Atlanta Things to Do Tips by rexvaughan

Perhaps Atlanta's most illustrious son is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Just east of downtown on Auburn Avenue is the house where he was born; the church which his grandfather, father and he pastored; the King Center and his tomb. Visiting here you get a good look at the history of the civil rights movement and the life of Dr. King. One of the memorable quotes from the Gandhi room in the center reads, "I have nothing to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills." Looking through King's life you see how the simple belief in non-violence changed America and cost him his life. We still have distances to go, but hopefully he will always remind the world of the power of passive resistance as a force for the truth. I can't recommend the visitor's center highly enough. The displays and his speeches on the monitore are some of the most moving things I have seen. This would be at the top of my "Must See" list for Atlanta.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (404) 526-8900
Address: 449 Auburn Avenue, Atlanta
Directions: Check website for directions
Website: http://www.thekingcenter.com

This garden is a 30 (12 hectares) acre oasis in the middle of Atlanta. It is at the north end of Piedmont Park. The Park covers almost 200 acres and is Atlanta's version of Central Park in New York. It was started in the late 19th Century as "The Gentlemen's Driving Club." The Botanical Garden began in 1985 and has come a long way. In addition to lovely grounds and landscaping it has a great Orchid Center and a large Conservatory which is home to rare and endangered tropical and desert plants. Currently (2004) there is a fantastic exhibition of Dale Chihuly's art in the garden as well as in the Conservatory. Hours: Tue-Sun 9:00-19:00 Apr-Sept; 9:00-5:00 Oct-Mar. Admission: Adults, $10; Seniors, $7; Students, $5.

Leave a Comment

Phone: 404 876-5859
Address: 1345 Piedmont Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
Directions: In the heart of midtown just north of downtown and aboout 1 block east of Peachtree Street.
Website: www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org

Atlanta's Centinnial Olympic park is one of the legacies of the 1996 Olympic Games held here. It is quite a lovely park right across the street from the CNN Center and has lots of concerts and events. Many concerts, particularly at mid-day, are free and others at night are reasonably priced. Probably the biggest draw is the Rings Fountain. They run constantly and, in warm weather, are covered with kids. The water spurts up and down. The picture caught it on a down cycle. There are also perodic fountain shows a few times a day that are quite nice. There is even a nice little snack bar on the premises. And they sell good Starbuck's coffee.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (404) 222-7275
Address: 265 Park Avenue West, Atlanta
Directions: See website for directions
Website: http://www.centennialpark.com/

One of the most widely known things about Atlanta is that it is the home of CNN. It's story is somewhat interesting. Back in the mid 1970's Ted Turner bought a small, struggling TV station. It was so bad that it would periodically just go off the air. What made it a success was old movies and the Atlanta Braves. Now the Turner group includes CNN, CNN Headline, CNN Espanol, TNT, Turner Classic Movies, The Cartoon Network and Turner South. The tour covers some of this and shows some of the studios including the special effects one where the blue background is used, particularly for weather maps. The photo shows a demonstration room with 30+ monitors. The actual news center has 100 monitors. It is an interesting place to visit.
The tours run daily from 9:00 to 17:00, last about 45 minutes and depart every 10 minutes. Cost: $10, $9 for Seniors, $7 for children. Young children are not allowed so check the website for more info and reservations.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (404) 827-2300
Address: 1 CNN Center, Marietta Street, Atlanta
Directions: Please see website for directions
Website: http://www.cnn.com/CNNCenter/

Former President Jimmy Carter's library, center and museum is well worth a visit. The museum has displays and information about his life, family and presidency as well as special exhibits. It is a lovely center on 36 acres just east of downtown Atlanta. Whether you are a fan of Mr. Carter or not, there is a lot of good historical information and it may give you a new appreciation for him. The grounds are also lovely with ponds, a new rose garden and nice landscaping.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (404) 727-7777
Address: 453 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta
Directions: See website for directions
Website: http://www.cartercenter.org

These days people come to Stone Mountain for the amusement park stuff or to see the laser show in the evening. But it has an interesting history. It was owned in the early 20th Century by a man who was active in the Ku Klux Klan and was the site of burning crosses and be-sheeted rallies. The carving was done as a Confederate Memorial (it features Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and is the largest relief sculpture in the world. The "mountain" is the largest granite outcropping in the world and the stone it sits on extends for miles. It is a beautiful park and the amusements are great for kids. The photo is from the top of the mountan, reachable by walking or cable car. I went down to the end of the rainbow and sure enough, I found a pot of gold!

