Visiting Georgia

Collectordragon

Collectordragon

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In a few days I'll be visiting Georgia for the first time. I'll be there a week and I'd like suggestions for things to do and see. I'll be staying in Athens but also spending some time in Atlanta.

I haven't been to the Atlantic ocean before so what is the most practical beach to go to from Athens?

What parts of Atlanta should I avoid?

What things should I check out in neighboring states that wouldn't be too far of a drive?
 
South Atlanta is the sketchy part. Midtown and Buckhead are the best for restaurants, bars etc.

The Aquarium is pretty kick ass, and that would be the main tourist attraction I'd recommend. There's a Dali exhibit in the High Museum of Art currently as well.
 
Hit I75 for several hours and realize you never want to go back to Georgian again. It takes forever to get anywhere in that state and there's NOTHING to see.
 
bankhead buddy.....bankhead

if you avoid bankhead...then you need to hang your head in shame!
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']South Atlanta is the sketchy part. Midtown and Buckhead are the best for restaurants, bars etc.

The Aquarium is pretty kick ass, and that would be the main tourist attraction I'd recommend. There's a Dali exhibit in the High Museum of Art currently as well.[/QUOTE]

Good suggestions. Any Georgian historical stuff you'd recommend?
 
The Little Grand Canyon over in Lumpkin is nice if you're outdoorsy. Stone Mountain is a major tourist attraction south of Atlanta. Also, check out the World of Coca-Cola if you are downtown and need to kill an hour and a half. Definitely hit up the aquarium. Six Flags used to be very fun, but it's in a very sketchy part of town now.

Athens is a great town. I've been looking for a job is the area for about the past year now.
 
In Atlanta for food... Atlanta Fish Market = So Good... you must go to the Varsity downtown, it's a cheap hot dog place with a lot of history

You could always visit Stone Mountain. It is real close to Atlanta. Being fall, you can get some great views. If you go 2 hours east, you can go to Asheville where it is borderline the best time to see all the fall colors. The scenery there is amazing; the best I have personally seen. You can tour the Biltmore if you go; its an old huge mansion.

Not too sure about historical things to do in Atlanta as when I visit I normally do stuff you can do in other cities i.e. concerts/shows/visit with family/etc. The only thing I can think of there are still some monuments/things up from the 1996 Olympics, one being close to the Varsity downtown.

The best history around the state... you would need to make the journey to either Savannah, GA (4 hours) or Charleston, SC (4.5 hours). Charleston has more to offer than Savannah. You can see old charleston row homes as well as plantation homes. In addition, they house some old battleships that you can tour. Plus, there is a good nearby beach (Isle of Palms).

The closest beach is Hilton Head, SC, which still is a drive (4ish hours).
 
Practical beach from Athens? Either Tybee or Hilton Head. That's a long way from Athens however...

I lived in Savannah for 6 years and highly recommend it if you're in to history. You could spend weeks there looking at everything. Tybee is a 20-30 minute drive. Hilton head is an hour from there.

The problem with Athens honestly is that it's not really practical to anything. You're looking at a good bit of a drive to get on the Interstate, then from there you can either go to Augusta or Atlanta. Atlanta is where it's at and you want to avoid Augusta like the plague.

OP, read up here.

http://www.georgiatouristguide.com/

Are there types of restaurants you're looking for OP?
 
Its kind of amusing you're going to be in athens, there are some really nice restaurants in downtown. Off the top of my head, there's Depalma's, Porterhouse grill, as well as Doc Chey's Asian. Avoid the athens Mellow mushroom its crap. (btw depalma's is really good italian food. For fast food there's Five guy's burgers and fries, as well as the grill (which has amazing milkshakes). But there are a lot of other good restaurants in the area, too. UGA is a pretty good historical area, and while you're in the area, you should see the tree that owns itself. (yes the tree really owns itself). East side athens has some decent restaurants too, including a place that has really good sandwiches called Keba (pronounced Kayba). There's more, but that's the stuff off the top of my head. If you want good wings there's lucky wings on Baxter, and there are some pretty good seafood places in downtown too.
 
[quote name='Collectordragon']Good suggestions. Any Georgian historical stuff you'd recommend?[/QUOTE]

The Martin Luther King museum, tour of birth home etc. is decent and free.

The Carter Center museum is good as well. Fernbank is a natural history museum that has a big exhibits on Georgia's geological history, wildlife etc. (not sure what the main special exhibit is now).
 
[quote name='lordopus99']In Atlanta for food... Atlanta Fish Market = So Good... you must go to the Varsity downtown, it's a cheap hot dog place with a lot of history

You could always visit Stone Mountain. It is real close to Atlanta. Being fall, you can get some great views. [/QUOTE]


Yeah, Stone Mountain slipped my mind. That's a great option, I go a few times a year to check out the view, watch the Lasershow etc.


Atlanta Fish Market is dang good as well. I prefer the Oceanairre in Midtown a bit, though it's more upscale and a bit more expensive. I'd liken it to Legal Seafoods but better.

Some other restaurant suggestions:

Southern Food: South City Kitchen, Mary Macs Tea Room

Brunch (on weekends): Cafe Osteria, Cafe di Sol and American Roadhouse in Virginia Highlands. Einsteins and Tap in Midtown.

Flying Biscuit is great and is breakfast all time, though the Midtown location is always packed in mornings (hour wait or so on weekends).


Miscellaneous:

Midtown Kitchen One--great food, little of everything.

Slice--great by the slice pizza place down town (kind of out of the way though).

Steamhouse Lounge--great raw oysters (think they're $5 a dozen on Wednesdays) and some other good seafood options. The "frogmore skillet" is particularly good.

Loca Luna--good spanish tapas place, turns into a bar/dance club at night.

Highland Tap--great steaks

Hankook Taqueria --Korean barbeque tacos.

The Brickstore Pub--in Decatur. Decent food, Amazing beer selection including an all Belgian Beers bar upstairs.


As for The Varsity, I don't get the fuss over it. It's kind of a novelty experience I guess, but the food is terrible IMO. The Chili Dogs are semi-ok, but the burgers stink, the onion rings are way to greasy and the fries aren't great.
 
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[quote name='dmaul1114']As for The Varsity, I don't get the fuss over it. It's kind of a novelty experience I guess, but the food is terrible IMO. The Chili Dogs are semi-ok, but the burgers stink, the onion rings are way to greasy and the fries aren't great.[/QUOTE]

You go for the experience, not the food.

Another listing for food:
Breakfast/Brunch - J. Christophers. They have a mean Biscuits and Sausage Gravy.
 
Ughh, the Varsity. I grew up in Atlanta, and we almost never ate there. The food was nasty then, although it's been years since I've been there.
 
[quote name='lordopus99']You go for the experience, not the food.
[/QUOTE]

I suppose. I just didn't find the experience to be anything great either, and not worth the indigestion from the shitty food. So I never take friends and family who visit there.
 
Speaking of food, I was watching "Man vs. Food" this morning, and they went to the Vortex. They have some of the best burgers in Atlanta, IMHO.
 
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