Day 16

It was dark by the time we reached the campground in Fort Yargo State Park. Setting up in the dark is never fun. Our site is again by the water. This campground is not empty and going to bed I was reminded of why I don’t like people. The campers at the site next to us were talking loudly, so loudly the cicadas could not block them out. Twice, barking dogs woke me up—once at 2 and once at 4:30 which is why I am up now. If you can’t keep your dog quiet at night, leave it home. Rain finally shut the dog up. It’s not raining hard, just drizzling. And yes, the inside of the tent is dry.

This morning, as I was making coffee, two ducks came over to visit. They were the friendliest, most talkative ducks I’ve ever seen. My guess is they are used to being fed by other campers and they were hoping for a bite to eat.

We stopped by the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park. We saw his childhood home. I had hoped for a tour, but we would have had to wait and a later time conflicted with our lunch plans. We did, however, watch the video at the visitor center. It was good because it gave details regarding King’s activism in the Civil Rights Movement. They teach it so poorly in school that it’s alway made to seem that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, a boycott ensued, and the Black Americans won the right to sit. Nope! The video colored in the sparse outline and G3 could see how evil the white people were in Montgomery. They initiated lawsuits, revoked car insurance for vehicles associated with churches, and even, when the Supreme Court sided with the protesters, Alabama still enforced their racist laws. Cops still arrested Black Americans for sitting on buses.

I always knew that King admired Gandhi and that he based his non-violent approach on Gandhi’s. But I didn’t know that he had traveled to India to study him and his movement. Nor did I know that he had an undergraduate degree in sociology. And I knew he had a PhD, I just didn’t know it was in philosophy.

Martin Luther King Jr.‘s tomb is impressive. It is a beautiful memorial to an incredible man. The tomb sits on a reflecting pool in Downtown Atlanta. It is up the block from the church where he grew up. The church where he was a pastor, where his grandfather and father were also pastors. And it is a short walk from the house in which he lived as a child. I’ve never been one who cared to see graves of famous people. But if you are in Atlanta it is worth a visit to pay homage to a man who truly helped change America.

For lunch, we met up with G3’s aunt. We haven’t seen her since she moved to Georgia three years ago. It was fun to catch up. And I finally got to try fried green tomatoes. I didn’t love them. I have never been a fan of things that are deep fried.(Yes, I eat far more cheese curds on vacation than I should, but every rule needs at least one exception.) But they weren’t terrible. And if I didn’t have them, I would have felt like I missed something.

We took a break from history this afternoon to visit the World Of Coca Cola. G3 wanted to go. Of course I thought of Dad. He liked Coca Cola. It was the only soda I ever saw him drink. Every time we went to the beach and packed sandwiches for lunch he also brought a cold can of Coke.

John Pemberton, a Pharmacist from Atlanta, created Coke on May 8, 1886. The poor guy did not live to see his creation become an international sensation. He sold the syrup and all rights to it to Ada Chandler in 1888. Ada paid $2300 for a formula—a company—that is now worth billions of dollars. Shortly after he made the sale, Pemberton died. Most people have never even heard of him. But Coke is recognized and loved around the world.

Some of the exhibits were fun and informative. (We had watched an episode on the history of Coke and Pepsi and the rivalry between them on the Food the Made America. It was good and I recommend it. But having seen it, much of the information today was not new for us.) What we all enjoyed most was the tasting room. We started there and then returned for a second round before leaving.

In the tasting room, you can sample an unlimited amount of Coke products from around the world. G3 was in heaven. The boy loves sugar. I am not a soda drinker. Occasionally, I’ll have a root beer or ginger beer. And I drink lemonade, but only if it is severely watered down. I also don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I won’t say no to chocolate or ice cream, but that’s about it. And even then, I never each much. Therefore, between the caffeine and sugar, my body is in shock. My stomach hurts and I may not sleep tonight.

Knowing I hit my limit before Kati and G3, I left them in the tasting room and went outside to do an adventure cache in Centennial Park. The cache was centered around the Olympics. (Atlanta hosted the games in 1996.). Again, my mind went to Dad. He always enjoyed watching the games. After more than two years, little things like Coke and the mention of the Olympics still make me miss him. I miss talking to him and telling him where we’ve been and what we’ve done.