Today my sister had a family birthday party for two of my nephews. Instead of the usual cookout of burgers and hot dogs, she decided to serve tacos. And since she was going Mexican on the food, she decided to get two pinatas as a a special treat. Today was the only second time I’ve ever even seen a pinata at a party, yet everyone got such a big kick out of it, I’m surprised more people don’t have them. And although I’ve yet to swing at a pinata in my lifetime, it was fun to watch the kids and a couple of the adults do it (and scramble for the candy afterward!). Simple and old-fashioned … nothing wrong with that!

The other night my son announced to my husband and me that he wanted to go to the park and pick up trash this weekend. He apparently was inspired by a book he was reading before bedtime. I’m all for helping the environment, so the next day I called “Keep Akron Beautiful” to get ideas of where to go. So yesterday afternoon, wearing latex gloves and carrying plastic grocery store bags, there the five of us were at Hardesty Park, picking up all kinds of litter. My daughters lost interest after about 20 minutes, but my son raced from trash item to trash item. He was so excited !! We didn’t change the world yesterday, but, thanks to my son’s idea, at least we made a teeny tiny difference.

   Worth a visit? As Coke fans, this was a must-see on our trip to Atlanta last month. I’m glad we went but I wouldn’t go  again. Some of it is lovely — the artsy stuff like the giant painted Coke bottles made for the1996 Olympics and the architecture of the building itself. But some of it is just strange. There is a “documentary” film you watch early in your visit. It’s all computer-generated; “employees” talk about what working for Coke means to them. Unfortunately, the “employees” all come across as, to put it gently, like they’re all crazy/goofy/stupid. There’s a 4-D movie about Coke’s secret formula, again, all animated. The film experience uses all the bells and whistles of a 4-D movie — the moving seats, the spray of water, the feel of wind. But the “plot” itself is just plain stupid.

What everyone talks about is the tasting room, where you get to taste over 60 different Coke-brand beverages from around the world. I couldn’t try more than eight — they were mostly pretty sweet and/or pretty disgusting. I’ll stick with Coke, thanks. My husband, on the other hand, tried close to 30. Needless to say, he was feeling pretty sick by the end of it!! I have to say though that the tasting room was one of the kids’ very favorite parts of our whole trip to Atlanta (we only allow pop for special occasions, and even then, they’re not caffeinated drinks so that’s why the tasting room was such a treat for them).

Your visit ends, of course, in the Coke store. I was disappointed by the offerings. I expected really spectacular, one-of-a-kind, funky Coke merchandise. But it was pretty much T-shirts , kitchen items and such.

One thing I found fascinating, though. Coke was invented in 1886. A couple years later, some guy named Asa Chandler bought the company and used marketing like no one else. He’s the guy who first put the distinctive Coca-Cola logo on all kinds of household items, which eventually led to its being the most recognized product in the world. Hard to believe that started more than 100 years ago. Ah, the power of marketing.