Official MACNA XX And Atlanta Review, part 1

Hi my name is Constantine AKA Cobs and I am honoured to be posting here as a guest blogger. I have been a hobbyist since 2005, and like many love everything about this hobby. I also am one of the owners of Maple Reef Aquatics, a service based in the Durham Region providing marine oriented
products (e.g coral, inverts, etc). Another passion that I have and must fulfill at least once a year is travelling. I have close affiliations with the travel industry which benefits me with lots of perks when I
travel. In return for these perks, I write reviews of my travels to promote their service.
In this particular case, I visited Atlanta to explore the city and experience MACNA XX in which you will soon read about. If anything that you see sticks out, please let me know as I am more than happy to answer any questions.

This will be the official review of MACNA XX and some of the sights of Atlanta. I know many wanted to attend, so hopefully by reading this thread, you will at least be here in spirit. I will try to post a journal of each day (time permitting). Be warned, there is lots of pictures attached. Feel free to ask any questions and I will try my best to answer them.

Day 1

I arrived in Atlanta on Thursday morning. The weather was pretty hot and sticky…..welcome to the south. I took the MARTA train right to our hotel just a 15 minute ride for a measly $2.25. MACNA XX planners were able to get at an amazing deal at the Westin Peach tree Plaza for $119 a night.

I pulled some strings and got upgraded to the executive suite located on the 63rd floor boasting over 1000sq feet of living accommodations and a view to die for.

The Westin Peach Tree Plaza boasts the highest elevation point in the Western Hemisphere. There are 73 floors with a revolving sun dial restaurant at the top. This is a great location since you are steps from the Georgia Aquarium, CNN, World of Coke any many more attractions.

So I dropped off my luggage and headed straight for the Georgia Aquarium. I had previously booked a Behind the Scenes Tour which was scheduled at 3:00pm so I had some time to kill and checked out the aquarium.

Just a quick breakdown of the aquarium. As soon as you enter, you walk through a dark style tunnel with massive tanks on each side filled with Jack’s. Looks pretty cool as the one-direction swimming never stops.

Walk into the aquarium a little further and you enter the massive lobby which leads you into 5 different exhibits. They are…………Ocean Voyager, River Scout, Cold Water Quest, Georgia Explorer, and Tropical Diver.

Let me just say that a kid in a candy store would be more under control than I was. I was blown away, especially after seeing only 2 aquariums in my lifetime. The two new additions to the aquarium are the Titanic Exhibit (an additional fee) which basically is a mini museum full of artefacts of the sunken ship, and the newest marine addition, the Manta Ray. In 2010, a new dolphin exhibit will be added to the aquarium.

Below are a pictures mainly from the Ocean Voyager, Tropical Diver and Cold Water Exhibit. More pictures from the other exhibits will follow at a later post.