I think Jerry Reed said it best when he sang, “Oh how I miss that Georgia sunshine!”

Is it Saturday yet?

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The day started off pretty normal. For breakfast we had whole-wheat pancakes (actually much better than they sound), scrambled eggs from vegetarian-fed chickens, and “soy-sage“. The “soy-sage” came in the form of Morningstar Farms Sausage patties. The patties were actually pretty good. They had a spicy flavor that reminded me of real breakfast sausage but with a distinctly “veggie” taste. It’s really hard to describe if you’ve never had a veggie burger or other types of fake meat. They patties had hints of real sausage flavor but in the end had their own unique taste, which I appreciate. If I wanted it to taste exactly like sausage then I would just eat sausage. That is something I never really understood about fake meat products. Why are vegetarians so concerned with food looking/tasting like meat?

Breakfast went by without a hitch. The pancakes were excellent, the eggs were just like any other eggs, and the soy-sage was actually quite tasty. I’ve got two patties left and those will probably be eaten sooner rather than later. One meal down, two to go. Well actually, only one meal to go. We had a large, late breakfast and an earlier supper. We were in the car on the way to Atlanta during lunch time and neither of us were hungry until about 5:00. I know missing meals is a horrible habit but well sometimes it happens.

I somewhat cheated at supper. We ate at Cafe Sunflower which is an all vegan restaurant in Atlanta. I had eaten there a few times before and it is one of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta period, vegetarian or not. I can’t recommend it enough.

I had their Sesame “Chicken” while Sandy enjoyed a veggie burger. We shared an appetizer of Sunflower nuggets (fake chicken nuggets). If I could eat at Cafe Sunflower everyday I could be a vegetarian. No questions asked, no other stipulations needed. I don’t know how they do it but remember how I was talking about fake meat having a meat flavor but in the end being unique? The chefs at Sunflower have perfected this. The sesame chicken is incredibly satisfying. Not only is the “chicken” really good but they always have the brown rice and vegetables done perfectly. The meal could not have been made better even with real chicken.

So my two vegetarian meals weren’t so bad after all. Eating vegetarian isn’t that difficult if you eat out. Cooking for a vegetarian can be difficult though. Thankfully Sandy loves beans and rice so I always have an easy out. Some of my roommates junior year did a whole month as vegetarians. It’s really not as difficult as it might seem. I just love pork way too much. Fake bacon does not even begin to cut it. I reckon fake bbq can’t be good either.

It is fun to try every now and then though. I encourage my readers to do a meal, a day, a weekend, or even a whole week as a vegetarian. Just try it. The cooking is a challenge and sometimes it can be frustrating but who knows, you might find something you like.

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The new World of Coca-Cola is situated right across from the Georgia Aquarium. This location is ideal for visitors that want to check out the Aquarium, Centennial Olympic Park, or the CNN Center without having to drive and re-park. In fact, Atlanta now offers a “city pass” allowing tourists to visit each of the city’s major attractions over the course of nine days for one discounted price. Like the Georgia Aquarium, tickets for The World of Coca-Cola are for a specific time. This helps ease the congestion and made entering and touring the museum a relatively painless process despite the crowded Memorial Day weekend crowd. I would definitely recommend buying in advance online.

As expected, the World of Coca-Cola is little more than one long commercial for Coca-Cola. From the moment you step in the door to when you exit the gift shop, Coca-Cola wages a propaganda war against your senses. If you’re already a Pepsi-hating, Coke lackey like myself this should do nothing but please. However, if you look past the marketing, there is a fair amount of history that is quite interesting. The original Coca-Cola patent is on display as well as various pieces of Andy Warhol’s famous Coke inspired pieces of art. Coca-Cola has been a lot more than a soft drink for a long time now. In fact, one person even described it as “America in a bottle.”

The biggest new attraction is a “4-D” movie/ride called the “Search for the Secret Formula”. This is very similar to some of rides at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fl. You wear 3-D glasses and sit in a motorized chair that will shift, rumble, spray air, water, etc in response to whatever is happening on screen. The movie itself was more pro-Coke propaganda, but like I said you should expect this from the moment you walk in the front door. On that note though, I did not notice anything even mentioning Coke’s biggest rival, Pepsi-Cola. Coca-Cola sells an image and I far prefer this marketing approach to Pepsi’s direct comparison strategy. Pepsi seems far more concerned with talking about why they are better than Coke than anything else.

