Before You Go. Being well south of New York, Atlanta is usually warmer than we are. It also gets rather humid. They don't call it "Hot-lanta" just for its nightlife. The game will be indoors, but you won't be indoors on the entire trip. Check the website of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (used to be 2 papers, now 1) before you go. For the moment, for Monday and Tuesday (given the late kickoff, you're mostly likely going to spend the night), daylight temperatures should be in the mid-60s, and nighttime in the low 50s.
Although Georgia, a.k.a. The Heart of the South, seceded from the Union in 1861, it was readmitted in 1870. You do not need a passport, and you don't need to change your U.S. dollars into Confederate money. And it's in the Eastern Time Zone, so you don't have to fiddle with your watch or your phone clock. Do keep in mind, though: They think you talk as funny as you think they do.
Tickets. The Falcons averaged 71,960 fans per home game in 2017. I guess they couldn't sell that 1 more season ticket to make it 70,000. That was 96 percent of capacity, which made getting tickets tough.
Falcons tickets are expensive. In the lower level, the 100 sections, they're $397 in midfield and $217 in the end zones. In the middle level, the 200 sections, they're $306 in midfield and $182 in the end zones. In the upper level, the 300 sections, they're $157 in midfield and $137 in the end zones.
Getting There. It's 868 miles from Times Square in New York to Five Points, Atlanta's center of attention. Google Maps says the fastest way from New York to Atlanta by road is to take the Holland Tunnel to Interstate 78 to Harrisburg, then I-81 through the Appalachian Mountains, and then it gets complicated from there.
No, the best way to go, if you must drive, is to take the New Jersey Turnpike/I-95 all the way from New Jersey to Petersburg, Virginia. Exit 51 will put you on I-85 South, and that will take you right into Atlanta.
You'll be in New Jersey for about an hour and a half, Delaware for 20 minutes, Maryland for 2 hours, inside the Capital Beltway (Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia) for half an hour if you're lucky (and don't make a rest stop anywhere near D.C.), Virginia for 3 hours, North Carolina for 4 hours, South Carolina for about an hour and 45 minutes, and Georgia outside I-285 (the beltway known as the Perimeter, the Atlanta Bypass or "the O around the A") for an hour and a half.
Throw in traffic in and around New York at one end, Washington in the middle, and Atlanta at the other end, and we're talking 16 hours. Throw in rest stops, preferably in Delaware, near Richmond, near Raleigh, and in South Carolina, and it'll be closer to 19 hours. Still wanna drive? Didn't think so.
Take the bus? Greyhound has plenty of service between the 2 cities. It's $330 round-trip, which that can drop to a relatively cheap $160 with advanced purchase. But at 20 1/2 hours each way (including an hour-and-a-half stopover in Richmond, Virginia), it saves you no time. At least the station is downtown, at 232 Forsyth Street at Brotherton Street, by the Garnett station on the subway.
Take the train? Amtrak's New York-to-New Orleans train, the Crescent, leaves Penn Station at 2:15 PM and arrives at 8:13 AM the next morning. The round-trip fare is $310. It's as long as driving and riding the bus, and costs a lot more than the bus. The station is at 1688 Peachtree Street NW at Deering Road, due north of downtown. From there, take the 110 bus into downtown.
NOTE: This time, the Sunday-to-Monday southbound Crescent is sold out. You'd have to start on Saturday afternoon, arrive Sunday morning, and spend both Sunday and Monday overnight.
Perhaps the best way to get from New York to Atlanta is by plane? If you book now, United Airlines can get you from Newark Liberty International Airport to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for under $800. True, that's more expensive than the train,but under 3 hours each way beats the hell out of 18. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Gold Line or Red Line subway from Hartsfield-Jackson to Five Points takes just half an hour.
(The airport is named for 2 Mayors. William B. Hartsfield served from 1942 to 1962, and got the airport built. Maynard H. Jackson Jr. was the city's 1st black Mayor, serving from 1974 to 1982, and again from 1990 to 1994, and he got a new terminal built at the airport.)
Once In the City. When you get to your hotel in Atlanta (and, let's face it, if you went all that way, you're not going down for a single 3-hour game and then going right back up the Eastern Seaboard), pick up a copy of the Journal-Constitution. It's a good paper with a very good sports section. The New York Times may also be available, but, chances are, the Daily News and the Post won't be.
Founded in 1837, and originally named "Terminus" because it was established as a railroad center, but later renamed because the railroad in question was the Atlantic-Pacific Railroad, Atlanta is a city of about 500,000 people (slightly more than Staten Island), in a metropolitan area of about 6.4 million (still less than 1/3rd the size of the New York Tri-State Area). The sales tax in Georgia is just 4 percent, but it's 5 percent in the City of Atlanta.
