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AirTran Airways Flights from Orlando (MCO) to Atlanta (ATL)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on AirTran Airways, which operates 10 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Orlando (MCO) to Atlanta (ATL), departing between 6:00am and 7:00pm, and 2 additional non-stop flights, departing between 9:53am and 3:51pm on select days of the week. Usually a Boeing 717 or Boeing 737-700 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Orlando, FL to Atlanta, GA is 1 hour and 28 minutes.
During your Atlanta vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Georgia State Capitol
It wasn't until after the Civil War (1868) that Atlanta became, once and for all, the state capital; its present capitol building, completed July 4, 1889, was hailed as a testament to the city's recovery. Modeled after the nation's Capitol, another neoclassical edifice atop a "crowning hill," its 75-foot dome, covered in gold leaf and topped by a Statue of Freedom, is a major Atlanta landmark. The building is fronted by a massive four-story portico with a pediment supported by six Corinthian columns set on large stone piers. In the rotunda, with its soaring 237-foot ceiling, are busts of famous Georgians, including signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The governor's office is off the main hall. The capitol building's public spaces are currently being restored to their 1889 grandeur.Grand staircases in both wings rise to the third floor, where you'll enter the House of Representatives, and, across the hall, the Senate chambers. The legislature meets for 40 days, beginning the second Monday in January (it can also be called into special sessions); all of its sessions are open to the public. The fourth floor houses legislative galleries and the Georgia Capitol Museum, with exhibits on cotton, peach, and peanut growing; cases of mounted birds, fish, deer, insects, and other species native to Georgia; rocks and minerals; American Indian artifacts; and more. Note, too, the museum displays on the first floor.Tours begin on the main floor, and this level also serves as an information center for city and state attractions. The tours take 60 to 90 minutes; allow at least another 30 minutes to browse around on your own after the tour. Highlights of the grounds are detailed in a brochure available at the tour desk. Note: For security reasons, your bag will be searched when you enter.If you're visiting in December or January, take note of two special treats: A beautifully decorated 40-foot tree adorns the rotunda at Christmas, and on January 15, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, there's a memorial program featuring speeches by local dignitaries, including the governor.
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site
Under the auspices of the National Park Service, this area of about 2 blocks around Auburn Avenue was established to preserve the birthplace and boyhood surroundings of the nation's foremost civil rights leader. Designated a National Historic Site, these blocks include King's boyhood home and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King's father and grandfather were ministers and King served as a co-pastor. Free tours of King's birth home start at Fire Station No. 6, which was recently restored by the NPS; tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis at the National Parks Service Visitor Center, 450 Auburn Ave.Other Auburn Avenue attractions, not under NPS auspices, include The King Center, where King is buried (see the previous listing), and the APEX Museum. Several more surrounding blocks have been designated as a preservation district. This area is known as Sweet Auburn. John Wesley Dobbs, maternal grandfather of former Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson, is the person who first called it such, after Oliver Goldsmith's The Deserted Village, the first line of which reads, "Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plains." Mayor Jackson says his grandfather called the area "sweet" because the keys to black liberation existed here in the form of "the three b's -- bucks, ballots, and books."There is a visitor center at 450 Auburn Ave., across from the King Center. It provides a complete orientation to area attractions and includes a theater for audiovisual and interpretive programs, interactive exhibits, and a bookstore. The visitor center is fronted by a beautifully landscaped plaza with a reflecting pool, King's crypt (which his wife had returned to the site several years ago), and an outdoor amphitheater for National Park Service programs.
Yellow River Game Ranch
Bordering the Yellow River, this 24-acre animal preserve offers close encounters of the 4-legged kind -- a chance to view, pet, feed, and generally mingle with some 600 animals (always including quite a few babies) who live in open enclosures or right out in the open, along a 1-mile oak- and hickory-shaded forest trail. Owner Art Rilling knows every animal on the ranch by name and can give you chapter and verse on each one's personality, preferences, and in some cases, romantic history. The animals know they're among friends here and are highly socialized, so you have a unique chance to study them up close. Keep in mind that all these animals smell like, well, animals. If a barnyard atmosphere bothers you, don't visit.Inhabitants include donkeys named Rhett and Scarlett, Georgia black bears that stand up and beg for marshmallows, goats, dozens of rabbits in Bunny Burrows (kids can pet the bunnies), an assortment of interesting-looking chickens, a herd of buffalo, sheep, burros, goats, ponies, a skunk named General Sherman (we are in Atlanta, after all), and a groundhog named General Beauregard Lee who lives in a white colonnaded Southern mansion complete with miniature satellite dish.Consider packing a picnic lunch. There are tables throughout the property, and one especially nice picnic area overlooks the river.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Atlanta area, including:
Sleep Inn
This good value caters to business and leisure travelers. It's connected by a courtyard to Main Stay Suites , which is owned by the same hoteliers. Attractively furnished business-traveler-friendly rooms include coffeemakers and fax machines. Guests can do their own laundry at no charge. Five rooms are accessible to travelers with disabilities.There's a guest reception Monday to Thursday from 5:30 to 7pm.
Marriott Residence Inn Buckhead
Renovated in 2004, this home-away-from-home was designed to meet the needs of travelers making extended visits, but it's great even if you're spending a single night. Staying here is like having your own apartment, with a private entrance and a large, fully equipped kitchen. The location is good near several excellent restaurants and not far from shopping and nightlife. Accommodations include comfortable living-room areas, and about half the suites have working fireplaces (during the winter, logs are available from the front desk). The most luxurious accommodations are duplex penthouses with vaulted ceilings, full dining-room/office areas, two bathrooms, and living-room fireplaces. Two rooms have been modified for travelers with disabilities. Pets are allowed, with a $125 nonrefundable deposit in studio suites, and a $150 deposit in penthouse suites.The inn offers hot breakfast daily and cocktail-hour parties Monday through Thursday.Facilities: Outdoor pool; basketball/volleyball/paddle-tennis courts; complimentary use of a well-equipped health club nearby (w/every kind of workout equipment, Olympic indoor pool, an outdoor pool, jogging track, and tennis/racquetball/squash courts); Jacuzzi; free shuttle service within a 3-mile radius; coin-operated laundry.
Courtyard Atlanta Executive Park
Recently renovated, this limited-service moderately priced lodging is slightly outside the usual tourist areas, but it's close to town and convenient to I-85. Don't picture a Spartan, no-frills atmosphere; the property had a full face-lift in 2001, and accommodations feature large desks and nice-size dressing-room areas. Suites have full pullout sofas, extra phones, and TVs. The hotel is popular with business travelers. Eight rooms are accessible to guests with disabilities.
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