Welcome to Atlanta

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Welcome to Atlanta

Welcome to Atlanta! Our fair city is known for many things -- being the home of Coca-Cola, Martin Luther King Jr., the Atlanta Braves, beautiful trees (such as those in Piedmont Park, above) and stultifying traffic -- just to name a few. The following photos call attention to some of Atlanta's highlights. If you're new to town, or just want a reminder of what makes our city awesome, click on.

The historic Fox Theatre is located on Peachtree Street near downtown and is considered an Atlanta landmark. It was originally the Yaarb Temple Shrine Mosque in the late 1920s. The Fox opened as the Great Depression began and had to declare bankruptcy after 125 weeks. Today, the Fox is on the National Historic Registry and books over 300 stage and musical performances a year.

The High Museum, located on Peachtree Street in Midtown, has more than 13,000 works of art in its permanent collection, including works by famed masters Claude Monet, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Dorothea Lange and Southern folk artists such as Howard Finster.

Atlanta traffic is legendary – in a bad way. The major interstates in Atlanta are I-20 (east-west), I-75 (northwest-south) and I-85 (northeast-southwest). The Downtown Connector, where I-75 and I-85 merge, carries more than 340,000 vehicles a day through the heart of the city and is one of the 10 most congested areas in the U.S., according to Forbes. Atlanta is encircled by the I-285, or “the perimeter.” Neighborhoods outside the perimeter are “OTP” while those inside are “ITP.”

The Atlanta Braves play their home games at Turner Field, located just south of downtown Atlanta alongside I-75. The Braves, in 1995, became the first, and only, major Atlanta sports team to win a championship title when they defeated the Cleveland Indians in Major League Baseball’s World Series.

The Georgia State Capitol is known as the "Gold Dome" by locals and was gilded with gold leaf from Dahlonega, Ga., where the first American gold rush occurred in the 1830s. State lawmakers convene downtown each year for 40 days beginning the second Monday in January.

Stone Mountain, located east of Atlanta, is known for its laser show that takes viewers through the history of the Georgia and concludes with the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner. The laser show is projected on the Confederate Memorial carving on the side of Stone Mountain. This carving, the largest bas-relief in the world, depicts Civil War leaders Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Another fun fact, Stone Mountain is not actually a mountain but instead is a quartz monzonite monadnock … a fancy term for “large chunk of granite.” The 5-mile in circumference boulder is surrounded by the 3,200-acre Stone Mountain Park.

Atlanta’s NFL franchise, the Falcons, play their home games at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta. The city of Atlanta, state of Georgia, Georgia World Congress Center and the Falcons have agreed to build a new $1 billion retractable-roof stadium near the existing site in time for the 2017 NFL season.

Centennial Olympic Park is a public park in downtown Atlanta built for the 1996 Summer Olympics. A popular feature is the Fountain of Rings, an interactive display that syncs music, lights and water. In the summer, it is a very popular location for kids and adults to cool off. Other nearby attractions include The World of Coca-Cola, Georgia Aquarium, CNN, Georgia Dome and Philips Arena.

The Varsity is a restaurant and drive-in complete with bell hops that serve hot dogs and hamburgers. This Atlanta institution has been around since 1928 and is most famous for their enthusiastic staff who yells, "What'll ya have?" as soon as you step inside. The Varsity is located near Georgia Tech on North Avenue alongside the Downtown Connector.

Six Flags Over Georgia is a 290-acre theme park just west of Atlanta in Austell. The park is known for its wide variety of roller coasters and thrill rides. The park closes during winter.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race is a July 4 Atlanta tradition. The scenic course of the “largest 10K in the world” takes 60,000 runners from Midtown’s Piedmont Park down Peachtree Street and back again. At the finish line, each participant receives a coveted T-shirt featuring a design selected in an annual contest.

The Atlanta Hawks are the city's professional basketball team. They play at Philips Arena downtown and are a part of the National Basketball Association's Eastern Conference.

When temperatures rise, outdoor lovers head to the Chattahoochee River to cool off. Located to the north and east of the city, the river is a favorite of kayakers and other boaters looking to "shoot the Hooch." Buford Dam, located on the Chattahoochee, formed Lake Lanier in 1956. When the dam releases water from the lake to generate electricity, water levels downstream can rise quickly.

Atlanta Pride is a week-long annual event including the Pride Parade in Midtown that celebrates the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. It is one of the oldest pride parades in the U.S. and was established in 1971.

Margaret Mitchell, a former writer for the Atlanta Journal, wrote "Gone with the Wind" for which she received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937. Each year, there is a celebration of the publishing of her novel on the grounds of the Margaret Mitchell House on Peachtree Street. This is the apartment building that Mitchell lived in when she wrote her book.

DragonCon, a convention that takes over downtown in late summer, draws about 50,000 people, mostly in costume. Their interests range from science fiction to gaming to pop culture. The annual parade, one of the largest in the city, features thousands of costumed participants.

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta has been known as the busiest airport in the world since 1998. It is also the hub for Delta Air Lines, whose headquarters are in Atlanta.

The Atlanta Dogwood Festival is just one of dozens of festivals held in Atlanta. Most festivals are held in city parks or other outdoor areas once the weather gets warm. The Dogwood Festival features arts and crafts and is held in Piedmont Park in the spring when dogwood trees are blooming.

The World of Coca-Cola and the Georgia Aquarium are two tourist attractions in downtown Atlanta that attract millions of visitors each year. The World of Coca-Cola is an exhibition that takes visitors through the history of Coca-Cola and even allows visitors to taste different brands of Coke from various countries. The Georgia Aquarium houses more than 120,000 animals and was the world's largest aquarium when it opened in 2005. Both are located near Centennial Park.

MARTA is Atlanta's rapid transit system. MARTA's rail lines extend north, south, east and west of downtown and are accessible at 38 stations. Hundreds of buses carry riders throughout Fulton and DeKalb counties. More than 400,000 people a day ride MARTA.

The Clermont Lounge in Atlanta is the city's first and longest continually operating strip club. It opened in 1965 and is a regular destination for celebrities visiting Atlanta. The lounge is best known for its dancers who do not meet the traditional standards for strippers.

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site consists of several buildings near the home the civil rights icon grew up in on Auburn Avenue in downtown Atlanta. The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, pictured here, was initially started by Coretta Scott King in the basement of the couple's home but was later moved to its current Auburn Avenue location. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King are laid to rest at the center.

The Beltline, a proposed series of bike and walking paths encircling the city largely along the route of abandoned railroad lines, will eventually provide many miles of recreational space. Only a short section of the Beltline south of Piedmont Park is currently useable. Here, a person bicycles on the eastside bridge of the Beltline crossing over Ponce De Leon Avenue.

MARTA is exploring the potential for providing transit buses or train service along a 12-mile stretch of GA 400 from Dunwoody to Alpharetta in north Fulton County, which would be the first expansion of the system since 2000.

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Welcome to Atlanta! Our fair city is known for many things -- being the home of Coca-Cola, Martin Luther King Jr., the Atlanta Braves, beautiful trees (such as those in Piedmont Park, above) and stultifying traffic -- just to name a few. The following photos call attention to some of Atlanta's highlights. If you're new to town, or just want a reminder of what makes our city awesome, click on.

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