Back in Atlanta… nothing like Coke!

Today was mainly intended as a buffer before our return journey tomorrow. Time to pack, relax, enjoy the anticipation of home a bit, but also look back on almost 3 great weeks of vacation.

The breakfast here at Comfort Inn Stone Mountain was rather unimpressive and with the gloomy weather outside, we simply lay down again... That's vacation!

At noon, we set off for Stone Mountain Park, which is only 5 minutes away. A huge amusement park with outdoor activities, various attractions, and a cable car to the top of Stone Mountain. The entrance/parking fee is $20 for a day ticket. Unfortunately, we soon realized that everything was closed. We could only have gone for a walk. However, neither of us felt like it, especially not for $20. How far would we have had to walk to make it worth it?

Since hunger is a great driver of bad mood, we remembered a German restaurant outside the park in Stone Mountain Village. Nadine ordered a wheat beer, which was unfortunately out of stock, so I also didn't get a Radler, but we both got a Pilsener... Wait a minute? No Radler without wheat beer? I explained to the landlady that in Germany we do have lemonade with Pilsener known as Radler. She seemed surprised and delighted at the same time, so I got my Radler too. Interesting price check:

Radler = $7

Pilsener = $5

Okay, we can do that...

Speaking of prices. Since we practically arrived here in Stone Mountain on fumes yesterday, we urgently had to refuel today. Due to Biden's oil ban yesterday, gas prices have also skyrocketed here. Today we paid $4.99 per gallon. But we did it and for the first time we managed to pay directly at the pump with our credit card. It was so much easier than explaining inside that it doesn't work with the German card. Even though Nadine always solved it with flying colors before, like so many things on this vacation. Nadine is one of those people you can only wish to have by your side when you are thousands of miles away from home in a foreign country. I am so grateful to her for embarking on this adventure with me again. It has been and is a great honor to know you!

But back to the German restaurant. The burger with sauerkraut didn't convince us, so we stuck to the drinks. In the attached German bakery, we chose a few pastries to try. The bear claw was very tasty.... The spicy fingers were more special. The fact that a piece partly cost $3 should also make this experiment something special.

We decided to go back to the hotel in the afternoon and then go out to eat again in the evening for our farewell. We chose the Pizza Café right across the street. It turned out to be a much better choice than the name might suggest. Very cozy with delicious food, and Britney, our great waitress. So she was also very genuinely happy about the extra tip we gave her after the meal. The pizzas were way too big, but now we have an alternative for tomorrow's breakfast.

Now we have to finish all our candy reserves, with ice-cold Coke (of course in Atlanta), and then start our journey back home tomorrow evening at 8:15 p.m. local time. I hope we can say...

See You Next Time, USA!

Nadine & Daniel