Atlanta's Museum of Natural History

Atlanta, Georgia... I had to travel back to Atlanta for the second time in two weeks. The drive was made more difficult by large stretches of construction on the interstate. It is always amazing to me that so many drivers ignore the construction signs and blast past the road crews just feet from melding chrome bumpers and tire tread with soft tissue and human skulls.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g60898-Activities-Atlanta_Georgia.html

Trying to stay awake , I popped in a book on CD. Though an interesting book, blending fiction and history of the 17th century, it lost a bit in translation from Spanish to English.

At times I felt my head drop just in time to jolt me awake. Fortunately I made it to Atlanta safely with no damage to me or anyone else.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Once again I found myself with time to fill. The Fernbank was only 10 minutes from the hotel and two hours would be more than enough time to see the entire museum.


http://www.fernbankmuseum.org/

Although it bills itself as "Smithsonian South" it does not quite pull it off where the bones hit the proverbial road. As you enter the octagon shaped great hall a 123 foot long Argentinosaurus dinosaur stands as the overseer of the Fernbank. Hanging from the ceiling is a flock of Pterodaustro and Anhanguera are tucked into three corners.

Of the three levels of the museum the Entry Level has the most interesting exhibit. "A Walk Through Time In Georgia" is a journey through lifelike geographic regions and prehistoric times of Georgia. The exhibit includes, the modern day sights and sounds of the Okefenokee swamp, a cave, a giant sloth and a dinosaur gallery. A group of wild turkeys first caught my curiosity with their life like appearance. Not to mention it was getting close to lunch time and the thought of turkey only tantalized my pallet. Much of the exhibit was educational in nature and is excellent for younger students.

There is also an I Max Theatre with a five story high by 72 feet wide screen, a cafe and a museum store. The Fernbank Museum of Natural History is a great place to take the younger kids, but I think your older teenagers may be a little bored.

Atlanta Zoo Is No Monkey Business

Atlanta, Georgia... I had several hours to between meetings and it was a beautiful cool spring day. Although I am in Atlanta quite often I had never been to the zoo.

( http://www.zooatlanta.org/home.htmme.htm ) So I used this opportunity to do the zoo. Most of the zoos around the world that I have been to, U.S., Canada, Germany even India each gave me one special memory. In Berlin it was baby lions that my kids were able to hold in their excited young hands, in New Delhi it was White Tigers, long before they became the rage in magic shows. For evermore Atlanta will be gorillas.

This particular day it could be said was bad timing on my part. Approximately 30,000 Atlanta school children were disembarking their yellow buses as I approached the front gates of the Atlanta zoo. My plan to beat the crowds was to go left since most were going right. I would miss herds of screaming snot nose kids. Wrong! The zoo is not all that big and the kids were overflowing the grounds. I swear they were multiplying as they yep and hollered at the meerkats and panda. It seemed like I had no escape. So I relented and pushed my way through the runts. Hey! I had a camera, I needed to get in close to animal enclosure. So as I attempted to balance against the fence in front of the gorilla enclosure small hands tugged at my pants legs and bumped my arm as I missed a great shot. But slowly my surroundings faded as I was totally immersed in the lives of the gorillas before me. I was up close and could almost reach out for a quick stroke of the course hair of a silverback male. He stood as a majestic overseer of their encampment. The Atlanta Zoo is probably not the highest ranking zoo in the country ( only my opinion) but the Gorilla Enclosure is more than meeting any one's expectation on how to manage animals in captivity. This is proven by the shear activity of the animals , male displays of running and beating their chest, the interaction of the females and their young and the shear joy of the young playing with each other and the adults. This was the most active group of gorillas I have ever seen.

The old silverback male was Ozoum, a Western Lowland Gorilla. At forty-eight years old he is nearing the end of the average life span of fifty years for a captive gorilla. As he made his way through the enclosure you could sense the respect the other 22 gorillas had for him.

The family interactions were remarkable to witness.

Kali practicing his karate moves.

The twins, Kali and Kazie were having great fun wrestling. Much of their play serves their education for the future. Hard to believe that cute playful Kali will grow to over three hundred pounds and could snap my neck with his pinkie finger.

Mom enjoying the moment.

While I have been to many zoos which in total are better than the Atlanta Zoo, I believe the Atlanta Zoo's gorilla exhibit is the best I have seen. Thank you for such a delight, Atlanta!