Leave a Comment

Phone: (770) 498-5600
Directions: For directions, please visit their official website listed below!
Website: http://www.stonemountainpark.com/

The main feature of Stone Mountain is the carving of three leaders of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. However, each evening when the sun goes down there is quite a light show. The laser show features lighted figures on the side of the mountain, music and fireworks. It tends to be a bit overly patriotic at times but is still a good show. Admission is free but there is a $7 parking fee per automobile at the park entrance.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (770) 498-5600
Address: A few miles east of Atlanta. Accesible by MARTA.
Directions: For directions, please visit their official website listed below!
Website: http://www.stonemountainpark.com/

The High Museum of Art has come a long way in the past several years and still going. It has a nice and impressive permanent collection including some lesser known works by such as Monet, Rodin, Cassat as well a varied collection of sculptures, paintings, furnishings etc., both European and American. About twice a year it also has special exhibits which are world class. Last fall they had "Van Gogh to Mondrian" exhibiting works from the Kroller-Muller Museum in the Netherlands. They do a good job of having a variety of kinds of art - they have done an exhibit of Norman Rockwell and one of quilts from an African American community in Alabama as well as some of the classic works. In the fall of 2006 they begin a series of exhibits over the next few years of art from the Louvre in Paris which is a wonderful thing for the museum and has an interesting historical connection.

One of the photos is Rodin's "The Shadow" which is on the front lawn of the museum. In 1962 162 of Atlanta's leading arts patrons went to Paris in preparation for expanding the High and all were killed when the plane crashed taking off from Orly. The French government gave this statue in memory of the 162 and there is a nice memorial around it listing the names of all those killed. It is worth a stop on your way in or out.

The museum was founded in 1905 and had its first permanent home in 1926 in a residence. After the Orly crash the Atlanta Arts Alliance was founded in memory of those who lost their lives and in 1981 a new facility was opened and received significant acclaim including a 1991 citation from the American Institute of Architects as one of the “ten best works of American architecture of the 1980s.” Then in the fall of 2005 an addition designed by Renzo Piano was opened which brought the museums size to 312,000 square feet and ties the center into a ‘campus’ which includes not only the museum, but a symphony hall and theater.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (404) 733-4400
Address: 1280 Peachtree Street, Atlanta
Directions: See website for directions.
Hours Tues-Sun, 10:00-17:00
Admission $15, students & seniors $12, children 6-17 $8.
Website: http://high.org/index_flash.html

Even if you are not particularly interested in the Civil War, the Atlanta Cyclorama is worth a visit. It contains the largest oil painting in the world: 42 feet high, 358 feet in circumference and weighs over 9,000 pounds. It is hung in a circle and observed from a rotating platform with narration of the Battle of Atlanta depicted in the painting. At the base of the painting all the way around is a diorama with 128 figures, cannon, trees and railroad tracks which are done in such a way that it is difficult to tell where it ends and the painting begins. It was done in 1883 to promoted Major Gen. Logan's campaign for the presidency but he died and the painting became part of a traveling exhibit which included a circus. When in Atlanta in the 1890's the painting was purchased and given to the city and the animals went into the zoo which is just next door to the Cyclorama building. The painting was done by a group of German, Austrian and Polish artists in Milwaukee. Some of the places in the painting are in the nearby area of Grant Park, home of the Cyclorama.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (404) 624-1071
Address: 800 Cherokee Avenue, Atlanta
Directions: Next to Zoo Atlanta (see website for directions)

For ‘Gone With The Wind’ fans, this is a must-see. Tours of the house show you where Margaret Mitchell lived while writing GWTW and bits about her life then. Not too much of the original furnishings are left as the house has suffered two fires since her death. The grand looking old house is somewhat deceptive because Mitchell and her husband lived in a small apartment as they could not afford such a large home. From photographs it appears that Mitchell was a lovely young woman so it is no wonder that she had numerous suitors. Her first fiance was killed in WWI. She soon married a man named Red Upshaw who turned out to be an abusive bootlegger and alcoholic. A few years later she married John Marsh who remained her husband until her death. Most of her adult life was spent within a small area around the house (where she referred to their apartment as ‘the dump’). And she died in 1949 at age 49 due to a taxi hitting her as she was crossing Peachtree Street just a few blocks from here.

Tours of the house are given continuously from 9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Cost is $12 for adults, $9 for seniors & students 13 and older and $5 for children age 4-12. Tours take you through Mitchell’s home, then the obligatory gift shop stop and end at the GWTW Museum which has a lot of displays concerning the movie (which is running by the way in both the gift shop and the museum.

We took two Japanese gentlemen who were staying with us to see the place and they loved it! One said he has the movie on DVD in Japanese and his wife has watched it 5 times! I wish I had thought to ask him to do Clark Gable saying, 'Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" in Japanese.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (404) 249-7015
Address: 990 Peachtree Street, Atlanta
Directions: See website for directions
Website: http://www.gwtw.org/