Andrew Delaplaine - Atlanta: The Delaplaine 2020 Long Weekend Guide

ATLANTA The Delaplaine 2020 Long Weekend Guide

Andrew Delaplaine NO BUSINESS HAS PAID A SINGLE PENNY OR GIVEN ANYTHING TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS BOOK. Copyright by Gramercy Park Press - All rights reserved. Please submit corrections, additions or comments to MAPS are at the end of the book Chapter 1 H OTLANTA? Theres no city that can lay a greater claim to represent what used to be termed the New South than the city of Atlanta. It was burned down in the Civil War (or as my Fifth Grade teacher Mrs. McCutcheon sternly reminded me in the 1960s, the War of Northern Aggression) during General Shermans famous March to the Sea, and to this day remains the only major American city completely annihilated by war. Sherman burned all the railroad depots, uprooted the tracks, burned every business to the ground and for good measure to show that he meant it, burned down two-thirds of the private homes.

Perhaps thats why Atlantas resurgence so captured the imagination. When it became the home of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Atlanta took on yet another level of symbolic importance. Non-natives are familiar if not with Atlanta itself, then surely with its huge airport. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is the world's busiest airport, with more than 88 million annual passengers. (By comparison, Londons Heathrow only has 64 million people passing through it.) Hosting the Olympics in 1996 gave Atlanta an international profile and drove many upgrades to the city.

The public transport system is efficient and a major addition to the citys infrastructure. The World Congress Center was built to attract the most desirable convention business and it has worked. Its Hotlanta all right.

Chapter 2 A TLANTA IS UNIQUE IN that it has 3 separate skylines. Downtown, Midtown and Buckhead each has its own skyline that would make an admirable statement by itself. DOWNTOWN consists of Five Points , Centennial Park , Sweet Auburn, Castleberry Hill and the Hotel District .

This is where youll find the state Capitol, City Hall, the CNN Center , Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola Museum . While most tourists congregate in Downtown, I advise you not to make the same mistake. Locals tend to disappear from Downtown after dark, so you should follow them to one of the many completely different neighborhoods they go to at night. MIDTOWN is the area just north of Downtown. Its a major business and residential district with big buildings and a concentrated nightlife section. Piedmont Park, the Woodruff Arts Center and the Georgia Tech campus are located here.

BUCKHEAD is a few miles north of Midtown. Its a popular business and nightlife area. Buckhead is surrounded by neighboring Brookwood Hills , as well as Peachtree Battle, Lindbergh Center , and the Governor's Mansion. EAST ATLANTA, also called East Atlanta Village, has great neighborhoods with beautiful homes, some of the best bars and restaurants in town and a bustling shopping scene. It's a gentrifying area, but it's cool. It's south of I-20 and Moreland Avenue.

INMAN PARK , LITTLE FIVE POINTS, CANDLER PARK are clustered together and are a center for nightlife and no-hype restaurants favored by the locals. Little Five Points has great murals youll see as you walk around. VIRGINIA-HIGHLANDS is nearbyit has some of the nicer housing in the area.

B Y CAR As anyone whos been here knows, downtown traffic in Atlanta is a nightmare at rush hour. If youre only on a short visit, forego getting a rental car and rely on cabs or MARTA to get around. BY FOOT Once youre in any given neighborhood, walking is just fine.

Shops, restaurants and bars are usually clustered together, so whether youre in Inman Park, Little Five Points, Midtown, Downtown, etc., youll be OK. Its getting between these little neighborhoods that presents a challenge. This is where youll want to grab a taxi or use MARTA. MARTA The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, www.itsmarta.com, runs the trains and bus lines and does a very good job. (Various passes, called Breeze Cards , are available, depending on how long youre in town.) TAXI In dense areas like Downtown, cabs are easy to get. www.atlantacheckercab.com

Chapter 3 Next page