The State House
Be advised that a lot of streets are named Peachtree, which can confuse the hell out of you. Even worse, the city uses diagonal directions on its streets and street signs, much like Washington, D.C.: NW, NE, SE and SW. The street grid takes some odd angles, which will confuse you further. Five Points -- Peachtree Street, Marietta Street & Edgewood Avenue -- is the centerpoint of the city.
A building boom in the 1980s gave the city some pretty big skyscrapers, so, while it won't seem quite as imposing as New York or Chicago, it will seem bigger than such National League cities as Cincinnati and St. Louis. The building currently named Bank of America Plaza, a.k.a. the Pencil Building because of its shape, is the tallest in the State of Georgia, at 1,033 feet. It stands at 600 Peachtree Street NE at North Avenue.
ZIP Codes in Georgia start with the digits 30 and 31, with Atlanta and its suburbs using 300 to 307. The Area Code for Atlanta is 404, with 770 surrounding it, and 678 overlaid. Atlanta's electricity is supplied by Georgia Power Company.
Atlanta became majority-black in the 1960, and is now the 4th-largest majority-black city: About 51 percent black, 41 percent white, 4 percent Hispanic and 3 percent Asian. The northern half of the city is mostly white, the southern half mostly black. As a major center for both black filmmaking and hip-hop, Atlanta is, essentially, the Black Hollywood.
Both the Hispanic and the Asian populations of the city have more than doubled since 2000. And, with 12.8 percent of the population willing to classify themselves as gay or bisexual, Atlanta has the 3rd-highest gay percentage of any major city in America, behind San Francisco and Seattle.
Which is not to say that Atlanta, and Georgia in general, have been free from strife. It's still the South. The Camilla Massacre in Camilla, southwest Georgia, on September 19, 1868 resulted in the deaths of 15 people, black and white alike, attempting to assist black people in voting during the post-Civil War period known as Reconstruction. Atlanta was struck by a race riot on September 22, 1906, killing 25 black people and 2 white people. A race riot struck Augusta, the eastern Georgia city that is home to the Masters golf tournament, on May 11, 1970, resulting in 6 deaths.
And, 15 miles east of Atlanta, Stone Mountain Park opened on April 14, 1865 -- 100 years to the day after Abraham Lincoln was shot, and that is no coincidence. In 1972, a sculpture was unveiled on its north face, showing Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson on horseback. The carving of these 3 traitors to the United States of America is larger than that of the 4 Presidents on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
One thing that people tend to forget: The movie Deliverance, with its psychopathic hillbillies, is often thought to take place in West Virginia. In fact, it's set in Georgia, and was filmed on the Chattooga River, which separates eastern Georgia from western South Carolina, and on both sides of the river.
MARTA's 3-stripes logo of blue, yellow and orange is reminiscent of New Jersey Transit's blue, purple and orange. A single trip on any MARTA train is $2.50, now cheaper than New York's. A 10-trip is no bargain at $25. The subway started running with tokens in 1979, and switched to farecards known as Breezecards in 2006.
Nevertheless, it is still in Georgia, which is still the South. There's still old touches, including the fixation on Gone With the Wind, and the fact that the State Flag, even after several redesigns, still resembles the actual flag of the Confederate States of America, "the Stars and Bars" (not the "Southern Cross," that was the Confederate Battle Flag).
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Officially, the new stadium's address is 1 AMB Drive NW. MARTA Gold or Red to GWCC-CNN Center stop. If you drive in, parking is $20.
The now-demolished Georgia Dome. Behind it to the right,
State Farm Arena. Behind them, downtown Atlanta.
The 74,228-seat dome was home to the Falcons from the start of the 1992 until the 2016-17 NFC Playoffs, and to Georgia State University (with only the lower level opened, resulting in 28,155 seats) from 2010 to 2016. It hosted the SEC Championship Game from 1994 to 2016, and the Peach Bowl (a.k.a. the Chick-fil-A Bowl) from 1993 to 2017. All of those functions have now been transferred to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, except for George State football, which has taken up shop at a retrofitted Turner Field.
The Georgia Dome hosted Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994 (the Dallas Cowboys beating the Buffalo Bills) and Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000 (the St. Louis Rams beating the Tennessee Titans). It hosted the NCAA Final Four in 2002 (Maryland beating Indiana), 2007 (Florida beating Ohio State), and 2013 (Louisville over Michigan). It hosted the 2006 Sugar Bowl due to the Superdome still being unusable after Hurricane Katrina. It's also hosted the 1996 Olympic basketball games, several SEC basketball tournaments and the 2003 Women's Final Four.
