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AirTran Airways Flights from Dallas (DFW) to Atlanta (ATL)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on AirTran Airways, which operates 6 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Dallas (DFW) to Atlanta (ATL), departing between 5:40am and 5:34pm. Usually a Boeing 717 or Boeing 737-700 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Dallas, TX to Atlanta, GA is 2 hours.
During your Atlanta vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
The King Center
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s commitment to nonviolent social change lives on at this memorial, museum, and educational center. A nongovernmental member of the United Nations, the center works with government agencies and the private sector to reduce violence within individual communities and among nations.The tour of the center, which is self-guided, begins in Freedom Hall, where memorabilia of King and the civil rights movement are displayed. Here, you can see King's Bible and clerical robe, a hand-written sermon, a photographic essay about his life and work, and, on a grim note, the suit he was wearing when a deranged woman stabbed him in New York City. Also on display is the key to his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was assassinated. In an alcove off the main exhibit area is a video about King's life and works. Additional exhibits include a room honoring Rosa Parks (whose refusal to give up her seat on a city bus led to the Montgomery bus boycott), and another honoring Gandhi.The center's library and archives house the world's largest collection of books and other materials documenting the civil rights movement, including Dr. King's personal papers and a rare 87-volume edition of The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, a gift from the government of India. The library is open by appointment only for scholarly research.In addition to serving as a museum and hub of social justice activity, the center is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s final resting place, a living memorial to this inspiring leader that is visited by tens of thousands each year. Dr. King's white marble crypt rests outside in the Freedom Plaza, surrounded by a beautiful five-tiered Reflecting Pool, a symbol of the life-giving nature of water. The tomb is inscribed with his words: "Free at Last. Free at Last. Thank God Almighty I'm Free at Last." An eternal flame burns in a small circular pavilion directly in front of the crypt. The Freedom Walkway, a vaulted colonnade paralleling the pool, will eventually be painted with murals depicting the civil rights struggle. Located at the end of Freedom Walkway is the Chapel of All Faiths, symbolizing the ecumenical nature of Dr. King's work and the universality of the basic tenets of the world's great religions.A store on the premises offers King memorabilia and a wide selection of books and cassettes. Ranger talks focusing on the community and the civil rights movement take place frequently on Freedom Plaza.
Centennial Olympic Park
Centennial Olympic Park, one of the most enduring legacies of the 1996 Olympic Games, is a living monument to the city's memories -- both good and bad -- of that seminal event. Conceived as a town square, it represents the heart of the Olympic effort, the site where everyone flocked to celebrate the games. And when the games resumed after the bombing in the park that claimed two lives, it was where people gathered to try to revive the Olympic spirit.A 21-acre swath of green space and bricks, the park was carved out of a blighted downtown area. It was closed after the games and redesigned for permanent use before reopening in 1998. Once again the universal gathering place it was intended to be, it's an oasis of rolling lawns crisscrossed by brick pathways and punctuated by artwork, rock gardens, pools, and fountains. There are usually a few free events each month -- festivals, artists' markets, and concerts and other performances. Call for a complete listing of happenings.If you're visiting the park on your own, and not coming for a specific event, your first stop should be the visitor center on International Boulevard, in the southwest corner of the park, across from the CNN Center. This is where you'll find information about the park. If you bought a $35 commemorative brick in 1996, someone will help you locate it among the nearly 500,000 engraved bricks that were used to pave the plaza and walkways. Even if you didn't buy a brick, it's fun to wander around and read the names and messages (some pretty intriguing) engraved on them.The best part of the park is the fountain in the shape of the five interlocking Olympic Rings. It's the focus of a vast paved plaza bordered by 23 flags honoring all the host countries of the modern Games. If you're here in summer, you and the kids can frolic in the fountain (wear shirts and shoes, please), a good way to cool off in the sizzling Southern heat. Don't be shy-just about everybody in Atlanta has done this at one time or another. If getting drenched is not your thing, you can still enjoy one of the "concerts" put on by the fountains-timed water and light displays accompany seven different songs. The water jets, which normally shoot 12 feet into the air, can reach 35 feet during special effects.Located along the east border are the Quilt Plazas, five plazas of contrasting bricks that tell the story of the Centennial Olympic Games. The best "quilt" is also the most moving. Titled the Quilt of Remembrance, it pays respect to the bombing victims and contains colored marble from five continents. Be sure to read the inscriptions on its borders.Pricey Park Land--If you really, really, really had a good time at Centennial Olympic Park, you can have it all to yourself for a small fee. Though it's a public park, it's also a moneymaker managed by the Georgia World Congress Center, and parts of the park are sometimes rented for various business functions, parties, or other celebrations. There have even been a few weddings. You can rent the entire park for, um, $10,000. Call tel. 404/222-7275 for details.
