Finding Tanna's Olympic Bricks

OK, I keep cracking up at that title because for some reason it sounds a little dirty. LOL! But I tried rewording it several times, and nothing seems to appeal to me as much as that one does. haha! Plus, it really is what this post is about--finding Tanna's Olympic bricks in downtown Atlanta.

We've actually been wanting to do this for quite some time--you know, locate the commemorative bricks Tanna bought in conjunction with the 1996 Olympic Games in the ATL. He purchased two back in 1995 (?), and he had never seen them! Last week on our stay-cation, we decided to venture downtown to see for ourselves if these bricks really did exist.

We got to Centennial Olympic Park, and there were lots of kids playing in the fountains--so cute. It looked like so much fun--I want to take Kate there to play in the water when she is a little older. At the park, there are bricks everywhere--we weren't sure where to begin. I hadn't done my Internet homework beforehand, so we didn't even know if there was a map or some way of locating certain bricks. Tanna did bring the paperwork that was mailed to him to confirm his purchases back when he bought the bricks. Yes, he'd kept it so he could come and see them in person some day. He got it out that morning before we left.

So we get there and are wondering how to go about this. We figure there has got to be some method to this madness--and, sure enough, there is! There is a little building there in the middle area (near the water fountains). In it, you'll find a little eatery, a help desk, restrooms, lots of touristy brochures and such ... and ... two little computer kiosk things that allow you to--among other things--search for and locate Olypmic bricks in the park! Yay!

I must say ... I was VERY impressed with this system. It was so easy to use--you can search a variety of ways. We quickly pulled up the information about the bricks Tanna bought. You can see an image of the brick right there on the screen--and you can even get a printout of location information to take with you!

It didn't take us long at all to find Tanna's bricks--they were side by side and not too far from the information center. It was pretty neat to see them after all these years!

(ETA: Oh my goodness! I am laughing my butt off right now because I just re-read that paragraph! I think I need to get my mind out of the gutter! LOLOLOLOL!)

Tanna using the handy-dandy computer at Centennial Olympic Park

There are several ways to look up bricks. I think this one was via Tanna's name. Another is by what is inscribed on the brick. Another is maybe by address? I can't remember all the ways, but I thought it was pretty thorough. I was very impressed!

When you pull up a screen for a specific brick, you see the information as well as an image of the brick itself! Here's the screen for one of Tanna's bricks.

And here's the screen for the other--pretty neat, huh?

You also can pull up a map on the screen, showing you where you can find the brick(s) in question in relation to where you are located.

You can even get a little printout to take with you when you're looking for your brick(s). How convenient!

Section 31--where Tanna's bricks are. It's actually not too far from the information center.

Tanna looking ...

They've been spotted! See two two bricks in the middle? That's them! One reads, "Praise God! Jesus Lives!" ... and the other reads, "Tanna Lim Tulane 1994." (That's where and when Tanna graduated from undergrad.)

Tanna showing the bricks to Kate.

Mission Accomplished! The Lim family is happy!