Fashion is Supreme

The synonym for Atlanta Downtown is Five Points, the area between Peachtree Street, Marietta Street and Edgewood Avenue. It is also the southern end of the business and financial district. According to acronymmonster, this is where Woodruff Park is located. A $ 10 million gift to the city from former President of the Coca-Cola Company Robert Woodruff. Almost all of Atlanta gathers here for lunch.

Five Points Station is the subway junction of the MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s) transport company. It takes about 15 minutes to drive from here to the airport. Opposite the station is the entrance to Underground Atlanta. A shopping paradise developed from a former train station, one of the first of its kind in the USA. There are 12 restaurants and pubs and about a hundred specialty shops and street vendors and of course a food court. The whole thing is quite nice to look at and is one of the main attractions of Atlantas.

Next to Underground Atlanta is The New World of Coca Cola (121 Baker Street). The museum about the most famous lemonade drink in the world offers views of earlier advertising posters and advertising campaigns, signs, posters, vending machines, etc. At the end of the tour, one can try all the products of the Coca-Cola Company free of charge and until the end of the tour using a futuristic machine.

The museum is considered a major attraction in Atlanta and queues at the entrance are not uncommon. In 2007 the museum was redesigned in a new location – now adjacent to the Georgia Aquarium. A futuristic building made of light stone, glass, brushed metal and a 27 m high glass cylinder in which a huge Coke bottle protrudes into the sky. More than 1,200 exhibits from 200 countries are presented on 5,500 square meters.

In 1886, the Atlanta pharmacist John S. Pemberton brewed a syrup that was used as a nerve tonic. By adding soda water, the syrup was turned into a drink, of which 8,000 glasses per second are now consumed worldwide through advertising.
For over 100 years, Coca Cola has kept the recipe for its lemonade locked in the safe of the Sun Trust Bank in Atlanta. The company even goes so far as to forbid employees who know parts of the recipe from business trips together. Even scientific methods promise little success in identifying the ingredients.

A few blocks west of Five Points is the CNN Center (One CNN Center, Marietta St./Techwood Dr.). Offers a tour of Cable News Network’s news studios, watching live broadcasts, preparing weather maps, and preparing to broadcast. Nearby is the Georgia Dome, home of the Atlanta Falcons Football Team, while the Atlanta Arena is owned by the Atlanta Hawks basketball team and the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team.

The Georgia World Congress Center is across the street as a venue for conventions and similar events. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive leads out of town to the State Capitol (Washington St./Capitol Av.). The State Capitol is the seat of government of the state of Georgia and is free to visit. The 72 m high gold leaf dome can be seen from afar; the building was built in the Renaissance style in 1884 within five years for around 1 million dollars. The Georgia State Museum and Georgia Hall of Fame are located in the building.

The Peachtree Center, a design by star architect John Portman, takes up 11 blocks downtown. Inside the center are three of the city’s best hotels, numerous restaurants and department stores, and offices. The whole thing is a city within a city that you can visit without getting wet (the buildings are connected underground or above ground by tunnels and bridges).

The Westin Peachtree Plaza (210 Peachtree St.) is famous. With 72 floors, it is the tallest hotel in America. A glass external elevator (the fare is counted towards the drink) takes you to the high-lying bar and has a spectacular view, especially at night. Here is the Hard Rock Cafe (215 Peachtree St.) with the usual food and drink selection and souvenir shop.

From the bar of the Hyatt Regency you can “only” look down 20 floors, but you can dine on the roof of the hotel – very expensive.

• Georgia Aquarium
• 225 Baker Street, Downtown

Completed in 2005, the $ 300 million Georgia Aquarium is home to around 120,000 sea creatures, making it the largest aquarium in the world. The 2 whale sharks, the largest fish in the world, and the 5 white beluga whales are unique. The aquarium is a project of superlatives. The basins hold more than 30 million liters of water, and the maintenance costs are estimated at 40 million dollars a year.

• Jimmy Carter Library and Museum
• 441 Freedom Parkway

2 miles east of downtown, part of the Presidential Library with temporary exhibitions.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is located nine miles south of downtown between Interstates 75 and 85/285 and is easily accessible from them. It is the home airport of Delta Airlines and one of the major hubs. The flight time from Europe is around 9 hours.

The following airlines regularly serve the airport: American, American West, British Airways, Continental, Delta, Frontier, KLM Royal Dutch, Lufthansa, Northwest, Pro Air, Sabena, Swissair, TWA, United, USAirways. The airport consists of the North and South Terminal, which form a building complex. Delta Airlines can be found in the South Terminal. The gates (concourses) are labeled with letters (A to E) and are arranged parallel to each other. International flights mostly depart from Concourse E. A computer-controlled subway runs between the concourses; the respective station is announced with a computer voice (eg “Next Concourse: E”). You can find more information on the official website of the Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport

The travel times between the individual concourses are relatively long (given in minutes):

Before starting the journey with the shuttle train, it is therefore advisable to take a look at the screens or ask the ground staff to know the correct concourse and the correct gate for departure.

Arrivals

If Atlanta is the first airport on American territory, you have to leave the plane, even if you want to continue flying within the USA; cf. Basics under Arrival.

If you want to continue your flight, you can check in your suitcase at the nearest counter of the airline after passing through customs and then go to the correct concourse / gate. When checking in the suitcase, the concourse and gate for the onward flight will be communicated verbally by the ground staff. If you do n’t understand this because of the southern slang, you can have this written down.

If you stay in Atlanta or if you do not fly any further for other reasons, you also have to check in your luggage after the customs control (drop it off on the right in the hall on arrival). The reason for this is that the baggage is automatically “forwarded” to the North or South Terminal. When dropping off your baggage, you should ask exactly at which terminal the baggage will arrive and what the number of the baggage carousel is (carousel number…). The passenger himself takes the shuttle train to the North or South Terminal and only receives his luggage there when he makes a baggage claim. If you have received the baggage at the carousel, you have to show the ticket with the control section for the baggage to the inspectors who tear out the baggage control section.

Departure

On a domestic flight from Atlanta, you can check in your baggage outside the airport building; this saves long waiting times compared to the usual check-in. Don’t forget the TIP for ground staff.

For international flights you have to check in at the airport building. To do this, you have to find the “right” counter for your airline; this is usually marked with “International Ticketing / Check in”. Anyone who queues at “Domestic” because the queue is shorter there, for example, is wrong and will not be able to check in there (lack of technology!). When reconfirming the flight you should therefore ask from which terminal (North or South) the airline will fly.