MLA'18 has had an amazing slate of social events this year, and I've been fortunate enough to go to them - here are some highlights of the early conference events, shared now, so that you still have time to go see these Atlanta sights before your time here is done!
On Friday evening, I joined the crew of #medlibs headed to SunTrust Park to watch the first of the Atlanta Braves' 3-game series against my personal favorite, the Miami Marlins. I came prepared to get dirty looks from the locals as I cheered my Marlins on to victory, who won 2-0 against the home team. The predicted thunderstorms never came to fruition, so librarians relaxed in the shade of the setting sun, eating ice cream & cracker jacks, singing along during the 7th inning stretch, and laughing and cheering for fans dancing on the big screen. The night was capped off with fireworks lighting up the (still clear!) sky as we headed to the bus to take us back to the hotel.
Saturday night brought a new adventure at the World of Coca-Cola, thanks to the generosity of Elsevier/ClinicalKey. There, we were able to learn about the history of Coca-Cola (which brought to my mind some of the old patent medicine advertisements), see some of the effect of Coca-Cola on pop culture and art, and of course, taste all the Coca-Cola products only available in other countries (BTW, why isn't apple soda a thing in North America? It's delicious.). We even got a chance to pose with the famous Coca-Cola polar bear!
Finally, on Sunday night the much-anticipated Wolters-Kluwer/Ovid party at the Georgia Aquarium was here. #medlibs formed huge lines in the Hyatt lobby waiting to load the buses to the secret back entrance, where we were greeted by GIANT whale sharks and playful beluga whales. In the aquarium itself we saw sea otters playing with toys, puffins darting in the water faster than fish, jellyfish serenely gliding, and tropical fish every color of the rainbow!
Atlanta, as humorously described on Futurama, is more than just a Delta hub, as these great events demonstrated. So make sure you take some time to see the sights and enjoy the lack of rain while it lasts! (P.S.: here is a video of a puffin cheerfully swimming into a wall. You're welcome.)
Photo Credit: Jane Morgan-Daniel (Twitter user: @JMorganDaniel)