What's there to do in Atlanta?

[ACE51]

I'm planning on taking a trip to Atlanta partly because I hear so much about the aquarium and I'm in to saltwater fish etc.

Anyone have any recommendations of big things to hit up for a 2 night trip? hotel recommendations (or at least where not to stay/where the ghetto is)

Thanks in advance

[MickOpalak]

Give us more information. Are you looking for cultural things to do like museums and historic districts or fun things like parties and cool parts of town to get drunk in? A nice central location to stay in is Buckhead. For hotels just hit Hotels.Com. The ghetto is anything south of I-20. Don't go there, especially at night. Parts of downtown are scary too.

But just to start a list:
Aquarium
Coke Museum (skip it unless you're really into Coke)
CNN Center (take the tour)
Stone Mountain
6 Flags
Virginia Highlands (bar/restaurant/boutique area)
Atlanta History Center in Buckhead
Midtown (for trendy clubs and restaurants)
Buckhead (some shopping and restaurants, but all of the bars are gone)
Piedmont Park (great for people watching)
Brave's games
Underground Atlanta (skip it, tourist trap)
Centennial Park (skip it, nothing there)
Whitewater Water Park (check to make sure its open)
Road Atlanta (check website for event schedule)
Atlanta Motor Speedway (check website for event schedule)

[ACE51]

a night of drinking would be fun, but anything thats a HAVE TO in general been there done that type thing got the t-shirt

[SweetDaddyD]

Originally Posted by ACE51

but anything thats a HAVE TO in general been there done that type thing got the t-shirt

One amazing thing about Atlanta is that you can buy ME shots of scotch!

[g and the sauce]

As someone who is new to Atlanta, one of the things that has really impressed me is all of the amazing restaurants here. What type of food do you like?

I enjoyed the Aquarium. You might want to get your tickets ahead of time. When we went, it was very crowded. I hear it is not always like that but you never know. The Coke factory is right next door- it was okay and can be done in an hour.

The Bodies Exhibit is still here but I think that might be ending soon.

[tandemracer]

It is a short drive out of Atlanta, but this place is amazing:
The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum microcars, bmw isetta, messerschmitt, messerschmidt, kr200, micro cars

[Fungezap]

This is a good site for getting ideas:

Things to Do in Atlanta / AccessAtlanta

[ACE51]

Originally Posted by g and the sauce

As someone who is new to Atlanta, one of the things that has really impressed me is all of the amazing restaurants here. What type of food do you like?

I enjoyed the Aquarium. You might want to get your tickets ahead of time. When we went, it was very crowded. I hear it is not always like that but you never know. The Coke factory is right next door- it was okay and can be done in an hour.

The Bodies Exhibit is still here but I think that might be ending soon.

I eat almost ANYTHING.

I saw something about a "city pass" it gives you access to both of those places and the CNN dealio and a bunch of gardens, not so sure I'll be into those but it might be worth it for the aquarium/coke/CNN.

I heard the Bodies Exhibit is awesome, it says its there until January 3, 2010! might have to check that out too.

[ACE51]

Originally Posted by tandemracer

It is a short drive out of Atlanta, but this place is amazing:
The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum microcars, bmw isetta, messerschmitt, messerschmidt, kr200, micro cars

That looks sweet, I thought lotus cars were small! I take it you have been there?

[tandemracer]

Originally Posted by ACE51

That looks sweet, I thought lotus cars were small! I take it you have been there?

Been there a few times. I was lucky enough to talk with Bruce Weiner one time and he showed us a few cars from his personal collection that happened to be in a back room at the museum that day - a Jaguar D-type (one of 3 that he owns ) and a Triumph TR-6 with less than 100 miles on the odometer from new. But even the regular collection is well worth the drive over there.

[RelativePants]

Mick covered most of it.

I would recommend VA highlands.
Most restaurants and bars have reviews on yelp.com.

Two hours west, near Birmingham, is the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum.
They have a lot of vintage Lotus cars.

[Veruca]

Originally Posted by tandemracer

It is a short drive out of Atlanta, but this place is amazing:
The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum microcars, bmw isetta, messerschmitt, messerschmidt, kr200, micro cars

Why haven't I been there?!

You guys and your scotchy scotch scotch.

[SweetDaddyD]

Originally Posted by Veruca

Why haven't I been there?!

You guys and your scotchy scotch scotch.

You probably havn't been to the Barber museum either, which is also amazing. (not that it's in Atlanta but its not too far away.)

[abdult786]

if your into clubbing check out opera night club
if you want some fast food check out the varisty
there's also this sweet spot called the overlook here up by the vinnings area which most of you are completly unaware of, but its really cool. It's a parking deck on a huge hill that overlooks the entire city of atlanta and a great view of downtown since its right off of I-75. i would have to give u directions since it's extremely.

Bad area's stay away from I-20 there's always some sort of nonsense going on also there are too many area's in Atlanta you want to stay away from bc you could b driving in a nice area and two seconds later wind up in the hood. oh Btw refrain yourself from walking in downtown as much as possible.

[LotusGreenville]

Check this out. Atlanta, Georgia - City Lights, Southern Nights If you are taking 85 north back home stop by Chateau Elan.

[ACE51]

all sounds good. my last question, is it safe to drive a LOTUS around these parts. It was kind of the whole reason for me asking on this forum but it sounds like I may need to be careful.

[alil'britdifferent]

I drove mine to Atlanta, but had all sorts of trouble downtown with the bad road surfaces (potholes, etc)

Might be OK with stock suspension height and no splitter though.

Enjoy

[shokwaves]

Avoid the MARTA, Coke museum (so lame), downtown.
Stone Mountain is pretty cool to walk it up. Take a nice hike around it and see there are some beautiful water areas, feed the ducks. They have good outlets. Aquariums are the same everywhere, unless you go to Sea World, that's kickass.

[Darkside Eng]

The MARTA rocks if your homeless.
The Coke museum is a long coke commercial.

You have to eat at the VORTEX! They have the best hamburgers in the world!

[abdult786]

How could I forget vortex n it's pretty much safe to drive the lotus but road conditions are horrible thru the streets in downtown but check the weather cuz Atlanta has weird weather