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Delta Airlines Flights from Miami (MIA) to Atlanta (ATL)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Delta Airlines, which operates 8 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Miami (MIA) to Atlanta (ATL), departing between 6:00am and 5:28pm, and 3 additional non-stop flights, departing between 1:20pm and 6:41pm on select days of the week. The average travel time from Miami, FL to Atlanta, GA is 1 hour and 58 minutes.
During your Atlanta vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Margaret Mitchell House and Museum (Birthplace of Gone With the Wind)
Six decades after it was first published, Gone With the Wind continues to fascinate people around the world. But until this attraction opened in 1997, after a 10-year effort to preserve the house from demolition, disappointed pilgrims found precious little evidence here of the famous book or its author. Now the house and museum are a must-see for visiting GWTW fans.It's rather surprising that it took so long for restoration efforts to get underway on the dilapidated Tudor-revival apartment house where Margaret Mitchell wrote most of her epic novel and lived with her husband, John Marsh, from 1925 to 1932. The structure was built as a single-family dwelling in 1899, then moved to the back of the lot in 1913 and converted into a 10-unit apartment building 6 years later. It remained an apartment building until 1979, when it was abandoned and eventually boarded up. When the newlyweds moved in, they called it "The Dump." It was not an affectionate nickname; according to a friend of Mitchell's, she disliked living there (finances left few alternatives) and would probably be offended by the notion of its restoration. But the house has been attracting its share of visitors -- from all 50 states and more than 70 countries.The house and museum tell the complex story of the famous novelist. Guided tours, which last an hour to an hour-and-a-half, begin in the visitor center. Before beginning the tour, guests enter the theater to see a 17-minute film titled "It May Not Be Tara," featuring an overview of Mitchell's life, and interviews with some of her friends and family members. Also in the theater is an exhibition of photos taken of Mitchell in her teens and 20s. The tour of the house includes a visit to the Mitchell-Marsh apartment, which is furnished much as it was when the couple lived here. Mitchell wrote much of her novel in the front room, seated at a typewriter and desk below the beveled glass windows in the small corner alcove. Like most writers, she preferred to keep her literary efforts private and would throw a towel over her typewriter when friends dropped in -- which was often.The museum contains movie memorabilia and chronicles the making of the movie, its premiere in Atlanta, and the impact that the book and movie had on society. The tour concludes in the museum shop, which features a variety of GWTW collectibles and memorabilia. If you finish your tour around mealtime and you're ready for a real change of pace, walk a few blocks south on Peachtree to the Vortex, a rowdy burger joint and bar that serves some of the best hamburgers in town.
Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History
Previously the Kennesaw Civil War Museum, this museum is now operated in association with The Smithsonian Institute, which means that Civil War and transportation objects from the Smithsonian will be incorporated into the exhibits here.It was here that the wild adventure known as the "Great Locomotive Chase" began. The Civil War had been under way for a year on April 12, 1862, when Union spy James J. Andrews and a group of 21 Northern soldiers disguised as civilians boarded a locomotive called the General in Marietta, buying tickets for diverse destinations to avert suspicion. When the train made a breakfast stop at the Lacy Hotel in Big Shanty, they seized the locomotive and several boxcars and fled northward to Chattanooga. The goal of these daring raiders was to destroy tracks, telegraph wires, and bridges behind them, thus cutting off the Confederate supply route between Virginia and Mississippi.Conductor William A. Fuller, his breakfast interrupted by the sound of the General chugging out of the station, gave chase on foot, then grabbed a platform car and poled along the tracks. With him were a railroad superintendent and the General's engineer. At the Etowah River, Fuller and crew commandeered a small locomotive called the Yonah and made better progress. Meanwhile, the raiders tore up track behind them, and when the pursuers got close, the raiders slowed them down by throwing ties and firewood onto the tracks. Andrews, a very smooth talker, managed to convince station attendants en route that he was on an emergency mission running ammunition to Confederate General Beauregard in Mississippi.Fuller's chances of catching the General improved when he seized the southbound Texas and began running it backward toward the raiders, picking up reinforcements along the way and eventually managing to get a telegraph message through to Gen. Danville Leadbetter, commander at Chattanooga. The chase went on, with Andrews sending uncoupled boxcars careening back toward Fuller as obstructions. Fuller, who was running in reverse, merely attached the rolling boxcars to his engine and kept on. At the covered Oostanaula Bridge, the raiders detached a boxcar and set it on fire in hopes of finally creating an impassable obstacle -- a burning bridge behind them. But the Texas was able to push the flaming car off the bridge. It soon burned out, and Fuller tossed it off the track and continued.By this time the General was running low on fuel and water, the Texas was hot on its heels, and the raiders realized that all was lost. Andrews gave his final command: "Jump off and scatter! Every man for himself!" All were captured and imprisoned within a few days. Some escaped, others were exchanged for Confederate prisoners of war, and the rest were hanged in Atlanta, most of them at a site near Oakland Cemetery. Though the mission failed, the raiders, some of them posthumously, received the newly created Medal of Honor for their valor.The museum, occupying a building that was once the Frey cotton gin, houses the General (still in running condition, but don't get any ideas); a walk-through caboose; exhibits of Civil War artifacts, memorabilia, and photographs (including those relating to the chase and its participants); and exhibits on railroads. You can view a 20-minute narrated video about the chase, but if you really want the full story, rent the Disney movie The Great Locomotive Chase, starring Fess Parker as the dashing Andrews. (You can also buy a copy in the museum gift shop.)The museum is 3 miles from Kennesaw Mountain/National Battlefield Park, so consider visiting both of these Civil War-related sights the same day.
