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During your Atlanta vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Philips Arena
This spectacular $213 million arena, home to the NHL Atlanta Thrashers and NBA Atlanta Hawks, was built on the site of the old Omni Coliseum. Tours of the arena are available every half-hour daily 9am to 6pm on non-event days and 9am to 5pm on event days. The hour-long tours take in the Hawks' and Thrashers' locker rooms, the press box, and the luxury suites. Tickets are $7 adults, $5 seniors, and $4.50 children age 4 to 12; age 3 and under free. A combination tour of the Philips Arena and the CNN Studio is available for adults only for $11.The Hawk Walk, which connects the CNN Center with Philips Arena, is worth a look if you're a sports fan. It's an indoor street that sells food, beverages, and Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers merchandise, and promotes TBS stations. Huge video screens display live action at the arena or shows from one of the Turner networks, while giant billboards flash ticker information from CNNSI and CNNfn.
Georgia's Stone Mountain Park
A monolithic gray granite outcropping (the world's largest) carved with a massive monument to the Confederacy, Stone Mountain is a distinctive landmark on Atlanta's horizon and the focal point of its major recreation area, which includes 3,200 acres of lakes and beautiful wooded parkland. It's Georgia's number-one tourist attraction, and one of the ten most-visited paid attractions in the United States.Stone Mountain itself was formed about 300 million years ago, when intense heat and pressure caused molten material just below the earth's surface to push upward. That material cooled slowly (it took 100 million years) and formed compact, uniform crystals. Initially, a 2-mile-thick overlay of the earth's surface covered the hardened granite, but over the next 200 million years, that layer eroded, exposing the mountain we see today. The dome-shaped rock rises 1,683 feet above sea level and covers 583 acres. Half of Georgia and part of North Carolina rest on the mountain's base.Although the best view of the mountain is from below, the vistas from the top are spectacular. Visitors who are part mountain goat can take the walking trail up and down its moss-covered slopes, especially lovely in spring when they're blanketed in wildflowers. The trial is 1.3 miles each way. Or you can ride the Skylift cable car to the top, where you'll find an incredible view of Atlanta and the Appalachian Mountains. The best approach is to take the cable car up, and then walk back down. For a different perspective, check out the park from onboard a World War II amphibious vehicle-the park's new Ride the Ducks Adventure is a 40-minute tour that moves from the land into the waters of Stone Mountain Lake. Tours run from 11am daily. Tickets are $9 ages 3 and up for individual tickets, and $6 ages 3 and up when added to the One-Day All-Attraction Pass. Duck Tours are included on the One-Day Pass on "Limited Attraction Days" (Mon-Thurs in the fall) at no additional charge.A highlight at Stone Mountain is the Lasershow Spectacular, an astonishing display of laser lights and fireworks with animation and music. The brilliant laser beams are projected on the mountain's north face, a natural one million-square-foot screen. Shows are presented Saturdays at 8:30pm from March 1 to Memorial Day and from the day after Labor Day through October. From Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day, shows takes place each night at 9:30pm. Bring a picnic supper and arrive early to get a good spot on the lawn at the base of the mountain. Shows are free with park admission.It's a good idea to make your first stop the Discovering Stone Mountain Museum to get some perspective on the mountain's history. Exhibits take you through an intriguing chronological journey from the area's past into its present.Other major park attractions include the Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad, an open-air train that chugs around the 5-mile base of Stone Mountain. The ride takes 40 minutes and includes a live "train robbery" skit. Trains depart from Railroad Depot, an old-fashioned train station, where there's a restaurant with all the fixings for a fried chicken picnic, just in case you forgot to bring your own.The Scarlett O'Hara, a paddlewheel riverboat, cruises the 363-acre Stone Mountain Lake.The Antique Car and Treasure Museum is a jumble of old radios, jukeboxes, working nickelodeons, pianos, Lionel trains, carousel horses, and clocks, along with classic cars.Visitors can now travel back in time thanks to a new $30 million attraction at the park called Crossroads. At Crossroads, you can explore an 1870s rural Southern town, complete with a cast of authentically costumed characters who sing, play instruments, tell stories, and demonstrate crafts such as glass blowing, candle-making and blacksmithing. In addition to the town's quirky and talented characters, other special treats include a gristmill and bakery, and a general store with candy and ice cream production facilities. A boarding-house restaurant offers up tasty Southern cuisine, from chicken and dumplings to fried catfish. If you plan to eat, you might want to stop by and add your name to the list before you explore the town, as there is often a wait.Another part of the Crossroads attraction is The Great Barn, a hit with children and adults. Join in the fun as you help "harvest" fruits and vegetables throughout this multi-level foam factory to rack up points for your team. Just added to Crossroads is the Treehouse Challenge, a one-of-a-kind outdoor adventure that pits boys against girls to control balls on a large track that links the two treehouses (sort of a life-size pinball game). The town's centerpiece is the Tall Tales of the South theater, where visitors use special glasses to view a 3-D film with 4-D (yes, 4) special effects. The frog's tongue, which stretches