Chattanooga

30th September 2012
I wanted to visit Chattanooga even back when I was in Sydney. I was originally thinking of spending a weekend there and staying at The Crash Pad. Though, it was a good thing that I didn't because there weren't too many things that I could have done if I was alone (most people go for white water rafting, trails and other outdoor activities). The night of Six Flags, Sunbear asked me if I wanted to accompany him to Chattanooga the following day and I agreed. The plan was to leave at 6am and arrive at 8am (it was around a 2 hr drive). However the plan went out the window when I couldn't sleep and then spent a whole 10 minutes hiding in the bathroom until my Italian roommate and the boy she brought home disappeared. On a side note, I never did quite understand what happened with that boy. She wasn't taking him to bed, because she shared her room with another girl. And when I left my apartment, the boy was sleeping on the couch.

In the end, I woke up accidentally Sunbear and we left at 4.30am. This was the first time on a road trip, and with someone who I didn't really know. It was interesting, a lot of awkward silences, but interesting nonetheless. By the time we arrived at Dalton, Georgia nine-tenths of the way there, the sun was starting to rise and I wanted to catch the sunrise from the top of the mountain that we were driving next to. We didn't manage to stop at the top (since we couldn't) and we drove back down the other side.






It was surreal. Standing in an open field with no signs of civilisation.









At 8am on a Sunday in Chattanooga, it was a very sleepy city. There were hardly any cars around and definitely no one walking. We stumbled upon the Hamilton county fair and it was brilliant. Everyone had amazing Tennessee accents, I rode on a yellow school bus (it was the shuttle to the grounds)!! and it was so gezellig.






Frozen t-shirt contest.


Funnel cake!   Once again, I stuck out like a sore thumb. Though truth be told, that was basically the 'story of my life' when I was living in the US so nothing out of the ordinary in the end.
We (a generous use of the word) drove to Prentice Cooper State Forest and Wildlife Management Area, thinking that it would be nice.






The view of Chattanooga was lovely but that was about it. The lake was manmade and underwhelming.

On the drive back to Atlanta we got terribly lost. Sunbear took the wrong road and we didn't have a map or a GPS. We bought a map from the petrol station (and at this stage we had no idea where we were) and he forgot to ask where we were. I think it was pride, to this day, he disagrees. Naturally, the moment you are looking for street signs, they just all magically disappear and it is near impossible to find a street on the map when you have no idea which part of the map that you should even be looking at. At one moment, we were parked in a dark street with the car light on and looking at the map and a man approached the car and knocked on the window. It was terrifying. Though, in the end we made it back to the apartments. What was meant to be a 2 hour return trip turned into a 3 hour trip. Whoops.

My Overall Thoughts
It was alright. Nothing special, just a sleepy town and in hindsight, it seemed like an extension of Georgia.

Would I re-visit?
To Chattanooga, no. To Tennessee, yes. I wanted to visit Nashville and Memphis but just didn't. I don't even have reason as to why I didn't. I claim that there was no time, but in hindsight, I had so much time.

The Gap

Sometimes it worries me that time is going by so fast and yet I have nothing to show. I spend far too many wasted hours in bed marathoning tv shows and movies and for what purpose? This winter break, I am pushing myself to actually leave the house a lot more, with the company of others or just by myself. Things still on my agenda:

• Newcastle
• Wollongong/ Kiama
• Sydney Olympic Park for the parks and perhaps biking 
• Long Reef

Life is too short and this will be the youngest I will ever be. I digress.

I have been wanting to visit The Gap for a while and it was fitting in light of current circumstances. I was always curious as to why it was such a popular location for people to commit suicide. Aren't there are lot of cliffs in Sydney and why was the Gap/ South Head special? But when I saw it, it made a bit more sense. There is a wavecut shelf at the bottom of the cliff which effectively guarantees an impact, as morbid as that sounds.

In memory of Don Ritchie.

The cameras.

Six Flags over Georgia

29th September 2012
Six Flags over Georgia is the nearest theme park and is located just outside of Atlanta in Austell. Life on exchange wasn't all rosy and there were many, many moments where it felt as though I was back in highschool. Not as 18 year olds, but back when I was 13. Yes, the arguments were that juvenile and pettiness was rampant. Long story short, I got booted  from a group of people who were driving to Six Flags, formed my own group and off we went. I didn't drive, but an exchange student from USYD drove and it was an interesting experience to be on the other side of the road as well as first time on the interstate.