The coolest new addition when compared to the old museum is the full bottling facility on site. One can watch the workers operate the machinery through a glass window, producing actual 8oz glass bottles of Coca-Cola. These bottles are produced solely for the visitors too. Everyone that goes through the World of Coca-Cola gets to take home one of the bottles produced that very day.

The “Taste of Coca-Cola” is still there and is setup as the last stop on the tour. It allows visitors to taste Coca-Cola products from all around the world. For some reason I remember there being a little more variety at the old museum but I don’t have any numbers in front of me. A new addition is a rotating, tasting “bar” that changes what it serves. It was serving a couple Odwalla products on Saturday which was a surprise since I did not even know Odwalla was owned by Coke. The tasting center was definitely welcome at the end of the tour as I quite thirsty by the end of all of it. In fact, I found myself getting thirstier and thirstier as I went through the museum. Take a wild guess as to what kind of beverage I wanted? That’s right a good ‘ol fashioned Coca-Cola, still my favorite of all the variations available.

The additional attractions, increased size, and of course the “Taste of Coca-Cola” room make The World of Coca-Cola a worthwhile way to spend an afternoon. It took me and a friend a good two hours to go through all of it but I think one could easily spend a lot more time and not be bored.

On a side note, it is worthwhile to mention that all the plastic cups in the tasting room are produced from a renewable source and the actual building is built to LEED standards (United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). This makes the World of Coca-Cola one of the few environmentally sustainable building in Georgia according to Coca-Cola CEO and Chair, Neville Isdell.

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April and I left on a Saturday morning from my current home in Atlanta, GA with a 91 Accord DX loaded down with just about everything she owns that she deemed valuable enough to move with her (furniture was thankfully not coming along for the ride). Note that the DX model is the bare bones, price leader model of the Accord so no cruise control (A/C is included though).

Anyway our route was as follows: take I-20 west out of Atlanta to Birmingham, AL. From there hop on US-78 and follow this northwest through Alabama and Mississippi to Memphis. I-40 is picked up just outside of Memphis, TN and this took us through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and finally into California. We continued on I-40 West until we intersected with I-15 South and rode that until we hit I-10 and this carried us onto Los Angeles.

Something that seems like such a big deal, in the end really wasn’t. We made it there early Monday afternoon with no real problems. We didn’t stop and see any sites which was a shame considering we came within 100 miles of both the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Even crossing the desert was not a huge ordeal. It wasn’t even really a desert in the Road Runner/Wyle Coyote sense until we hit California. I imagine if one took a more southern route things may have been different. Gas stations and places to eat were plentiful which squashed visions of nothingness for hundreds of miles that filled my head before we left.

Despite the convenience of gas stations and fast food restaurants, there was an overwhelming sense of space, not barren space, just space. From the flat farmland in Oklahoma and Arkansas to the mountains of New Mexico and Arizona and even the green rolling hills of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, I really got a sense of how big the United States actually is and there’s a whole northern half of the country that I didn’t cross.

The accord handled itself well be it cruising at 85 or even 90mph in the desert or cutting in and out of traffic in Los Angeles. I enjoy driving though. Yes my rear end and legs were cramped at the end of the day and I was ready to get out of the car, but I was ready to hop right back in it the next morning and push onward. Considering the cost of gas and accommodations, flying would have been cheaper and less time-consuming. Driving is so much more romantic though even if the trip isn’t quite the excursion it used to be. Driving was also necessary because of the amount of luggage and the need for a vehicle in Los Angeles.

The only real surprise on the trip was the variation in quality of the aforementioned accommodations. Our first stop in El Reno, OK (a little city west of Oklahoma City) was disappointing at best. Our room looked straight out of the late 70’s with a thick, absorbent carpet that looked like it had not been cleaned since the late 70’s. Neither of us walked on that carpet in our bare feet. This was for $40/night. Our second stop in Flagstaff, AZ not only cost us less but included a much nicer room, shower, and hosts. If I make the trip again I’m not stopping in El Reno.

And yes, I would make the trip again. Although next time I would try to make a few more stops along the way. It seems like a shame to pass by Las Vegas and not try to win back some gas money.  Cruise control would be nice too.

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