It hosted 7 soccer games, including a recent CONCACAF Gold Cup loss by the U.S. men's team to Panama, a 2014 U.S. women's team win over Russia, and games by legendary club sides AC Milan, Manchester City and Mexican side Club America. And it was "home field" for Atlanta's Evander Holyfield when he defended the Heavyweight Championship of the World against Vaughn Bean on September 19, 1998.
As for the new stadium: It opened on August 26, 2017, and became the new home of the Falcons and MLS' Atlanta United. It seats 71,000, although the upper deck is usually closed off for soccer, limiting it to 42,500. Despite having a retractable roof, the field is FieldTurf -- the Falcons haven't played a home game on real grass since leaving Fulton County Stadium in 1991 -- and is laid out east-to-west.
Stadium with roof open
The stadium has already hosted the College Football Playoff National Championship this past January 8 (Alabama overcoming Georgia's sort-of home-field advantage to win in overtime), and the 2018 MLS All-Star Game (Juventus of Turin, Italy beat the MLS All-Stars on penalties).
It will host Super Bowl LIII on February 3, 2019 (the Falcons were hoping to become the 1st team ever to play the Super Bowl on their home field, but that doesn't look likely now); and the NCAA Final Four on April 4 and 6, 2020. It has been selected by the U.S. Soccer Federation as a finalist to be one of the host venues for the 2026 World Cup. (UPDATE: It was approved as a venue by FIFA.)
The sheer southern logic of opening a Chick-fil-A in an NFL stadium aside, the Mercedes-Benz dome is among the most impressive stadiums in football. The home of the almost-champion Falcons is designed with fans in mind, with huge open spaces in each end zone where they can ditch their seats for a social experience...
Add in a team that's going to be a Super Bowl contender for a while, and hopefully the notoriously-apathetic fans of the ATL will start filling the place up.
Food. Son, Ah say son, this bein' the South, y'all can expect good eatin' and good hospitality. Voice of the Fan Surveys ranked the new stadium 1st in both the NFL and MLS. Whether you agree is up to you.
You can find Miss D's Popcorn ("New Orleans Style," which probably isn't too popular in Atlanta, and "Made with much, much love," which probably is) at Sections 104, 122 and 214; Goose Island Carvery at 107 and 122; Capital Crust Pizza at 115, 131, 214 and 230; Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q at 116 and 217 Bruster's Ice Cream at 116, 124, 221 and 246; Smoke and Pour at 117, Shock Top Brat at 121 and 202; Chick-fil-A at 123; Fries Up (including "Southern Poutine," and I do not want to know what that is) at 123; Papa John's at 123 and 248 Molly B's Kitchen at 133; Delia's Chicken Sausage at 133 and 221; Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q at 136 and 240; local hero chef Kevin Gillespie's GameChanger at 223; Farm Burger at 245; and Snackology 101 (organic, vegan and gluten-free options) at 348.
Team History Displays. Last season, the Falcons made the Playoffs for the 14th time in their 52-season history, or once every 4 years. 3.71, actually. That's not that bad a ratio. It's slightly better than the Jets' 14 times in 58 seasons, or once every 4.14 years. For both teams, the problem isn't just getting to the Playoffs, but what happens once they do.
The Falcons won the NFC Western Division in 1980 and 1998 (what a team in Atlanta was doing in the Western Division is another matter), and have won the NFC South Division in 2004, 2010, 2012 and 2016. They've won the NFC Championship for the 1998 and 2016 seasons, but lost both Super Bowls, rather embarrassingly in Super Bowl XXXIII to the Denver Broncos, and even more so in Super Bowl LI to the New England Patriots.
* From the late 1960s and the early 1970s: Number 60, linebacker Tommy Nobis, their 1st-ever draft selection, who really should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but isn't.
* From the late 1970s and early 1980s "Gritz Blitz" team, including the 1980 NFC West title: 10, quarterback Steve Bartkowski; 31, running back William Andrews; 42, running back Gerald Riggs; 57, center Jeff Van Note; 78, offensive tackle Mike Kenn; and 87, defensive end Claude Humphrey.
* From the 1991 Wild Card team: Kenn, 21, cornerback Deion Sanders; and 58, linebacker Jessie Tuggle.
* From the 1998 NFC Champions, a.k.a. "the Dirty Birds": So far, only Tuggle.
* From the 2004 team that reached the NFC Championship Game: So far, only 28, running back Warrick Dunn. The problem is, the most prominent player from that team was Number 7, quarterback Michael Vick.
