Under the sea and then some

I've been remiss in posting this story. Kristina, my beautiful older sister, came and visited Craig and me a couple of weeks ago! She braved our small apartment with weird water pressure, our "rustic" cabin, and the Georgia gas shortage.

Of course, we also played tourist. I can always go to the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coke and I think they are two places Georgia newbies need to see.

I am going to post our adventures backwards because I must start with one of the funniest things I've ever heard Kristina say. Kristina's last full day in town was spent shopping. She had done her research prior to coming to visit and discovered there was a Nordstrom Rack here. We headed to the mall for a shopping adventure. Kristina loves a deal and has an uncanny sense of where to sniff out a brilliant bargain.

We entered the large mall and I played follow-the-Kristina. She is quick in the malls. At one point, I had lost my bearing and needed to stop and look at a map. Kristina then replied to me, "Oh, I never get lost in a mall. Follow me, we need to go this way." Well, she was right. I thought this was hilarious and if you know Kristina, you'll think it's funny, too. Now, she did mention that when she gets to the parking lot, all direction is lost! It's her job to navigate around the mall and her husband's job to find the car!

Now, about the aquarium. This aquarium is beautiful and every time I visit I am in awe. I am really impressed with the pictures I took, especially since some of them are taken in front of two feet of Plexiglas. The Georgia Aquarium is known for their whale sharks and they just got a new manta ray. I happily snapped away at the creatures.Also beautiful, are the beluga whales... Who, incidentally are part of a mating program to help with the preservation of the species...it is confirmed that the male beluga whale is ready to go.Apparently it was also time to clean the exhibits because divers were underwater all over the place for about fifteen minutes! It was really neat to watch!I know jellyfish are not exactly everyone's favorite creature to meet at the beach, but the way the aquarium set up these jellies is beautiful. The blue lights against the pink jellies is really something to see in person!After the visiting the aquarium, Kristina and I headed over to the World of Coke. I always love visiting this place and have actually visited the new museum four times (and the old one twice). I feel like a kid when I go to places like this, and half of the fun is actually watching the kids.

We headed to the 4-D theater first and it didn't disappoint! The kids on our row were absolutely hilarious! The 3-D images jumping off the screen made them squeal with delight the entire time that you couldn't help but laugh.

We took a couple of stupid pictures and drank every single coke from around the world.

I make myself sick every time because I think it should be a rule that you taste every single flavor of coke (I think there are like 60 of them). I was hyped to see Kristina taste Beverly, a soda made from a bitter root served in Italy. Well, of all the cokes, she went to that one first. I hurriedly grabbed my camera from the camera bag and snapped a picture of her tasting the nasty concoction. She didn't even flinch. Turns out, the Beverly was just spouting out carbonated water and was out of syrup. I told someone to please refill the Beverly and we left to peruse the museum some more. When we finally went back to taste the Beverly, Kristina still didn't seem to mind it - and I even made her take multiple sips. Believe me, if you've ever tasted this drink, you will wonder how she managed to gulp it down repeatedly.

Kristina nonchalantly drinking the Beverly...All in all, it was a fabulous trip and I am so glad Kristina came to visit. Thanks for the memories!