<p>poetsheart-
I’ve been to the MLK center, and to Ebenezer Babtist church and to the house MLK grew up in. It is very interesting and has a wonderful displau of photos, papers,etc, with the new MLK papers now housed at a nearby University. It is fascinating , even to us white folk. I know you are just looking to get a rise out of someone. But sorry to disappoint. the MLK center is interesting.</p>
<p>A few ideas:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Richard Meier designed High Museum of Art</li>
<li><p>The Atlanta Botanical Garden</p></li>
<li><p>The Carter Center</p></li>
<li><p>The top of the Peachtree Plaza Hotel for a mint julep. 75 story glass elevator ride on the outside of the building.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>“I’ve been to the MLK center, and to Ebenezer Babtist church and to the house MLK grew up in. It is very interesting and has a wonderful displau of photos, papers,etc, with the new MLK papers now housed at a nearby University. It is fascinating , even to us white folk. I know you are just looking to get a rise out of someone. But sorry to disappoint. the MLK center is interesting.”</p>
<p>Not disappointed in the least, jym. 
Glad you enjoyed your visits to both sites. Actually, I wasn’t looking to “get a rise out” of anyone. I was just noticing how loudly the crickets chirped when NSM suggested the MLK Center, as opposed to how many times Stone Mountain (that massive monument to The Confederacy) was heartily endorsed as a prime point of interest, along with several other destinations that enjoyed more than one thumbs-up. I was also thinking back to a thread here on CC not that long ago, that lamented “Diversity being shoved down our throats”. I was just musing as to the likelihood that the MLK Center might be viewed as just another PC pill to swallow—kind of like Castor Oil—it’s supposed to be good for something, but is it really necessary?</p>
<p>What is there to do at Stone Mountain?</p>
<p>mel-
to add to interesteddad’s recc, at the top if the peachtree plaza is a restaurant (the sundial) that rotates slowly, so if you have a meal and sit by the window, you’ll get a 360 degree trour of the city, with great views. If you just go up the elevator, be sute to tell them you re going to the bar for a drink- otherwise they’ll charge you for the elevator ride! The Hilton also has an outdoor elevator.</p>
<p>Stone Mtn is a state park. You can ride the gondola to the top of the mtn (or climb if you are adventurous, or ride up and walk down). There is a steam engine train around the park, tennis, a small zoo, shops, a paddleboat and a water park. Many go to bicycle or picnic. It will be in the 80s today, so will be nice to be outside. There is an outdoor laser show at night. Its a little hokey and “southern” but kids really like it.</p>
<p>The biggest issue is that there is a ton to do here in Atlanta-- no need for the OP to make it sound like it is something miseable “Stuck here for 6 long days”. Make the best of it, Mel. this is a great city!</p>
<p>We really enjoyed the CNN tour. Good exercise (be prepared to walk quite a bit) and good information/entertainment. </p>
<p>My advice would be to skip the World of Coca-Cola thing. We (DH, DD and myself) were bored and were kicking ourselves for paying a $9.00 admission to see things we’ve probably all seen before. In the end, you can sample Coke products from around the world, but honestly, most of them you’d probably rather skip (ick!). The current World of Coca-Cola is closing in early April and a new facility will open mid-May.</p>
<p>Do you like baseball? You could catch a Braves game.</p>
<p>Atlanta offers some pretty good concerts … my family has traveled there before just to see Beck. </p>
<p>Personally, I would rather take a beating than shop, but my two best friends and I recently did a weekend trip to Atlanta, specifically to visit **IKEA<a href=“it’s%20the%20closest%20one%20to%20us”>/b</a>. HMoG, you could spend an entire day in there and if you get hungry, they just happen to have a cafeteria. There is a really cute area right around IKEA that offers more shopping and restaurants.</p>
<p>I’ve visited several aquariums and I must admit the Georgia Aquarium is the best I’ve seen so far. The zoo is not bad, either, especially if you’re just looking for a nice outdoor activity. </p>
<p>Have fun!</p>
<p>I endorse the history center visit. I also enjoyed the “Swan House” tour. Not the most spectacular mansion in the world but since I was a Bob Vila fanatic, I had to see the place after watching it featured on his TV show.</p>