Until 2011, the only person associated with the Falcons for more than a single season who was elected to the Hall of Fame was their 2nd head coach, Norm Van Brocklin, and he had already been elected as a player before he ever became their coach. Since then, Sanders and Humphrey have been elected. So has placekicker Morten Andersen, their all-time leading scorer... and that of their arch-rivals, the New Orleans Saints, with whom he is more identified.
As I said, Nobis should be in. And Andrews might have made it if not for a career-ending knee injury. Tony Gonzalez becomes eligible for the Hall next year, but he is much more identified with his 1st team, the Kansas City Chiefs. The only quarterbacks associated with the Falcons in the Hall are Van Brocklin and... the guy they practically gave away after a hopeless rookie season in 1991: Brett Favre.
No Falcons players made the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team in 1994. The Sporting News named Sanders to its 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999. The NFL Network named him and Gonzalez to its 100 Greatest Players in 2010.
Seriously: Given half a century, the comparative weakness of the NFC South (even with the long domination of the old NFC West by first the Los Angeles Rams and then the San Francisco 49ers), and Georgia's love of football, this is a massively underachieving franchise.
There is a Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, but it's in Macon, 85 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta, and only reachable by car. Andrews, Bartkowski, Humphrey, Tuggle and Van Note are in it. So are Marion Campbell, a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles' 1960 NFL Champions, who served as the Falcons' defensive coordinator (1969-74) and head coach (1974-76, and again 1987-89). So is Alfred Jenkins, a receiver on the late '70s and early '80s Falcons. And so is a notable Jet who came from Georgia, Super Bowl III running back Emerson Boozer. Also in this Hall is the Georgia native who became the greatest Knick of all time, Walt Frazier.
There have been 3 Heisman Trophy winners to play for the Falcons: Pat Sullivan, 1971 Auburn quarterback, 1972-75; Mike Rozier, 1983 Nebraska running back, 1990-91; and Ty Detmer, 1990 Brigham Young quarterback, 2004-05. (UPDATE: In 2022, the Falcons acquired Marcus Mariota, 2014 Oregon quarterback.)
The Falcons might be closer in distance to the Carolina Panthers, now a fellow NFC South team, but their real rivals are the New Orleans Saints, as both of them came into the NFL in the 1960s (the Falcons in 1966 and the Saints in 1967). The Falcons lead the all-time rivalry 51-47, including the only Playoff game between them, in 1991. Of course, the Falcons are 0-2 in Super Bowls, while the Saints are 1-0.
UPDATE: Through the end of the 2018 season, the Falcons now lead 52-48.
Stuff. The Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United Team Store is just inside Gate 2, at the northeast corner. There is also a Team Store at the Mall of Georgia, 3333 Buford Drive NE, in Buford. Bus 413 from Five Points.
With a lackluster history, there aren't many good books about the Falcons, but team owner Arthur Blank and sportswriter I.J. Rosenberg have collaborated on an anniversary feature, Atlanta Falcons: 50 Seasons. Ben Hawkins just published Matt Ryan: A Biography, about their current starting quarterback, although in a week's time, one way or the other, it will be very out of date. Videos detailing the Falcons are hard to come by, although if they win Super Bowl LI, that will change.
During the Game. Atlanta can be a rough city, but unless you're a fan of the Saints or the Panthers, Falcons fans probably won't give you a hard time. Just don't mention the old Mets-Braves rivalry, and you should be fine.
A recent Thrillist article on the NFL's most obnoxious fans ranked Falcon fans 22nd, in the 2nd-least obnoxious quartile:
By
far the least fair-weather of Atlanta's pro sports fans (don’t buy into the
lazy generalization that alllll ATL fans are apathetic), the stadium gets packed, and
it gets LOUD. And despite a relatively futile past dotted with greatness
(Steve Bartkowski. Gerald Riggs. Deion Sanders. 2 Legit 2 Quit. The Dirty
Birds. Arthur Blank's mustache.), you’re still savvy enough fans to recognize
there’s not a whole lot (thanks for nothing, Eugene Robinson) in your 50-year
history to get up in people’s faces about. Unless it’s a Saints fan. In which
case, there’s ALWAYS something.
From September 1 to 7, 2017, during the NFL National Anthem protest controversy,
FiveThirtyEight.com polled fans of the 32 NFL teams, to see where they leaned politically. Despite the natural conservatism of the South, Falcon fans were found to be 2.7 percent more liberal than conservative, although that places them in the more conservative half of NFL fanbases.
The Falcons hold auditions for National Anthem singers, instead of having a regular singer. As far as I know, they don't do what Braves fans do, which is conclude the National Anthem not with " …and the home of the brave" but " …and the home of the Braves!" It's not as dumb as the Baltimore "O! say does that… " but it's bad enough.
