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Visiting Atlanta - Advice
Renn
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I've just been told I'm going on a business trip to Atlanta. This will be my first business trip, as well as my first trip to the USA (I'm from Australia).
I'm looking for any advice (places to visit, places not to visit, cultural things I may not know).
I'm also not going to have a car (or licence). Hows the public transport in the city? Can I get around?
I'm also going to need a phone over there - how easy is to buy a prepaid sim card and drop it into my phone? (and will I be able to get data?)
Any advice is good - I need all I can get
I'm looking for any advice (places to visit, places not to visit, cultural things I may not know).
I'm also not going to have a car (or licence). Hows the public transport in the city? Can I get around?
I'm also going to need a phone over there - how easy is to buy a prepaid sim card and drop it into my phone? (and will I be able to get data?)
Any advice is good - I need all I can get
Renn on
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What are your interests? I can give you the routine drum up but what about music, clubbing, etc?
Tourist-y things to see: Atlanta aquarium, capitol building (yawn-ish), The Varsity, Turner Field, Piedmont park, CNN center, World of Coca-cola
Stay Away From: Underground Atlanta (though it may be safer these days than in the past), Little 5 Points after dark if you aren't in a group, North Druid Hills, I-285 unless you like sitting in traffic
Public transit: MARTA is the bus and train system in Atlanta. Depending on how long you're staying, you may want to look at a bus pass which you can buy at most supermarkets in the customer service department. If that doesn't do it for you, IIRC bus fare is $2 per one way trip.
Phone: You can get a prepaid phone for local calls at most supermarkets or even at gas stations. I'm not sure what to tell you for prepay on a sim card compatible with your phone. I'd say check your carrier and see if they offer such a thing for you international business-folk types.
Culture: Atlanta's population is a mix of people from lots of other parts of the USA and other nations. It's got a lot of different burroughs not unlike NYC - Sandy Springs, Midtown, Downtown, Virginia Highlands, Smyrna, Mableton, and Buckhead just to name a few. The city was burned to the ground during the US civil war so a lot of the road systems are confusing because reconstruction took a long time and had no real guidance behind it. There's an almost perverse love of using Peachtree to name things - Peachtree road, Peachtree street, Peachtree Industrial BLVD, Peachtree city. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Atlanta
Be aware that violent crime is pretty common in Atlanta - I'm not saying 'it will happen to YOU!', I'm just saying that you should be careful, especially if you go out to bars and whatnot. I've only been beaten up once while I was out, but holy crap did I get hurt.
Besides the things that Raekreu mentioned, you could visit Stone Mountain. Unfortunately I dont think there are buses that run out that way. You can also hit up the Clairmont for a cultural experience.
Little Five Points after dark is fine. The place is borderline tourist trap now, especially on the weekends.
Public transportation blows. Atlanta is very spread out and MARTA (train) coverage is minimal.
What part of town is your hotel in? How long will you be here?
Good grief, how could I forget the Clairmont lounge? Just FYI, don't look it up if you're at work, Renn.
Check out the Vortex, yummy!
Also you should go to the Oakland Cemetary, it's beautiful, then hop across the street and have some food at the Six Feet Under. I went there like, three times, haha.
Also, the Turner building has a really good tour, including the Williams Street studio if you're an adult swim fan.
There might be a ballgame going on? The Braves are always fun to watch in person.
Finally, for food, go to a place called Dante's Down the Hatch. You can thank me later.
One place that is cool is the center for puppetry arts. www.puppet.org They have shows, but you can check online and see what's playing in it. They also have a museum that is pretty cool and it has some original muppets and fraggles and whatnot. They do a lot of kid's shows, but they also have more artsy and or more grown up shows too. Although, looking at the schedule it's all kid's shows until Halloween. I haven't been to any of their kid's shows, but children frighten and unnerve my delicate senses.
Culturally:
Any soft drink is generally called "Coke." It's in the same way that people say Band Aids when they mean adhesive bandages or Legos when they mean plastic building blocks.
Also, where are you staying? Are you staying in actual Atlanta, or somewhere in the sprawl? If you're in actual Atlanta, you can use MARTA, but it will be time intensive. If you're in the sprawl, then you need a car.
Atlanta's pretty boring, really.
here's some touristy links.
Aquarium
Zoo
High Museum of Art
Fernbank Natural History Museum
Martin Luther King Center
"Coke" is Coca-cola, I would be pretty pissed off if I ordered a coke at a restaurant and got something else. Soda is more common to use if you don't specify the type of soft drink.
In the majority of the southeast - Coke = Soda. Just not quite in the context you're thinking. Example conversation -
Guy 1 - "Hey you want a Coke?"
Guy 2 - "Sure, what do you have?"
Guy 1 - "Sprite, A&W and Pepsi."
Guy 2 - "A Sprite would be great, thanks."
I understand what you're saying, it's just that I've lived in Georgia my whole life and no one I've ever met has used coke as a catch-all for any kind of soft drink. The conversation as I'd imagine it would be more like:
Guy 1 - "Hey you want a Coke?"
Guy 2 - "Sure, what do you have?"
Guy 1 - "Regular and diet."
Guy 2 - "Eeew, diet, I'll take a regular, thanks."
Also, "Coke" is likely to mean "Coca-Cola" in my experience. A carbonated soft drink would usually be called a soda, even in Atlanta.
