It is March and I am in Atlanta Georgia with my Nana and Popops for a long weekend trip. My name is Lainee and last year for Christmas I got an iPad as a gift. My parents decided I was finally old enough and I promised to use it responsibly and not lose it. They explained to me that they would monitor how I use the iPad and that I would lose privileges if I didn’t use it wisely or I spent too much time with it. Today, I am using it to write this story and to take some photos and videos to remember my special trip with my grandparents. Instead of a normal Christmas gift from them, I was able to choose this experience in Atlanta as my present. Nana and Popops (the creator of this website), with the blessing of my parents, decided to give all their grandchildren experiences rather than toys or clothes this year. I chose Atlanta because we could stay with my uncle Drew who lives there and because his fiancée, Zoe, offered to organize the activities. She knows that I like sharks and other things in nature. I’m really excited to go to the Georgia Aquarium. It is the largest in the United States and it has been rated one of the best aquariums in the world. They have whale sharks which are the largest fish in the ocean. I think this trip will be really interesting and fun. It will be great. I know Zoe has some other terrific things planned for us in the coming days. I will tell you about what we do when the trip is over.
My favorite animals are sharks, so I liked the Predators of the Deep gallery. That was my favorite gallery of all of the galleries. But all of them were fun and amazing. I saw a huge whale shark swimming. The picture above is one that I took while I was at the aquarium. They have a clear tunnel you can walk through and look up and see them swimming slowly right above you. It was beautiful as can be. There were so many other sharks I couldn’t even count them all. I also loved the sea otters I saw. They were probably the cutest animal I saw. Did you know sea otters get together and hold hands and form a circle? It is so cute. The gallery that they were in was the Cold Water Quest. There were Beluga whales, seahorses and lots more there. At the end of the aquarium visit, we watched a dolphin show. I took lots of pictures but I am sure Popops took even more.
Next, we had lunch near the aquarium and then we walked to the Coca Cola Museum, which is very close. We learned about the history of the popular drink and we learned about other flavors that they sell throughout the world. We tasted some good flavors and some awful ones. It was funny when I dared Zoe to drink a flavor I thought was awful and she did! The look on her face made me laugh out loud.
The next day we went to a place that had a lot of plants, and I mean a lot. It was called the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. There were quite a few exhibits. They were all pretty, but I liked the Rain Forest exhibit best. It was all so cool, and so many pretty paths to walk on. Nana, Drew, Zoe, and I kind of left Popops in our dust. He tends to get chatty with strangers and he loves taking photos of flowers.
I think that was the best Christmas present ever!!! At least so far. I hope my grandparents will keep giving gifts like this. I think I much prefer spending time with family (especially when I don’t have to share my grandparents and uncle and soon-to-be aunt with my siblings) experiencing something new rather than getting another kind of gift. Of course I am grateful for any gift, but I think this will be a memory that lasts a lifetime. This was a great experience for me and I learned some new things. It was also fun and pretty too. We did a lot of things on this trip that I wanted to tell you all about, and I want to say: See all the things you can see. Try to be brave and stay a little wild. Spend some of your brave time outdoors.
For some photos from our trip to Atlanta on Lainee’s big adventure, click here.
For a few family photos click here, if you are logged in with a password.
A good time was had by all. Oh, and by the way, we also went to SeaQuest in Lynchburg, Virginia, late in 2023. I went with my siblings. It is a small, but nice, petting zoo-style attraction where we had a lot of fun. The photos are finally posted and you can see them by clicking here.