h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Breakfast the following morning was considerably more sumptuous than the continental breakfasts that had been inflicted on me during that train ride through central Europe. Fats Creole chuckled, however, when I exulted over the boudin sausage, grits, eggs cochon, cream cheese with berries, and cafe au lait that filled my plate. "This doesn't even *begin* to constitute a full N'Orlins breakfast," he said. "Still, if you come back a few more times, I'll be happy to show you one."

Then Scribbles and I climbed into a helicopter for our flight to Atlanta. I had looked forward to looking down at the vistas of Mississippi and Alabama as we flew over them, but what I hadn't realized about helicopters was that they were allowed to fly lower than other forms of aircraft. From 1,000 feet up, the scenery was nothing special, so after a while I stopped watching. We stopped in Montgomery to fill the fuel tank again, after which we were on our way again.

We reached Atlanta in time for lunch, where Moms Mitchell, our stocky coffee-colored tour guide, explained that the city was cosmopolitan to a considerable degree. You could enjoy southern barbecue with Korean accents, for instance. Indian, Italian, and French restaurants all had their special dishes. "What I'm going to do, then, is make sure you enjoy some authentic soul food," she said with a grin.

The lunch that followed consisted of smothered chicken, greens and yams, and peach cobbler. As my belt began to seem tighter, I began to wish I had jogged around Golden gate Park when I was in San Francisco.

"Eat, eat, enjoy yourself!" Moms urged.

The afternoon consisted of a walking tour of the center of town. Moms was disappointed -- she had planned a bus tour for us -- but after a day and half of riding everywhere, I desperately wanted to see things on foot. Parks and churches were prominent along our path, along with the Olympic Park and the Aquarium. What really stuck in my mind was a guided tour of Margaret Mitchell's house, where she had written "Gone with the Wind."

Oh yes, the awful 'Gone With the Wind' stuff.

You could have seen worse: a short distance out of town is Stone Mountain. A5404141

I was in Atlanta 11 years ago. I remember the extremely long escalators. The Macy's store looked like a throwback to the '50s. When I had Chinese food, it was hardly recognizable compared to what I was used to in Boston and Hong Kong. The Olympic Center had some nice koi in a pond. I don't remember there being an aquarium when I was there, but if I were sightseeing there now, that's one thing I'd want to see. I also remember the grits that were available every morning at my hotel. I didn't need to mention grits in my story, though, as those were also plentiful in the New Orleans segment.

Atlanta is an interesting mix of the very old and the brand spanking new. In the case of the Atlanta Braves [which were playing against the Boston Red Sox while I was there], this was both old *and* new, as the Braves startei n Boston, went to Kansas City, and ended up in Atlanta. I would, of course, have been rooting for the Sox, had I gone to that game...

The film 'Gone with the wind' I have never watched completely from the beginning to the end as I found far too long to watch. I remember there was a special edition VHS video 50th anniversary edition made in 1990.

I have sat through that thing more times than I should have.

Once, because it was dubbed in German, and a lady friend and I had a bet on as to how they'd translate that last Rhett Butler line...

Who won the bet?

Neither one of us. To our intense disappointment, there was no swearing in the translation at all.

So, the translation wasn't very true to the original.

[Amy P]