Where to stay? What to do? Suggestions welcomed.
Visit atlantamovietours.com and see if Walking Dead locations are accessible (if your boys are fans).
anywhere you can drink heavily. I don’t envy you.
If anyone else had started this thread I would have moved right into the Jerry Sandusky-like jokes but ------ oooops. Guess I sorta did.
On the serious side Underground Atlanta is cool
The Aquarium is really nice.
Depends upon what they like.
I like Stone Mountain Park and the Coca-Cola museum.
Admittedly, I work about a 2 minute walk from Underground, but cool isn’t a word I’d use for it. Sketchy? Yes. Cool? No.
How far into their teens are they? What are they into?
In the downtown area
The Aquarium, to me, feels very aimed at a younger crowd, up through around 14. I was not impressed with it, and I love aquariums in general. Absolutely my opinion though, and you could feel differently.
World of Coke is ok as a tourist attraction (be warned, if you have any issues with motion sickness/flashing lights, the first part about the vault is not skippable and made me seriously dizzy). I found the pop culture side of it interesting.
CNN tours - I know people who’ve loved these and people who haven’t. I haven’t done it, so can’t speak to it.
National Center for Civil and Human Rights - this is on my to-see list soon, but I’ve not been there yet.
College Football Hall of Fame - not on my to-do list, but it’s here.
All of the above are in the downtown area. There’s a newish big ferris wheel down in that area (Centennial Olympic Park is right there too) and the new streetcar runs down there.
The streetcar will also run you to the King Center, which I would call a must see. You can also hit up the Sweet Auburn Curb Market for lunch when you head that way. One of my favorite places - lots of variety of good food. I like Arepa Mia and Panburys double crust pies. And Sweet Auburn Barbecue . And other things there too. 
If you ride the streetcar, wave at Georgia State University as you go by, since it’s likely I’ll be at work.
Beyond downtown:
Stone Mountain, if they’re into outdoors stuff.
Piedmont Park, on a pretty day, take lunch, be outside. The Botanical Gardenis right there.
Monetary Museum at the Atlanta Federal Reserve (bonus: free! And you can get free postcardsthere )
The Carter Library and Museum
The High Musuem - if you’re there when the Segregation photo exhibit is still going on (through early June), it’s fantastic.
Little Five Points - I’ve never gotten the appeal, but some love it. They can’t go into the Vortex for a burger there unless they’re over 18, I think.
Center for Puppetry Arts
If you’'re here over a Tuesday or Thursday, the Waffle House Musuem - just set up the tour in advance.
If you’re looking for events when you’re here, check out ATLtoDo - that can direct you to some unusual things. Also, see this reddit thread.
Also check out the Atlanta Visitor and Convention Bureau’s blog. I write for it occasionally, and it’s not a bad way to find out what we locals recommend.
Important to know: Are you in a car or will you be taking public transit, here called MARTA? Atlanta sprawls, and if you’re on foot, some of the attractions mentioned above - Stone Mountain and the Carter Center, for example - are hard to get to.
climb Stone Mountain
If you are a Hunger Games fan, tour the Swan House:
http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/exhibit/swan-house
See if there are good deals and get some inspiration:
Sports: Hawks, Braves, Gwinnett Gladiators
Eat dinner, lunch, or weekend brunch at Pallookaville. Yummy and fun!
I was in ATL a couple of weekends ago with Boy 2.0, who’s looking at attending Georgia Tech, and rooming with his best friend - who plans to attend Georgia State (hi! Lsura!) My kid is a total foodie, so we enjoyed a visit to the Dekalb Farmer’s Market - nirvana! Mostly, though, we were looking for apartments that are convenient/safe and near MARTA, since driving in Atlanta is such a hassle. We did go to LFP for a brief jaunt through the Junkman’s Daughter. If your guys are into sports, depending on when you’re visiting, there may be a Hawks or Braves game scheduled, or a college baseball or basketball game (Georgia Tech being the major sports college around town, but there are others.) Six Flags opens sometime this month, I think, if you’re into amusement parks.
Thanks for the feedback! Good to know.
Eh, Pallookaville’s kinda gimmicky. IMO only, of course. Also hard to get to, if you’re not in a car - it’s in the Avondale Estates neighborhood, about five or six miles west of downtown. If you’re looking for a real Atlanta landmark for food, try the Varsity. It was founded in 1928 by a Georgia Tech dropout who was told he’d never succeed; so of course he opened his hot dog restaurant across from Tech, and it’s been there ever since. It’s not haute cuisine by any means, but it is a genuine Atlanta landmark.