into the movie audience from its perch on a swamp log, is just one of the surprises the experience offers. Small children might not enjoy the film, as some of the effects are a bit unnerving.The 19-building Antebellum Plantation offers self-guided tours assisted by hosts in period dress at each structure. Highlights include an authentic 1830s country store; the 1845 Kingston House (it represents a typical overseer's house); the clapboard slave cabins; the 1790s Thornton House, elegant home of a large landowner; the smokehouse and well; a doctor's office; a barn, a coach house, and crop-storage cribs; a privy; a cook house; and the 1850 neoclassical Tara-like Dickey House. The grounds also contain formal gardens and a kitchen garden. It takes at least an hour to tour the entire complex. Often (especially in summer), there are Civil War re-enactments, craft and cooking demonstrations, storytellers, and balladeers on the premises. Children will enjoy getting up close and personal with the critters at Grandpa's Farm at The Plantation, featuring domesticated farm animals including pigs and goats.Additional activities: golf (on top-rated courses designed by Robert Trent Jones and John LaFoy), miniature golf, 15 tennis courts, a sizable stretch of sandy lakefront beach with 4 water slides, carillon concerts, rowboats and paddleboats, bicycle rental, fishing, hiking, picnicking, and more.Stone Mountain is one of the most beautiful parks in the nation. Consider spending a few days of your trip here; it's a great place for a romantic getaway or a family vacation. On-site accommodations are detailed in chapter 5. If you can only spare a day, it's an easy drive (about 30 min.) from downtown.The Face of a Mountain--Over half a century in the making, Stone Mountain's neoclassic carving -- 90 feet high and 190 feet wide -- is the world's largest bas-relief sculpture. Originally conceived by Gutzon Borglum, it depicts Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson galloping on horseback throughout eternity. Borglum started work on the mountain sculpture in 1923 but abandoned it after 10 years due to insurmountable technical problems and rifts with its sponsors. (He went on to South Dakota, where he gained fame carving Mount Rushmore.) No sign of his work remains at Stone Mountain, but it was his vision that inspired the project. Augustus Lukeman took over in 1925, but 3 years later, the work still far from complete, the family that owned the mountain lost patience and reclaimed the property. It wasn't until 1963, after the state purchased the mountain and surrounding property for a park, that work resumed under Walter Kirtland Hancock and Roy Faulkner. It was completed in 1970.
High Museum of Art
Designed by architect Richard Meier, this facility -- part of the Woodruff Arts Center complex -- is itself a work of art. A dazzling white porcelain-tiled building with an equally pristine white interior, the museum houses four floors of galleries connected by semicircular pedestrian ramps girding a spacious, sun-filled, four-story atrium. A $130 million three-building expansion is scheduled for completion in 2005; the new additions will include additional gallery space for the museum's permanent collection, enlarged special exhibit space, a coffee bar, and a new retail shop.The permanent collection here includes more than 10,000 pieces, among them a significant group of 19th- and 20th-century American paintings. Hudson River School artists such as Thomas Cole and Frederic Church are featured, as are Thomas Sully, John Singer Sargent, and William Harnett. The Virginia Carroll Crawford Collection of American Decorative Arts comprehensively documents trends in decorative arts from 1825 to 1917. The Samuel H. Kress Foundation collection includes Italian paintings and sculpture from the 14th through the 18th centuries. The Uhry Print Collection contains important works by French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, German Expressionists, and 20th-century American artists. Also notable are collections of sub-Saharan African art, a folk art collection, and works by noted 19th- and 20th-century American and European photographers.In addition to the permanent collection, which is shown on a rotating basis, the museum hosts a number of major traveling exhibitions each year, complemented by films, lectures, workshops, gallery talks, concerts, and other cultural events. Ask at the desk about events during your stay. Free guided gallery tours of the High's permanent collection are offered every Friday and Saturday at 2pm; free guided family tours are given every Sunday at 2pm.The museum has a wonderful gift shop with an impressive stock of art books, prints, and interesting art-related objects. There's an excellent cafe run by Alon's, which has two other locations in town. It's a delightful space, accented with the same colors as the Calder mobile that is visible just outside the big glass windows. The cafe serves up sandwiches, soups, pastries, and desserts, plus fresh juices, teas, and specialty coffees. It's open Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 10am to 5pm, and Sunday noon to 5pm. You don't have to enter the museum to get to the cafe.As this book was going to press, it was announced that the photography and folk art collections of the High Museum's downtown branch will be moving to this branch. Stay tuned for details.
Courtyard by Marriott Buckhead
The hotel designed by business travelers, Courtyard by Marriott surrounds you with all the comforts that make business and pleasure travel easy. Get ready for the day ahead in one of our guest rooms featuring cable television with two premium movie channels, comfortable sitting area, free wired high speed Internet access, hairdryer, in-room coffee and tea service, iron and board, pay movies, spacious well-lit work desk with ergonomic chair, two dataport telephones with speaker and voicemail ...
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