Part 2: The weekend
Fulton/DeKalb Counties
It’s the middle of my week-long vacation (part 1), and it’s still going well! I’ve had a blast so far. It’s definitely nice to be away from home for a bit.
Saturday
We started the weekend off with another eating disorder support group, one of the [insert addiction] anonymous types. It was a decent size group, although I’m told more people usually attend. Perhaps the weather scared most away. It was interesting. The topic, appropriately enough, was guilt, which is definitely something I can relate to.
City Pass Activity – Georgia Aquarium
We took a chance and visited the aquarium on a weekend afternoon because it was snowing, with the hope the strange phenomenon would keep most people at home. It worked out. It wasn’t too crowded. We only waited about ten minutes to file through into the building.
After the past two days of relatively intense physical activity for me (these days), my friend borrowed a wheelchair for me. I had mixed feelings about it, but it probably was for the best. I don’t like putting myself in situation where I need someone to help me, and by sitting in a wheelchair that would be the case, but at times it’s necessary. My shoulder is in no condition to wheel myself around, so she had to push me, however, as she so wisely said, I needed to ‘save my legs’ for the rest of the trip.
It did lead to a few memorable moments. At one point, during a short pit stop, she parked me in a corner facing a ‘TV screen’ thinking it would show something interesting. Well, it just faded in and out with various colors. The funny part is that a group of people began to accumulate behind me and stared at the screen as well. I guess they assumed since I was watching it that something neat was about to happen. Haha. Yeah, good times.
~Tropical Driver~
The gallery is focused on fish from tropical waters, such as coral reefs.
Jelly Fish
Coral Reef
The little blue fish in the coral reef makes me think of Dory from Finding Nemo. I can hear Ellen DeGeneres say “just keep swimming, swimming, swimming…” as I watch them.
~Ocean Voyager~
This one is focused on large ocean creatures, including sharks. I know surprising.
Hammerhead Shark
Sting Ray
Whale Shark
The Ocean Tunnel was neat, although, it was tough getting through with the wheelchair. Sharks, large fish and sting rays swim around and over you.
We watched the whale shark feeding in the large auditorium. They only eat plankton, which is why they’re still in with so many smaller fish. The most amazing part is they’ve trained the whale sharks to only eat from a certain colored bucket.
~Georgia Explorer~
It’s directed at a younger audience with a focus on local water-related topics. It displays information about the state’s waterways and has various species of local fish.
Puffer
There wasn’t much to the exhibit really. We quickly scooted through and moved on.
~River Scout~
This one displays a variety of freshwater fish from different climates and regions.
African River Fish
Red Piranha from the Amazon River
I think the piranha, as still as they were, were creepy. They seemed to being giving us a ‘what’s for dinner’ type look.
~Cold Water Quest~
It displays creatures, including fish and mammals, sea/water-related in the polar regions of the earth. Also, all of the aquarium’s mammal exhibits are in the gallery.
California Sea Lions
African Penguins
Beluga Whale
The sea lions and penguins were quite active. Both swam circles around their exhibits. The Penguins actually came right up to people lining the glass. It was kind of fun. My friend took some great video of them.
We were chased away from the River Otters by the volunteer stationed at the exhibit. There’s only so many times one can hear about otters’ birth control before it’s time to move on.
I’m still figuring out how to take decent photographs inside, where the lighting is poor. Not to mention, things were even more complicated by shooting through plastic with moving subjects. I still think a few turned out. What can I say, I’m learning.
Saturday’s Flickr set: aquarium pics
Rest of the day
In the evening, we grabbed dinner and then went mini-golfing. We found this cool indoor course near her house, making it a perfect activity for a snowy evening.
The only draw-back was that we where sandwiched between two conflicting parties. Ahead of us was a high school version of three’s company, with a group of two girlfriends vying for the attention of the same guy. They were too focused on each other to actually play, so they were holding us up. However, behind us was a little boy and his baby-sitter. He was so excited and eager to keep playing, he’d start before we were even off the hole.
After our round, we played a few video games before calling it a night. I lost horribly at everything except air hockey. She killed me in several games of skeet-ball, a video racing game and a scary shooting game that involved large spiders.
Sunday
We had a slow start to our day, but, hey, I’m on vacation. It’s allowed!
City Pass Activity – High Museum of Art
Obviously, photography wasn’t allowed in the museum, so no pictures for this section. Anyway, it was an interesting afternoon. Once again I found myself in a wheelchair. Oh boy.
We slowly toured the various galleries, stopping to discuss some pieces. The collection was nice. It was worth going, especially since it was part of our city pass.
Rest of the day
After spending time in an art museum, we found an art & craft store to pick up our own supplies to create pieces related to eating disorder recovery for a local upcoming candle light vigil. It was fun. We each painted a picture, although through very different processes. She had a picture in her mind from the get go and got exactly what she needed to create it. I, on the other hand, didn’t figure out what to do until I saw what was available.
In the evening, we met a few of her friends at a nearby Starbucks. We had originally planned to go to a local coffeehouse, but it was too crowded. I enjoyed myself and didn’t even feel like an outcast. I wasn’t in the loop regarding most things, but I was still able to join the conversation. We had to leave early because I developed an intense headache around 9:00ish, so that put a damper on the evening, but overall it was a good day.
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