The mascot is Freddie Falcon. His golden coloring does not clash with the Falcons' red & black jerseys, of which he wears Number 00.
A good way to have fun would seem to be to find a bar where New Yorkers hang out. Unfortunately, the best ones I could come up with were all outside the city. Hudson Grille (sure sounds like a New York-style name), 6317 Roswell Road in Sandy Springs, is 15 miles north of Five Points. MARTA Red Line to Dunwoody, then transfer to Number 5 bus.
Mazzy's, at 2217 Roswell Road in Marietta, is the home of the local Jets fan club, but it's 20 miles north, and forget about reaching it by public transportation. The club also lists Bada Bing's, at 349 Decatur Street SE, just 1 stop east of Five Points on the MARTA Green Line (fitting), but they claim Mazzy's is their "perfect place." Meehan's Public House is also said to be a Jet fans' hangout. 227 Sandy Springs Place, at the CityWalk shopping center, just outside I-285. MARTA Red Line to Dunwoody, transfer to the 87 bus.
A Facebook page titled "Mets Fans Living In Atlanta" was no help. Your best bet may be to research hotel chains, to find out which ones New Yorkers tend to like.
A recent Thrillist article on the best sports bars in each State listed The Midway Pub as the best in Georgia. It's about 3 1/2 miles east of downtown, at 552 Flat Shoals Avenue SE. Number 74 bus.
If your visit to Atlanta is during the European soccer season, which we are now in, your best bet to watch your favorite club is the Brewhouse Cafe, at 401 Moreland Avenue NE. MARTA Blue Line to Inman Park-Reynoldstown.
Sidelights. When the Thrashers moved to become the new Winnipeg Jets in 2011, it marked the 2nd time in 31 years that Atlanta had lost an NHL team. They still have teams in MLB, the NFL and the NBA, plus an MLS team about to debut, a Division I-A college which has been successful in several sports, the annual Southeastern Conference Championships for both football and basketball, and an annual college football bowl game, the Peach Bowl.
But that doesn't make Atlanta a great sports town. All of their major league teams have tended to have trouble filling their buildings.
UPDATE: On November 30, 2018, a few weeks after I first posted this, Thrillist published a list of "America's 25 Most Fun Cities," and Atlanta came in 9th.
On February 3, 2017, Thrillist made a list ranking the 30 NFL cities (New York and Los Angeles each having 2 teams), and Atlanta came in 18th, in the bottom half. They wrote:
Atlanta's a complicated city that far too many experience only in the form of airport layovers and far too few experience in the form of a coveted Holeman and Finch burger, a pilgrimage to Clermont Lounge, and an inexplicable traffic jam that makes you question whether there's good in the universe.
Here's a listing of some notable Atlanta sites:
* State Farm Arena and site of The Omni: The 19,049-seat State Farm Arena, officially at 1 State Farm Drive NW (the street's name was changed along with the arena's name), has been home to the NBA's Hawks since 1999, and was the home of the NHL's Thrashers from 1999 to 2011. The CNN Center is adjacent to the arena, and the College Football Hall of Fame just to the north of that, at 250 Marietta Street NW.
With the loss of the Thrashers, the nearest NHL team to Atlanta is the Nashville Predators, 247 miles away. Atlanta would be 10th in population among NHL markets, but don't count on them ever getting another team after losing 2 within 31 years.
* Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Home to the Southern Association's Atlanta Crackers in their last season, 1965; to the Braves from 1966 to 1996; to the NFL Falcons from 1966 to 1991; and to the Atlanta Chiefs of the North American Soccer League (Champions 1968) from 1967 to 1973. Known simply as Atlanta Stadium until 1974, it was in what's now the parking lot north of Turner Field.
* Turner Field. The next home of the Braves is at the intersection of Capitol Street SE and Love Street SE, but the official address is 755 Hank Aaron Drive SE. Unfortunately, the MARTA subway doesn't get all that close to Turner Field. To make matters worse, the ballpark is separated from downtown Atlanta by the intersection of Interstates 20 and 75/85, so unless you had a hotel within a 10-minute walk of the ballpark, you weren't going to walk there. the Number 55 bus goes from Five Points Station, the centerpoint of MARTA, to Turner Field.
Turner Field in its original configuration,
as the 1996 Olympic Stadium
Turner Field opened in 1996, as the main venue for the Olympic Games held in Atlanta that year. After the Olympics, the north end was demolished, and replaced with the bleachers and main scoreboards, so that the 85,000-seat track & field stadium could become a proper 50,000-seat baseball stadium.