If you do want good food, you have hundreds of choices. Again, if you want to eat ethnic, Buford Highway has great Indian, Hispanic and Korean restaurants.
Really second the recommendation of Atlanta Movie Tours. Thanks to generous tax benefits, and a growing community of technicians and artists, hundreds of TV shows and movies have been filmed here, and AMT does a great tour of locations. The basic one is okay, but the Walking Dead tour is a must, even if you’re not a fan. I wasn’t when I took it, but I had a great time, because the tour guide was a long-running zombie extra, who had plenty of great stories about being on set. One I remember in particular was about a woman who didn’t notice that the street where her hairdresser was had been shut down for filming. She turned on to it for her regular appointment, and a bunch of bored zombie extras started chasing her! It’s a bus tour, so you get around the city nicely. Again, if you have a car, and are WD fans, go to Senioa, a suburb some forty miles southeast of the city. It’s a charming little town that you will immediately recognize as Woodbury.
Atlanta Movie Tours is also doing a Hunger Games tour, as large parts of Catching Fire and Mockingjay Part I were filmed around here.
The World of Coke museum is one that everybody in Atlanta goes to once. It’s mainly for the tourists, but it’s certainly worth a visit - most people seem to enjoy best of all the tasting room, where you can sample different products Coke sells in other countries.
If you or your kids are into architecture or history, the Atlanta Preservation Center’s walking tours are very cool. I would recommend Inman Park, but that’s just because I know it pretty well and there are some very cool homes and buildings in Inman Park. It’s also right next to Little Five Points, which, as Lsura pointed out, might appeal to your sons. It’s a very boho, emo, hipster neighborhood with a lot of kewl shops and bars that appeal to the millennials; they’ll probably be embarrassed to be seen with you there.
Have fun!
Granted, we did stay in Decatur while in the Big City, but I thought it was lots easier to eat at PV than at most downtown spots - easy parking! (But I do admit to being biased. I’ve known the owner for a long time, and enjoy his food, humor, and aesthetic. The food was good, though, and appealing to both kids and adults.) I’ve eaten at the Varsity once, because it’s required. I don’t need to do that ever again…
But yes, lots and lots of good ethnic food in Atlanta. If our last visit had been just me and Boy 2.0, we’d have ranged much farther afield in our dining choices, but the husband is a little leery of exotic food. (We talked him into trying Jamaican for lunch, basically by convincing him that it’s essentially spicy southern food.) Fortunately, I’ll get to visit often in the coming years, since the Boy and my other favorite nerd have invited me to come cook for them any time I want! (I assume they’d also welcome me if I’m treating for dinner out. They’re teenage boys, after all, and will be dining on a college budget for a few years.)
Welcome to town, EH! I’ll be glad to chime in on places to stay and things to do but it would be easier if I know about when you will be coming and the general purpose of the trip.
Just a family vacation trip - to learn more about the city, enjoy warmer weather than we’re having in NE Ohio, etc.
I’ll echo that “Pallookaville” is overrated… maybe if you like corn dogs. I live about a mile and a half from there. “The Bishop” is a better dining experience in Avondale Estates, but if you are visiting, eat in Decatur instead - it has some of the best dining experiences inside the perimeter.
Buford Highway is another gem if you are looking for ethnic, especially East Asian food (“Gu’s Bistro” and “Chef Liu” are great eats).
Downtown does have the touristy things. Aquarium is good, but overpriced (what is it like $40 a person now?). World of Coke is good to do at least once. The Civil Rights Museum is excellent - highly recommend that. I’ve heard the College Football Hall of Fame is really good as well.
Go a bit east of downtown and go to the Martin Luther King Center. It’s powerful stuff.
(I’d say to go catch a show at the Fox Theater or the Shakespeare’s Tavern, but I’m not sure if teenaged boys would be terribly interested).
If you’re coming down soon, the weather part is a bit of a gamble. March is a transition month. On average, 45% of the time it’s cold (30’s), 45% of the time it’s cool (40’s-50’s) and 10% of the time it’s warm (over 60). March is also our historically windiest month.
Atlanta is a spread out, car town. Don’t plan your trip around public transit, or you’ll be pretty disappointed.
As you know, Atlanta is a fairly young city in that much of it was destroyed in the 1860’s. Antebellum (or older) houses still exist, but are located 30 minutes or so away from downtown in small cities like Madison, which went untouched by the Union army.