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RICK-DA-SCALE

Here I will give my humble uneducated opinion of the places I have been. On a scale from 1-10 where 10 is nirvana and 1 is equal to having your right eye stuck with a hot poker while the left eye is forced to watch book reviews on C-Span.

Location_____________Rating____________________Comment

Atlanta______________ 6___________________Too many cars and people

Zoo_________________8___________________Gorilla Exhibit

Restaurants___________7___________________You can find any type

Accommodations_________7__________________Downtown Location

(Holiday Inn Select, Capitol Center)

Dollywood Vacation

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee..... If you are planning a vacation to the Smoky Mountains this summer you my want to allow a little time to visit Dollywood Theme Park located in Pigeon Forge.

It seems that every year Dollywood opens new and more exciting rides and adventures. This year it is RIVER BATTLE. ( http://www.dollywood.com/rides-attractions/ride-detail.aspx?AttractionID=1071 ). This ride pits passengers from different rafts against each other as they use water guns to soak the other. Originally they were going to use AK 47's but were afraid guest may turn the guns on the the park's staff. Plan on getting wet if you take to the River. There are still the classic rides such as the Thunderhead Roller Coaster. This wooden coaster has a 100 foot drop at speeds of 55miles per hour and I have to admit I closed my eyes when we took that fall. This was great fun but be certain to eat lunch after this one.

The old sawmill once moved lumber out of the mountains at ThunderheadGap. Wood is still the focus, but now the operation known as the Thunderhead is the wildest ride in the woods! Situated between two mountains, this massive wooden coaster stands tall among the mighty trees and takes advantage of the area's rough and tumble terrain to create a daring ride .

If you hurry you can still see the FESTIVAL OF NATIONS extravaganza. May 5 is the scheduled last day. International rhythm comes to life as the world’s most popular dances are presented, from Latin America’s spicy salsa and fantastic flamenco to Russia’s captivating Cossack. Ireland’s sensational step dancing in the highly anticipated return of Rhythm of the Dance, the show-stopping centerpiece of Celebrate Ireland featuring Irish dining, crafters, entertainment and more. Daring dance steps are just the beginning of Dollywood’s seven-week celebration of music, artistry, foods and crafts from around the globe during Festival of Nations.

If you are not able to make this one there are many more Festivals and special entertainment planned.

Our log cabin Hibernation Hideaway is just across the road from Dollywood. Each morning we wake to the sound of Dollywood's steam engine train as it blows it's whistle at the start of the day. We can watch the puff of smoke top the hill. It is sound and sight we enjoy. Dollywood is so sugary sweet you could end up diabetic after a week. Great family fun that should not be missed.

Air Travel Moves Toward Vertical Flight

Orlando, Florida.... Word from airline industry insiders is that the air travel is about to take a stand up position. At a time when the FAA is under fire for not adequately managing airline maintenance and Air Traffic controllers claim it is only a matter of time before a major accident happens, the large air carriers are attempting a major overhaul to increase passenger density on planes. They are hoping to boost profits that have been dwindling due to high fuel cost.

Stand up and be counted.... Vertical Flight Airliners or VFA's will begin this fall. No seats just polls and hand loops as you stand for the entire flight. Short commuter flights of 45 minutes or less will be the first routes to use the VFA's. One worker at the Orlando International Airport reported that he saw all the seats being removed from a Delta Connection Flight last week. There will be an estimated 20% increase in the number of passengers a plane can carry. Weight is the limiting factor. Some business travelers were excited about the lower ticket prices which are estimated to be 32% less according to a undisclosed source at United Airlines with Delta reporting that they will beat that by 2%. Sound far fetched? Just remember that in a society where seat belts are required in almost and moving vehicle the airline industry has elected to move you from one concourse to another via a fast moving train or monorail that has no seats, only polls and hand loops attached to the ceiling's frame. This was no accident. An insider at a major airport hub reveled that the airline industry purposely introduced this system of transport as a test to see if the public would accept such an inconvenience. And we do.

Bring one dollar bills... A spokes person from Hustler Magazine stated that though they were diametrically opposed to the airlines increasing their profits it may be an opportunity for some woman to pay for their flights by poll dancing their way to Newark. The now defunct Hooter's Airline had no comment but did say they wished they had thought of this first.

