Tiger Time

One of the things I was hoping to do during my India trip this summer was to see a Tiger. I was pretty excited when a friend was enthused about the idea of going to one of the National Parks where you can still see one. However, due to scheduling issues, the tiger plans fell through and I went to Eastern Himalayas and on the way managed to see a Great One Horned Rhinoceros at Gorumara National Park. So, now I have to contend with the time spent watching tigers in the zoos.

This one is from Atlanta Zoo, from our 2007 Holiday trip.

More in Montgomery

The Dexter Avenue Church in which Dr. King served as a pastor, is on the same street as the Capitol Building in Montgomery, Alabama.

We saw the capitol from outside, and then drove to the First White House of the Confederacy, on Washington Avenue. This was home to the President Jefferson Davis, in 1861. The building was moved to its current location in 1921 and is currently closed for renovation. We were able to see the building only from the outside.

Our next stop was the Dexter Parsonage Museum. This is the house in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived when he was in Montgomery, and was part of the Civil Rights Movement. We were able to take a tour of the house, and also see some of the damage to the porch caused when the house was bombed after the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The house was restored in 2003, and it was really interesting to see the homes and get a glimpse of life in the 1950's.

Next we drove through Old Alabama Town, a restoration of authentic old houses, extending over 6 blocks in a historic village. We stopped in a coffee shop that is run by a couple, who serve awesome gourmet coffees, and were very welcoming when we stopped by just before close time. They answered all our questions and gave us recent weather updates :) The Old Alabama Town is like an area out of an old movie, completely different from the surrounding town.

Our last stop was at the Civil Rights Memorial Center, before heading over to our friend's place for a great dinner and a lovely time. A place with so much history is a must see for everyone!

Historical Landmarks

After a wonderful dinner at the Dosa Camp in Alpharetta and a long night chatting with Ramsi and Nasa, we left the next day to Montgomery, Alabama. I have been to Montgomery before in 2003, and knew the places that Shankar had to visit. Our first stop was at the Rosa Parks Museum. The Rosa Parks Museum, a tribute to the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement", is part of the Troy State University.

The museum is a must see if you are in the area. It is a great place to learn more about the Civil Rights Movement and the dramatic events that took place in Montgomery during segregation and all the great souls that fought for the equality of men. The feelings one goes through as you walk along the exhibits is something that cannot be simply described by words. Montgomery is a place that you need to experience personally than read about.

Our next stop was the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as a pastor and during which he started leading the National Civil Rights Movement. Though we made it during their open hours, the caretaker was not available and we couldn't go inside. It was a bummer, but we were able to go to the Parsonage and take a tour. Details in the next post!

Georgia Aquarium

Our next stop in Atlanta was the Georgia Aquarium - the largest aquarium in the world with more than 8 million gallons of water. They had two prime attractions - the whale shark and the Beluga whales. Security was crazy in the aquarium - luckily we did not have to wait long owing to the City Pass, but people were not allowed to even take in chewing gums.

Anyways, we spent about 4 hours in there, and we were really excited about the whale sharks - the largest fishes in the world and these are only ones in an aquarium outside Asia. There were supposed to be 4 of them, but we could make out only 3 and here is one of them:

This California Sea lion was all set for his meal, and could not stop himself from peeking in through the glass in the door, may be watching his food being prepared. It was very funny to see him keep doing that. An impatient one!

Here is the star of the aquarium, one of the Beluga Whales - these are the only whales with a flexible neck! This whale can also swim backwards, though we didn't see it. The aquarium is hoping to breed the Beluga Whales in captivity. The aquarium maintains a webcam for both the whale sharks and the beluga whale. Please take a look when you get a chance.

The most fun we had was watching these curious Garden Eels, poking their head and attempting to come pout of the sand, though even after 5 minutes, we never saw one leave the sand completely.

Another awesome exhibit, was the Lake Malawi Cichlids. They are the classic example of Sympatric Speciation - formation of new species in the absence of a geographical barrier, for example within a lake (I know this sounds geeky :)). It was neat to see many species of Cichlids in the same tank! I wish there was some write up there on the significance of these fishes.

CNN Tower

The CNN Center in Atlanta is also a tourist center, where we can take a guided tour on the news giant - get a glimpse of the newsroom and how they work. After a late start, mostly because of me chatting with Ramya and delaying her too, we made it to the CNN center, also across from the Centennial Park around 11 am.

The tour was 55 minutes long, and it was pretty interesting for us to learn more about how news is processed & delivered to us. Only disappointment was pictures were not allowed. Oh, and even though we go up an escalator, we have to walk down like 13 flights of stairs - so not for the weak legged.

From the CNN center, we went to SbyDee, a new Thai restaurant near Georgia Tech. The place was recommended by our friend Goutham, and he also joined us for lunch. The place was nice, not crowded and the food was excellent. We had vegetable tempura and a cashew curry. Today's good Thai food helped us alleviate the disappointment of the Thai restaurant we stopped at on our first day of this trip.

