So yesterday was a very full, very fun day that we must tell you all about! We started the day at 4:30AM at our home in Nashville. By 5:00 we were on the road and headed for Atlanta! The drive was pretty and uneventful. We made it to our primary destination, Six Flags Over Georgia, by 10:15. On the walk from the parking lot to the front gate, your field of vision is completely filled with their largest coaster, Goliath. It's the tallest coaster in the park, over 200ft., as well as the fastest, over 70mph. It was pretty amazing to approach the park while looking at the twists, flips, bends, and sharp curves of this coaster, while hearing the roar of the car and the screams of the riders! Heather had admitted that she was a little bit nervous about a few of the coasters, but once she saw this monster coaster, she decided that she wanted to do that one first!
One of the best things about going to Six Flags on a Sunday morning is that the lines were nonexistent! We practically walked straight up to the coaster and got right on. Somehow, I convinced Heather to sit near the back of the coaster with me. For any of you who are not familiar with the differences between sitting in the front vs the back...
Sitting in the front gives you the best visual stimulation, but the speed on the steep stops suffers, since most of the mass of the car is behind you (You get a ways down the slope before the car picks up speed)
Sitting in the back gives you the least visual stimulation since you are somewhat just looking at the passengers in front of you. But, and this is a huge but(t), since the majority of the mass of the car is in front of you, you are picking up speed before you get to the edge of the drop off. So when you sit in the back, you are essentially whipped off the edge of of the drop offs, and at 200ft and 70mph, it's a pretty intense ride!! Heather's regret increased with every click and clank of the chain as it pulled us to the highest point in the park. As it turns out, Heather's preferred method of coping with being on roller coasters is to close her eyes and hold her breath. While closing one's eyes might not be too big of a deal, holding one's breath can become an issue! So I did my best to speak in a very calm voice, "ok, breathe now breathe now". Suffice is to say that by end of the very long, 3.5 minute ride, we were both smiling ear-to-ear and were so excited for things to come!!
Unfortunately this excitement didn't last much longer...
Our next ride was a water ride (the kind with the big circular raft where everyone faces the center of the circle, and goes through a variety of rapids). Again, no line! We got right on a boat with a family of about 6 or so. We made it all the way to the last corner of the ride while staying reasonably dry. But then we found ourselves backing into two very large rapids. I did my best to cover my cell phone in my pocket, but we still got a bit damp. Would have been alright if that was the end, but we immediately found ourselves under a waterfall... that was dumping, DUMPING water on us. There was no escape! It came from above, and within a matter of seconds, we were completely soaked. Oh, and we were NOT wearing swimsuits. Cellphone, wallet, keys, everything was completely soaked. Heather and I both had about 6 sq. inches of dry fabric on our shorts. Oh, and she was wearing denim shorts! After ringing out our shirts and doing everything I could to get the moisture away from my phone, we were so full of frustration that we didn't know what to do next! I could no longer put my wallet or my phone in my pockets, and Heather was dealing with soaked denim for the rest of the day. This definitely put a kink in our plans for the day, but we didn't let it completely stop us!
Heather held my stuff while I rode one coaster she wasn't interested in, and we also dried off a bit while eating lunch. On our way to our next coaster, we found the perfect solution... the swinging chair ride! You know the one where all the chairs are hanging by chains connected to a tall, spinning, central tower? Yeah, it's essentially a spin dry for humans. Perfect! After a couple cycles on that thing, we were ready to take on a few more coasters, including the thriller Batman. It was super fast and included the tightest flips, barrel rolls, and turns of any coaster either of us have ever been on! What a rush!
One of the last things we did in the park was ride a wooden coaster. My experience on coasters of the wooden variety led to the conclusion that while they aren't as smooth as a steel coaster, they should be tolerable. This coaster was clearly the exception to that rule... OUCH!!! When this coaster debuted in the 1970s, it was the tallest and fastest wood coaster in the world. While it wasn't super tall, but was very very fast! But the speed, in and of itself, wasn't an issue. It was the fact that the speed led to the most bone jarring, spine-compressing, head-bashing ride we've ever been on. How anyone could go on this ride and be happy at the end is way beyond either of us. Heather had an instant headache and I had a very sore back.
We decided to relax and end our stint at Six Flags with a peaceful train ride around the park. This was a delightful little break from the stomach-churning coasters we'd been on all day. At the end of the train ride, we were almost completely dry, and our stomachs had settled a bit.
At this point in the day, we had been up for only 12 hours, but had gotten only 4 hours of sleep the night before, had driven 250 miles in the morning, and had our senses brutally flogged by coaster after coaster. Needless to say, we were exhausted!!! So with a large ice-cold lemonade, and a bag of cotton candy in hand, we headed for the car.
A quick drive into downtown led us to our beautiful hotel room at the Hyatt Place. It's a real treat to stay in such a nicely appointed room for a few days! We went to dinner at a local brewpub where Heather had a catfish salad, and I had shrimp and grits. So yummy! We did a little walking around the downtown area after dinner but it was early to bed for both of us after such a long and thoroughly eventful day.
This morning we ate breakfast in our room, and are now waiting for the Georgia Aquarium to open. We can see the aquarium out our hotel window so it will be a nice little walk down the road to start our day today. Our itinerary only includes the aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola which is just next door. Don't worry, many many pictures will be taken today and we will blog again tonight or tomorrow so we can share the best pictures with you all.
That's all for now from Atlanta, GA!
Till next time,
-Tim & Heather
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