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April 8:  Atlanta, GA
Carolina Hurricanes vs Atlanta Thrashers
Philips Arena

"You just have to see the World of Coke!"  That's the answer I've always gotten when asking someone about things to do in Atlanta.  I've seen it.  Trust me, you don't have to.  How could that be the answer when across town is where Martin Luther King Jr. was born and raised?  More on that later.

Being "Westin Folk" (Ben description), we're near it though, and just a block away from Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta.  What a neat place to walk through on a warm southern Spring evening.  A lot of Atlanta seemed to be out enjoying Friday in the park, surrounded by CNN Center, the Georgia Dome, Philips Arena, the Georgia World Congress Center, Georgia Aquarium, .....and the World of Coca-Cola.

Wow - there are 5 1/2 million people living here.

Carolina came into this game with their season on the line, trying to catch New York for the last spot in the playoffs.  Atlanta had already been eliminated.  It showed.  Under seven minutes into the game the Hurricanes had put two of only four shots past Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec.  Later, after Carolina dumped three more goals into Pavelec's net in a span of about 2 minutes he threw his stick in disgust over the blue line.  The goalie was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and in the ensuing powerplay Carolina scored their sixth goal.  Ouch!

Down in the other net was the man we were excited to see, Carolina goaltender Cam Ward.  He wasn't threatened much by the "Thrashees", but he sure was smooth in goal.  Walking out we realized we had done it, all 30 teams bagged.

"You just have to see the Sweet Auburn district of Atlanta!"  This is the correct answer to the previous question.  In addition to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change are his boyhood home and tomb (as well as that of his wife Corretta Scott King).  Can you be an American, can you even be a citizen of the world, and not feel something special here?

During this tour Ben and I have become less museum people, and more about being where it happened.  For that reason the home where Martin Luther King, Jr. was born and raised through age twelve was the most stunning.  I was reminded of the feeling I had in that Texas School Book Repository back in January.

Standing on the porch you can feel it, you can almost see a little black boy running out to the street to play.  A little black boy that would change the world. 

It also reminded me of my fourth grade teacher Doris Hickman, and how she cast me in the school play as James Blake, the bus driver who ordered Rosa Parks to give up her seat.  We were celebrating MLK Jr. Day.

You get that same breathless sensation two blocks down Auburn Avenue at the original Ebenezer Baptist Church.  This place was critical in the life of a young "M.L." who called it a "second home".  Built in 1914, Martin's maternal grandfather Rev. Adam Daniel Williams, and his father Rev. Martin Luther "Daddy" King served as pastors for nearly 80 years.

One of the greatest "being there" places we've ever experienced was Gettysburg.  Today we got to learn about one of the other great battles of the Civil War, the Battle of Atlanta.

The Atlanta Campaign, culminating with the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, broke the back of the Confederacy.  Union General William T. Sherman captured "the Citadel of the Confederacy" and with it the South's critical rail and supply center.

The Atlanta Cyclorama, in Grant Park, houses the largest oil painting in the world.  A 9,334 pound, 358 foot wide, 5-story tall depiction of the Battle of Atlanta.  Ben wanted to buy it for the cool room, but it's worth $25 million.

There you have it.  Sixteen cities.  Seven months.  Over 53,000 miles traveled, twice the circumference of the Earth.  All thirty teams, two of them twice.  You might think this is where the J-Boys deliver a teary eyed rememberance.  You'll have to wait.  In hockey, they have playoffs....