Visiting Atlanta with Flat Stanley-Whitman

According to census estimates, Metropolitan Atlanta is the fastest growing area in the nation since 2000. Maybe half of the population here is “born and raised” Southerners, the rest are transplants—mostly from the North. Weather and jobs are big lures. Several Fortune 500 companies are based in the metro area. As you can imagine, the huge influx of people have created traffic and infrastructure problems. Every “Atlantan” dreads the major highways—175, I85, GA 400, US 285—during peak times, and there is always lots of construction going on.

The weather here is much warmer than in Connecticut. Average afternoon temperatures in June are close to 90 degrees. In December the average high is about 55. We see very little snow, and if any does fall, it usually melts within a day. Also, schools get closed for even the slightest bit of snow. Don't get me wrong, we get the bitter 20-30 degree weather for a short time every year, but we also can have those wonderful, crazy 70 degree days in the winter. We typically see the most rain in January and in July. The January rain makes the temperature feel much colder than it really is. The July rain steams everything up. And everyone here has air conditioning!

Atlanta is located in northern Georgia, at the base of a mountain ridge. Many people vacation in the mountains because of the close proximity to the city. Atlantans also like the beach, but the nearest ones are a 5-6 hour drive away. The Gulf Coast of Florida, Alabama, and southern coastlines of Georgia and South Carolina are popular destinations. Lake Lanier is a man-made lake just outside the city and encompasses 38,000 acres! It's used largely for recreation purposes and is the source of Atlanta's drinking water. Urban legend has it that in the deepest parts of the lake live 5 foot long catfish, however I don't know that anyone has ever caught one before!

Atlanta has many cool places to visit including the aquarium, zoo, Olympic Park, High Museum, and other attractions. College football is practically a religion here. We also have four professional sports teams—the Braves, Falcons, Thrashers, and Hawks. There is a festival, sports event, or function happening every weekend so you can always find something fun to do. We're also lucky to have lots of different ethnic foods and a ton of great restaurants.
J. Ward, Marietta, Georgia

Spending the Day in Miami with Flat Stanley-Whitman

Flat 
Stanley-Whitman had an interesting day with me in Miami. We went to the Viceroy Hotel via the Miami River Bridge, which you can see in this picture.
He joined us at the swimming pool where he grabbed a quick game of chess on the hotel's pool deck and enjoyed the sunny weather.
The Viceroy Hotel is in downtown Miami and it can very hot here -- 86 degrees today. That made it very, very hot for Flat Stanley-Whitman in his colonial garments!

Carolyn Keating, Tampa, Florida
Nick's Aunt

Enjoying Adventure Island with Nick and Flat Stanley-Whitman

Flat Stanley-Whitman went with us today to Adventure Island, one of 10 theme parks owned by The Blackstone Group (formerly the parks were owned by Anheuser-Busch). The family of parks includes all of the Seaworld locations, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove in Orlando, among others.

Adventure Island is a water park – there are rides, a giant wave pool and a lazy river that keep you entertained all day. Adventure Island is in Tampa – it was about 87 degrees today, pretty typical for Tampa in the summertime. The afternoon thunderstorms started at about 3:30, again, very normal for Tampa.

There are tons of beaches, sports teams (including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football, Tampa Bay Lightning hockey, and the Tampa Bay Rays baseball teams) and a great zoo, Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) and an aquarium to visit.

Unfortunately, there are no mountains in Florida or snow so in the winter, so there isn’t much else to do.

Nicholas Monteiro, Cousin of Noah Wallace School student, Jack P.

Traveling to the 2010 Olympic Games Vancouver/Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

After visiting Calgary, Canada, home of the 1988 Winter Olympic games with Mike Clark (Otis Elevator team), I headed out to the 2010 Winter Olympic games to watch Erin Pac, former Farmington student (FHS class of 1999, IAR Middle School, and Union Elementary) compete in the Olympic competition as the USA2 bobsled team. Erin is 29 years old and excelled in track, gymnastics and swimming at the high school. She went on to star in track at Springfield College graduating in 2003. Now a world class bobsled driver, she is in the Olympics.

The competition begins at 5 pm on Tuesday, February 23. We arrived on Tuesday at 2:15 am. There isn’t much time to sleep, find out where to go, how to get there, best time to beat the crowds, and all the other things we need to know so we don’t miss out on what we came to see. By mid morning our plans are set. We even have time to get our picture taken in the official Olympic bobsled.

The security gate opens at 2 pm, so we get in line at 12:30 pm so we can be up front during the race. The entry is easy; the climb up the mountain to the bobsled start is a bit harder. It’s like trying to climb the hill from the lower playground at Noah Wallace School to the upper field for 45 straight minutes with NO REST! We had to follow every curve of the fastest, steepest sliding track in the world.

Now we have 2 hours and 15 minutes to wait before the start of the 5pm race and the excitement is building. Erin’s sled, USA2, is the sixth sled to start on the first run because they go by the current world rankings. In the second run they go in reverse order determined by the first run’s time, best time goes last. So Erin is next to the last since her team has the 2nd best time. At the conclusion of day one, Erin and her partner, Elana Meyers from Georgia, are in medal contention holding onto second place.

The next day we get up early and purchase tickets to the giant slalom event for the morning session. We want to be back in line by 12:30 pm to get through the security checkpoint at 2 pm to get back to the bobsled start and be up front to see Erin and Elana prepare for the start of the third run. In this run (#3) they will start second determined by the previous day’s results. After Erin and Elana prepared their sled, Erin come by our stands and we all wished her good luck.

Erin’s third run was again excellent and the second best time once again thus holding onto 2nd place overall. This means for the fourth and final run USA2 runs second to last remaining in medal contention.

We leave our spot at the start and go to the finish line to watch the results. The place is packed with spectators so we can’t get near the rail where the sleds stop after their run. So we watch the race on the huge television monitor—but no big deal—being here in just great.

With two sleds to go, one being USA2, Erin and Elana are in 3rd place and still in medal contention. With a good last run they are guaranteed a medal. Everyone is glued to the monitor watching USA2 on their last run. They come in with a time that earns them a spot on the podium! USA2, Erin Pac and Elana Meyers, earn the bronze medal.

What an outstanding ending to a childhood dream for Erin. What’s better than being in the Olympics? Winning a medal for your country…precious.

What a celebration we had after the flower ceremony with Erin’s family and fans routing her on for this fabulous achievement.

Next for us? Back to the room, sleep, pack, take a bus to Vancouver airport where we watch the medal ceremony on TV (Erin and Elana receive their bronze medals), and then fly all night arriving home in Connecticut on Friday morning.

What a fabulous time we had and to witness Erin’s victory first hand is something to talk about forever.

John M. Grocki, Noah Wallace School, ‘56

Retired Physical Education, Mathematics Teacher and Middle School Athletic Director

Farmington, CT