As seen here, with the outline of the
original configuration still in place at the north end.
The Braves played the 1999 World Series there, and hosted the 2000 All-Star Game. But it never became as treasured as some of the other neo-retro stadiums, such as those in Baltimore, Cleveland and Philadelphia. And, while much of it retained features from Fulton County Stadium (such as the blue fence with the yellow line on top, and the yellow distance markers), the Braves didn't build up the same kind of history there: 10 Division titles to 7, but only 1 Pennant to its predecessor's 4, and no World Championships.
Artist's rendering of the baseball complex
Construction on the converted facility, still with the working name of Georgia State Stadium, began in February, and the 1st Georgia State football game there is set for August 31 of this year.
Artist's rendering of the football complex
* SunTrust Park. The Braves opened their new 41,000-seat ballpark, named for a bank, in 2017, in Cumberland, Cobb County, Georgia. It's in Atlanta's northwestern suburbs. The Braves have tried to justify the move by saying that this is "near the geographic center of the Braves' fan base."
This may be true. But the move also got them out of the majority-black City of Atlanta and into the center of mostly-white, Tea Party-country Georgia. Gee, I wonder if there's a connection, especially now that the famously inclusive Ted Turner no longer owns the team? (Ironically, Tea Party groups have opposed the building of the stadium, citing the taxes that would have to be implemented for it.)
It is northwest of the interchange of Interstates 75 and 285, on Circle 75 Parkway, 13 miles northwest of Five Points. MARTA Gold to Arts Center, then transfer to Number 10 bus. The Braves also use a "circulator" bus system to shuttle fans to and from the stadium. (UPDATE: It was renamed Truist Park in 2020.)
* Hank McCamish Pavilion. The Georgia Institute of Technology (a.k.a. Georgia Tech) has played basketball here at "the Thrillerdome" since 1956. Originally named the Alexander Memorial Coliseum, for legendary football coach Bill Alexander, the building underwent a renovation from 2010 to 2012, funded in large part by a donation from the McCamish family.
* Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field. The oldest stadium in Division I-A college football? It sure doesn't look it, having been modernized several times since its opening over 100 years ago, on September 27, 1913. Dodd, who played at the University of Tennessee and coached at Georgia Tech (first as an assistant to Alexander, then as head coach), is one of only 3 people elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.
The Falcons played a game there on October 5, 1969, against the Baltimore Colts, because the Braves unexpectedly qualified for the 1st-ever National League Championship Series against the Mets, and had dibs on what became Fulton County Stadium. (Atlanta lost both.) Atlanta United played the 1st half of its 1st season at Dodd/Grant until July, before moving into Mercedes-Benz Stadium. MARTA Gold or Red to North Avenue.
In between Grant Field and the Thrillerdome is Russ Chandler Stadium, Tech's baseball facility. Although they've never won a National Championship, the list of players they've sent to the majors leagues includes Marty Marion, Marlon Byrd, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek and Mark Teixeira. 255 5th Street NW.
A few steps away from Grant Field, over the North Avenue Bridge (over I-75/85) at 61 North Avenue NW, highlighted by a huge neon letter V, is The Varsity. No visit to The A-T-L is complete without a stop at The Varsity. Basically, it's a classic diner, but really good. Be careful, though: They want to keep it moving, much like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld and its real-life counterpart The Original Soup Man, and also Pat's Steaks in Philadelphia.
The place has a language all its own, and, when they ask, "What'll you have?", being a Met fan, you do not want to order what they call a Yankee Dog – or a Naked Dog, which, oddly, is the same exact thing: A hot dog whose only condiment is mustard (which hardly makes it "naked," but that's what they call it). Check out this link, and you'll get an idea of what to say and what not to say.
* Site of Ponce de Leon Park. The Southern Association's Atlanta Crackers played at 2 stadiums with this name, from 1907 to 1923, and then, after a fire required rebuilding, from 1924 to 1964. The second park seated 20,000, a huge figure for a minor league park then -- and a pretty big one for a minor league park now.
"Crackers"? The term is usually applied to a poor white Southerner, and is, effectively, black people's response to what we now call "the N-word." It has also been suggested that the term referred to plowboys cracking a whip over their farm animals, or that it was a shortened version of an earlier team called the Firecrackers, or that it comes from the Gaelic word "craic," meaning entertaining conversation, or boasting, or bantering.
The team won a Pennant in 1895, before the 1st ballpark with the name was built. In the 1st park, they won Pennants in 1907, 1909, 1913, 1917 and 1919. In the 2nd, they won in 1925, 1935, 1938, 1945, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1960 and 1962. So, 15 in all. After that 1962 Crackers Pennant, Atlanta would not win another until the Braves finally did it 29 years later. All told, Atlanta has won 20 Pennants.
