 |
Delta Airlines Flights from St Louis (STL) to Atlanta (ATL)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Delta Airlines, which operates 4 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from St Louis (STL) to Atlanta (ATL), departing between 6:00am and 1:35pm, and 5 additional non-stop flights, departing between 11:34am and 6:55pm on select days of the week. The average travel time from St Louis, MO to Atlanta, GA is 1 hour and 38 minutes.
During your Atlanta vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
White Water
Forty acres of wet, splashy fun await you at White Water, one of the largest water parks in the South. Its star attraction is the $1-million Tree House Island, a four-story fantasy treehouse with over 100 different activities -- curvy slides, net bridges, water cannons, chutes, and more. A 1,000-gallon bucket of water empties over the whole attraction every few minutes. Other park highlights include Cliffhanger, a 990-foot free fall (one of the tallest such attractions in the world); the 735-foot Run-A-Way River, an enclosed tunnel raft ride; the "Atlanta Ocean," a 750,000-gallon wave pool; and a host of different slide and splash experiences. There's much more, including a special section for children 48 inches and under called Little Squirt's Island, offering 25 tot-size water attractions. Adjacent Captain Kid's Cove has dozens of additional activities for kids age 12 and under. Restaurants and snack bars are on the premises, as are rental lockers and shower facilities. Swimsuits are essential.Next to White Water is American Adventures (tel. 770/424-9283), an indoor/outdoor family amusement park featuring children's rides in the Fun Forest (bumper cars, a small roller coaster, a tilt-a-whirl, and others); a classic carousel; a go-cart track; a penny arcade with over 130 games; Professor Plinker's Laboratory -- a large children's play area with ball crawls and nets to climb; 18-hole miniature golf; and the Foam Factory, a huge, multilevel interactive play area featuring scads of foam ball activities. It's all geared to children age 12 and under. A family-style restaurant is on the grounds. Admission to American Adventures is $15 plus tax for children 36 inches and up, $5 plus tax for adults and children age 3 and under. If you just want to visit the Foam Factory, admission is $3 for parents and children age 3 and under, $6 for children ages 4 to 17. The park is operated seasonally. Call for open dates and hours.
Fox Theatre
Originally conceived as a Shriners' temple in 1916, this lavish, block-long Moorish-Egyptian fantasyland ended up as a movie theater when the Shriners realized that their grandiose plan had far exceeded their budget. In 1927, they sold the temple to movie magnate William Fox, who created a peerless pleasure palace. French architect Oliver J. Vinour designed the building, using design motifs of the Middle East, including replicas of art and furnishings from King Tut's tomb.Atlanta's new theater opened in 1929 as a masterpiece of Eastern splendor, its Moorish facade, onion domes, and minarets in exotic contrast to the surrounding Victorian boardinghouses. A brass-trimmed marble kiosk imported from Italy served as a ticket booth. The 140-foot entrance arcade led to a lushly carpeted lobby with blue-tiled goldfish pools. The auditorium was an Arabian courtyard under a twinkling starlit sky that could, with state-of-the-art technology, be transformed to a sky at sunrise or sunset. A striped Bedouin canopy sheltered the balcony, and sequin- and rhinestone-studded stage curtains depicted mosques and Moorish horsemen.As the show began, a gigantic gilded 3,610-pipe Möller organ rose majestically from its vault, its rich chords accompanied by a full orchestra. A medley of popular songs, cartoons, a follow-the-bouncing-ball sing-along, a stage-show extravaganza by a bevy of Rockette-like chorines called the Fanchon and Marco Sunkist Beauties, and a newsreel preceded every main feature. At night, there were dances in the Egyptian Ballroom, designed to replicate Ramses' temple. Even the men's lounge was exotically appointed with hieroglyphic adornments, winged scarab-motif friezes, bas-reliefs of royal figures, and throne chairs.Unfortunately, the Fox's opening coincided with the Great Depression, and it proved impossible to maintain its opulence. In 1932, the company declared bankruptcy and closed its doors. The theater reopened 3 years later for occasional concerts. By the 1940s, it was a successful concern once more, and in 1947, the Metropolitan Opera began performing here for a week each year -- an offering that lasted 2 decades. An oversize panoramic screen was installed in the 1950s, along with a 26-speaker stereo system. But like monumental movie palaces nationwide, the Fox inevitably declined in the age of television. In 1975, its doors were padlocked once again.An organization of concerned citizens calling themselves Atlanta Landmarks raised $1.8 million and saved the Fox from the wrecking ball in 1978, foiling Southern Bell's plans to purchase and demolish it to make way for a regional headquarters building. Ever since, it's been a thriving entity, featuring Broadway shows, headliners, dance companies, and comedy stars. Best of all, the theater has been restored to its former glory, its fabulous furnishings and fixtures all refurbished or replaced with replicas.You cannot explore the building on your own, so call to find out when you can take a tour, or come to see a performance in the theater.
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:
Sheraton at Buckhead
This lovely hotel offers abundant services and facilities, plus a great location, close to MARTA, Lenox Square, Phipps Plaza, and many restaurants. It's not quite as fancy as other hotels in the area, but it's still very stylish. Rooms are furnished with French country and 18th-century-reproduction mahogany pieces, and some have four-poster or brass beds. Several rooms have balconies, and rooms with king-size beds have plush armchairs with ottomans. Eleven rooms are accessible to travelers with disabilities.
Marriott Residence Inn Historic Midtown
The complimentary dinners offered Monday through Thursday from 5:30 until 7:30pm set this inn apart from others in the area. If the free food doesn't tempt your taste buds, you can opt for complimentary grocery shopping service available Monday through Friday.The studios and spacious suites here boast handsome oak or mahogany furnishings -- mostly antique reproductions, including Chippendale-style beds. Most rooms have balconies with French doors. There aren't many attractions nearby, but you're not far from a MARTA station. Pets are allowed with a $100 non-refundable fee. Ten rooms are accessible to travelers with disabilities.The inn provides hot tea and coffee all day in the lobby.Facilities: Cocktail lounge; new exercise room; complimentary membership at the fitness center of the nearby Marriott Suites hotel; rooftop Jacuzzi; limited room service from local restaurants through "Take Out Taxi"; laundry service; coin-operated washers/dryers.
Sheraton Midtown Atlanta Hotel at Colony Square
Popular with entertainers playing at the Woodruff Arts Center just across the street, this theatrically themed property boasts an expansive lobby, which can be viewed from above on rounded balconies that resemble balcony seating in a theater. Common spaces are divided by huge sweeping curtains, much like those used on stage across the street. The hotel was built in 1974 as an opulent anchor of the Colony Square complex (which includes a minimall of 20 shops and restaurants, including a copy shop, photo shop, post office, bank, drugstore, and florist). The hotel has hosted Frank Sinatra and Linda Ronstadt, not to mention presidents Reagan, Ford, Carter, Bush, and Clinton. This hotel is the perfect choice for outdoor enthusiasts, since Piedmont Park is just a few blocks away. The hotel borders the lovely Ansley Park neighborhood. Also nearby are the High Museum of Art and the Atlanta Botanical Garden.Rooms are quite plush and gorgeous, decorated with contemporary furnishings.
|
|

|