What to do in Atlanta - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 11-30-2002, 11:01 PM

I will be in Atlanta in early December......with the wife and two young children (2 and 4) What is there to do?

suginami · #2 12-01-2002, 03:19 PM

Take the wife and kids for an educational field trip to MB Autowerks???

el presidente · #3 12-01-2002, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ColumbusMick
I will be in Atlanta in early December......with the wife and two young children (2 and 4) What is there to do?

Nick,

Not totally sure about kids that young (my disclaimer). There is TONS of stuff to do in Atlanta, though (I'm still 'discovering' the city.....been here since '89!)

First, look at the different events that are going on by searching:

http://atlantahappenings.creativeloafing.com/gbase/Events/index

There is always something to do. If you want to spend some time outside, try Stone Mountain, Kennesaw Battlefield or check out some of the town squares like in Marietta or Lawrenceville. Want hiking, head North to the 'mountains'. A day trip to Chattanooga (2 hour drive) is always fun with a tour of the aquarium.....

Good luck and have fun!

Steve

#4 12-02-2002, 09:43 PM

Truth be told, there's not that much to do in the Atlantan suburbopolis.

The kids will probably enjoy the Coke museum across from Underground, and there's also the Carlos museum at Emory University, which has a cool selection of mummies and stuff. The Carter Presidential Library is open to the public for a nominal fee and worth a gander. (The adjoining Carter Center, of the world's best NGO's, is not open to the public to my knowedge.) Other museum-type things they might find cool are the Fernbank Science Center (dinosaurs and stuff) and SCItrek (a more hands-on approach to science, with lots of experiment-game type stuff. At least it was a decade ago).

If the Falcons are playing, it's worth whatever they charge to watch Michael Vick in action! The kid is just plain AMAZING!

The most interesting places to walk in "Atlanta" are Kennesaw and Stone Mtns, the Decatur Square in Decatur, and the Marietta Square in Marietta. Druid Hills (a predominantly Jewish older neighbourhood) and Virginia Highlands have the best-looking residential architecture. Most other places (including where I live in East Cobb/North Fulton) are sullied with cookie-cutter McMansions.

So what do natives do for fun? (I've lived here for 19 years in total, broken up recently by one-year stints in Berlin and Vienna, so I guess I'm as "native" as any other person in the northern 'burbs.)

Mostly shop and eat.

Atlanta shopping is decent, but not nearly as good as say Milan or NYC. For guys, there's Saks and Neimans, Gucci, and the like between the two big malls in Buckhead, Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza. There's also a really good jeans place in the Around Lenox shopping centre with lots of European brands like Energie/Miss Sixty and Seven. For women, there's also a Jeffrey's (which carries Helmut Lang and Jil Sander), BCBG, J. Jill, a few Sisley stores, etc. Nordstom's at Perimeter has a decent shoe section.

By contrast, the restaurant scene is amazing, at least as good as that in any other city in the Union. Some restaurants districts I'd recommend are Virginia Highlands, Downtown Decatur, Little Five Points, and Buckhead.

On the cheap, go to Fellini's on Ponce for pizza (or Savage Pizza in Little Five, their "Sav-veg" being a favorite of mine) or the Cedar Tree in Decatur for Lebanese. Surin in the Highlands is a decent Thai restaurant, and Watershed in Decatur (owned by Emily Sailers of the Indigo Girls) is the place to be on Tuesday nights, because their fried chicken special is perhaps the best fried chicken in the world. Vortex in Little Five has an entrance that's a skull, you would know best if the kids would be amused or horrified by that. (They also have great burgers.) Cafe Tutu Tango is a decent tapas bar; I don't know if the kids are old enough to find that interesting, but the parents will dig it! If you can get away from the kids, Floataway Cafe (hidden in the Highlands) or Bacchanalia are great places for a romantic dinner. Both are rather expensive (Bacchanalia's prix fixe seven-course menu goes for between one sixty and two hundred a plate, including wine) but worth it. (They are both run by the same chef.) Bac is jackets, Stowaway "business casual", so if you plan to go to Bac be sure to dress appropriately.

Manuel's Tavern, or "Manny's", is a very homey kind of bar/restaurant, and allegedly Jimmy Carter's favorite place in Atlanta. (It is a big Democratic Party hangout, for sure.) They have good "kid food", like chicken tenders and burgers. And Newcastle on tap for the adults.

Plan on driving here or renting a car when you land at Hartsfield, because MARTA is unfortunately worthless. At least you'll enjoy cheap gas!

mikemover · #5 12-04-2002, 07:44 PM

Wow, einberliner!...I was going to chime in and help out, but you've got every detail covered! I think the only thing you didn't mention is ZooAtanta--very kid-friendly, and the IMAX theater at Fernbank. The High Museum of Art is great, but probably not very interesting to youngsters. Stone Mountain is an interesting geological curiosity, and there's a train ride around the base of it with some cool pre-recorded historical narrative...and the new Disney/6 Flags type attractions they supposedly have, but I haven't been there to check that stuff out myself.

Mike