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.

Six Flags Over Georgia
One of the state's major family attractions, Six Flags offers a great day's entertainment. Arrive early (at least 30 min. before opening), note where you've parked in the vast lot, and take 10 minutes or so to plan out your show and ride schedule.The park's 10 areas have themes centered around different regions, from Southern (Cotton States, Confederate, Georgia, Lickskillet, and Promenade), to European (France, Britain, Spain), to American (U.S.A.), to Gotham City (featuring Batman The Ride). Costumed Looney Tune characters (Sylvester, Daffy Duck, and others) roam the park greeting kids (hint: check out the gazebo in the Promenade section to meet that wascally wabbit Bugs Bunny).Thrill rides include several watery options, such as Splashwater Falls (plummet down a soaring 50-ft. waterfall), a log flume, and Thunder River (a simulated whitewater rafting adventure). White-knuckle coasters include the Georgia Scorcher (one of the Southeast's tallest and fastest stand-up roller coasters), the Viper (which goes from 0-60 mph in less than 6 sec. and has a 360-degree loop), Ninja (the "black belt" of roller coasters, turning riders upside down five times and offering thrilling loops, dives, and corkscrew turns), the Georgia Cyclone (a classic wooden roller coaster with 11 dramatic drops, patterned after Coney Island's famous thrill ride), the Great American Scream Machine (another classic wooden coaster), and Mind Bender (a triple-looper). Other highlights are Batman The Ride (a twisting roller coaster with ski-lift-like seats), Great Gasp (a 20-story parachute jump), Riverview Carousel (a merry-go-round from the early 1900s), and Free Fall (ever wonder what it would be like to fall off a 10-story building?). A less dizzying adventure is Monster Plantation, a Disneyesque boat ride through an antebellum mansion haunted by over 100 animated monsters. And there's much, much more.Shows vary from year to year, but they usually include a major musical revue, a country music show, a golden-oldies show, thrill cinema adventures on a 180-degree screen, and an animated character show. In addition, headliners such as SheDaisy and John Michael Montgomery play the 8,072-seat (with lawn seating for 4,000) Southern Star Amphitheatre.There are restaurants and snack bars throughout the park, though you might consider bringing a picnic.

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.

Holiday Inn ATL-DWTN (WORLD CONGRESS CTR)
The Holiday Inn Atlanta Downtown near the Georgia World Congress Center. This downtown Atlanta hotel offers all the comforts of home as well as the convenience of being adjacent to the Georgia World Congress Center, CNN Center, Underground Atlanta and Turner Field home of the Atlanta Braves, and the newly opened Georgia Aquarium. Other nearby attractions include: Coca-Cola, Centennial Olympic Park, Philips Arena and Fox Theatre. Whether recharging in the fitness room, picking up a last ...

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