World of Coca-Cola

The World of Coca-Cola is the largest museum for Coke and all the products of Coca-Cola. The museum has moved to a new venue at Pemberton Place, across from Centennial Park in Atlanta. Given the Holiday season, the place was so crowded and thanks to the city pass, we did not have to wait for a long time.

I have to mention that tourist spots in Atlanta had the most security I have ever seen other than airports. We have to walk through a metal detector, leave my tiny swiss army knife outside and can't even have chewing gum on you. That seemed a little too much. So anyways, after a long line to pass the security check, we were let into the lobby (below).

Then at some specified intervals, all of us were herded into a corridor - called the loft, which has coke ads from all over the world. We had to stand here for another 15 minutes, trying to read these ads and watch little facts about coke on big flat screen monitors. Again we were all herded into the Happiness Factory Theater, where you get to watch a lame animated shameless self promotion movie. Opening from the theater, is the hub, with few exhibits and the Coke Polar Bear (not a real one).

The place got interesting after this, you can see a working bottling unit, and video feeds from real factories. Adjacent to this is a milestone gallery and a display of coke products. There some pretty neat coke bottles, some from China & nearby countries and those that were made specially for night clubs. I would like my coke in such a bottle. On level two, there is a pop art gallery with works by Andy Warhol and other coke fans, and more coke products from around the world.

The last stop was the tasting room, where they had tasting stations from all over the world, with 70 different products. We each tasted about 12 products - it was the place to spike your blood sugar. There were also stations where you can sample products that are in the making, a Christmas special peppermint flavored drink and a coffee flavored one. The entire experience ended in the gift store (of course), with so many coke products that you never want to see in one place, unless you get high on coca-cola. They were also very expensive, that our only souvenir was the sample coke bottle that they give out. Well, something for all the lines and waiting I suppose.

We had another long walk back to the car and headed to Alpharetta, to see our friend Ramya, who is behind our detour to Atlanta. She made Poori & Masal for dinner, Strawberry delight for delight - it was loaded with nuts & an instant hit. I was super tired and hit the bed early. However, Amy had declared herself the center of everyone's attention and kept everyone busy with petting her.

Lunch in Atlanta

After a long walk in the zoo, our stop was at Underground Atlanta - a mall and also where we thought the Coke Museum was. After we got there, we realized that the Coke Museum has moved, but it was a good place to grab some lunch. The Atlanta information center located in the Underground, was very helpful and pointed us out to Tringali's - an Italian restaurant above the mall.

The place was wonderful, with a fine dine atmosphere. We were way under dressed for the restaurant, but still enjoyed the service and the food. We started off with a Caprese salad, and then the Eggplant Parmesan. The serving size was plenty and the meal was delicious. And don't miss out on the bread and real butter. We even took some bread for Amy :)

We were a running short on time, since most of the tourist places closed around 4 pm (except the Coke Museum, which we later found was open till 6 pm) and didn't have any time for shopping. We had bought the City Pass, on which you save some money by buying tickets to at least 6 places at once and didn't want to waste it. Parking was plenty near the Underground and hence we decided to walk to the Coke Museum, called World of Coke now. We crossed Centennial Park - in memory of the 1996 Olympics. They had a huge Christmas tree (above) and a skating ring that was crowded. We had a good walk after a big lunch!

Atlanta Zoo

Day 2 in Atlanta we went to the zoo. Not just that we love animals, but Atlanta zoo is quite famous. It is not a zoo where no matter how much you try, you barely see half the exhibits. We were able to cover the entire place in about 4 hours, with ample time watching the critters.

After watching the meerkats taking turns, looking out for things flying in the sky, we were thrilled to see the silver back gorillas relaxing and the otters playing.

The next stop was the main attraction of the zoo - the Giant Panda. The Atlanta Zoo has three of them, a mother (below) and a baby (on top) that is the first one to be born in captivity in the US, and an adult male. However, all of them were sleeping when we were there. We were walking around seeing all the other exhibits when someone mentioned that it was feeding time at 2 pm and all the sleepy ones will be awake. We doubled back and were lucky to see the adults up and eating. This is the male and the female only showed her back to us for the most part. And the baby - missed the meal.

Atlanta - Day 1

We reached Atlanta around 9.30 pm on Christmas Eve and stayed with my childhood friend KKB and his wife. She had made a wonderful South Indian dinner of pearl onion 'sambhar' and potato fry. This is the first homemade meal for us in 4 days and it was splendid.

On Christmas day, we had a late start, had another home made meal of Indian rice cakes - Idlis, with chutney, then headed for the Temple. The day was cloudy with a little bit of rain. Most places are closed today, with the exception of places of worship and ethnic restaurants / movie theaters. First, we picked up Shankar's cousin Ram, then went to the Hindu Temple of Atlanta. Shankar and I haven't been to a temple since we came back from India last July and this was a good opportunity.

The temple also has a kitchen and we had Tamarind Rice and Yogurt Rice for lunch. They are food items we grew up with and part of our comfort food list.

