Margaret Mitchell House and Museum (Birthplace of Gone With the Wind)
Six decades after it was first published, Gone With the Wind continues to fascinate people around the world. But until this attraction opened in 1997, after a 10-year effort to preserve the house from demolition, disappointed pilgrims found precious little evidence here of the famous book or its author. Now the house and museum are a must-see for visiting GWTW fans.It's rather surprising that it took so long for restoration efforts to get underway on the dilapidated Tudor-revival apartment house where Margaret Mitchell wrote most of her epic novel and lived with her husband, John Marsh, from 1925 to 1932. The structure was built as a single-family dwelling in 1899, then moved to the back of the lot in 1913 and converted into a 10-unit apartment building 6 years later. It remained an apartment building until 1979, when it was abandoned and eventually boarded up. When the newlyweds moved in, they called it "The Dump." It was not an affectionate nickname; according to a friend of Mitchell's, she disliked living there (finances left few alternatives) and would probably be offended by the notion of its restoration. But the house has been attracting its share of visitors -- from all 50 states and more than 70 countries.The house and museum tell the complex story of the famous novelist. Guided tours, which last an hour to an hour-and-a-half, begin in the visitor center. Before beginning the tour, guests enter the theater to see a 17-minute film titled "It May Not Be Tara," featuring an overview of Mitchell's life, and interviews with some of her friends and family members. Also in the theater is an exhibition of photos taken of Mitchell in her teens and 20s. The tour of the house includes a visit to the Mitchell-Marsh apartment, which is furnished much as it was when the couple lived here. Mitchell wrote much of her novel in the front room, seated at a typewriter and desk below the beveled glass windows in the small corner alcove. Like most writers, she preferred to keep her literary efforts private and would throw a towel over her typewriter when friends dropped in -- which was often.The museum contains movie memorabilia and chronicles the making of the movie, its premiere in Atlanta, and the impact that the book and movie had on society. The tour concludes in the museum shop, which features a variety of GWTW collectibles and memorabilia. If you finish your tour around mealtime and you're ready for a real change of pace, walk a few blocks south on Peachtree to the Vortex, a rowdy burger joint and bar that serves some of the best hamburgers in town.

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.

Imagine It! Chidren's Museum of Atlanta
Opened in 2003, Imagine It! is a 30,000-square-foot children's museum conveniently located across the street from Centennial Olympic Park, in an area undergoing some exciting urban renaissance. Based on Howard Gardiner's theory of multiple intelligences, Imagine It! features colorful hands-on exhibits and activities that allow children the opportunity to look, listen, touch, and explore in order to discover first-hand how things work. Fun is the priority in this high-energy environment (the learning just sneaks up). There are four major learning zones: Fundamentally Food, Let Your Creativity Flow, Tools for Solutions, and Leaping into Learning, the specialty zone for toddlers.The museum is recommended for children ages 2 to 8, but all are welcome. Due to high visitor volume, Imagine It! encourages visitors to purchase tickets online in advance to ensure entrance to the museum upon arrival. Make a day of it and visit Centennial Park across the street either before or after your museum visit.

Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center
The Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center is Atlanta's most sophisticated and technologically advanced hotel. It is located in midtown Atlanta, only minutes from Hartsfield International Airport. The deluxe guestrooms feature a lot of upgraded amenities including working desks, data-ports, wireless and wired high-speed Internet access and many other amenities perfect for business travelers. The hotel also features an elegant restaurant, Club Room Lounge, indoor pool, enhanced health club, ...

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites PERIMETER MALL (HAMMOND DR)
The Holiday Inn Express Atlanta Perimeter Hotel is conveniently located at Atlanta Perimeter Center and the Atlanta Perimeter Mall. This 107-room hotel includes 52 king-bedded rooms, 36 queen/ queens' and 19 suites which include a full kitchen. We offer free wireless high speed Internet service throughout the entire hotel. All rooms feature a microwave, refrigerator, coffee maker, hair dryer, three telephones with two phones offering two-line speaker phones, iron/ ironing board and an ...

Sheraton Suites Galleria-Atlanta
Nearby Airport: * Fulton County Airport-Brown Field - 5 Miles * Hartsfield International Airport - 17 Miles Nearby Cities: * Smyrna - 1 Mile * Buckhead - 4 Miles * Marietta - 5 Miles * Sandy Springs - 5 Miles * Woodstock - 6 Miles * Dunwoody - 7 Miles * Kennesaw - 7 Miles * Austell - 8 Miles * Roswell - 8 Miles * Dallas - 9 Miles * Powder Springs - 11 Miles * Cartersville - 12 Miles * Canton - 14 ...