Sightseeing In Atlanta

On the Peachtree Trolley Tour

I get up at 7.40 am after realising I’m not going to sleep any longer. I had woken up after about 3 hours but managed to get back to sleep. So about 6 hours sleep was not too bad.

Turning my phone on I’m greeted with the news that my four hour Atlanta city sightseeing tour has been cancelled because I’m the only one on it. They have however offered me the 90 minute version at 10.30 am, so I call them up to accept that. It turns out the two tours do the exact same route. Huh? Sammy at Peachtree Trolley explains that the tour I booked had a two hour lunch stop somewhere along the route. I replied that this was not made clear when I booked it (and probably wouldn’t have if I knew). Sammy agreed with me that their website needed to be clearer.

I told her that I had arranged to go to a pickup point just up the road from the hotel for the longer tour. She then offered to come and pick me up in a buggy and drive me to the tour’s start point. My new problem for later is that I will now have two hours to kill before I visit the Georgia Aquarium at 2 pm.

Before that, I go downstairs for breakfast. It’s a buffet but a bit limited. However I manage to find some fruit, yoghurt and juice then return to my room after eating.

Later, I go downstairs again and wait outside, and Sammy duly arrives. We arrive at the tour bus and when I get on, it is nearly full. The tour is good. A guide, KT, adds a good commentary as we are driven around by Luther. Frankly there is not a lot to see in central and downtown Atlanta. The tour takes us into districts surrounding downtown, some of which – for America – have lots of old-ish period homes. One place we stop at is The King Center. Or to give it its full title: The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent and Social Change. This is the official memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Despite my comments, it is definitely worth taking the tour if you’re in downtown Atlanta. After the tour and back at the start point, I call the Aquarium. After a lot of haggling I persuade the operative to change my 2 pm entry time to right now, just after noon. The Aquarium is literally across the street from the tour bus, so I’m soon inside after a couple of minutes walk. It’s a nice, sunny warm day with clear blue skies.

Georgia Aquarium

The Aquarium used to be the world’s biggest but it is now third. However it is still the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Some of the water tanks are astonishingly huge. There are many tanks, housing sharks, beluga whales, rays, sea otters and lots, lots more sea life. Information boards explain the exhibits and some have staff members giving a commentary. Overall, it is extremely impressive and well worth a visit. I spent about 2½ hours in there.

I come out into the bright sunshine and 79º F / 26º C heat. It is 3 pm and I have nothing to do other than walk back to the hotel, albeit via the Olympic Centennial Park built for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. There is however the World of Coca-Cola exhibit and museum opposite the Aquarium. I walk over to it but it is $26 to get in and after checking TripAdvisor reviews, the consensus is mixed. Some say if you’re a Coke fan, go. Others say that if you’re not, it’s just a glossy marketing exercise likely to bore you. Being in the latter non-fan category, I decide to give it a miss.

Olympic Centennial Park

I cross the road and enter the Centennial Park.

It’s very nicely designed and planted out. There are some ‘exhibits’ in a few places such as the Fountain of Rings interactive fountain, the Hermes Towers and various “Quilts”. I have no idea why these spaces are named like that but there is a Quilt of Olympic Spirit saluting the 10,000 athletes who participated in the 1996 Games, plus Quilts of Remembrance, Dreams, Nations and Origins. The Park is a nice oasis in the heart of Atlanta.

Dinner at Meehan’s Public House

Back in my hotel room around 3.45 pm, I get ready for tomorrow, start my diary off and do some leisure reading. At 7.30 pm I walk up Andrew J Young International Boulevard for a couple of blocks, turn right into Peachtree Street and arrive at Meehan’s Public House.

Sitting at the bar, barman Andy hands me a menu and helps select a beer, Slap Fight IPA from Monday Night Brewing. The place is busy all evening. There’s a Braves game on TV but I can’t see it very well from my seat. For some reason Andy couldn’t get the Braves game on one of the TVs over the bar. I can’t be bothered to move seats. The Braves lose 6-1.

I have a Chicken BLT sandwich which is very nice. I try another beer, not that the first was bad, but just to sample something else. This time it’s Creature Comforts Brewing Co.’s Tropicália American IPA. Again, it is very good. I’m obviously still adjusting to the time zone difference and remain vigilant to manage my food and drink intake so as not get bloated by eating or drinking too much.

“The Bitch Is Back” *

I leave Meehan’s around 10.20 pm with the intention of a nightcap back at the hotel bar. But when I arrive the bar is empty. A lady then appears and tells me she shut the bar at 10 pm. I point out the prominent sign on the wall saying it closes at 11 pm. She tries to ignore me but eventually – and very grudgingly – asks me what I want. A large Jim Beam appears after which she disappears again.

Suddenly around 10.45 pm there is an influx of mostly very young ladies, almost all very scantily dressed for some reason. Some head straight into the elevators but others enter the bar area. The bitch of a bar lady appears again: “I’ve closed the bar” she announces to all the arriving ladies. There is, I can tell, great disappointment at this from what I have discerned are concert go-ers. The artist they saw is called Tate McRae. It’s a Gen Z thing apparently. I’ve never heard of her.

By now hordes of the pretty – and some not so pretty – young things arrive back in the hotel, many wearing T-shirts of their heroine. The problem now is that over the half an hour or so I sit there draining my Jim Beam, the Bitch At The Bar turns away probably over 20-or-so ladies who want a drink – all when it should still be open.

Talk about a missed revenue opportunity and piss-poor customer service. I’m sure more than one of the ladies must have seen the opening hours sign that I did. Not my problem though. I finish my drink and head up to bed.

* The Bitch Is Back by Elton John