 |
AirTran Airways Flights from Miami (MIA) to Atlanta (ATL)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on AirTran Airways, which operates 3 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Miami (MIA) to Atlanta (ATL), departing between 8:00am and 2:43pm, and 2 additional non-stop flights, departing between 12:21pm and 12:27pm on select days of the week. Usually a Boeing 717 or Boeing 737-700 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Miami, FL to Atlanta, GA is 1 hour and 54 minutes.
During your Atlanta vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum
This museum, the largest of its kind in the Southeast, offers a unique glimpse into Atlanta's history, exploring Jewish heritage with a special emphasis on the Atlanta Jewish experience. Two main galleries juxtapose the destruction of the Holocaust with the re-emergence of Jewish communities in Atlanta and throughout the world. The stories are told through photographs, documents, and memorabilia uncovered in the attics and basements of local families and individuals. Especially moving are the stories and possessions generously shared by Holocaust survivors living in Atlanta.In addition to the two main galleries, there's a Discovery Center with hands-on activities related to the exhibitions, a community archive, a genealogy center, a library, and a gift shop.
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.
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.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Atlanta area, including:
Marriott Suites
Located in the heart of Midtown, this all-suite hotel is a perfect choice for culture buffs, and its proximity to MARTA makes it easy to get to the rest of the city's attractions, too. Each spacious suite, attractively decorated in a warm, homey style, offers a king-size bed and a full living room with a convertible sofa. Bedrooms are set off from living room areas by lace-curtained French doors. Each marble bathroom has a separate shower. Twelve rooms are accessible to travelers with disabilities.
Embassy Suites at Centennial Olympic Park
This lovely all-suite hotel opened in 1999 on the edge of Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta's most visible legacy of the 1996 Summer Games. The 21-acre park is now a lively venue for festivals, art markets, and concerts. The location is a good bet for tourists, conventioneers, and sports fans, since the hotel is just across the street from the Georgia World Congress Center, and within walking distance of MARTA, the CNN Center, the Philips Arena, and the Georgia Dome. Kids will also appreciate the location, as it's just yards away from the fountains at Centennial Park, designed to allow visitors to run through them, getting soaked from head to foot. What kid (or adult) wouldn't love that? Also nearby is the new Imagine It! Children's Museum of Atlanta.Each two-room standard suite is luxuriously decorated with contemporary furniture and includes a pullout sofa in the living room. Bathrooms, with Jacuzzi tubs and separate showers, are spacious and luxurious. Ask for a parkside room, which has a nice view of the park and the city skyline; there's no extra charge. The luxury suites, which have large private balconies overlooking the park, are huge and plush, perfect for business receptions or special occasions. Complimentary cooked-to-order breakfasts are prepared and served by Ruth's Chris Steak House, an on-premises restaurant, and there's a reception each evening that featuring complimentary drinks. Seventeen suites are accessible to travelers with disabilities.
The Georgian Terrace
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Georgian Terrace has seen its share of dignitaries and celebrities since it opened in 1911 as a luxury hotel. Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh stayed here in 1939 and attended the premiere party of Gone With the Wind. The hotel closed in 1981 after years of neglect, reopened in 1991 as an upscale apartment building, and has been undergoing conversion back to a hotel since 1997. The marble floors, soaring columns, and dramatic French windows hark back to the opulence and grandeur of a bygone era, though the rooms are thoroughly modern.The former apartments have been turned into studios and one-, two-, and three-bedroom suites, so staying here is like having your own private apartment on Peachtree Street, convenient to all that Midtown has to offer. The Fox Theatre is right across the street. If you'd like a view of Stone Mountain, ask for a suite on the east side of the hotel. Breakfast is served in the original hotel lobby, and cocktails are served in the parlor.Note: Although the suites have full-size kitchens, they lack pots and pans and have only enough dinnerware for two people. Call the front desk for additional accoutrements. If you're staying 30 days or longer, a more complete package of kitchen equipment is available. Also, most guests are inevitably puzzled about how to turn the shower on; the pull for the shower is hidden away inside the mouth of the faucet -- go figure.Facilities: 2 restaurants; heated junior Olympic rooftop swimming pool; fully equipped fitness center; concierge; airport shuttle; limousine service (when available) within a 3-mile radius; business center; conference and banquet rooms; limited room service; laundry service.
|
|
|
