Well the bags are packed, the sadness has set it, and the temperature is declining; we are on our way home from Atlanta. Here is the rundown of Atlanta:
Sheraton Buckhead: I like the room. It was decent, close to Lenox Square Mall (directly across the street close), and had the basic necessities (comfortable bed, quiet neighbors, iron). The Sheraton seems targeted primarily at business customers and has a free WiFi hotspot in their lobby. Internet access from your room will cost you a few pennies though. They also have a shuttle service that will take you to any destination within ~2 miles. Nice!
Georgia Aquarium: The aquariums website boasts that it is the largest aquarium in the world. Perhaps it is, but I just didn’t see it. It was nice, and it was big, but it didn’t seem like it was biggest in the world big. In fact, it seemed that a good portion of the space was used as a lobby. Admission will cost you a solid $24, and you will get to see some neat species (my personal favorite was the Moon Jellies), but after peaking through about 30 windows, I just felt like there should be more. Maybe my expectations were simply too ‘big’.
The New World of Coca-Cola: The most interesting fact about this place is that you cannot bring competing products labels into the building. You can keep your water, your Pepsi, your Snapple, or whatever else you have, but that label will get ripped off before you enter. I was shocked when it happened, but in retrospect it makes perfect sense. Once inside, you are bombarded with Coke. They have advertisements, commercials, facts, fiction, and everything else about the company dating back to the secret syrups creation. It is all slightly interesting, but the real joy is the “secret ingredient” and “tasting” exhibits. I won’t spoil the fun and say much, but if you get a chance to go make sure you give ‘ol Beverly a taste. One tip, she hangs out in Europe.
Fogo De Chao: This place is it! One giant smorgasbord of all you can eat meat. Yes, I just said “all you can eat.” It’s crazy, absolutely crazy. You walk in, you are seated, and within minutes you are literally attacked from all angles with choices ranging from Ribs to Sausage to Top Sirloin to Filet Mignon. It’s absolutely insane. The price is steep at ~$50 per person for dinner, but of all the things I did on this vacation, eating at Fogo De Chao left me with the most sense of satisfaction and bang-for-buck. And to seal the deal, this place has the best Filet Mignon I have ever had in my life (the girlfriend seconds that motion). Oh, did I mention it was all you can eat?
Phipps Plaza: If you want to get a glimpse of how high-life celebrities shop and live, stop by Phipps Plaza and hang out for a bit. Gucci, Versace, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, Coach, they all have stores there. They are a bit out of my price range, but it was fun to “window shop” for a few minutes. Oh, and do not be surprised if you see a Bentley or Maybach in the parking lot.
Marta: The Marta is Atlanta’s well designed and cheap to use train/subway system. On our trip we opted to skip the rental car route and bus/walk/taxi/etc it wherever we needed to go. In the end, we only needed the train (and our Hotel shuttle for the Fogo De Chao trip mentioned above). Their light-rail system is just that nice. The trains run every 15 minutes, hit s the major spots (Downtown, Uptown, Touristy, Airport, etc), and will only run you $2 one way regardless of the destination. So when it came time to depart, we hopped the Marta, paid our $2, and traveled the 19mi in about 30min. Now why can’t Seattle have something similar?