I'm going to Atlanta tomorrow afternoon, and I'll be back Tuesday. Anything to do in or near that hellhole?
Just went there for Memorial Day Weekend. My three favorite things were Stone Mountain State Park, the World of Coca Cola, and the Atlanta Cyclorama. If you go to Stone Mountain State Park be sure to stay for the fireworks and lasershow, its actually pretty sweet. Also, the new World of Coca Cola just opened last month, so it's pretty nice. I also went to see a Braves game, which was pretty cool even if you hate the Braves like me. They have a surprisingly big fireworks show after Friday night games. Some other things... There's the Georgia Aquarium, but I'd only go if money is no object because it is expensive. The tour of CNN Studios is kind of cool, but try to go between 10-12 or 1-3 for live broadcasts...we went during lunch. There's also a tour of Fox Theatre on Saturday morning at 10:00 and 11:00, which is a very impressive building with a pretty interesting history. Last, there's the High Museum of Art and the Atlanta History Center if you're into educational/artistic things...otherwise I'd skip them. As far as food you probably have to go to The Varsity if you're in Atlanta, but the food isn't anything to write home about. I also went to Mary Mac's Tea Room, which was good southern food.
I just got back home from Atlanta. They dont call it Hot-lanta for nothing! The daytime touristy parts I did was first go downtown to the CNN headquarters. There's a tour of the building you can take that you pay for. Pretty nice building & has a nice size market area with some good eateries. Right next door is the Olympic park where they held the '96 games. There's a large aquarium located there, which I didnt expect to like but I ended up enjoying. Turner Field is down the road, and I think the arena the Hawks play in is right there. There's some underground mall we were gonna check out but didnt have time to. That part of downtown was decent, wish I got to see what else was out there to really know the place. The other times in the actual city of Atlanta was to go partying during the night time. Not sure how you get down but it was mostly "ATL" style for me (hip hop and reggae spots). The Compound is the happening club where you can see some celebs. Snoop Dogg and The Game was there. The next night forget the name of the place we went to but Keyshia Cole was there (if you care about that type of thing). If you really want to go grimey, go to Club Miami....man, ghet-TO! We ate at a place at nighttime called R. Thomas’ Deluxe Grill, where they serve breakfast 24 hours and the occasional celeb gets spotted there so they told me (Outkast for one). Thats pretty much the extent of my time there. Hope that helps
Thanks guys. I'll be staying in Peach Tree City, where they have loads of roads dedicated to golf carts--so at least one night I'll spend getting drunk and driving a cart full speed on a beer run. I suspect that will be the highlight of my week. CNN sounds dull, but I'll check out the other stuff--I've heard about the aquarium. I'll look up the museum to see if there are things I'm into (Atlanta isn't exactly Houston as far as art exhibits go).
You've definitely gotta go hang out on Marietta St. after dark! Take pics even. Tell them you're a tourist and you're gold!
Do you know of any sites that tell you who's playing in Atlanta at what clubs? Like Space City Rock in Houston?
Only site I went to was http://www.nightlifelink.com to see if our photo was added into a gallery. I have relatives living in the area who knew the the places to go so I didnt have to do any research. Dont know of a dedicated Atlanta site like the one you mentioned, sorry
i haven't gone back since i moved from there in '03, but... lenox mall and perimeter mall were the top places to shop. if you're into shows, try to one at the fox theatre (very nice building). atlanta symphony orchestra (google those three words) is good if you're into that kinda thing (i had season tix and i enjoyed it). before i left, decatur was up and coming with different kinds of small restaurants and little shops. good area or breakfast or lunch. little five points was the trendy part of town kinda weirder and non-gay version of montrose. neat little shops with clothes and stuff that you really don't need unless you want to look like one of those trendy dudes with your hair all up with black and blond patches ,skin tight jeans, and chuck taylors or something. midtown in atlanta is the equivalent of montrose in houston. gay crowd. north highlands was the equivalent of midtown in houston. preppy crowd. i didn't get downtown much, but i do remember it being more lively than in houston. also, try the colonade restaurant on cheshire bridge road. possibly the best eatery in atl. fried shrimp are huge, inexpensive and the best i've had... ever. good fried green tomatoes, good cobbler, good sweet potato suffle (sp?),... just good down home cooking period. i miss that place to death! sigh. the rail system is ultra convenient for getting around. every hotspot in atl, you can hit from taking the train. btw... the city isn't a hellhole, imo. i'd much rather be back there than in houston or any city for that matter.
I'd second the recommendations for Buckhead and Five Points. Be prepared for every single street name to contain the word 'Peach'. That way you'll never know if you've gotten lost and doubled back or not.
Magic City's directly across the from Greyhound station where I picked up my uncle. Was pretty tempting must say... & I think that Deluxe Grill place I had breakfast at was in some Peach area come to think of it...again wish I'da gotten out more myself.
damn... forgot about that place. their bread pudding for dessert and the green fried toms are also top notch. thanks for bringing back the mems, vengeance. i really need to move back there. the colonade and mary macs both have the southern thing going on. i think you'd like it jug.
