On the road again...

Might we just started with an amusing little anecdote...

Currently we are situated at the delightful 'Comfort Inn' beside the I85 South, just a cheeky wee stopover on the way from Atlanta to New Orleans. There is conveniently a Waffle House right beside our motel.

We strolled in there this evening for dinner, happy, naive, even a little excited. We were greeted with more staff members than customers but that was ok! We sat down and chose some american classics from the laminated menu. A juke box stood in the corner; never did we think this would prove to be such a controversial endeavour.

Our initial choices went down swimmingly - Michael Buble, Alicia Keys and Outkast all had the waitresses bopping along. BUT THEN.... the opening chords of Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' begins. Immediately the atmosphere changed. Tension filled the air, the waitresses convene to discuss. Whispers of 'not allowed'...'quickly change it'....arise. Calum and I were highly confused. First of all, the waitresses were African Americans, so we figured it couldnt have been a race issue. One of the waitresses slots some quarters in and chooses some others songs.

ALAS

We had one cheeky little number left. Donna Summer's 'Hot Stuff' perhaps did not get the reaction we sought at that time.....WOOPS.

We came back to the motel and googled why this might be controversial. Perhaps something to do with us questioning the American's decision to go to war? Goodness knows, but it made for one waffle with huuuuuuge side of awkward. HA.

Ok so our Atlanta trip was truly action packed. Perhaps one of the most fun American-y things we have done this trip was to go to a Drive-In movie! Was so cool! Only scary part was Rachel neglecting to mention that we had to drive through the hood to get there... We saw a semi-average film but the experience made it GREAT and the snacks were fantastic!! A side of extra melted butter was offered with our popcorn, we respectfully declined.

Rachel pointed us in the direction of 'Thumbs up Diner' the next morning, which was such a wonderful place! It was a real American diner which was absolutely packed.

We got to try 'grits' for the first time. They were actually quite nice, kind of like a corn-based porridge? Calum liked them salty but I was judged as a 'Northerner' for liking them sweet...












We felt so touristy in this really comfortable, busy diner where everyone probably had their usuals. This sign didn't make us feel any more at ease!!

At least there was an exclamation mark after the 'Welcome'?

We then stopped by the birthplace/preaching place of Martin Luther King Junior. This was actually a great (and highly cultural) experience. The monuments and the information centre were extremely interesting and we both left having our thoughts fairly provoked.

After our culturally-aware morning we decide to continue our education experience with...

THE ZOO!!! YEEEEYYY!!

Calum and I have pretty high standards after Prague Zoo. We both enjoyed this zoological experience however obviously we had critiques which I will not bore you with here...

Animals included:

Giraffes
Orangoutangs
Elephants
Lions
Tigers
Bears (the order of that was genuinely not intended...)

The Gorillas were a MASSIVE feature of Atlanta Zoo because it is a pioneer of Gorilla reproduction and habitat. They had a really famous Gorilla there called 'Willie B' who was the first gorilla to have an outside enclosure. Fairly cool.

Was also a fairly educational experience as we didn't realise that Africa had a sponsor?

Chuckle chuckle...

We also went to a little Lizard show where Calum found his new nemesis...'Derick;. Derick was NOT a good audience member throughout this show. Constantly rustling, moving, commenting; total jerk. Granted he was about four but we HATED him.

I don't usually like to agree with stereotypes but sometimes Americans are just SO stupid. We genuinely heard this lady on the phone say 'Oh MY GAWWWSH you should see these....(pause while she reads sign)....Silverback Gorillas! They are too cute! They are like black, with this like silver back?'

The pandas were definitely our favourite thing about the zoo:

Was so nice that China loaned these Pandas to Atlanta. One could comment that these Pandas are better treated than the majority of Chinese citizens but being recently educated in being more Culturally Aware one never would....

Also found Penny and Polly's yankee cousins:

That night we went out for a lovely goodbye meal with Rachel and Jonah at a place called 'Six Feet Under' which is across from a graveyard! Oh the irony! We tried lots of Southern American treats like 'Hush Puppies' and 'Zucchini Fries' both extremely tasty and extremely deep fried.

So now we find ourselves on the road again! We have pitched roadside for the night just over half way along the road from Atlanta to New Orleans. I kind of messed up the 'Welcome to Alabama the Beautiful' sign again. Deepest apologies, Calum and I were rocking out to Back in Black.

North Carolina is definitely winning this competition hey!!!

Love you all!! Hope everyone is good!

Calum and Jenni xxxxxxxx