Revisting Atlanta and Charleston

We have been lucky enough to often tag along with Dad on some of his business trips. Trips to Atlanta and Charleston have been plentiful. On this trip we started out in Atlanta and went to the Georgia Aquarium again which included an exhibit of Titanic artifacts. The kids, Amelia especially, have had quite an interest in the Titanic since seeing the movie with Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio. They have seen several documentaries and we couldn't pass up the chance to see the real items. We found it rather amazing how well many things had been preserved under the water for so many years; chamber pots, makeup cases with the makeup still in them, jars of wine and oils, dishes neatly stacked where the cabinet had simply rotted away around them, while others had the decay of of salt, sea and age to display. This picture and description were taken from the aquarium website:


Titanic Aquatic includes a vast collection of more than 190 artifacts recovered from Titanic’s debris field including 40 that have never been seen before. In addition to recovered artifacts and dramatic room recreations, the exhibition will engage visitors through interactive displays and captivating high-definition video presentations on Titanic’s construction, maiden voyage, tragic sinking and recovery of authentic artifacts. The Titanic exhibit will be on display from August 22, 2008 till September 7, 2009.
We all were quite awed and enjoyed it very much.

We have seen many of the sights of Atlanta so on this trip we visited some of the lesser known ones: the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum, where Amelia decided she was determined to read the book(...now if mom will just get it for her); Rhodes Hall,where we, of course, had to go all the way up to the tower and examined the painted glass wall surrounding the grand staircase to find our supposed relative, Nathan Bedford Forest; The Cyclorama, which Case and Amelia didn't want to go to, but once there, kept the narrator quite busy with all their curiosity and ended up being one of their favorite, and Grant Park.
Little Ainslee ended up sick on the day we were leaving Atlanta to drive to Charleston. We debated going back home. She usually gets over illness rather quickly so we decided to trudge on. She slept most of the time in the car on the way to Charleston and she and I spent half of first day in Charleston resting in the hotel. Brian took Case and Amelia out to see Fort Sumter and by the afternoon, Ainslee was better and ready to join them. We met up with them at Boone Hall to explore the plantation, plantation life, and see the famous Avenue of Oaks. Our second day in Charleston was a dreary, rainy one and our plans to visit one of the other plantations changed to a visit to the South Carolina aquarium which, actually, thouroughly pleased everyone. I think we all liked this one better than the Georgia aquarium perhaps because it hit closer to home with things we recognized and places we had been. After another successful trip to both towns, we were on our way back home.