<p>For eats, I hear that the Flying Biscuit is great (not just for breakfast).</p>
<p>As for the King Center, well, that’s a bit complicated for those of us who feel that neither it nor Dr. King’s legacy has been well served by the administration of the King Center. Once inside, the place really is quite a disappointment.</p>
<p>Lakewashington- You are very correct-- the MLK center has been poorly managed, and the area around there hasn’t been well maintained. Coca Cola offered a large track of land adjacent to the new museum (which is next to the aquarium)for free to be used for a “cultural/civil rights history center” ( my term-- I forget the exact term) but the offer was turned down. I think that was a big mistake. The MLK center (and hi shouse down the street) needs a better management team and a better PR team, but it is still worth a visit.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I have a problem with this, why would anyone travel to a town just to visit a furniture store. There are many people in Cleveland who travel all the way to Pittsburgh just to go to this store. This store is literally like five minutes down the road from me here in Phoenix, and I haven’t given it a passing thought. Why is it (from my experience mostly gay guys and women who associate with gay guys) drive sometimes over five hours to go to a forking FURNITURE STORE?!?!?!?! Maybe they buy a 10 dollar end table? What is the deal with this furniture store?</p>
<p>I loved the Olympic Park in Atlanta. Cool fountains, which will be great in 80 degree weather. We enjoyed the Coca-Cola tour. Maybe because my kids & niece were going crazy, sampling soda from around the world as it shot into the air in a stream. CNN didn’t allow kids under a certain age in, so we missed that. Zoo was very nice, too. Plenty of restaurants, cool downtown that was very walkable, IMHO. </p>
<p>I’m with Joev. I can’t imagine traveling very far to see cleverly merchandized plywood furniture. But for some reason, IKEA is often one of the destinations out-of-towners want to visit when we host them here in NJ. I do remember my S-I-L saying that Atlanta has an incredible furniture district, though. Real stuff – Not plywood.</p>
<p>LOL Joev and StickerShock.</p>
<p>I first got wind of IKEA a few years ago, and while you can find some useful hardwood stuff there, I am surprised by the popularity of this place. StickerShock, you know that IKEA recently opened TWO new stores down the block from one another in Bergen County? “Cleverly merchandized plywood.” Now that’s funny.</p>
<p>To be honest, when I have been to IKEA I’ve bought kitchen doo-dads and cooking pots.</p>
<p>Mel - Sorry to not have answered sooner. We’re having a party on Sunday and I’m going a bit crazy. It’s an Open House, celebrating our first 6 months back in the US! :)</p>
<p>Stone Mountain on Monday or Tuesday will not be very crowded, but I doubt it would be that crowded even on the weekend. In the winter, certain attractions are not open every weekday. But on those days the pass is cheaper, and includes “The Ducks” ride, admission to the museum, I can’t remember what else. The cable car, I think. The Plantation.</p>
<p>In the summer, there is a laser show on the side of the mountain that is well worth seeing. When our kids were young and we were poor(er), this was a common evening event for us. Eat a picnic on the lawn, let the kids run around, watch the show and the fireworks. We bought the season car pass (for a pittance) so it was an easy night.</p>
<p>It used to be owned by the state, but is now run by Silver Dollar City, and has become more commercial. However, it is still a fun day.</p>
<p>
LOL! Why the problem, joev? We decided we wanted to take a road trip (something we try to do at least two or three times a year) and since one of my participating friends had wanted to shop at IKEA, we chose Atlanta. Anyone with decent vision can look through an IKEA catalog or online and see that the furniture is not something of high quality. Some people don’t care so much about that; my friend, for instance … she’s divorced and her teenaged son had seen a bedroom suite he liked there. It was affordable for her, so the three of us loaded into her ex-husband’s pickup truck, hooked up the iPod, and sang and laughed all the way to Atlanta. It’s not so much about the destination as it is about the trip itself … IKEA was just the icing on the cake for her. Three middle aged women who leave the husbands and kids home for the weekend can make a party anywhere they go … trust me. We do happen to have a couple of gay friends … they’ll be so glad to hear their sexual orientation gave us the all clear to shop at IKEA. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>H and I make a yearly trip to Atlanta to visit our daughter and to be honest, we couldn’t find alot to do. Thanks to all of you, I now have a great list of places to go when we visit again. How about some more restaurant recommendations?</p>
