to find she hasn't changed a bit since our last meeting (even after having a child!)... she's still a skinny minnie, and that's a big compliment.

In a nutshell... she looked great.

This is us last Thursday outside the Buckhead Diner, which I highly recommend if you ever visit Atlanta. And make sure to try the homemade potato chips with blue cheese topping as an appetizer! Oink oink.

And here's the apple of KC's eye, Baby Jack...

... who looks so much like both of his parents, I couldn't believe it. Maybe a little more like his dad, but he's a big mix. And he has a great personality... nothing but smiles, smiles, smiles.

The closest bond I formed, however, was with this little fellow...

... Ralph the Cat.

Honestly, as you know, I'm not a pet person. Plus I'm allergic to cats. But I fell in love with this guy. He just might have the cutest personality of any cat in the world (aside from my friend Keri's cat Turtle, who is equally fabulous). He literally stalked me for the two days I was there... loitering outside my bedroom door, waiting for me outside the bathroom, and hopping up either on my lap or right next to me on the couch every time I sat down. We just couldn't get enough of each other.

This is one of our bonding moments...

... I love you, Ralph!

KC even told me that if anything happened to her or her husband, they would make sure I got Ralph in their will. Unfortunately, however, I just received bad news from KC via e-mail. Looks like elderly Ralph is suffering from kidney failure and doesn't have long to live. My heart breaks.

Anyway... moving on... here is KC's neighborhood in ATL...

I loved the Atlanta landscape. Lots of trees, a mixture of old and modern architecture, pretty rolling hills, and an abundance of greenery.

We took a walk to the park my first day there with Jack so I could see the area and so we could entertain him at the playground...

However, KC and I agreed swinging tended to make us both a bit nauseous.

I must add here that I attempted to ride a tall, twisty slide while I was there (sans the baby... which turned out to be a good thing). The slide was insanely fast, shooting me out like a pinball the minute I sat on it -- knocking off my sunglasses, and forcing me into the fetal position (according to an old man at the playground with his grandson... "you looked just like a little ball rolling down there!"). I still have a scab on my elbow from my attempts to slow myself down before I was spit out at the bottom and nearly fell on my face before I ended up bruising my ass. In the words of KC... "All I heard was bump-d-bump-d-bump the whole way down... it seemed like I should laugh, but then I thought I shouldn't when I saw you fall out the other end."

Word to the wise: Avoid the twisty slide over the age of 30.

After my recovery, I played in a safer area with Jack...


And although I look a lot like Rocky Dennis here (or maybe Jay Leno)...

... I am including it because Jack was having so much fun being tossed in the air.

The family dog, Gus, was just kicking it in the shade...


The next day we went to the Georgia Aquarium, which is amazing and totally worth a visit. Although they confiscated a brand new pack of gum from my purse (apparently there is a "no gum" policy), I recovered from the devastation and still had a good time. With gum in my mouth, unseen by the guard.

Here are some Japanese snow crabs...

Freaky little buggers, aren't they?

And my favorite... the leafy sea dragon...

This thing was swimming around like a fish! (Errr, maybe it is a fish?)

Here's some random fish. It might be a piranha... but I'm not sure. It looks sort of like one, but the fish in the back looks different, meaning it's probably not a piranha or the other fish would be dead...

KC and I were disappointed that we couldn't see the piranhas' teeth. In fact, they look rather harmless. I wondered what would happen if you put a cow carcass into the tank. I wondered how long it would take to pick it clean.

According to my Google research, piranhas won't attack humans unless they're dead or dying. I guess we're too big to be worth the effort. Some scientist actually jumped in a piranha-infested river to prove this theory, and luckily, he was right.

I was utterly fascinated with the jellyfish as well...

... very plasma-like and almost reminded me of afterbirth and/or lingerie, which should never be used in the same sentence, but it's what I thought.

One of my favorite attractions was the beluga whale tank...

... we timed it just right to see the three whales getting fed and physically checked by their handler. How would you like that job... imagine meeting someone in a bar... "So what do you do?" "Oh, I'm a beluga whale handler." Very cool.

And if you've ever laid awake at night wondering what a beluga whale's penis looked like, I saw one up close and personal...

Rather disappointing, is it not? Considering the animal's size?

The true highlight, however, was the deep sea tank...

Look how huge that plexiglass is!!!! It's six sheets of glass melted together and is over 60' x 30' x 2' thick and custom-made in Japan. There were so many cool fish in this exhibit -- from stingrays (of course, no one could look at them without mentioning the Crocodile Hunter) to a hammerhead shark, groupers, and lots of other random fish.

Before my flight home, we met up for a late lunch with KC's high school friend Diana, who I have heard about for years but never met...

... and I loved her too!

Thanks, KC! It was a GREAT TRIP!!!!