Earlier this summer, we took a little trip from Columbia to Atlanta, also known as 'Hotlanta' to its residents, and spent the weekend checking out some of the city's favorite hot spots. Atlanta in the summer is, taking note of its nickname, unbearably hot and humid so it's recommended that tourists spend some time visiting their museums and various indoor attractions (which I'll get to in a later post). As one of the largest cities in the South, you can expect congestion at the major highway and its arteries at any time during the day, but more so on the weekends. However, it's not really that bad through downtown, especially around Peachtree Street and other parts closer to some of the tourist areas. 

We checked in at the Hilton Garden Inn located on Baker street at the Luckie Marietta district of Atlanta. We specifically chose it due to its proximity to the Georgia Aquarium and other nearby attractions. The contemporary hotel has a wonderful and pleasant staff, but I really liked the convenience of its location; across the street there's a cheap souvenir and deli, around the corner you'll find two great mom n' pop style eateries, and the Centennial Olympic Park is across the hotel (just blocks away) to help walk off some of that good food you'll definitely gorge on. Although the hotel has two on-site restaurants (Legal Sea Foods and The City View), they're kinda pricey, but most definitely worth a try. Also, the view from our hotel room was definitely worth the extra $$$ for splurging a little for comfort and convenience. We had a great view of downtown and part of the Centennial Park, plus we could see all the tourists heading towards the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca Cola Museum across the street. Talk about people-gazing from your hotel room.

Rome looks out from the hallway window, overlooking the side of the hotel

If you're looking to see some architectural digs from the pre-Civil War era, you'll be a little bit disappointed in Atlanta, since the city's antebellum history was all but destroyed during the war. Unlike other cities such as Savannah and Charleston, which retain their Southern Belle charm, Atlanta's metropolitan is certainly more progressive and modern, with looming sky scrapers and large corporation buildings lining its skyline. You'll find the headquarters of Coca Cola, Delta Airlines, The Home Depot, CNN, AT&T, and UPS just to name a few. CNN was the only headquarters that I can recall that allows tours through its building. Coca Cola and some of the others aren't accessible to the general public.

What I do love about the city is its diversity and its major attractions, namely Six Flags Over Georgia, but we didn't take our son to the amusement park on our visit. He wasn't quite 4 yet and it was way too hot and muggy to drag a kid through a crowded park during the summer. We did take him to other places which will come at a later post.