I would also recommend a trip to Athens, GA (about an hour east of Atlanta). It’s the home of the University of Georgia and has a vibrant foodie and music scene. Your kids would probably enjoy taking in a concert of up and coming bands at the Georgia Theatre or the 40 Watt Club. Both serve alcohol. You can enter if you are 18, but get a special hand stamp indication “no alcohol”. Lots of REM history, like sites where they shot their album covers. The actual “love shack” was nearby, but no longer exists. Athens is certainly worth a Friday night, Saturday morning stay if the kids are older.
Downtown Decatur (15-20 minutes east),as mentioned, has great independant restaurants. Sweet Melissa’s and The Brick Store are 2 of my favorites.
Stone Mountain (30 minutes east), as mentioned before, may be interesting to the kids. Lots of history and outdoor activities. Oh, and a huge granite rock sticking up out of nowhere. Take the walking trail or cable car to the top for great panoramic views of the city and surrounding area.
I also recommend Zoo Atlanta and the Cyclorama. both on the same property near downtown. Neither are free, but both are worthwhile. The Fox Theatre is magnificent inside, a taste of the glory days of cinema, with a huge pipe organ. Tours are available if a show doesn’t work out for you.
'Nuff for now…
We got back on Friday, and had a great time. Many thanks for all the suggestions here! Here’s what we did:
CNN headquarters tour - An interesting look at the studios, production spaces and newsrooms.
http://www.cnn.com/tour/
Georgia State Capitol self-guided tour - A handsome building. The Senate and House chambers were locked, unfortunately, but we could look in. On the g grounds, interesting statues (the Presidential seal behind Jimmy Carter’s head was not quite right, I noticed) and beautiful landscaping.
http://www.atlantaga.gov/index.aspx?page=472
Atlanta History Center - Very good exhibits on the Civil War (although, oddly, not much on Atlanta’s important role in it), the 1996 Olympics, and Georgia folk art. Several Hunger Games scenes were filmed at the Swan House, an immaculately-maintained 1920s mansion. An interesting, working 1860s-era farm nearby.
http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/exhibit/swan-house
SkyView Atlanta - A little pricey, but good views from this big downtown Ferris wheel.
Eastside Segway tour - First time my eldest son and I have ridden Segways, and we had a blast. Can’t wait to do it again sometime! A fun, informative tour; our very funny guide pointed out this vista from The Walking Dead: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91Ur5vtT-QL._SL1500_.jpg. The tour included a stop for delicious homemade freezer pops (I had the Key Lime Pie) at a funky little shop. We also learned that there are no fewer than 72 Atlanta streets with the word “Peachtree” in their names!
http://www.atlcruzers.com/tours/segway-tour/
Center for Civil and Human Rights - A new, ultramodern and relatively small musem which nevertheless does a nice job linking the American Civil Rights Movement with the struggle for freedom around the world, esp. women’s and LGBT rights, human trafficking and voting rights. Good temporary exhibit on MLK, including handwritten speeches, photos and ephemera.
MLK National Historic Site, incl. birthplace, tomb, visitors center and Ebenezer Baptist Church - Interesting, well-presented and moving. Very glad we saw it. Got there early to reserve our free tickets for the birthplace home tour.
Jimmy Carter Presidential Center - I’d been there in 1988, and it’s changed a lot (for the better) since then. Very engaging, well-done exhibits about Carter’s life and political career, and his post-White House peacemaking and poverty-relief work. Also very cool to peek into a full-scale replica of the Oval Office.
http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/
Westin Peachtree Hotel’s Sun Dial restaurant observation deck - Eye-popping views out over the city, with mounted telescopes and touchscreen guides as to what is spread out below you. Loved it. Not recommended for anyone with vertigo.
http://www.sundialrestaurant.com/view/
Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War museum - A little worn around the edges, definitely due for an overhaul, but still worth a visit. The guide pointed out a Federal soldier mannequin made to resemble Clark Gable, in honor of his visit at the time of the 1939 Gone with the Wind premiere.
High Museum of Art - Stunning modern architecture but a confusing floorplan. Good permanent exhibits, as well as well-curated temporary ones on Jim Crow-era photography, the centennial of Coca-Cola, and the work of Wifredo Lam, a Cuban-born surrealist painter.
Wow you did a lot!
How did the teens take to all the stuff??
Well, we were there for the better part of a week, so we had time. I’d say the boys liked SkyView Atlanta, the Segway tour, the Center for Civil and Human Rights and the Westin Peachtree observation deck best.