Wren's Nest
Named for a family of wrens that once nested in the mailbox, Wren's Nest is the former home of Joel Chandler Harris, who chronicled the wily deeds of fictional African characters Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox. It's been open to the public since 1913, when Harris's widow sold it to the Uncle Remus Memorial Association.Harris's literary career began at the age of 13, when he apprenticed on the Countryman, a quarterly plantation newspaper. During the four years that he spent learning at the Countryman, young Harris spent many an evening hanging about the slave quarters, drinking in African folk tales and fables spun by George Terrell, a plantation patriarch who became the prototype for Uncle Remus. Sherman's army put the Countryman out of business, and Harris went on to other newspapers, working his way up to editorial writer at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution by age 28. There, plagued by writer's block one gloomy winter afternoon, he remembered the plantation stories of his youth and evoked Uncle Remus to fill his column. Enthralled readers clamored for more, and the rest is history.The house itself is an 1870s farmhouse with a Queen Anne-style Victorian facade added in 1884. Harris lived here from 1881 until his death in 1908, doing most of his writing in a rocking chair on the wraparound front porch. On a 30-minute tour, including a slide presentation about Harris's life, you'll see a good deal of memorabilia: the stuffed great horned owl over the study door was a gift from Theodore Roosevelt, whose White House Harris visited; the original wren's nest mailbox reposes on the study mantel; and all of Harris's books, along with signed first editions from major authors of his day (Mark Twain and others) are displayed in a bookcase.The house is interesting, but the best part is the storytelling. Call ahead to find out when the storyteller-in-residence will be telling stories culled from African and African-American folklore; it's a real treat.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Atlanta area, including:
Days Inn Atlanta Downtown
This recently upgraded central Days Inn allows visitors to stay in the heart of the business district at a moderate cost. Rooms on floors 3 to 10 have balconies, with views toward Midtown. Although you don't get all the luxury-hotel frills here, the accommodations are just fine. Guest rooms are large and comfortable, featuring cherry furniture and a classy gold, green, and burgundy color scheme. All rooms boast new slim-design televisions. Bathrooms, with shower/tub combinations, are separate from the vanity area, a plus for those traveling in packs and trying to get ready for dinner or an event all at the same time. A hotel lounge, open 5pm to midnight, allows guests to view televised sporting events on a large screen. The new athletic center and large outdoor pool are other highlights. In-house conference rooms and a location in the heart of the business district make this hotel a great choice for folks in town on official business, and rooms and facilities are also quite suitable for families. This is also a great choice for those in town to enjoy events at the Georgia Dome, Phillips Arena, Turner Field, and Centennial Olympic Park. Six rooms are wheelchair accessible.
Embassy Suites Atlanta Buckhead
This all-suite hotel stacks up well to the more expensive hotels in the same area. A favorite with business travelers, the suite arrangement is also ideal for families, and the location can't be beat, with Lenox Square, Phipps Plaza, and many fine restaurants within walking distance. The Buckhead MARTA station is less than a block away, so it's easy to connect quickly with other parts of the city and with the airport.Each elegantly appointed 800-square-foot, two-room suite was renovated in 2004 and has a queen-size, fold-out sofa in addition to a bed. Bathrooms offer marble vanities and hair dryers, and there is a separate sink in the bedroom. Although the entire hotel is accessible to travelers with disabilities (most of the participants in the wheelchair division of the Peachtree Road Race stay here), 10 of the suites are completely equipped for those with disabilities; 2 have roll-in showers.Two popular bonuses: the complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast served in the 16-story atrium lobby (check out the waterfall!), and complimentary cocktails served each afternoon. Because almost everyone takes breakfast in the lobby, room service does not serve breakfast.
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.
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