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It's name is highly original - Glady's and Ron's Chicken and Waffles.
Also you can try Mary Mac's Tea Room (http://www.marymacs.com/)
Check out Little 5 Points and eat at the Vortex. It's a pretty safe area now, its almost all touristy. If you like comics and records, check out Criminal Records. It's also in Little Five, but sort of near the end of the shops area (totally worth the hike).
Also, about crime: maybe I'm just lucky, but I've never been a victim in Atlanta. Like any major city, just be aware of your surroundings and don't wander around in the dark alone. I mean, you're coming from Australia, which is the country where even the plants want to kill you. You'll be fine.
Stuff to do. World of Coke is actually pretty dang cool. The Turner tour is pretty cool. Get to check out CNN and some other stuff.
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As for Cultural things, Atlanta has a pretty good museum and an excellent aquarium (I've never been, i hear good things though).
Also, alot of famous people were born in Atlanta. One guy in paticular house turned into a museum after he died.
Maybe you've heard of him?
Edit: Oh and I would recomend you stay away from College Park. That IS a great place to get your ass beat. But L5P's and Midtown are both very, very safe.
Well, relatively speaking that is. I've never been mugged or anything.
To answer some questions: I'll be staying at near the Powers Ferry Shopping Centre. As far as I can tell, theres no way to get to the fun places using public transport from here. Definitely won't have a car (don't have a license) - so I'll have to figure something else out. How expensive would a cab to downtown be?
As for things I like - I'm not really a bar/club person. Museums are good - I'll definitely want to visit MLKs house.
As for cellphones, get your hotel shuttle to run you to Walmart and pick up a cheapy Prepaid Cellphone. Will cost you about US$20 with minutes and coverage, in Atlanta at least, is pretty okay.
Off the top of my head:
World of Coke
Georgia Aquarium
The Vortex
CNN Center
Six Flags Over Georgia (The Goliath, that is all.)
If you're looking for a stripclub, try The Cheetah or The Pink Pony if you're actually looking to enjoy yourself. The Clermont Lounge is an experience but by no means for everyone.
The High Museum Of Art is fantastic, I got a membership shortly after moving here.
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If you need transportation, I'd be willing to Chauffer you around for very cheap. I'm in desperate need of some work to pad out my bills until I can find something else.
Plus side is i know where everything is that's been posted in this thread.
If you're into gourmet beer, go to the Brick Store Pub in Decatur. For good barbeque (aka roasted meat), go to Swallow at the Hollow in Roswell. Dreamland sucks if anyone tells you to go there :P.
@Black Ice - I'll be going alone.
So on my list
World of Coke
Aquarium
MLK House/Museum
Center for Puppetry Arts
The CNN Centre
The various recommended restaurants/pubs
I'll probably take a pass on the Clairmont
You have chosen wisely and avoided several nightmares.
Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
Mr. Pink can vouch that i'm not a neckbeard, or a rapist.
Thanks for the offer - I might take you up on that.
http://www.citypass.com/atlanta
Your loss. Where else can you see a sixty year old stripper dressed up like Little Red Riding Hood?
There's actualy a Burlesque show in Atlanta called Syrens of the south that has a rather bodacious girl doing a red riding hood themed dance.
I personally would avoid the World of Coke. The museum portion was OK, but even that is part of a huge Coke advertisement. I considered my visit a waste of time.
Also, I can count to "boat".
I'm gonna second Six Flags as a great way to spend a day, though beware of huge (30 min - 1 hr) lines for EACH ride. There is a fast pass type deal that is extra, and worth the money in my opinion (expense that shit). The Vortex is a great place to get an amazing burger, which is what America is all about but keep in mind there are actually 2 locations, one in midtown and one in Little 5 Points. I recommend Little 5, then you can walk south a block to The Porter which is a fantastic English style pub so its laid back and has a great selection of beers. The Brick Store is another pub to check out for insane beer selection (their menu is leather bound and massive) which is in Decatur, about 15 min east of midtown.
There is a place in Virginia Highlands called Ten High, which is basically the basement of the Darkhorse Tavern that does heavy metal/rock karaoke that they call Metalsome on Monday, Friday and Saturday nights. It's a TON of fun if you're into that kind of thing and not afraid to look a little silly, but the crowd gets really into it if you are willing to put on a bit of a performance and just go nuts.
Check out a Braves game while you're here too. Even if you don't give a shit about baseball, Turner Field is a great sports stadium, and getting drunk and harassing the opposing team's outfielders is about as good as it gets. There's a reason it's America's favorite passtime!
One caveat about that list. The Center for Puppetry arts has some cool things, but unless you're seeing an actual show, then the museum isn't all that big and it won't take too long to be done with it.
The plus side is that it's within walking distance to the High Museum of Art.
Also, I keep forgetting that sometimes, they have Exhibits at Atlantic Station. I'll see what they have currently and link it.
Well, it looks like they have the same 2 as always. Dialogue in the Dark and Bodies
http://www.atlanticstation.com/dialog-in-the-dark.php
http://www.atlanticstation.com/bodies-the-exhibition.php
From what I understand, the bodies exhibit is smaller than the ones in other cities when it used to travel. It's kind of neat, but in the end of the day it's just an anatomy lesson and you can get one of those at the Clairmont!
I've heard good things about Dialogue in the Dark. It supposedly recreates the experience of being blind. However, I haven't experienced it firsthand.