The time that we had gained the day before by visiting the Jimmy Carter Library quickly disintegrated into late morning slumber on Thursday, September 16, 2010. The plans were going to be to hit the Carter Library early and then catch a tour of the Georgia State Capitol at 11am, but even without the library, we didn’t make it to the capitol building until 11:20am, missing the guided tour. This ended up being perfectly fine though, as we had virtually all access to roam my fourth and final State Capitol of the year.
My fourth State Capitol of the year, 16th total
Yeah, baby. I found an Atlanta cannon.
Georgia’s capitol city had been previously located in Savannah, Augusta, Louisville, and Milledgeville, before the city of Atlanta took charge of housing the government in 1868. They donated their City Hall land to the state and began construction of the new Capitol in 1883. It was completed in 1889. Almost since the beginning, the Capitol has housed a museum on the fourth floor, filled with collections reflecting the historical and cultural history of the state, as well as an array of minerals and fossils.
The entire capitol is littered with historic flags, paintings, and statues reflecting the history of the state. I probably got my picture with a few too many of them, but Georgia is quite rich in history. A very friendly Capitol employee escorted Ashleigh and me around for a bit and shared some of this history while showing us the highlights – including tales of the colorful Lester Maddox. The only disappointment of the visit was that the Senate and House of Representatives chambers were closed and locked, so we could only peek in the windows.
The office of Atlanta Governor Sonny Purdue, the first Republican Governor of Georgia since 1872. He wasn’t in. I checked.
The portrait of the very ugly Alexander Hamilton Stephens, who was not only Georgia’s 50th Governor, but the only Vice President of the Confederate States of America
Plaque commemorating the Georgia signers of the Declaration of Independence (Button Gwinnet, Lyman Hall, George Walton) and the U.S. Constitution (William Few, Abraham Baldwin)
Governor Jimmy Carter served as Georgia’s 76th Governor from 1971 to 1975. He went on to be President as I’m sure you are well aware.
Portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King. He was never Governor, but he became quite famous in his own right.
Portrait of John Adam Treutlen, Georgia’s first post-British Governor (actually ranked as the Gov #5)
The Georgia State Capitol or bust! That is, the bust of Alexander Stephens
Through the glass door of the Senate Gallery
Ashleigh takes a load off in the Georgia House of Representatives meeting room
Tribute to British General James Oglethorpe, the founder of the colony of Georgia
Ashleigh and I roamed the building and grounds for a bit over a half-hour, snapping photos of anything that looked interesting. We somehow idiotically missed the statue to President Jimmy Carter. Outside we took a peek at the Supreme Court building across the street. We didn’t go inside.
Ashleigh with the statue dedicated to Georgia U.S. Senator Thomas Watson
The Judicial branch of the Georgia government is located just across the street from the Capitol, and it was under construction
It was nearly time to head out of Atlanta, but first we had to make our final stop in the city. Just off of Route 75 was The Varsity, the largest fast-food drive-in restaurant in the world. It was established in 1928 (using the name The Yellow Jacket at that time), and has since become an historic staple of Atlanta – and has expanded to other locations. This stop was suggested to me by my high school friend Mindy Burger, who used to live in the area. It was a fabulous suggestion.
Amidst the standard please of “What’ll ya have? What’ll ya have? What’ll ya have?” Ashleigh and I ordered their famous chili dogs and fries and I got a chili burger as well. This worked out well, since we had gotten coupons on the back of our Braves tickets from the day before. And we even wore the hats. After we finished our meals, we split an apple pie to go.
What’ll ya have? What’ll ya have? Boatloads of fun, that’s what we’ll have!
We weren’t sure how the chili dogs would sit in this pregnant belly
The note above the photos of visits from sitting Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton said “A politically correct place to eat”
Under the famous Varsity sign – with my apple pie to go
We left a little after 1pm and for the next seven hours we were on the road, heading south, south, south. As we got closer and closer to our destination, Ashleigh began to develop a hankering – no, an intense, insane craving – for Subway. Naturally, there didn’t seem to be in the area, but we finally found one in Orlando at about 8:15.
Ashleigh gets her Subway food and avoids turning into Godzilla. Preggos.
After eating there, we headed over into Kissimmee, located our lodgings and checked into room 2421. Looking off of the balcony, we were greeted with this:
Yep, that’s right, the bowling pin pool. I was back at the Pop Century Resort – just 10 weeks after my last departure, this time in the 1950’s complex, ready to enjoy one more day of Disney World’s Magic Kingdom – before Ash and I would move to our final Florida destination.
The trip will continue…
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