We slept okay, not great but okay. We’re close to the airport so we got lots and lots of planes overhead, along with the usual sirens and truck noises associated with the freeway nearby. Michael did head down to the complimentary breakfast and got us some coffee. Tasted really good.
We left our room around 11:00 AM and headed downtown to the CNN building. We got to see the Olympic Park (where the bombing occurred) and some other very interesting things. We’ve decided we want to come back and explore this city in more depth. Lots to see and experience here. We were able to find a parking lot across the street from CNN ($10.00) and then go inside and get our tickets ($16.00 per person).
Headed downtown.Past the football stadium.A glimpse of the State Capitol building.We have put Atlanta on our list of places to revisit.
Interesting buildings.
We need time to walk around and research.Found it.
Parking garage elevator doors.Grumpy coming out of the garage.New and old.Interesting buildings all around.I was fascinated by what appeared to be video cameras on the back of the patrol car.
The tour started at noon. Our guide, Addison, did an excellent job and answered all our questions. What a fun and informative tour. Really made CNN come alive in a way I never thought it could. Makes me feel much more connected to it in that I now know much more about how it works and where it works. Too fun.
Inside we go.Cavernous interior.Nice field display.Center photo, above flags, windows are hotel room balconiesOffices.Guest studio off the gift shop. For a small price you can get your demo dvd made here.Pretty woman admiring his hair do.World’s longest unsupported escalator.Beginning the tour.If like them on FB, or tweet on Twitter, or pin them on Pinterst, etc, etc they will change colors.A miniaturized control room screen, we were given a quick overview on how it works. Kinda killed the mystery.Mock studio.Our guide explaining and demonstrating the tele-prompter.The teleprompter is directly above the camera and creates the illusion that the anchor is looking directly at us. No more that 4 words in a sentence so the anchor’s eyes won’t move left to right as they read, to further the illusion.Green screen demonstration, note screen upper right.Tour volunteer demonstrating cloak.Bodyless weather report.Lots of big photo’s on the walls in the stairwells.Newsroom, swells and shrinks depending on the news.Field satellite.Our tour group to the left.Our tour group to the right.We liked the clocks showing times around the world.Pretty small nod to the founder, Ted Turner.Don Lemon
We looked in one newsroom and found the fuel that they run on, processed junk. Where is Dr. Gupta?
I really liked this photo of high tech in primitive village.The black floor tiles represent continents.Wrapping up.Studio lights.Leaving downtown, nice artful statue.
We left around 1:00 PM. Our original plan was to head to the Margaret Mitchell house for the “Gone With the Wind Museum.” After the CNN tour we decided to pass until our next time in the area. (Plus it was raining pretty hard.) Instead we headed for a nearby Walmart to get a few things we needed.
Just a few more things for the trip.
When we left Walmart, we headed to a new blog friend who had written. Her name is Bonnie and what a nice person to open up her house and invite us in. Michael and I both felt like we had known her for years. She was from Santa Cruz, California but now lives in the Atlanta area. She made an excellent Alabama chicken stew and cornbread. So very good and we so enjoyed visiting with her. Glad we got to meet. Thank you so much Bonnie!
Sweet cat made Grumpy smile.
Sister on the left, brother on the right.The squirrel goes after the bird seed next to the window. The cats want him so bad.
Pretty woman with our new friend, Bonnie.
We left a little early so we could get back to the room and watch the Superbowl, which we are now doing. That was our day. Hope yours was great!
It might be awhile before we are able to update the blog while in Europe. We will try but we suspect we won’t be able to fully update until March.
