The Georgia Aquarium is the world’s
largest, displaying more than 100,000 animals from 500 different
species in more than 8 million gallons of water, including
beluga whales, piranhas, sea lions, penguins, whale sharks
and more.
If you visited the original museum, you’ll want to
plan a trip to the New
World of Coca-Cola.
Experience the history of the world’s most famous soft
drink in a multimedia environment featuring a re-creation
of a bottling plant; multiple theaters including a 4-D experience;
and new galleries. View classic TV commercials, taste more
than 70 domestic and international products, and shop for
everything
Coca-Cola.
A 21-acre legacy from the 1996 Centennial
Olympic Games, Centennial
Olympic Park is home to a recently refurbished Fountain of Rings, the
world’s
largest fountain shaped in the Olympic symbol of five interconnecting
circles. Enjoy daily fountain shows synchronized with music,
sound effects and lights; family-oriented activities on Fourth
Saturday Family Fun Days; and Tuesday and Thursday Music
at Noon and Wednesday Wind Down evening concerts from April
through September. The park also features ice skating and
Holiday In Lights during December.
Next to the park, Imagine
It! The Children’s Museum
of Atlanta offers hands-on, interactive
exhibits and programs for kids preschool through 10, as well
as special exhibits, while the nearby Rialto
Center for the Performing Arts offers theater, concerts,
films and more.
Also nearby, CNN Studio
Tours let viewers go behind-the-scenes at the first 24-hour news channel’s
global headquarters and the epicenters of its CNN, CNN Headline
News, CNN International and CNN Español networks.
Highlights of the tour include the chance to gaze out over
the main CNN newsroom and see anchors at work.
Also downtown
is Underground
Atlanta, an urban
shopping and entertainment district spanning six city blocks
of renovated shop-fronts that sat at street level until 1929,
when the city covered the area with a viaduct system.
Literally
under downtown, Underground features restaurants; more than
100 specialty shops; street-cart merchants and street performers;
the Kenny’s Alley nightclub district,
open until 4 a.m.; and one of two of the city’s AtlanTIX! half-price
ticket booths (the other is at Lenox Square), at the Atlanta
Convention & Visitors Bureau Underground Atlanta Visitors
Center.
Underground also hosts city celebrations, such as
the New Year’s Eve Peach Drop and the St. Patrick’s
Day Family Festival.
The Atlanta
Botanical Garden presents blockbuster exhibits such as “Dave Rogers’ Big
Bugs and Killer Plants,” featuring gigantic insect
sculptures. This garden also houses a two-acre Children’s
Garden, rare and endangered plants from tropical rain forests
and desert regions, and the Fuqua Orchid Center, containing
rare and endangered orchids.
Zoo Atlanta in Grant Park features giant pandas Lun Lun and Yang Yang
and their baby, Mei Lan; the family of famous gorilla Willie
B.; Outback Station, an Australian-themed petting zoo and
kangaroo exhibit; and rare and endangered species such as
Sumatran orangutans and tigers, black rhinos and African
elephants.
Also in Grant Park, the Atlanta
Cyclorama & Civil War
Museum features the world’s largest
oil painting and one of only three surviving 3-D circular
dioramas of its kind, merging artwork and wax figures to
re-create the Battle of Atlanta.
“Gone With the Wind” author Margaret Mitchell
corresponded with Morehouse president Dr. Benjamin E. Mays
and donated money for 50 scholarships for African-American
medical students. Visit the Margaret
Mitchell House & Museum in Midtown, which includes the restored apartment
where she penned her famous novel.
Also in Midtown, the National
Museum of Patriotism promotes
the history of patriotism through educational displays and
exhibits.
Just north, Rhodes Hall was modeled
after Rhineland castles and built in 1904 for Amos Rhodes,
who was raised in poverty and went on to establish Rhodes
Furniture Co.
Atlanta’s biggest amusement park attraction,
Six Flags Over
Georgia features
10 roller coasters; as well as many other rides, the Skull
Island water park, Broadway-style shows, concerts and more.
Stone
Mountain Park offers family activities
including Crossroads, a re-created 19th century town; Ride
The Ducks land and water tours; a train; sky lift to the top
of the world’s largest mass of exposed granite;
antebellum plantation; antique car museum; the Treehouse
Challenge children’s attraction; and the Lasershow
Spectacular, featuring a dazzling display of neon laser lights,
laser cannon pyrotechnics, fireworks and special effects
choreographed to music favorites.
Just northeast of downtown
in Gwinnett County, enjoy a meal fit for royalty and a thrilling
joust at the Medieval
Times Dinner & Tournament at Discover Mills. |
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