Roosevelt & I became tourists the second day we were in Atlanta. We did as much as we possibly could in very little time and saw some historical landmarks, visited an amazing Zoo (one of four US Zoo’s to house Giant Pandas) and the largest Aquarium in the Western Hemisphere. Along the way we had good food, met great people and walked thousands of steps exploring Atlanta.

We started the day off in a little cafe across the street from Zoo Atlanta called Grant Park Coffeehouse, we had some healthy sandwiches and some yummy coffee. Cool cafe with an upbeat vibe, great place to relax and have a bite to eat.

Interior of the cafe

Healthy sandwiches

Conveniently, the Zoo was right across the street so we took a quick walk over. This zoo is enormous, with different forests all which have a theme from different parts of the world such as ” African Plains”  and “Asian Forest”. Of course one of our favorite animals to see were the Giant Pandas, who were all asleep but adorable, cute and fluffy.

The elephants were covered in red clay and eating, they were so beautiful. The lions regal atop their “pride rock” and the gorillas in various forms of play, arguing with each other or lounging around. Every other animal we saw, the many many animals were all wonderful and it was such a lovely time roaming around. Definitely a must if you are in the Atlanta, GA area.

Regal Eagle

Pandas!

Loved the scenery

Gorillas

Sleeping Gorillas

Zoo Atlanta!

Gorgeous Lion

Looks like pride rock from Lion King

Elephants!

More Elephants

After the Zoo we traveled over to the Martin Luther King Historic Site. It was an incredibly humbling experience to be in the presence of where Dr. King was from and the various sites that had such historical value. We first visited Ebenezer Baptist Church where we heard a reenactment of the “I have a Dream” speech which was incredible then we were able to roam about the sanctuary and look at various pictures etc.

We then visited the final resting place for Dr. King and Coretta Scott King and took a look inside the museum they have on site. It had an air of tranquility and peace surrounding it. Our final stop was visiting Dr. King’s birthplace, a house on Auburn Ave close by the church. Great experience and definitely a must. Learning about each stage, and everything they went through during the civil rights movement was inspiring.  Check it out if you are in the area!

Suit MLK was wearing when stabbed

Original microphone

Interior of Ebenezer Baptist Church

Portrait in Ebenezer

Gravesite

Eternal Flame

Another view of reflection pool

Amazing quote

MLK's accessories

MLK's shoes

Coretta's beautiful dress and pictures

Coretta Scott King - Passport & Medals

Background on Gandhi

Reflection Pool

MLK Birthplace

After a glance through history we went to the Georgia Aquarium, which is incredibly immense and has tons of activities for the whole family. We had a blast in every section of the Aquarium and we made sure to cover as much as we could. We missed the Dolphins performing but still managed to see them and learn about them from the diver/trainer.

We also watched an incredible performance by the Sea Lions and their trainers. So much fun and they had us laughing and clapping the whole time.

The whale sharks were majestic, swimming all around with all the other fish. While we were going through he moving dome you could see them above us and it was just so cool to see them and all the other aquatic life at the Aquarium.

So many colorful fish

Another shot of the whale shark

In the dome

Aquarium selfie

School of fish

Gorgeous creature

Beautiful Whale Shark

Dory!

More Dolphins!

Trying the Thai Tea Popsicle

Dolphins playing

Some of the city

So many yummy flavors

Watermelon Mojito

Tourists for the day

After the aquarium we roamed around and took some pictures and on our way to find something to eat we stopped by a kiosk which was right across from “The World of Coke” on Baker. They were selling “King of Pops” Popsicles which were so so good! I had the Watermelon Mojito and the Thai Tea. Roosevelt had the Iced Tea/Lemonade twice. The couple running the kiosk were so nice and some of our favorite people in Atlanta! We always love meeting new people and supporting local! Tacoma & Darrell were rock stars and I wish them all the best! Can’t wait to see them next year 🙂

Now, to talk about our meal for the night…. Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken was a highlight of our Atlanta trip, food wise. They specialize in spicy, crunchy, juicy fried chicken and all the sides.

Standouts:

• Mac & Cheese
• Fried Chicken
• Chess Pie
• Beans
• Sweet Tea

The fried chicken had so much flavor and was just the right amount of spicy to give you a kick. The sides were flavorful and rich, the sweet tea just the right amount of sweet and last but not least was the incredible chess pie. Perfection. We enjoyed our meal so much! Can’t wait to go back.

Menu

Some art 🙂

Sweet Tea, got to keep the cups!

Fried Chicken, fried okra, greens, white bread

Fried Chicken, beans, mac&cheese, white bread

Chess Pie

An incredibly fulfilling day, one that wont soon be forgotten. So glad we were able to have a mini vacation and experience all of these different places. Stay tuned for another blog post 🙂

Life as a Maven – 🙂