CNN Center, Cyclorama, the Flying Biscuit, Piedmont Park

Romans 5:1
"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God."

History, current events and great food--what doesn't Atlanta have? Today Toni, her friend Stephanie and I explored Atlanta's midtown district. We wandered around a beautiful park complete with scenic lake (more like a pond) and waited for well-known breakfast restaurant "The Flying Biscuit" to seat us. We were so famished that we went in search of ice cream whilst waiting for the Biscuit. Just to share the wisdom, Jason's Deli provides complimentary ice cream when you buy something else--hence, we went inside and bought drinks, then exploited the complimentary dairy treats. Yay!

The Flying Biscuit was quite an experience--eclectic and unusual, its menu featured a range of dishes from fried green tomatoes with goat cheese (quite tasty) to homemade pudge (I'm still laughing over that name--apparently a family recipe for mashed potatoes) to Stoup (a mix between soup and stew). And of course, the signature biscuits were flaky and even more enjoyable with the apple cinnamon butter spread--I'm definitely getting hungry thinking about it.

Next, we traveled to Cyclorama, a building housing one of the largest oil paintings in the world! This one took 18,000 gallons of paint to complete. The subject of the art is the Battle of Atlanta which occurred during the War Between the States (ok, ok, I won't make you call it that--maybe War of North Aggression? :) )

The painting was so gigantic that the designers placed it on the walls of a huge circular room. We sat in an auditorium whose seats revolved slowly as a commentator highlighted specific parts of the painting, giving their history. Interestingly enough, they had fashioned 3-D soldiers for the front of the painting to encourage the general effect that the painting was coming at you--one of the soldiers was actually an imitation of Rhett Butler, Clark Gable's character in Gone with the Wind, after the actor came to visit and said it'd be better if he were in it. They made sure to include him, but his doppelganger is a dying soldier rather than a hero, hahaha. :)

Next, I met up with Kiley, Kelsey, Lauren and a new friend to take the "Inside CNN" tour. A very peppy blonde tour guide allowed us to try out a teleprompter, stand in front of a green-screen (she asked me to hold up a matching green blanket in front of me, and I disappeared on the TV screen! very cool), witness a live broadcast, and learn about the basic processes involved in CNN coverage.

The CNN facility was originally a hotel (I forget which, a Hilton perhaps?), and it sports one of the longest escalators in the world. I love escalators, maybe I'll go back and ride it again.

<-- Makes you woozy, doesn't it?

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