On the way out, I stopped by the Hyatt's concierge desk to see if they had any maps of the general area. They did and it turned out to be the best map a girl could have asked for. Not wanting to scream "I'm not from around here", I loaded up my book bag with just my wallet, camera and I tucked the map somewhere that wasn't noticeable but easy to get at.
I started by heading north from the hotel and then walking west down Baker St. By this time it was after 11 a.m. so there were people and families out and about so I felt fairly safe. I decided to just keep walking down Baker St. and then after a block or so, I snuck a peak at my map. The Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola was up ahead, definitely within walking distance. Since I had some time before the next conference session, I continued walking and debating which one I would like to go see. Eventually I settled on the Georgia Aquarium...until I saw the line:
ACK! A school group! I immediately knew that the Georgia Aquarium was not the place I wanted to be on that day. I then turned around and looked at the entrance to the World of Coke:
Now this is much better. However, this morning was not the morning that I visited the hotel's breakfast buffet as I should have so I was starving at this point. Instead, I decided to walk around Centennial Park, which was across the street, and then go find some place to have lunch.As I entered the park, I was immediately struck by the fact that there weren't any homeless people sleeping on the benches as they would be in my neck of the woods and I just had to take a picture of it:
As you can see, it was a beautifully sunny day. Upper 70's but pretty humid. As I ventured further into the park, I found the homeless men further in the shade on the benches. Smart lads. Obviously they have experienced Georgia before. I, however, had not so I was getting sweaty at this point and feeling the onset of a blister but onward I went as I checked out the park (which does not have marked the area where the bomb went off during the Olympics unfortunately):
After seeing the park and trying to find an exit that didn't have homeless men hanging out by it, I exited the way that I came in and decided to retrace my steps back up Baker St. and then explore further down Peachtree for a place to have lunch. Going down Baker, I didn't quite notice that it was a steep hill. Coming back, however, was a different story (and this picture doesn't quite do it justice although now I feel like a huge wimp since the elderly couple in front of me didn't have a problem):
Once I reached Peachtree, I walked by my hotel and continued down the street. There were restaurants all along the way but not one that I knew and definitely not one where me eating by myself wouldn't feel odd...at least to me. So I kept walking...and walking...and I spotted it. The lone restaurant that I knew from home: QUIZNOS! I hate Quiznos but at this point of my day with the blister getting bigger and me getting sweatier all the time, I nearly pulled a Pope and kissed the ground. Of course I enter it and of course I've rarely been to a Quiznos so I was the lone person that actually had to study the menu board. Finally I ordered and had a decent lunch while sitting by myself next to the window watching all the men and women in their business suits walk by.
After looking at my beloved map again, I planned the next part of my walk which was to continue past Quiznos a bit just to see what was there. There was nothing much and I knew from a friend that had been to Atlanta a few weeks prior that Underground Atlanta wasn't all that exciting so I turned around and headed back to the hotel.
Once I got there and took my shoes off and band-aided the blister before it popped, I happened to glance at my Quiznos receipt:
Sweet! They gave me a student discount. I chalk that up completely to the use of my book bag on my walk...and maybe my slightly sweaty/bewildered look that I'm sure I had on my face.
Below is this story in a map format:
6 comments:
Atlanta is a hard city to get around in--after Sherman, they decided that if they were ever invaded again, they keep the foreigners and Yankees (and Tarheels) lost by naming every other street Peachtree!
Oh man, your pics make me miss Atlanta. I love Coca Cola world. And Olympic Park. I have never been to the Aquarium though.
I think I need a trip there soon!
Sage - Getting around downtown wasn't bad it was trying to find the entrances and exits to the expressway that was impossible. I guess the plan was to keep everyone, Yankee and homeless alike, contained right there.
TC - I'll pray for you that the day you decide to go that there won't be a million school age kids. :-)
I can't believe you were literally a few blocks from the Apex Museum and you didn't stop!
Never heard of it until you mentioned it so I Googled...yeah...one of the things I wanted to stay away from was doing the Civil Rights things. That could probably have taken up the full week. Oddly enough, the Margaret Mitchell museum included a bit about Martin Luther King Jr. It was one of those 6 degrees of separation things.
...ah...I had never heard of it either until I saw it on your map just a few blocks from the red line you drew and decided to heckle you because I hadn't done so in a week. Thanks for doing the research on it. ;)
Post a Comment