For months now Taylor has been looking forward to taking a trip with me to check off another game. With her, there is a little more planning because she did not want to sit through games on back-to-back nights. Therefore, after careful consideration, Atlanta made a lot of sense. She is a huge animal lover and the Georgia Aquarium is supposed to be one of the best in the world; I only needed to see the Falcons play to be able to close out all teams in Atlanta and they play indoors so weather was not going to be a factor.
The trip turned out to be even better than anticipated. We were able to add the World of Coca-Cola to our trip and an impromptu stop at CNN headquarters.
We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Atlanta, which is next to Centennial Olympic Park and out of our window was the aquarium. For both Taylor and me, the aquarium lived up to its billing. It was amazing. We especially liked the Ocean Voyager section, which consisted of an enormous tank for 6.3 million gallons of water containing all kinds of fish, beluga whales, various sharks, sting rays, manta rays, etc. Our favorite, by far, were the whale sharks. The Georgia Aquarium is the only aquarium outside of Asia to house a whale shark....they actually have 4 of them. They are also the only aquarium in the United States to have manta rays....they have 4 of them as well. With under-water tunnels, lots of windows and one of the largest viewing areas ever (window that is 23' x 61'), it is incredible.
There were a handful of other sections that we really enjoyed too, including one of the best dolphin shows we have ever seen. Any trip to Atlanta should include a visit to the aquarium.
http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/
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Taylor outside the vault containing the
Coca-Cola secret formula
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Our next stop was the World of Coca-Cola next door. This is a very fun place to learn about the history of the beverage. We learned about how it was invented, the history of the secret formula, various marketing campaigns over the years, and toured a mini bottling plant, etc. It was completely decorated for Christmas, which was very cool. Our favorite room was, of course, the tasting room where you could sample nearly 100 different brands from all over the world. We didn't taste all 100, but we did enjoy small sips from a few dozen. Our favorite was a watermelon flavor from Brazil. The two we nearly spit out were Beverly from Italy and a gingerbread Coke they were serving at the bar. It was awful!
http://www.worldofcoca-cola.com/
While walking around downtown looking for a place to eat
dinner, we stumbled upon CNN Headquarters. I was shocked at how excited Taylor was to see it. Apparently they review CNN Student News every day and she couldn't believe she was in the exact spot they produced the show. As a result of her excitement, we decided to take a behind the scenes tour on Sunday morning before the Falcons' game. It was actually an excellent tour and a lot of fun to see where and how all of the different shows and websites are produced. It also boasts the largest free-standing escalator (8 stories tall) and more security than I have ever seen.
Game 44 - Atlanta Falcons vs. Pittsburgh Steelers @ Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA (12/14/2014)
Finally, it was off to the game. We spent a lot of time outside the stadium at the Falcon Fan Zone. I
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| Thought this statue was funny. |
read about this before we got there as a great place for kids. It was huge, with music, bands and all kinds of kid activities. Unfortunately, we waited in line for about 30 minutes for Taylor to do the bungee cord jumping, but when she got there the harness did not fit....it would have been helpful if they would have told us we were in the "tiny" kid line; oh well, she was very understanding. Once inside the stadium, we started to walk around and take in all of the attractions, which were very few. One of the things I like most about going to all of these venues is to walk the different concourse levels; however, in Atlanta that is not permitted. Since our seats were in the 300 level, they would not even let us walk on the 100 level. I understand not letting us on the suite level, but this was a little ridiculous and the first time I have run into this problem.
A few things I noted about the stadium itself. 1. It is the largest domed stadium in the United States, but it is being replaced with a new facility being built next door and scheduled to open in 2017. 2. There is nothing special about it - it is very plain. The concourse level has very little signage (very different from by last game at Ford Field -
Read here about Detroit trip). There are virtually no monitors, which means you can't watch the game while waiting in line for food. 3. The entrance is a level all by itself, which helped to cut down on crowding as incoming people did not have to "merge" in with those folks walking around.
4. Finally, the stadium looks like it was built about 30 feet too high. Maybe it was due to punts hitting the ceiling, but at the top of the seats is a flat wall that goes up quite a ways that seems to serve no purpose other than to extend the height of the ceiling.
Obviously we were there to cheer for the Steelers, along with about half of the crowd. Steeler fans always travel well to support their team. Both teams are in the midst of a playoff spot, even though the Falcons have a losing record, but could still will their division. The Steelers started off well with two long drives, but had to settle for FGs. Then just as Taylor and I were returning to our seats, the Steelers scored a TD on an interception return right in front of us. The Falcons cut the lead to 13-7 with a TD that was aided by a terrible roughing the passer penalty against the Steelers.
Click here to judge for yourself.
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| Bell around the left side for a TD. |
By half-time the Steelers had a comfortable 20-7 lead; although it did get kind of interesting in the second half with the Falcons cutting the lead to 7 twice. However, the Steelers managed to hold on for the win and move one step closer to the playoffs (they have since clinched because it has taken me so long to complete my write-up). It should be noted that Julio Jones did not play for the Falcons, which was a huge advantage for the Steelers who struggle to stop quality quarterback-receiver combinations. Antonio Brown caught 10 passes to set a new franchise record of 115. Le'Veon Bell was going for an NFL record 4th straight 200 yard game, but fell when short as the Steelers rushing offense struggled a bit.
A cool fact....with this win Steeler QB Ben Roethlisberger has now beaten every NFL team in his career (except for the Steelers of course).
The final score led to another $47 raised for the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research.
This concludes 2014. Another 7 games checked off the list and a total of $434 raised from me personally. I want to thank everyone else that has donated as well this year and encourage other to consider it too.
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel
See more photos on my Facebook page.
Game 45 - Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers @ Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH (4/10/2015) 
The game itself was rather exciting if you like offense. A total of 28 hits and 12 runs scored. However, for Indians' fans, it was not so fun as their team was on the losing end of the scoreboard, 8-4. We spent a good deal of time walking around the stadium and checking out all the sites, which is half of the fun for me.....seriously, who wants to sit there all day and watch the Indians? Progressive Field is a great ballpark. I really like the design and the outfield offers a nice view of the Cleveland skyline....although not as nice as PNC Park. The upper deck of right field (pictured) is a bit odd with a bunch of "small walls." It is like they are trying to create mini-Green Monster seating (like at Fenway); however, after reading a bit more about the stadium, I understand this was recently done to give a better view of the field and city. They removed about 5,000 seats to do so, but perhaps additional seats to watch another Cleveland team is not necessary.....stated by a die-hard Pittsburgh fan. There is also a wind turbine in right field that helps to power the stadium, but I did not see it. There is a nice monument park (Heritage Park) in the outfield with statues of legendary Indians.
I'm not sure what was more exciting for Matt - the fact that he found his favorite beer (PBR me ASAP) or that he was interviewed by a local TV crew. Those of you that know Matt, know that he is never short of words. He seemed to be right at home during the interview; although I have no idea what he was saying. Great weather, great game, great ball park and a great friend as I check off game #45. We left the game a bit early so that we could get to the Cavaliers game, which is literally right across the street.
It is late in the season and the Cavs did not have much to play as they already secured the #2 playoff seed regardless of what happens the rest of the season. I had a fear that the Cavs may rest all of their stars, but they did play both Lebron James and Kevin Love. Kyrie Irvin sat out the game. It was a very important game for the Celtics as they were fighting for their playoff lives. Ironically, they made the playoffs and will have to play the Cavaliers in the first round. 
