Hot what? Hot-lanta!

I love weddings. It's a time for friends and family to get together. You see two people make vows of love and trust to one another. And if you're lucky, you get a roadtrip! (Jason, if you're reading, I'm just kidding.)

A friend from USC got married in Atlanta a couple weekends ago and with the proximity of states to one another on the East Coast, a road trip was the most efficient (and cheapest) way to get down there! Four hours and one time zone later, I found myself down in Atlanta with two other friends from New York. It felt great to be in a city again...I think I thrive off tall buildings and traffic jams and clusters of people.

The wedding was so beautiful: small, intimate, quaint. I was so happy throughout the whole ceremony. Their vows were amazing and you could just feel their excitement to be married to one another. When I said congratulations to my friend (the groom) afterward, he said I was shaking (and in my defense, I think it's cause I was so excited for him!). Now after the food, which was delicious, and the wedding cake, which had three layers of yumminess, the next best thing about a wedding...is the dance party! Let's just say I tore up the dance floor with one of the groomsmen, thank you very much.

My friends and I had a little time to sightsee in Atlanta before heading back north so you do what all people do when they visit Atlanta: you go to the Coke factory. I knew it wouldn't blow my mind or anything, but it was still cool to see the evolution of Coke (and also how scary it is that they own practically the entire beverage industry).

These are Coke machines and advertisements from the 50s and 60s.

There was a factory line and you got to see the whole process of making Coke. From figuring out the right formula for the secret Coke syrup to mixing it in a big pot with sugar to filling up the glass bottles, you could see how Coke gets packaged and delivered.

Then there were different Coke beverages from all around the world you could sample. Malt drinks from Zimbabwe? Check. Fruity-tasting soda from Latin America? Check. Now are they all necessarily tasty? No check. There were some that tasted really good...and some that required a strong and willing stomach. Nevertheless, it was cool to taste drinks from all around the world and realize American palettes are SO SO different from the rest of the world.

But my favourite part of the trip? CNN! My goodness, it's my dream to one day work there. I felt like such a little kid walking inside the CNN building. I didn't even get to go inside but I was just in awe the entire time. This is the hub for news! Now keep in mind I didn't say it's the hub for the best quality news, it's just a hub for fast delivery of news. Nevertheless, I just soaked it all in. CNN Airport Network, CNN International, CNN Newsource! I was like a kid in a candy store, I couldn't keep my excitement in. My friends thought I was weird, especially considering I was just standing in the middle of the lobby/food court area of CNN looking around, not even inside the newsroom.

All in all, it was a great long weekend. Sweet and beautiful wedding. Sampling at the Coke factory. Being breathless at CNN. The city seems cool, plus it had a pretty decent skyline...Atlanta, you're always surprising me.