Claire in Concert

A recent Friday night found us in a our favorite concert venue as Claire, the world renowned pianist, dazzled the audience with her stirring rendition of Looby Loo.

Bravo, Claire. Bravo.

Roswell Mill

Our final stop in Georgia was to the old Roswell Mill. The site included a dam...

And a bypass structure.

There is also on old covered bridge.

Our tour guide doubled as Emma and Claire's uncle. Emma and Matthew pose without falling over the dam. Claire choose not to be in this picture.

And now we depart Georgia and head home.

Open Happiness

We took the short walk from the Georgia Aquarium to the World of Coca-Cola. First stop - a picture with the inventor of Coke. (He's the bearded dude).

Then the tour, which includes a trip to the vault to learn the secret formula for Coca-Cola.

We had to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so we can't reveal it to you Pepsi drinkers.

Then we experienced soft drinks from around the world. Some good, some not bad, and some downright terrible. 

Last stop was the freestyle area. Claire put on her evil scientist hat and made me drink whatever concoction she could fit in the serving cup.

Funny thing was, no matter what she put together, it was still better than 90% of the beverages from around the world. Are we a great country or what?

One last stop, then headed home...

Georgia Aquarium

Our tour through Atlanta continued at the Georgia Aquarium.

Emma was able to get up close to the wildlife.

Lots of colorful fish.

The fish loved this guy since he was feeding them. See the squirt bottle in his left hand.

Lots of exhibits where you can touch the animals. Claire was content to watch.

To be continued...

Stone Mountain

Leaving Destin, we headed north, using the back roads of Alabama to reach this wonderful spot:

Our first stop in this original colony was Stone Mountain Park, outside Atlanta. Here they commemorate the heroes of the War of Northern Aggression, also known as the Civil War.

Here's Stone Mountain itself:

And a closeup of the carving showing Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson.

If you've gone all this way, you might as well go to the top. To save time, we took the Swiss-made cable car instead of hiking.

On the mountain.

Since the mountain wasn't thrilling enough for the children, Emma decided to tackle the 40-ft high SkyHike. I tagged along to see what all the fuss was about. Cathy stayed behind to take pictures and drink all my Coke.

The climb was a little daunting for Claire, but she found a course more her style - and much closer to the ground.

To be continued...

Destin

Our summer travels found us heading east on the Eisenhower Interstate System. Our first stop - Destin, Florida and a little time on the beautiful white sand beaches.

We relaxed in the cool gulf water.

They even let me get in a picture.

Piano Recital

The 2013-2014 piano concert season ended with the debut of a new talent as Claire performed Butterfly Waltz on the grand stage.

Emma, one of the crowd's favorites, performed Ballade.