Atlanta, Georgia

The gravesite and museum of Martin Luther King Jr. on Auburn Street.

The President Carter Library and Visitors' Center

The fantastic multi-million-dollar homes in Buckhead

What are you into? Hard to give advice without knowing what sorts of diversions you prefer. There are some fine, swingin' clubs in the city, too.

Perhaps a swingin' club if we sneak out from our kids for an hour... We'll be travelling w/a 15 yr old, 2 8 yr olds, a 7 yr old, and a 9 month old baby... A-A historical sites and art would be very interesting to us since 3 of the kids are part black, so MLK's gravesite is an excellent choice (15 yr old just came by and was quite approving of that one. ) We'll be getting off a plane in late afternoon, have to be on another one at 8 AM the following morning... Free entertainment is good, especially if it's near a good but cheap family style restaurant. We'll be looking for a hotel to stay at, centrally located to the airport. How far away is Auburn Street?

Auburn Street is in the so-called Downtown section of Atlanta. The city is kind of weird in that it has three distinct urban centers -- Downtonw, Midtown and Buckhead. The Downtown section isn't all that far from the airport, a matter of six or seven miles, I'd estimate. Most of what you want to see -- with the exception of the art museum -- would probably be in the downtown area. You can visit the Coca Cola world headquarters, which has guided tours, as well as the CNN HQ, ditto. Those would both be of interest to a teen-ager, I should think. Ask anyone to direct you to Atlanta Underground. It's not what you might think. It's a very interesting submerged shopping mall. BTW, the Ebeneezer Baptist Church, where M.L. King Sr. preached, and the M.L. King Jr. birthplace are all within walking distance of the gravesite. That's all Downtown.

Midtown, up Peachtree Street, is the movie theater where Gone With the Wind premiered and the hotel where Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh stayed for the premiere. Buckhead is way the hell further up that same street. Easiest way to get there is on MARTA, the Atlanta sybway system. You can't get lost on it as it has only two branches, which intersect at Five Points downtown. You can take the MARTA from the airport, in fact, if you don't have too much luggage to lug.

Incidentally, I am not an Atlantan, but have visited there a couple of times and find it a very firendly city. Perhaps a local will find this thread and give you better information.

While the downtown is close to the airport, it can sometimes take a long time to get between those two points (especially at rush hour which is most of the day). There is public transit from the airport to downtown. ATL is a big, spread-out city. Within downtown I'd take cabs when you can.

Not only is MLK Jr.'s grave site in ATL, but a museum dedicated to his life is there, too. I wish I could think of swinging places..... but I'm coming up with only the names of rock clubs.

I second the suggestions already made by the previous posts, but would also include the following:
CNN Studio Tour
Coca Cola Museum
Margaret Mitchell House Museum (Gone with the Wind)
The Atlanta Zoo (panda)
Atlanta Botanical Garden
The Cyclorama next to the Atlanta Zoo.
The Atlanta History Center
High Museum of Art
and if you have time, don't miss Historic Stone Mountain Village.

There are plenty of good restaurants in Buckhead.

I'm afraid you'll have to spend a couple more days in Atlanta - well worth it.

Hi, c.i.

In all modesty, I did mention both the Coca Cola and CNN tours.

which part? Just curious....

Definitely recommend the High Museum of Art. They had an exhibit called the Quilts of G's Bend that, if still there, would be worth a look IMO. The Coke museum gets good reviews but I've never been. For the kids, you must go to the new Aquarium which is right next to the Children's museum and Centennial Olympic Park. I haven't done any real partying here in Atlanta, so no recommendations there, but you can ask around when you get here. Midtown has good restaurants. I think Buckhead is a good place for partying. Enjoy our fair city!

MA, You'll have to forgive this old geezer with a short memory (long memory too, but that's another topic).