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7am the phone rang, I didn't even know the phone company allowed calls at
7am.. go figure.. anyways it was fellow Alternetter (A mailing liste)
Matt ringing to arrange meeting for lunch in Atlanta today.. don't
panic tho, I did manage another hour's sleep.
We had a quick 70 mile drive to Atlanta, then spent an hour driving around in circles looking for the world of Coca Cola... those familiar with our previous road trips will remember our addiction to "Lychee Mello" flavor carbonated beverage.. only available at the Worlds of Coca Cola in Las Vegas & Atlanta.. so obviously a visit was in order.. unfortunately we were in a hurry so we had to skip the many interesting & informative displays pertaining to Coke branded trays and vending machines (yawn) and made our way straight to the "Tastes of the world" exhibit where we could indulge in Lychee flavored goodness to our hearts content, special mention must also be given to Raspberry Fanta and Guarana flavor, none of these are available in Europe or the US.. damn. |
 Obelisk to Cokedom |
 Lychee Mello rules. Oh yus. |
Following out fantabulous meal at Corky's in Memphis on Tuesday, we decided to visit the Atlanta branch and see if the Corky's empire could create good barbecue away from their home bbq pit.. sadly for us, they couldn't, the new accepted wisdom is that Corky's in Memphis rules.. forget the franchised versions.. After lunch we hightailed it up to Rock City, Georgia; Matt had told us we'd only need 30 mins here so we didn't mind arriving at 4:30pm.. I have to ask.. Matt, did you sprint 'round or what? |
| Rock City is an old tourist attraction dating back to the 1930s, all over the south you see barns with their roofs painted to read "See Rock City." Over 500 barns were like this at one point, but only 170 odd remain. Rock City itself features an "Enchanted Trail" which is a cutesy walkway through strange & beautiful rock formations.. some "Fairyland Caverns" a cutesy walk through some fake caves loaded up with gnomes painted with fluorescent paint and lit with black light, and loads of other cutesy stuff.. a lovers leap, an observation point that allows you to see 7 states at once.. etc etc, all very "cute".. :) Took way longer than 30 mins to amble through tho. |
 Tourists at Rock City.. |
 Psychedelic Gnomes at Rock City |
Just up the road from Rock City is "Ruby Falls," a showcave.. we'd heard this cave wasn't that good but we went anyways, after all it's been open like 80 years, so it has a place in the roadtripping pantheon. Ruby Falls has been destroyed by ignorant tourist scum who have stolen all the stalagtites, grafittied the walls and generally wrecked the place.. Yet the caves owners carry on like they still have a genuine pucker cave, nasty. The cave's one redeeming feature is an underground waterfall that no amount of tourist terrorism could spoil. A special mention for our guide "Chris," what an unfunny patronising shit he turned out to be.. I won't bore you with the details. |
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We finished up at Ruby Falls by complaining to the manager on duty that
the cave was wrecked (Hey, he made the mistake of asking if we'd
enjoyed ourselves...) that they should go the whole hog and
install some gnomes, animatronic rocks, fake stalagtites and some lasers,
he took this as an insult and said "Go to Rock City if thats what you want"
..we will..
We left the Rock City environs at dusk & made our way west to "Murfreesboro" where we'll spend the night.. tomorrow we go explore in Tennessee. See ya..
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 Ruby Falls awesome waterfall. |