Hotlanta

Hey, peeps! Yesterday was definitely one of the best days of summer I've had so far. The boyfran and I decided to make a short-notice trip to Atlanta a few days ago, and I had a list of fun activities planned! We planned our little road trip to revolve around the World of Coca-Cola, since I got free passes from my Coke Rewards points. I had some other points of interest in mind, but the best road trips are the spontaneous ones, right? That's what I like to call livin' life :)
Our day started bright and early at 7:30 when I picked the boyfran up. He was a grump-pants completely cheery at this early hour! I volunteered to drive to Atlanta since the boyfran doesn't do so well in the wee morning hours. I knew he would probably sleep a little on the way there, but I laughed out loud when he walked to my car, comforter and pillow in hand. He spent the majority of the ride like this:

Happy as a clam.

I, however, was in a fantastic mood while driving! After fueling up on my drug of choice...

Don't you wish they actually served them in those glasses?

Skinny vanilla latte from the 'Bucks. Delicious? Yes. Way over-priced? Always. The 3 hour drive flew past while I struggled to find country stations on the radio. Luckily, we made it with only one stop--the Georgia Welcome Center (boyfran's request). 

Georgia!

With a lot little help from the Garmin, we eventually found the World of Coca-Cola. The boyfran and I had both been before when we were little tots, but neither of us remembered much.

All Coke products.

In front of the World of Coca-Cola.

I might admit to being that annoying girl that forces politely asks random strangers to take pictures of her and her boyfran. Sorry 'bout it. 

There were tons of funsies to be seen inside the World of Coca-Cola, so I'll try to just hit the highlights here:

I would like this in my future home.

Vault where the secret Coke formula is kept.

Lots of waiting in lines.

Coca-Cola bear.

There's even a tasting room where you can taste over 65 different Coke products from various countries. The boyfran and I were both in need of caffeine, so we obviously were a little excited for this room.

Tasting.

Yum Coke.

Tasting room.

After we were fully carbonated, we hit the gift shop and found some interesting treasures:

Tiny Cokes.

Giant Cokes.

When we had seen enough of the red and white logos, we grabbed our complementary Cokes and strolled through Centennial Olympic Park. I was amazed at how huge it was!

Souvenirs.

Da park.

Olympics.

 The park was gorgeous. But it was so insanely hot outside that we didn't get to stay very long. The boyfran was afraid we would melt. <<< joke. So we grabbed some sandwiches from a little restaurant and headed on to the other sites on our list: Georgia Tech, IKEA, and Trader Joe's.

I'm not sure if the boyfran really enjoyed IKEA to its full potential, but I know I had the time of my life there!

IKEA: my favorite place in the world.

Overjoyed with our finds.

 I got a few things at IKEA before we headed to our last stop for the trip...Trader Joe's. I have always wanted to go to a Trader Joe's, since I've seen their products literally everywhere in the blogosphere. So, naturally, I was delighted to find out Atlanta had a store.

In heaven.

I was happy with my Cat Cookies, and the boyfran was happy with his $3.00 bottles of wine. Win-win situation.

Overall, we had a fantastic day in the ATL. It might have been a long day, but it was totally worth it. Now I'm lookin' forward to some quality rest time!

Til next time,                         

                                                              Shelby