We're back from our trip to Atlanta for almost a month now, so an update is long overdue.
First things first, Atlanta is a great city, weather was lovely all the time (25C, 77F max) with plenty of sunshine, and the city really is very pedestrian-friendly.
We were staying in the Marriott near Georgia Tech, and we did everything by walking and using MARTA. We got ourselves the City Pass, and so got the chance to do plenty of stuff all around Atlanta. On the first day, we walked from the hotel to Zoo Atlanta after stopping in Georgia Tech Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. This is quite the walk, sure, but it is definitely doable and it showed us quite a few areas of Atlanta. The zoo is nice, albeit a bit small. For its age, the animals have pretty decent enclosures and I would recommend others to visit the zoo when they are around. It didn't make it into our top 5 of zoos though, I'm sorry :).
Next day we want to Fernbank Museum of Natural History. Quite a nice place, but again a bit on the small side. The building is lovely though, and we both liked that an IMAX movie was included with the city pass. Overall, same rating: definitely nice to do when in Atlanta, but not in our top 5 of natural history/science museums.
Then it was time for the headliner: Georgia Aquarium. Quite an impressive place to be honest, and its location is superb. I have been to Epcot and I wouldn't really know whether I would put Georgia Aquarium on the best aquarium ever or whether I would go with Epcot Sea Base. The main hall of Georgia Aquarium is lovely, but it then felt quite cramped when you went into the individual exhibits. Epcot Sea Base then felt a lot more open. Georgia Aquarium has a lot more stuff to do, but then also misses the marks sometimes (a dolphin show, really? a rubbish 4D show, really?). I'm on the fence here :). Regardless, when in (or near) Atlanta, go visit Georgia Aquarium!
Finally we did the World of Coca-Cola tour. Well, again, it's nice. The tasting area is the real attraction though! Plenty of flavours, but again not that much more special than Epcot Club Cool. I really had to try hard to find flavours that weren't on offer in Epcot Club Cool and that you couldn't get in the fancy soda dispensers all over Atlanta. For it's price the tour is worth it though and here and there you can find some treasures. I especially liked the commercials, but that is probably because we normally never ever see commercials (only Netflix). But do skip the 4D show, it's horrible :).
We didn't do the CNN tour, but we did enter the building quite a few times and I would advise everyone who's visiting Atlanta to do so. It has a lovely food court with reasonable amount of choices, and it was the only store where I could find stuff from Rick and Morty, so bonus points right there!
As for food, you guys had given us way too many recommendations so we only had the chance to do a few. We have lived for two years in Canada and are quite fond of Tim Hortons, and we can now confirm that Dunkin' Donuts is the place to be in the US. Cheap coffee, decent donuts, pretty good for a brekkie as a tourist with few other options. We did try two other things for breakfast: The Silver Skillet and Highland Bakery. The silver skillet is a lovely place that hasn't been updated in ages (which definitely adds to its charm!) and breakfast was quite good. Same can be said for Highland Bakery. The granola I had was definitely a good one! That being said, you will pay through the nose for something as simple as breakfast.
For dinner, we went to Vortex, Hooters, Cheesecake Factory and TGI Fridays in the airport. Frankly, we were a bit disappointed by The Vortex. Don't get me wrong, food was good. But just not great. The beer selection was fine, but we just went when seasons were changing so there was plenty they didn't have. Having the tables so close to the bar was also really unpleasant as people were smoking there. The dessert options were pretty lame and not really tasty. And the bill was definitely a shocker. For that price, I would have eaten a 3-course menu with foie gras as appetiser in my home town of Belfast. Tipping is also really getting out of hand in the US :). I still remember the time when people were happy with a 15% tip, and now it already seems to be pushing over 22%. Ouch. Sorry guys ... I wouldn't recommend the Vortex.
Hooters was our best experience. Great food, great service. Simple as that, and definitely a place I would go back to. Cheesecake Factory ... not so much. Cheaper than The Vortex for sure, but the food wasn't anything special either. TGI Fridays then? Same same, maybe a bit worse. Nothing that stands out, and service was atrocious. The best place to eat was in fact Georgia Tech. There were plenty of food trucks out, and in the worst case the Panda Express serves up some pretty decent food for at least a reasonable price.
Overall, Atlanta was great. I loved that we could walk wherever, whenever, and MARTA is really affordable if you stick to stick to something like a 7-day pass. The attractions were all reasonable to great fun. Do get the CityPASS as it is a nice saving, and as long as you keep your expectations at reasonable levels I think most of the attractions are definitely worth a try. Food has been the real bummer. The expensive places just don't seem to live up to their price tag. In the end, we enjoyed the simple places the most such as a Dunkin' Donuts, some reasonably priced meal at a Panda Express or some $1 sliders from Arby's.
Finally, if you are in the Georgia Tech area, do go visit Atlantic Station. It's a shopping area that is so quaint that we had a fun time walking around there. The food options weren't great, but the cinema was really nice and the area is nice to stroll in. There is also a Publix to get some cheap food :).
Thanks again to everyone for the great suggestions! You helped us make the most of our time and we loved our week there!