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The Ninja! This was my favourite ride.

I am not a fan of roller coasters. I hate the drop; the feeling of being out of my seat momentarily freaks me out. And when I freak out, I don't scream. Rather, I go into shut down mode and I just close my eyes and pray for it to all be over. Plus, I also am scared of heights.

I have to say, that I am very proud that I got onto each ride that the group wanted to go on at least once except for the first one that we went to: The Daredevil Dive. I didn't go on it because 95° first drop (!!). However, I eventually didn't want to be a party pooper, and I wanted to challenge myself. My favourite was The Ninja because it was just about speed and loops and not many drops, which I was content with. List of all the rides. Some were more memorable than others.

Batman: The Ride: feet dangling is a bit weird. A little unnerving I guess although I loved how tight the harness was so that I literally couldn't budge. A problem that I have (and it is probably why I don't fare well on the drop roller coasters) is that normally the position that it locks still leaves a gap - larger than one that I would like- left between the bar and me, ergo the shifting during the ride in addition to the actual free fall.

Georgia Scorcher: a stand up rollercoaster, theoretically. But I didn't think that I could do it so I ended up sitting/ squatting. It was not great.

Superman: Ultimate Flight: you are parallel to the track which was an interesting experience. Had too many loops and it was very freaky when it was so close to the ground.

Georgia Cyclone: this is wooden roller coaster. This basically meant that it was very very rocky and shakey and also too many drops. Not major drops, but still too many dips. Though everyone loved it and since the line was short, everyone went on it at least 3 times whilst I rode it once and then sat and waved to everyone from the side.

Acrophobia: a free fall drop ride of 50m. As I said before, I am terrified of heights and this one (and the Goliath) was the one that I was most scared about. If I was on something stable, I probably would have enjoyed the view that I saw from the top. But I was too busy in my zone, trying to remain calm and zen. It was not good. But I made it!

USYD-er's photos and his captions. Love it.

Thunder River: this was the funnest one. It was a typical river rafting ride, though the best part was that at one point, random people who are in the park can slot in a quarter and shoot the water cannons at the rafts that go by. Everyone got drenched but it was brilliant.

Splashwater Falls: the line was crazy for this ride but it was sort of worth it. It's a ride where everyone (riders and bystanders) are guaranteed to get drenched as it's those rides where the boat goes down a steep incline (whilst in water).

Goliath

Goliath is a hyper coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard and opened in April 2006, Goliath reaches a height of 200 feet (61 m), and a top speed of 70 mph (110 km/h). Its 4,480 feet (1,370 m) of track is spread out over an 8.5-acre (34,000 m2) site.

*shudders* This one already looked terrifying from afar; it is the only roller coaster that you can see when driving on the interstate from a good few kilometres away. It basically loops through most of the theme park. This was the last ride that we could go on before the park closed and I became persuaded to go on the roller coaster. The ride uses a lap bar which I fear (it just feels so ... unsecure) plus there was a whole 5cm gap between the bar and my lap.

Copied and pasted from wikipedia:

Goliath begins as the coaster leaves the station and turns left to start up the 200-foot (61 m) lift hill. Upon reaching the top, it drops 170 feet (52 m) to the midway below. The roller coaster angles to the left slightly as it climbs the second hill, crossing over the Georgia Scorcher roller coaster and two other attractions in a single bound. The second drop, the tallest on the ride at 175 feet (53 m), travels down towards the park's entrance road and out of the park grounds. At the bottom of the hill, the roller coaster makes another left turn above a pond and climbs again. The third hill leads to a 129-foot (39 m) drop, also over water.

Goliath starts its return trip by climbing to the top of a 540-degree spiral, making a full circle and half of another as it descends. After another hill, the roller coaster then enters a sharply-banked right turn, returning to the station via a series of smaller hills. Goliath's on-ride camera takes the riders' photographs before the train makes a final left-hand turn with a short hop onto the brakes, ending the ride.

TL;DR: it was bad news. Like Acrophobia, I probably could have enjoyed the view if I wasn't freaked out. The sun was starting to set and the sky had a really pretty glow. Well, that is at least what I saw in the micro-second where I actually looked. But during that first drop (52m) I just went into total shut down mode. I closed my eyes for the entire ride and it was very long, very loopy and way too many drops in the entire track. Or at least it felt long, it probably was all over in a minute. Somehow, and I don't even remember when, I ended up having a death grip on Sunbear's hand. When the ride was over, I am not entirely sure why, but I became overcome with emotion and just sighed and got a little teary (not crying) and USYD-er went, "it's all over now". Argh.