Birth Home of Martin Luther King, Jr
Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in this two-story Queen Anne-style house on January 15, 1929, the oldest son of a Baptist minister and an elementary school music teacher. His childhood was a normal one. He preferred playing baseball to piano lessons, liked to play board games, and got a kick out of tearing the heads off his older sister's dolls (nonviolence came later). To quote his sister, Christine King Farris, "My brother was no saint ordained at birth, instead he was an average and ordinary man, called by . . . God . . . to perform extraordinary deeds."King lived here through the age of 12, then moved with his family to a house a few blocks away. A visit provides many insights into the formative influences on one of the greatest leaders of our time. The Rev. A. D. Williams, King's maternal grandfather and pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, bought the house in 1909. Reverend Williams was active not only in the church, but also in the community and in early manifestations of the civil rights movement. He was a charter member of Atlanta's NAACP and led a series of black registration and voting drives as far back as 1917. He was instrumental in getting black officers onto the Atlanta police force. Martin Luther King, Sr., moved in on Thanksgiving Day, 1926, when he married Williams's daughter Alberta. When Reverend Williams died in 1931, King became head of the household and took over Williams's pulpit at Ebenezer Church.The King family retained ownership of the house at 501 Auburn even after they moved away. King's younger brother, Alfred Daniel, lived here with his family from 1954 to 1963. In 1971, King's mother deeded the home to The King Center. It has since been restored to its appearance during the years of King's boyhood. The furnishings are all originals or period reproductions, and some personal items belonging to the family are on display. Christine was actively involved in the restoration, providing a wealth of detail about the former appearance of the house, as well as anecdotal material about life in the King family.Tours of the house, conducted by National Park rangers, begin in the downstairs parlor, where you'll see family photographs showing Martin Luther as a child. The parlor was used for choir practice, for the dreaded piano lessons, and as a rec room where the family gathered around the radio to listen to shows like "The Shadow." In the dining room, world events were regularly discussed over meals, and every Sunday, before dinner, each child was required to recite a newly learned Bible verse from memory. You'll also see the coal cellar (stoking coal was one of King's childhood chores); the children's play area; the upstairs bedroom of King's parents in which Christine, King, and Alfred Daniel were born; Reverend Williams's den, where the family gathered for nightly Bible study; the bedroom King shared with his brother ("always in disarray," says Christine); and Christine's bedroom.Note: In summer, especially, tickets often run out early; for your best chance at touring the home, arrive at 9am.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Atlanta area, including:
Atlanta Downtown TraveLodge
Operated by the Clark family since 1964, this small but nicely kept TraveLodge offers an inexpensive alternative in the heart of downtown. All rooms are off an interior corridor and sport typical chain TraveLodge decor -- nice but nothing out of the ordinary. The same goes for the bathrooms. The Sleepybear Den Room, a guest room designed to accommodate families, includes a refrigerator and microwave, a VCR, and kid-themed movies. The new Business Class rooms offer well-lit work areas and access to e-mail. Business services include voice mail, modem hookups, and faxing and copying services. Three rooms are accessible to travelers with disabilities.
Stone Mountain Park Campground
Nestled in the woods, this large campground with sections for pop-ups, RVs, and tents is a great place to stay. The area has many sites overlooking the lake, especially in the tent section. All sites have barbecue grills, and picnic tables are scattered throughout the area. Public facilities include a dining pavilion, playgrounds, laundries, and showers. The park's beach is close by, and the swimming pool is brand new. Pets are permitted if kept on a leash. This is a popular place, so be sure to call ahead. You may reserve a spot up to 90 days before you stay; all reservations must be made at least 1 week in advance.
Grand Hyatt Atlanta
The towering Grand Hyatt Atlanta offers a winning combination of 18th-century American architecture and Japanese flavor. The lobby overlooks a 9,000-square-foot garden with traditional Japanese plantings, rock formations, and splashing waterfalls created by noted Kyoto landscape architects. A collection of museum-quality Japanese art, spanning 4 centuries, is displayed throughout the hotel.Rooms are furnished with 18th-century mahogany reproductions, and the Japanese aesthetic appears in the form of crane-motif headboards, fresh orchids, and Japanese prints in black lacquer frames. Every luxury is provided at this plush establishment -- you'll even find an umbrella in your closet.Facilities: 2 restaurants; lovely outdoor pool and sun deck; fully equipped fitness center (w/TVs and VCRs on the exercise bikes, Life Trim equipment, stair machines, aerobics videos, steam, and sauna); toys/activities for children; 24-hr. concierge; airport shuttle; complimentary town car within a 2-mile radius of the hotel; comprehensive business center; 24-hr. room service; massage; babysitting.
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