The park also hosted high school football and the occasional prizefight, including the last fight in the career of Jack Dempsey, in 1940, when he was 45 years old and beat pro wrestler Clarence "Cowboy" Luttrell.
The Southern Association, a Double-A League (since replaced by the Southern League) folded in 1961, rather than accept integrated teams. The Crackers, known (ironically, considering their location) as "the Yankees of the Minors," were accepted into the Triple-A American Association, and remained there until their final season, 1965, before the Braves arrived the next year. That last season, 1965, was played at what became Fulton County Stadium, its 52,000 seats making it the largest stadium ever to regularly host minor-league games, a record that would later be broken by the Denver Bears after Bears Stadium was expanded to 74,000 seats and became Mile High Stadium.
The Midtown Place Shopping Center is now on the site. Unlike the park, and the 1st shopping center that was on the site, before Midtown Place, the magnolia tree has never been torn down. 650 Ponce de Leon Avenue NE. MARTA Gold to North Avenue, then transfer to Number 2 bus.
In 1979, Georgia State University bought the Auditorium, and converted it into their alumni hall, renaming it for alumnus Bill Dahlberg. Courtland Street & Auditorium Place SE. Just 5 blocks east of Five Points, and within walking distance.
* Centennial Olympic Park. Set up as the centerpiece of the city's celebration of the 1996 Olympics, it turned tragic when Eric Rudolph, an anti-abortion and anti-gay rights activist, set off a bomb. There were 113 injuries, including 1 person directly killed, and another who died of a heart attack at the scene. It was also damaged by a tornado in 2008.
Still, the Park hosts the Wendesday WindDown summer concert series, and an annual 4th of July concert and fireworks show. It is bounded on the north by Baker Street (no, Sherlock Holmes doesn't live there), Centennial Olympic Park Drive on the east, and Marietta Street on the west, with the latter 2 forming the point of a triangle so that there is no southern boundary. Same MARTA stop as the stadium and arena.
Morris Brown College, in the Vine City section of Atlanta, won the National Championship for black college football in 1940, 1941 and 1951. But the desegregation of public schools, including colleges, put an end to their success: They dropped to NCAA Division II, got hit with a financial scandal in 2002, and canceled their sports program in 2003.
Albany State University, 180 miles south of downtown in Albany (and not to be confused with the capital of New York State or any college located there), won National Championships for black college football in 2003, 2004 and 2010; and for black college baseball in 2018. It is also renowned for its track and volleyball programs.
Ty Cobb is buried in his family's mausoleum in Rose Hill Cemetery, in his hometown of Royston, 93 miles northeast of Atlanta. It can only be reached by car.
* Non-Sports Sites. There's the Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum, 800 Cherokee Avenue SE, which tells the true story of that fire you saw in Gone With the Wind. At the other end of the spectrum, giving all people their equal due, is the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site at 449 Auburn Avenue NE, which includes the house that was Dr. King's birthplace and boyhood home, the Ebenezer Baptist Church where he and his father Martin Sr. preached, and his tomb. The King Memorial stop on MARTA's Blue and Green Lines serves both the King Center and the Cyclorama.
The Carter Center, housing Jimmy Carter's Presidential Library and Museum, and the Carter Center for Nonviolent Social Change, is at 453 Freedom Parkway. Bus 3 or 16 from Five Points stop on MARTA. The Carters have announced that, unlike most recent Presidents, they will not be buried at their Presidential Library, but rather in their hometown of Plains, 158 miles south of Atlanta.
From 1924 onward, Franklin D. Roosevelt had a retreat at Warm Springs, which became known as the Little White House when he became President in 1933. He died there on April 12, 1945. 401 Little White House Road, 73 miles southwest of Atlanta.
Atlanta also has museums honoring Gone With the Wind author and Atlanta native Margaret Mitchell, Atlanta's native drink Coca-Cola, and Atlanta's native news network CNN. And there's the city's major shopping district, Underground Atlanta, in the Five Points area.
Elvis sang at the historic Fox Theater early in his career, giving 6 shows in 2 days, March 14 and 15, 1956. 660 Peachtree Street NE at Ponce de Leon Avenue. MARTA Gold or Red Line to North Avenue. He topped that from June 22 to 24, giving 10 shows in 3 days (including a personal record 4 on the 23rd -- he was a lot younger then) at the Paramount Theater, next-door to the Loew's Grand Theater, famous for being the site of the world premiere of Gone With the Wind.