Though, at the end of the day I was very proud of myself for going on rides that I didn't want to at all. I will never go on a free fall ride again (my first and last time) nor will I go on those crazy roller coasters like the Goliath. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and I realised, hey, I like being in my comfort zone. 

We didn't have GPS nor did we have a map and on the way back we got lost as we overshot the exit, but we soon rectified the mistake. Unlike the other car who drove completely in the wrong direction and ended up in the wrong side of town.

The Atlanta History Centre

15th September 2012
As part of the City Pass, I also visited the Atlanta History Centre which was not worth it at all. I actually went twice since another cultural immersion activity was to attend the Fall Folk Festival, which sounded grander than what it actually was.










Sunbear and I also had tea at the cafe. It was so weird; we were completely under-dressed and by my standards Sunbear is always overdressed. Flower wallpaper, little girls wearing very girly dresses and ribbons in their hair, it was not what I had expected. Being the cheapskates that we were I was, we only ordered tea but in addition to our tea we had complimentary muffins and scones!

The only photo I took at the place; it was a bit awkward  to take more.

After, we walked back to Lenox Mall in Buckhead to catch the shuttle bus back to the apartments. On the way, we passed by IHOP which is one of my favourite places! I first learnt about IHOP from a guy who I used to talk to online back in the day when I first discovered the internet.




And the second visit to the Atlanta History Centre on 21st September 2012.

This sounds like a very odd comment but these were Angora goats and they were so soft! All that I could think was: no wonder angora jumpers and scarves are so soft! Lol.

Side note: I am on a blogging ball right now. Two reason. One, I am putting off my applications and two, it feels weird to be blogging about something that happened a year/ over a year ago.

Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola & CNN

8th September 2012
I purchased the Atlanta City Pass which was a $74 ticket that would allow entry to: Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, CNN tour, Zoo Atlanta/ Atlanta History Centre and Fernbank Museum of Natural History/ High Museum of Art. I visited: Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, CNN tour, Atlanta History Centre and Fernbank Museum of Natural History. In hindsight, it wasn't really worth it; the only worthwhile places were World of Coca Cola and the Georgia Aquarium.

I visited 3 places that day, starting with Georgia Acqurium. It is the world's largest aquarium (or the world's largest tank) and I arrived fairly early, beating the rush and the crowds. I have only been to the aquairum in Sydney which in comparison is fairly pathetic. It is almost like a bicycle compared to a Ferrari.




This was one of my favourite part of the of the place. You had to crawl underneath and then there were certain areas that you could stand up to see the penguins close up.








Another brilliant part of the aquarium. After walking through the tunnel, it ends in a ginormous viewing glass. There were two massive whale sharks, hundreds of fish and a few large sting rays as well.




 

Overall, I quite liked the aquarium, especially the spa music although I will probably never visit another aquarium in the near future. Seen one, seen them all, especially going to one as large as Georgia Aquarium.

The World of Coke was interesting. The best part was the tasting room although I found it amusing that there were drinks divided by continents however Australia (and Antarctica) were missing. The worst drink was the infamous Beverly.




The CNN tour was very boring but I visited purely because I already had a ticket. I visited on a Saturday ergo there was no one working at the studio hence the empty chairs at the computers. Although the floor of the food court was very cool; there are yellow tiles for the location of CNN studios around the world.


Of course I couldn't live in Atlanta without trying Chick-Fil-A. Chick-Fil-A is also headquartered in Atlanta. The burger was pretty good and I love the waffle fries. I met an interesting gentleman at the food court. I believe the conversation went along the lines of, "can I get you a coffee? Are you sure you don't want a coffee? You look really beautiful. Okay bye."

"What'll ya have?"

The Varsity is an iconic fastfood restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. It has the world's largest drive in and serves overpriced and terrible food. Upon entering the restaurant, you are exposed to a typical diner setting and also a very long counter with the workers yelling, "What'll ya have?" repeatedly. When I went the first time with some girls, it was very off-putting. The restaurant was pretty quiet and there were 5 employees just yelling it repeatedly.








I went a second time with all the other exchange students before the Georgia Tech football game. It was completely packed and only then was it appropriate for the employees to be yelling. I believe that my arteries clogged up from the greasy food.