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.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History
The largest museum of natural sciences in the Southeast, this architecturally stunning facility borders 65 acres of pristine forest. Architect Graham Gund has achieved a marvelous integration of interior/exterior space The building, which nearly eclipses the attractions inside, centers on a soaring three-story, sky-lit Great Hall -- an Italianate brick atrium with spiral staircases, lofty columns, and windows revealing the woodlands beyond. Look closely at the museum floors, where ancient fossil remains from the late Jurassic period are embedded.When the Great Hall was designed, it was meant to one day be the home of a large-scale permanent dinosaur exhibition, and in 2000, Fernbank became the only place in the world to display a complete mounted skeleton of Argentinosaurus, the largest dinosaur ever found. The dramatic permanent exhibit, "Giants of the Mesozoic," features the 90-foot-long plant-eater as it defends its nest of eggs against the 45-foot-long Giganotosaurus, the largest meat-eater ever classified. Hovering above in the 86-foot-tall hall are two flying pterosaurs. Dinosaurs just don't get any bigger than this, and it's a little hair-raising to walk into the hall and see these beasts towering over the tiny humans below.There are several other permanent exhibits, including "A Walk Through Time in Georgia," which uses the state as a microcosm to tell the story of the earth's development through time and the chronology of life upon it. Visitors travel back 15 billion years to experience the origins of the universe (the Big Bang) and the formation of galaxies and solar systems, and into the future to consider the fate of our planet. Eighteen galleries re-create landform regions from the rolling pine-forested foothills of the Piedmont Plateau to the mossy Okefenokee Swamp, from the Cumberland Plateau (where you can walk through a typical "limestone cavern") to the marshy Coast and Barrier Islands. Exhibits are enhanced by creative films and videos, informational audiophones, interactive computers, sound effects, and old-fashioned field guides -- not to mention more than 1,500 fabricated plants and mounted specimens of birds and animals."Sensing Nature" tantalizes your senses with hands-on exhibits that explore how we experience the natural world. The room swims with computers, colored lights, and mirrors, and you can step into a life-size kaleidoscope, play with perspective, gaze into infinity, see physical evidence of sound waves, and mix colors on a computer.The "Children's Discovery Room," open daily June through August and on a limited basis during the school year, includes Fantasy Forest, a colorful play area designed for preschoolers (ages 3-5), where kids can become bees and pollinate flowers, climb a treehouse, walk through a swamp, and play at being farmers. The state-shaped Georgia Adventure is a similar discovery room for ages 6 to 10.While you're here, be sure to catch a stunning IMAX film (buy tickets as soon as you enter the museum; they sometimes sell out). The immense IMAX screen -- 5 stories high and 72 feet wide -- puts you right in the middle of all the action.Other museum attractions include a wetlands exhibit, a dramatically colorful living coral reef aquarium, a unique shell display, a gemstone collection, and the McClatchey Collection of jewelry and textiles from the old Silk Road countries. A museum store is stocked with entertaining and educational gifts and books, and there's a restaurant with arched windows overlooking Fernbank Forest and outdoor patio seating.

Callanwolde Fine Arts Center
A magnificent Gothic/Tudor-style mansion built for Coca-Cola heir Charles Howard Candler in 1920, Callanwolde today serves as a fine-arts center for city residents. Ongoing classes are given in pottery, painting, photography, drawing, and more, and there are numerous workshops for adults and children. The estate occupies 12 acres in the Druid Hills section of Atlanta, an area planned by Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York's Central Park. You may be surprised that most of the rooms are bare; only Callanwolde's exquisite walnut paneling, beautifully carved ceilings and moldings, grand staircase, magnificent marble and stone fireplaces, and leaded-glass windows evoke its luxurious past.Visitors are welcome to peruse shows of local artists in the Petite Hall gallery upstairs; enjoy the lawns and formal gardens, which are maintained by the county; and take in the concerts, storytelling evenings, one and two-day workshops, and dance performances on offer. Check the website to see what's going on when you're in town, because attending an event here is the best way to experience the estate. Especially memorable is Christmas at Callanwolde, when the entire house is decorated for the season and craft shops are set up in different rooms.

Crowne Plaza Hotel ATLANTA-RAVINIA(PERIMETER CTR)
Take a VIDEO TOUR of our hotel. The Crowne Plaza Ravinia sets the standard for quality and convenience at Atlanta®s Perimeter Center. Situated in Ravinia Office Park, the hotel boasts ease of accessibility to all major highways, the Perimeter Mall, many restaurants and a variety of entertainment options. The hotel features high-speed internet access in all rooms, an indoor pool and health facility, three restaurants, a separate lounge, and Sylvia®s Coffee Cafe featuring Starbucks coffee. ...

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 ...

Grand Hyatt Atlanta
Grand Hyatt Atlanta 3300 Peachtree Road Atlanta, GA 30305 In the heart of Buckhead, Atlanta's most prestigious and fashionable area, with convenient access to the city's finest shopping, dining and entertainment areas; 15 minutes to downtown with easy access to MARTA rapid transit; walking distance to Phipps Plaza and Lenox Square shopping areas; 18 miles to Hartsfield International ...