Day 9: Atlanta, GA.

Sheena’s cousins, Tina and Nina, the twins and Gijo planned to do a hiking in nearby stone mountain early morning. Sheena and Tara stayed back since it’s too early. The trail was fairly easy though granite stones and it was a good workout in fresh air after several days. Once you are on the top of the mountain you could see Atlanta downtown and midtown and could get a better view of the park itself.

Back home Sheena and Tara were having fun harvesting vegetables and playing with bunnies. Her uncle and family had a large yard and they cultivated lot of vegetables and fruits that fancied her.

After breakfast, I emailed Scott Blumenfeld, a former colleague who moved from Des Moines to Atlanta, to check out he is available for a quick lunch. He called back quickly and apparently he was not living very far from where we stayed. He and his wife Yuting came over to uncle’s place after thirty minutes and then we went to a Thai restaurant nearby to eat lunch.  Scott was my lunch buddy at office so It was great to catch up and eat a meal together after several years. We also hanged out as a family in Des Moines so Sheena knew both of them.  After the lunch, we called the cousins and we set out to see the aquarium in the downtown.

Georgia Aquarium is probably the largest in the world with more than ten thousand marine creatures. Beluga whales and dolphins included.  It was fun going with Sheena’s cousins and Tara was excited to see those different things. After living in Monterey and using those free passes to see the famous Monterey Bay aquarium multiple times, this is the first time we were spending any money on it.  Georgia aquarium certainly lived up to the expectations in general but we still thought Chicago Dolphin show was much better. And Monterey, though smaller was a class in itself. Beluga whale and some sharks were really a treat to see up close.  There was lot of time for the cousins to catch up with life events so the purpose of stopping over at Atlanta was well served as well.  Coke Museum was the very next lot but we did not have time or enthusiasm to go there. The dinner at a steak place was planned with the family so we returned back by six in the evening.

The cousins picked Loan Horn steakhouse, an Atlanta based chain for dinner. The restaurant had a fine ambience and everyone ordered a medium rare rib eye or sirloin steak. Ours was well done because Sheena would not try rare.  We also ordered a half pound burger. The steak was served  with a sweet potato garnished with cinnamon and butter.  The cousins insisted I try a medium rare and I did eat a big bite of that too.  Overall, a good meal and some quality time spent together with cousins.   Sheena continued chatting with them until late night and the plan was to start driving to North Carolina early morning.