Live from the CNN Center in Atlanta

Since we took an early summer vacation this year, we decided we'd try to do some "staycation" things on the weekends when we can. So today we went on the CNN Center tour! I had never been, and Andrew went once a long time ago. It was surprisingly affordable for a tourist attraction ($15), and we certainly appreciated an indoor activity in the heat.

Heading up the longest free-standing escalator in the world...

...and looking back down (not even at the top yet!).

After a couple of little stops to learn about production, we were able to watch a live broadcast from outside the newsroom! Fredricka Whitfield (whom the tour guide called "Fred") was talking to Cairo via satellite. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed during this portion of the tour (of course), but we thought it was really cool! She even gave us a little wave during a commercial.

 

                                               Source: Uploaded by user via Davina on Pinterest

"Fred"

Even though it was a lazy Sunday afternoon, there were still some people working away in the news room for CNN. (The one for HLN was totally empty.) We heeded the warnings to not "tap on the glass." Zoo creatures or news producers?

 
Did you know that the inside of the CNN Center used to house an amusement park? And that the floor tiles are now a map of the world? There are gold medallions in the tile for every place that CNN has a news bureau.

We really enjoyed the tour and saw more than we expected to see! They even managed to sucker me into buying our commemorative photo at the end. Very unlike me, but I chalk it up to the cheap price of admission. ;)

(This is just a scan since the digital version was offered at top dollar. I draw the line somewhere!)