Woolly Mammoth found in the Yukon

Yukon Territory, Canada...............As we traveled over White Pass crossing from Alaska to the Yukon Territory there was a change. The wind howled, the snow was heavy on the ground and there was little else in the open tundra. Low growing vegetation stunted from the permafrost dotted the forbidding landscape. But in a very short 30 minutes the sun began to shine and there was a change in the season. No snow at the small rugged frontier town of Carcross.

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The Woolly Mammoth....Sorry, we did find one but he is a creation of a very talented taxidermist who has an exhibition set up just outside of Carcross (Caribou Crossing).

http://www.yukonwild.com/

Another extinct creature brought back to life.

This was real.! A goat used the horse as a vantage point.

Unexpected sights in the Yukon : Desert and Caribbean Sea.

Cozumel --- Quest of the Magical Carpet

Cozumel, Mexico.......... We had traveled to Cozumel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozumel) on four different occasions . This time it was a port of call of a five day Carnival cruise out of New Orleans. This was a inexpensive cruise and with no air travel it was down right cheap. However, you do get what you pay for. The ship out of New Orleans is a bit older and certainly does not compare to newer ships. I thought the food was good but the rest of my family did not think much of the quality. Service was okay but not the spectacular service I have come to expect on cruises, but maybe I am just getting old and cranky.





















Shopping....... As I have stated in other post it is life threatening to have to follow your wife on a shopping trip. Studies have shown that men are more at risk of having a heart attach when shopping with their wives than at any time. Having said that, Susie noticed that there were several oriental carpet dealers in Cozumel and we had been trying for months to find the perfect carpet for our redecorated dinning room. So we passed the beaches and the Mayan ruins to go on a quest to find the magical carpet that we both could live with. We visited several dealers and


of course they all had the deal of a lifetime. Make them an offer, no amount was to little to consider. After several hours of a constant bombardment of rolling and unrolling rugs we settle in a store called the Grand Bazaar. One thing we learned before the Cozumel quest was that oriental rugs have a list price then a sales price. This is the case in most stores and the Internet. The sales price is almost always 50% less then the listed price. So we were prepared to negotiate with the salesman at this store, which was one of the stores listed on Carnival Cruise Line's shopping recommendations. After viewing several rugs, the only one we both liked was hanging on the wall. It was a mire $36, 000.00 Yes dollars, not pesos. It was made in China and was hand woven of silk. Well, we were not even close to a negotiating point with this one, so out of shear frustration the salesman dug deep into the piles of rugs, had his two helpers pull a rug from the pile and rolled it out to display its colors. It was the large 9 feet by 11 feet hand woven wool Turkish rug. I liked the color and the design and Susie was excited . This was the one she had been picturing in her mind. Only $13,00.00! Holy pesos! Did I see one like this in the Penney's catalog for $150.00? Oh, he showed us the weave and how even the bottom side looked to be the finished side and how the colors changed depending on the angle you looked from. It was even signed by the weaver. "Make an offer senor", he said. We had only expected to spend about $2500.00 max on a rug, this was out of our range, I explained. Before I could say another word he was off to his boss and came back with a price of $3,200.00. If the original list price was legit then $7500.00 would be a normal sales price, so as my mind ran the numbers I let emotion get the best of me and said yes even before Susie gave the nod. What a deal! Of course on the way back to the ship I was starting to have buyer's remorse. Did I just get ripped off? After I was back on the ship I began an Internet search of Turkish rugs and found Ali Baba's in Turkey. They made the rug we had just purchased. In full color that was the one we had just purchased. I felt better and have to admit it looked fantastic as soon as we rolled it out on the floor at home. It took only three weeks for shipping, a week faster than promised.




















































I was now at least able to relax and watch the sun set as we sat sipping adult beverages and musing over our purchasing prowess.







































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RICK-DA SCALE

Here I will give my humble uneducated opinion of the places I have been. On a scale from 1-10 where 10 is nirvana and 1 is equal to having your right eye stuck with a hot poker while the left eye is forced to watch book reviews on C-Span.


Location_____________Rating____________________Comment

Cozumel_______________6______________________Too touristy

Shopping_______________7______________________Only if you like to haggle

Carnival Cruise Line_______6______________________Spoiled by other lines