<p>No recommendation for restaurants, but how about some vintage Lewis Grizzard book titles:</p>
<p>Elvis is Dead and I Don’t Feel So Good Myself
Shoot Low, Boys, They’re Riding Shetland Ponies
When my Love Returns from the Lady’s Room, Will I Be Too Old To Care?</p>
<p>Answering Melbusefi’s question on page one: “Was that a major newspaper?”</p>
<p>It was in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. (I think they were separate papers back then, and I think he wrote for the morning one.)</p>
<p>I Googled it, and found this:</p>
<p>
<a href=“Georgia General Assembly”>http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/house/kids/famous/lewisgrizzard.htm</a></p>
<p>I really hope mods would be willing to change the title to “Enjoying Hotlanta for…” :)</p>
<p>Binx, I hope you enjoy(ed) your party. I wasntgoing to be at Stone Mountain until tomorrow but I read that Sat. is the Laser show night so I didn’t want to miss it, but I arrived late and couldn’t do any of the other attractions. the onyl thing I really want to do is riding the traing around the stone. is there anything else worth attending while im ther? The Ducks ride seems very popular? is it good?.</p>
<p>Gotta go now.</p>
<p>Ok, I have few minutes now: </p>
<p>Binx, I just read your post # 32. Thnaks</p>
<p>I found the tripadvisor.com forum very helpful so was the itinerary section on fodors.com. I got both of those in my Favorites now.</p>
<p>everybody talks about The Varsity, What’s different about it??
Also the J.C. library has a very nice program.</p>
<p>Unfortunatly, I couldn’t make it to the World Law conference. Too many things to do in one weekend</p>
<p>Oh, and I stopped at Phidippides since I left my running/walking shoes behind. Very humble store but the help I got there was the best (Ive been to Garry Gribble’s KC, ane Luke’s Locker Dallas and both have fancy stores but are not as helpful). I later met the guy who helped in down town while I was in the new pair I got the day before. It was kinda cool.</p>
<p>I wish I knew about the marathon a bit earlier and prepared for it. this it’s second year I heared and it’s becoming a big thing, Jym?</p>
<p>Just got back form the marathon-- s and I met up with our accountant, who lives right on the course (She’s at about mile 4). We walked over to about mile 17.5 to bring DH sustenance. Actually, Mel, this is the very first year of the ING marathoin. I hope DH keeps his “inaugural” number. In additon to saying “inaugural”, each person’s number had their first name cearly on it, so you could cheer people on by name. That was cool. Its hot out today-- expecting a record high temp, which is tough on the runners. H should have finished about an hr ago. haven’t heard from him yet. There si also aa marathon at Thanksgiving, but its never been extremely popular. My h. runs it (usually the half marathon), but it is a very hilly course. There was supposed to be a third marathon here in town this year, only a few weeks from todays, but I haven’t heard any more about it, and forget the details. Sorry.</p>
<p>BTW Mel, the Atlanta Civic center (where they had housed the “bodies” exhibit) now has a rather larege exhibit of Titanic relics and memorobilia, including the largest piece of the ship brought up from the bottom of the ocean. Might be worth checking out.</p>
<p>Phiddipides and Fleet Feet are the best running stores in town. You did good!!! Glad you are enjoying our great city.</p>
<p>Dogwood-
Happy to help with restaurants-- what location, type and price are you interested in??</p>
<p>H just called. Finished the marathon in 4:24. Thats with a stop to shmooze with us, guzzle water and eat that power gel goo stuff. Blech (though distance runners live on that stuff-- instant energy).</p>
<p>Mel- glad you see that the correct title of your thread should be “how much fun stuff can I cram into 6 days in Atlanta?”</p>