May 25, 2013 - Tennessee Aquarium and Chickamauga Battlegrounds

We got to travel to a new state today: Tennessee!  One thing I've really liked about my visit here has been the variety of places to go and things to see, even if it's almost time for me to go home and we haven't seen it all yet. 

We started off at the Tennessee Aquarium.  There have been a lot of ads for it on TV, telling us what a great place it is to visit, but don't all ads say things like that? So, we decided to go, but we tried to keep our expectations from getting too high.

However ... it was great!!  Here I am, hanging out with some fish:

 

Now I'm standing with Maddie, looking over the Chattahoochee River.  That river goes by Maddie's house, too! It's HUGE! (But it's not quite this big around Maddie's house!)

 

Now we're heading into the rivers exhibit.  We saw a lot of fresh water animals that I didn't know could live in a river.

 

 

Here is a bad picture of a dancing snake...

 

 

We saw fish, frogs, turtles, birds, alligators and more!

 

If you've been reading this blog from the beginning, you might remember when I talked about finding rocking chairs all over the South.

I wasn't exaggerating.

Next, we saw a petting pool for fresh water rays and then a butterfly exhibit.

From there, we went to see the penguins, invertebrates (no bones!) and then got trapped in a shark cage.

 

 

Maddie and I decided to swim with some fish.  First Maddie ...

 

 

Then me!

 

 

After that, we decided to get some lunch.

 

Maddie read me a comic book while we waited.

 

Now that our bellies were full, it was time to head over to Chickamauga, the scene of a famous battle during the Civil War.  Although it occurred a couple of years before the Civil War ended, it was to be the last major Southern victory of the war.  A lot of people died in the battle, and there are monuments scattered all over the area, dedicated to the various battalions from all over the country who came to fight in this battle.

 

 

The picture above is of a site labeled The Kelly House.  There isn't much information, but it appeared to be a small house that may have been used by a small family, or a group of slaves. 

 

I'm told I'll have to go back soon.  I'm not ready to go.  There is still so much for me to see and do.

 

But it's been a lot of fun so far!!

 

 

 

May 18, 2013 - The Jimmy Carter Library

Today we went to the Jimmy Carter Library. First, we had breakfast at a local spot called J Christophers ......

We wanted a more exciting picture, but Maddie's brother was acting up and this was the only picture we took. But, we went out to a lot of breakfast places while I was here and I noticed that you can get something called "grits" pretty much anywhere you go.  It sounds terrible, but it's made from cornmeal and is kind of like finely ground oatmeal.  I hear it's good with a little syrup on top.

 

Next, we headed to Atlanta to visit the Jimmy Carter Library.  Jimmy Carter was President of the United States from 1977-1981, and he came from Georgia.  Before he was President, he was a peanut farmer and then an officer in the Navy.  Now a lot of people know about him because of his two big charitable organizations Habitat for Humanity and The Carter Center.

 

 

The Jimmy Carter Library was really interesting.  They even have a replica of the Oval Office (that's where the President of the United States works, and a "replica" means they made a copy of it). 

Here is a picture of Maddie and me in front of a picture of Jimmy Carter and Willie Nelson (a famous country singer).  If you look closely, you might see Maddie's brother crawling behind us.

 

 

If YOU ever go to the Jimmy Carter Library, be sure to go and see the gardens outside.  There was a big pond in the back where we could hear a big bullfrog croaking, and we even saw some baby goslings!

 

 

 

It was a good day.