On January 25th my middle son Billy turned eleven years old. The morning started off with me waking him up and asking him to please get dress so that we could head downtown to help my father pass out samples. Needless to say B.J. as we call him was delighted to assist with the task. In fact he never made a notion that it was his birthday and that he did not want to help but instead he quickly got dressed and the both of us headed out the door. We made a stop by McDonald’s and grabbed some breakfast then headed down to the World Congress Center to begin our Hunger Games Unofficial Tour. Billy had no idea that he was going on the tour. We parked our car and took the elevator upstairs and as we walked out I passed him an envelope. Billy read the paper work and soon discovered that he had a certificate inside that stated that he was apart of the Hunger Games Unofficial Tour. You can watch his reaction here: http://youtu.be/uWcoStP3YyQ.
The first stop on our tour was to the Atlanta Goat Farm where we discovered that Hunger Games Catching Fires District 12 was created right here in Atlanta. Billy was floored when we departed the tour bus and he noticed that he was standing in District 12 from the actual Hunger Games Catching Fire movie he was jumping up and down. The tour guide Ms. Tammy lead us through re-enactments of the movie in the exact spot where scenes were filmed and then Billy had the chance to participate. Billy was especially happy to have the chance to look for actual coal that was used in the movie. The scene where Katniss ran through the tunnel was also re-enacted on the tour.
The next location on the Goat Farm that we visited was where Katniss helped the lady with the burned eye and the location where Katniss and Gale had their first kiss. Billy actually helped re-enact the scene too. Check out his picture.
The next stop on the tour was the Swan House which served as President Snow House. We had the honor of touring the museum and seeing the exhibits that were used in the Hunger Games Catching Fire Movie. I actually had no idea that all of these scenes were filmed here in Atlanta. We soon learned that several of the exhibits were actual props used in the movie. Here you will see Billy sitting at President Snow’s desk, at the head of his dinner table and a look into his study. Billy was even able to stand at the top of President’s Snow house just like President Snow did in the movie. The look on his face was priceless.
The final stop on our tour was to the Clayton County International Park. While on the way we had our Hunger Games lunch that was provided on the tour. We learned that at the Clayton County International Park that the parking lot was used to create the clock that was in the cornucopia scene. We learned that some was filmed here in Clayton County, GA and in Hawaii. Billy and I were simply amazed to learn all of this during the tour. We also had the opportunity to participate in Archery games like Katniss and Peeta as well as stand on the actual heroes pedestals from the Hunger Games Catching Fire movie. The tour guide from the park told us that the heroes pedestals where being removed and added to a museum for the world to enjoy.
I would like to personally thank both Leigh Trapp and Tammy Hopkins for making this the best birthday for Billy. Billy was so excited and happy in fact he told me that “It was the best birthday ever!”. If you’re a Hunger Games Fan then you need to definitely take their Hunger Games Unofficial tour!
~Naturalbabydol
*THIS BLOG claims all credit for all images posted on this blog post. Images were taken by myself (Turkesha Naturalbabydol McIvy. Images on this blog are copyright to me (Turkesha Naturalbabydol McIvy). If you use my images you must provide photo credit to me and include a link back to this post. **
Photographer: Turkesha Naturalbabydol McIvy