Southern road trip

Recently we took a road trip through Georgia and South Carolina.  Sort of. We flew to Atlanta and rented a car from there. I didn't love Atlanta, but I'm not sure that we gave it a fair shot.  We arrived Sunday evening and left before noon on Monday, so we might not really have seen all that there was to see. We did walk through Olympic Park and see the aquarium, so we might have hit the high points.

Calvin in Olympic Park, not sure who the big guy is.

 We have visited a lot of aquariums over the years and we have seen quite a few species in their natural habitats, so I don't really get excited about visiting an aquarium.  The Atlanta Aquarium is great and actually had a few things I hadn't seen before, like the Weedy Sea Dragon.

 It does blend in with the sea weed, 

Also cool was the giant tank with whales sharks and turtles along with lots of other fish.

After leaving Atlanta, in true road trip fashion, we took a side trip mentioned in a guide book.  We stopped at the Ocmulgee National Monument.  This monument explores artifacts of civilizations found in the area dating from pre 9000 BCE (The politically correct Before Common Era which has the same time reference as the old standard BC) through the 1715 CE or Common Era (previously known as AD.)  The most prominent sights in the park are from the Early Mississippians 900-1100 CE.

This is a reconstruction of an earth lodge.  The floor is about 1000 years old, but lodge itself is of a more recent era.

 Either people were shorter when this was built or they wanted you showing respect when you entered. The entrance was not tall enough for me to stand upright.

The most prominent feature was the Great Temple Mound. Not much is known about the mound except that it was topped by a rectangular wooden structure.

And it is a great place to take a picture. We are not in Nevada anymore. It is flat and green here.