Both the Paramount and the Loew's Grand (which burned in a suspected insurance scam in 1978) have been demolished, and replaced by the Georgia-Pacific Tower. John Wesley Dobbs Avenue & Peachtree Street NE. MARTA Gold or Red Line to Peachtree Center.
In addition to the preceding, Elvis played 2 shows at the City Auditorium in Waycross on February 22, 1956. 865 Pendleton Street, 238 miles southeast, actually closer to Jacksonville. He played the Bell Municipal Auditorium in Augusta on March 20 and June 27, 1956. 712 Telfair Street, 148 miles east.
He played 2 shows at the Savannah Sports Arena on June 25, 1956. Since demolished, it stood at 2519 E. Gwinnett Street, 250 miles southeast. He played the Savannah Civic Center on February 17, 1977. 301 W. Oglethorpe Avenue. And he played the Macon Coliseum on April 15, 1972 (2 shows); April 24, 1975; and August 31, 1976 He was supposed to sing there again on April 2, 1977, but his lifestyle was catching up with him, and the show was postponed, and done on June 1. 200 Coliseum Drive, 84 miles south.
He played 2 shows at the Savannah Sports Arena on June 25, 1956. Since demolished, it stood at 2519 E. Gwinnett Street, 250 miles southeast. He played the Savannah Civic Center on February 17, 1977. 301 W. Oglethorpe Avenue. And he played the Macon Coliseum on April 15, 1972 (2 shows); April 24, 1975; and August 31, 1976 He was supposed to sing there again on April 2, 1977, but his lifestyle was catching up with him, and the show was postponed, and done on June 1. 200 Coliseum Drive, 84 miles south.
The Royal Peacock Club was a longtime hotspot for jazz and rhythm & blues. On November 29, 1964, soul singer Sam Cooke gave what turned out to be his last concert there. Now known as the Royal Peacock Lounge, it is billed as "Atlanta's oldest reggae club," in other words a dance club. 186 1/2 Auburn Avenue NE, at Piedmont Avenue, just northeast of downtown and a block north of the Georgia State campus. Bus 3.
Atlanta is the home base of actor-writer-producer-director Tyler Perry, and all his TV shows and movies are set there. The house that stands in for the home of his most famous character, Mabel "Madea" Simmons, is at 1197 Avon Avenue SW, 3 miles southwest of downtown. MARTA Gold or Red Line to Oakland City, then a 10-minute walk north. I think it's a private home, so don't bother whoever lives there. Especially if there's somebody living there who's like Madea.
The most famous TV show set in Georgia was The Dukes of Hazzard. The State in which Hazzard County was located was never specified in the script, but the cars had Georgia license plates, and Georgia State Highway signs could be clearly seen. The first few episodes were filmed in Covington, about 37 miles southeast of Five Points. After returning from a Christmas break from filming in 1978-79, new sets were built in Southern California to mimic a small Southern town's courthouse square.
Years later, the TV version of In the Heat of the Night would also film in Covington. The movie version, like the TV version set in the fictional town of Sparta, Mississippi, was filmed in Tennessee and Illinois, as Sidney Poitier refused to cross the Mason-Dixon Line to film his scenes.
Atlanta has attracted the supernatural, including The Walking Dead, The Vampire Diaries and Teen Wolf. Much of Andy Griffith's ole-country lawyer show Matlock was filmed around the Fulton County Government Center and the State Capitol along MLK Drive, centered on Central Avenue.
But, for the most part, Matlock, like another Atlanta-based show, Designing Women, was filmed in L.A. The house that stood in for Julia Sugarbaker's home on Designing Women, at 1521 Sycamore Street in the show (the address does exist in neighboring Decatur), isn't even in Georgia: It's in Little Rock, Arkansas, hometown of series co-creator and writer Harry Thomason. (His co-creator and writer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason is from Poplar Bluff, Missouri.)
The most famous movie scene ever filmed in Georgia wasn't any scene in Gone With the Wind (that was filmed in Hollywood), but the town square scene in Forrest Gump. That was filmed in Chippewa Square, at Bull and Hull Streets, in Savannah, 250 miles southeast of Atlanta. The bench has been moved to the nearby Savannah History Museum, 303 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Most of the movie was filmed in Beaufort, South Carolina, 42 miles to the northeast, 287 miles southeast of Atlanta, and 71 miles southwest of Charleston.
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Atlanta is an acquired taste, especially for a sports fan. Is it worth going? Put it this way: At the rate the Falcons are going, with a Super Bowl berth and a new stadium, it just might become a better sports city.
If your mission is simply to have a good time in an unfamiliar city, and to "cross one more stadium off your list," then, by all means, go, stay safe, and have fun.
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