How many times have I travelled through Atlanta in a car or stopped to change planes in the Airport? Probably hundreds and yet, I never actually stayed in Atlanta. A gracious invitation from a friend to her month long rented VRBO in midtown is a welcome adventure for a couple of days in September.

An early morning flight from Sarasota to Atlanta and then the glorious hike from terminal B to the Baggage Claim area which is beyond T! The RideShare area signage and area for pickup is quite organized.

The home is lovely; three stories and well furnished, comfortable. There are three other friends already at the house when I arrive. A plan for the day formed and off we go.

First stop is the Center for Puppetry Arts. Opened in 1978 with a ribbon cutting ceremony with Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog.

What a funny little museum! Not only are the Henson’s life on display, so are all the funny muppets, puppets, and creative movie’s he produced. He and team were amazingly productive – and we all remember the characters, right?

The other section of the museum focuses on puppetry from around the world.

Again, a collection of such creative puppets on display, quite an education. Fun to see Lambchop and the two characters from ‘Mystery Science Theatre 2000.’

One exhibit reminded me of a trip to Vietnam where I attended a water puppet show. They had a excellent display showing how they perform with a short movie running next to it. Very imaginative and difficult.

The last exhibit included figures from stop-motion animation which again many featured were recognizable. I didn’t realize how many puppets I have seen in my life.

As our group leaves the museum, we think it would be nice to walk to the HIGH Museum 15 minutes away. We are accompanied on one of the city blocks by a delivery robot. I’ve only seen one other one like this when I was in Norfolk, VA. They always seem to know where they are going and obey the traffic walk/don’t walk signs. LOL

Right next door to the our next museum is the First Presbyterian Church established in 1848. The building you see in this photo was built on Peachtree in 1916 after the congregation sold the original log cabin type building on Marietta Street to the U.S. Government. That original building was not destroyed in the Civil War. The stained glass in this ‘newer’ church is made by Tiffany.

Continuing in another blog post about our Afternoon in Atlanta, later.