Visiting Atlanta this Monday (Druid Hills, Stone Mountain: houses, neighborhoods, movie theater)

[daniboi81]

My partner and I are visiting Atlanta for the first time. So far we have on our agenda Stone Mountain, Georgia Aquarium, CNN Studios, and the Underground. I heard Midtown is a cool place to check out also. Is there any other things to do that would be worth checking out while we're down there?

[TakeAhike]

Don't miss seeing the Fox Theater--one of our better landmarks. And then have lunch at the Varsity --almost next door. Chili dogs and fries or onion rings. LOL.

The King Center and Sweet Auburn are good tour sites. The Carter Center/Freedom Parkway--Pncey Highlands, Inman Park --the historic neighborhoods. Druid Hills/Emory/Driving Miss Daisy...

You could visit the Margaret Mitchell House/GWTW---
http://www.gwtw.org/

Piedmont Park--in the same area>>>
http://www.piedmontpark.org/visit/park_map.html

The Botanical Gardens are nice.

There are a couple of nice places to eat--outdoor dining etc. around Juniper
Einsten's>>>
http://www.einsteinsatlanta.com/

The Flying Biscuit in Midtown/Little 5 Points (or Candler Park--the area seems to go by different names)--is good for lunch of breakfast.
Here>>>
http://flyingbiscuit.com/ (broken link)

Little 5 Points is the 'Key West' of Atlanta--worth a walk through.

Visit Virginia Highlands--good places to eat and great shopping. Off Ponce de Leon--not far from downtown.
~~~
If you want to drive north about 30-45 minutes---The Chattahoochee Nature Center is nice and cool--on the Chattahoochee River. A nice area to see.

http://www.chattnaturecenter.com/

Hope that helps. Enjoy.

sls

[jeweloflight]

Originally Posted by daniboi81

My partner and I are visiting Atlanta for the first time. So far we have on our agenda Stone Mountain, Georgia Aquarium, CNN Studios, and the Underground. I heard Midtown is a cool place to check out also. Is there any other things to do that would be worth checking out while we're down there?

Hey, guys! And welcome to Atlanta. Go to accessatlanta.com. It will tell you every single thing going on in Atlanta this week, in every part of town. It also has every movie theater, restaurant, and concert in town. Oh yeah, visit the Fox Theater. Midtown is cool, too, very unique. If you get time, take a hop, skip and a jump over to Virgina Highlands. It's a historic, hip, area. It has a large lesbian population, while gays have a heavy population midtown. They have cool restaurants over there too! There's a Thai place over there I love, but can't think of the name, sorry! Hope you have fun!!

[daniboi81]

Thanks for the info. Based on some of the other posts I've read, Im questioning whether to use MARTA for most of the things we'll be doing in Downtown/Midtown. Are there any problem with using transit or should I stick to car?

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by daniboi81

Thanks for the info. Based on some of the other posts I've read, Im questioning whether to use MARTA for most of the things we'll be doing in Downtown/Midtown. Are there any problem with using transit or should I stick to car?

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MARTA hits the major stuff, but you may find need to use a taxi or car unless you want to use a bus. The rail system is ok - buses stink.

I ditto the suggestion above for the Botanical Gardens, but unless there's a real reason you want to do the CNN studio tour, I'd skip it. There are usually long lines, it's crowded, and no one I know really has ever come out of it with a "wow".

Underground is basically a tourist mall that's well, "underground". I don't know what type of environment you're coming from, but just keep in mind that Five Points (the area Underground is in) is pretty much saturated with bums. Not a problem for some - a big thing for others, but just be aware that there's a lot of bums in that area. The World of Coke museum behind Underground has recently closed, by the way. Their new location (next to the Aquarium) opens in about 3 weeks. The bum index is one reason they've migrated over there, and the Centennial Park/Aquarium area is being brought up as a "new" tourist downtown area, steering them away from Five Points.

Ok, (my opinion).. Underground (soso), CNN (skip it), Botanical Gardens (good), High Museum of Art (good).

If you're in a car, and like hippies, tattoos, and body piercings, go to the "Little Five Points" neighborhood like someone mentioned. Full of stores with names like "Bong-on" and stores that sell clothes made of hemp, etc. A few bums but bearable. If you're hungry eat at "The Vortex" - best burgers and club sandwiches around. You can't miss it - look for the skull entrance...


Next door to it is a store called "The Junkman's Daughter" that is filled with retro and import crap but it's very funky.

[dncngrl1964]

lol and don't forget just for fun is 6 flags also go to any local eatery or such and pick up a copy of Creative Loafing it has interesting things in it also

[daniboi81]

We got back from Atlanta on May 10th...not exactly a long trip...but we made it in 12 hours both ways (Grand Rapids, MI to ATL and vice versa). Overall, I like how Atlanta is laid out (with regards to its topography). The trees are completely different to the trees we have in the north (like em). The traffic however is unbearable and would be one main reason I would not move down to ATL.

We visited Stone Mountain, Lenox Mall, Georgia Aquarium, Museum of High Art, and Piedmont Park. Piedmont Park and the houses around the immediate area were spectacular. It seems so quiet there with it being so close to the Midtown high-rises and downtown. If we were to move to ATL, we would live around one of those types of neighborhoods....it reminds us of Heritage Hill in Grand Rapids.

Next time we come to ATL...we're flying. The trip was nice, but after 12 hours in the car...it can get a little testy. Thanks y'all for your suggestions of places to see