I’ll have a Coke

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Today was the first day I didn’t spend any considerable time behind the wheel. I utilized Atlanta’s MARTA, the public transportation system, to head downtown. New York could take a few notes from the system here. The big one - how hard would it be to install timers on when the next train will arrive? That was a nice convenience here.

Anyway, the Centennial Park area of downtown is the most touristy section. It’s where CNN, World of Coke and the Aquarium are all found, obviously along with the park named so because of the 1996 Olympics.

My first stop was CNN. I took a tour of the CNN headquarters and saw behind the scenes into its production, along with its sister networks HLN, CNN International and CNN Español.

The big news of the day was GM’s bankruptcy. Anyone watching might have seen me in the background mouthing “it’s about time”. It also conjured up the memory of a joke’s punch line a guy from western Maryland told me on the Lowe’s Motor Speedway tour - GM now stands for Government Motors.

I can’t recall one part of the CNN tour having more of an impact than any other - the whole thing was interesting. However, it definitely didn’t compare to the CNBC tour we did in college where we met the on air anchors personally. I guess that’s what happens when David Webster is involved. I need to step up my game.

After some walking around, the next stop was World of Coke. The tour guide started off by noting that it would be a 16 minute tour. Personal confusion and disappointment ensued. How could that be possible? Well, her portion was 16 minutes. The tour for me lasted about two hours. It was all fascinating.

The tour evoked distinct memories of being a little kid when my grandfather worked at Coca Cola Bottling in Reading. I remembered my grandfather and father (who had worked there before I was born) pulling freshly filled bottles off the line before they were even capped. Bottling in Reading hasn’t operated for 20 years as its size was much too small and speed too slow (call it 400 bottles per minute at the time). I learned today that some of the largest bottlers can do 2,000 bottles per minute! That means it only takes a single bottler one minute to produce what it takes Bhatia an entire year to drink.

At the end we were allowed to try different Coke products from around the world. Some were quite good and others were abysmal. Fortunately for Tony, the Fanta products from around the world were all quite good. Ugandan Fanta is excellent.

However, one disappointment in the tasting area was the lack of accompanying beverages. I asked one of the guides where they were hiding the Bourbon. She didn’t understand and thought I said “burping”. I explained that I generally drink my Coke with Bourbon. She was not amused and explained that the exhibit needed to remain appropriate for all ages.

A final note on the Coke tour… What also struck me was Coke’s marketing. I’ve had discussions with a few people over the last few months of investing in well branded companies. Coca Cola was always at the top of the list. But seeing Coke’s history today really added a new dimension. The company sold its bottling rights in the late 1800s for $1. It expected the purchaser to use its cost savings to capitalize the bottling business, tap a more mobile audience and expand Coke’s horizons exponentially. It did just that and Coke was rewarded with massive sales. Similar decisions based on Coke’s understanding of the consumer along the way have helped turn Coke into one of the world’s greatest enterprises.

Okay, enough business talk. All hopped on sugar from a multitude of samples, I grabbed a quick bite before leaving downtown. After taking the subway back up to midtown, I decided to test the functionality of Atlanta’s healthcare system and my continuation of benefits through COBRA (day 1). I marched myself right into an urgent care facility to nip this lingering head cold in the bud and walked out with some lovely nasal steroids. I guess no pro baseball for me for a while. At least the doc didn’t find anything major wrong so I get to keep traveling.

Oh, and, it’s still really hot here.

Tomorrow is Atlanta Day 2. I have no idea what it will entail. I may have overestimated Atlanta’s tourism industry. Sweeny’s response to my saying I was in Atlanta for non-work reasons was “What’s her name?” That should have been a clue. Too bad he’s out of town for work. I’m now 0-4 on seeing people I know along the way. Finn better be in Houston.

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Photos

CNN Center
The outside of the CNN Center.

Fanta from Uganda
Should Tony find himself as a DD in Uganda, he's good to go.

Inside World of Coke
An old time soda shop counter is one of the many exhibits in World of Coke.