We went to a movie theater in the mall next for National Treasures - 2. I was not impressed with the second one as I was with the first. It was good time pass before dinner. Atlanta has one of the famous restaurants from Madras (Chennai), called Saravana Bhavan. This is a classic restaurant at home and we were excited to be able to go to one in the States. This branch had opened very recently and one of our other friends Goutham also joined us for dinner. We had food items that are hard to make at home, and it was a lot of fun to meet up with friends and family on Christmas day :)

Ruby Falls

Our next stop from the Rock City was the Ruby Falls, located inside the Lookout Mountain. This is the largest indoor waterfalls open to the public and we had to walk through a cavern to get to the actual falls. The geologic formations were pretty interesting en route to the falls. There is no natural opening to the cave (there was one, but it was closed) and so no bats inside.

We had to walk almost half a mile to get to the falls. The falls itself is 145 feet high and was quite a sight. Since it was Christmas Eve the falls was lit up with colorful lights choreographed to music. However, we could have only 5 minutes there and it was the disappointing part - didn't think we would be brought back so soon after paying so much.

Once we were out, we headed straight for out next stop - Atlanta!

Rock City

Rock city on the lookout mountain is a splendid place - it is what the name says, though just one man's garden and home than a city. The Garden was the best part and features a lot of native plant species. You have to walk through the Rock City to actually see the seven states.

Grand Corridor

As you walk through the trail, there are both natural rock formations and man-made arrangements. There is a 'needle's eye', and a rock in the shape of a mushroom. They also have some deer on the way in a small park, including the white fallow deer. There is a swing along bridge that takes you to the end of the trail. Lover's leap is the end, from which you can see the seven states. This place so named because, as you can guess, a couple of lovers jumped off of it, has a wonderful view, to the city below and there is a waterfall below it too.

As you walk back, the trail leads through a cavern, and there are display cases on both sides of the trail, with scenes from fairy tales. The caverns are dark, and only the gnomes are lit, so pictures are not that good inside. As you are about to exit, there is a huge display of almost all the tales from Mother Goose Rhymes. It was a little too dark in there, with the dolls lit with UV lighting and could be a little creepy.

Overall for us, it turned out to be a good hike, about 1.5 miles and was a cheerful hour.

Chattanooga - Lookout Mountain

The drive from Nashville to Chattanooga was a beautiful one and the day was pleasant.

We hit the city first, wanting to get some lunch. Given the day is December 24, most of the restaurants downtown were closed. We went to Genghis Grill, one of the Mongolian barbecue places, where you can pick out the ingredients you want and they grill them on a huge slab for you and you can watch them do it. Genghis Grill is different from the other such grills we have been to, in that they had like 9 different varieties of spices and more sauces. The serving size is pretty big and Shankar and I were full even with sharing a bowl.

Then we headed to the Lookout Mountain, the popular tourist place in town. It is actually located in Georgia. The Lookout Mountain has three attractions - Rock City, Ruby Falls and the Incline Railway. From the Lookout Mountain, you can also "see" seven states. We were really excited about this when we went there, but discovered that you cannot actually 'see' all the seven states. See picture below - how far can you see, even with really good binoculars / spotting scopes?

We did not have enough time to go to all the attractions, but went to Rock City and the Ruby Falls. The Incline Railway, is a train that takes you up the Lookout Mountain, and is the world's steepest railway. May be we will go to Chattanooga again to go on the Incline Railway :)

Nashville Parthenon

On the third day of our Road trip to the South, We started nice and early, with Pastries for breakfast from La Provence, a bakery near Vanderbilt, and their coffee was really good. We headed to the Parthenon, located in the Centennial Park. It is a full scale replica of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.

We were unable to go inside and see the 42 feet statue of Athena, as the Parthenon is closed from Dec 22-25. Though we were a little disappointed, we were glad we at least got to see the building and hang around there.
Apart from taking a load of pictures, we played with Amy for a while and she was the happiest dog that morning! For more on what Amy did on our vacation, visit our pet blog - One Dog and Two Birds.

Our next stop is - Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Dinner @ Nashville

One word to describe Nashville, as we got there around 8 pm is - Festive! We had reservations at Sunset Grill, near Vanderbilt University. Dinner was wonderful and they had an excellent wine list. I had a glass of Kris Pinot Grigio (2006) from Italy - a full bodied wine with a clean finish and Shankar had a glass of the Yazoo Dos Perros, a local brew. We Started off with Polenta fries, and our main dish was a special of the day - Baked acorn squash, stuffed with apple, sweet potatoes and walnuts, with spinach on the side and a pesto based sauce. We also shared a Creme Brulee, which was a little disappointing, as the caramelized sugar was kind of burnt. Overall, we had a satisfying, romantic dinner.

Though we couldn't make it to any bars for some country music, we drove around downtown for a while, before calling it a day.

Land Between the Lakes

As we entered Kentucky, our plan was to take the scenic highway, and drive through the 'Land Between the Lakes' - the lakes being Lake Kentucky and Lake Barkley. The goal was to enter it before sunset, and we were so close. We took Highway 453, from I-24, and even in the winter, it is a beautiful drive. We only wish we had a little bit more time. We didn't go the entire course, but took Highway 68 back to I-24 after it got dark, but not before we had the opportunity to get shutter-happy :)

Amy and I on Lake KentuckyShankar

The woods are lovely...

One of my best shots