Atlanta is a dream come true for those city lovers. There is so much to do here, you could easily spend weeks walking around and not even get to experience everything. For those reasons, I want to jot down my list of 7 amazing things about Atlanta that you should know.
I have personally lived here for over 15 years and know a good bit about the city. Even I have not experienced all that there is to do here. Therefore without delay, Let’s jump into my list of 7 amazing things about Atlanta.
Largest International Airport
Hartsfield Jackson International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world if not the busiest. If you are going on almost any eastern bound international flight out of the U.S. you will leave either out of JFK or Hartsfield International. The airport is just south 10 miles of the city and can easily be reached by taxi, Marta or Uber.
This airport is massive and even is the headquarters for Delta. Half of one side of the main area is almost entirely Delta kiosks and check in stations. The airport also has over 7 terminals and its own international terminal all on its own with different security. On average, around 275,000 passengers fly through this airport daily.
There is a train to take you to all of the different terminals except for the international one. There are over 30,000 parking spaces available for travelers and loved ones picking up or dropping off. In summary, you will always be able to find a spot.
There are over 263 restaurants, concession stations, and shops inside the terminals as well. In addition, the aiport has over 63,000 airline related, ground transportation, restaurant, security, TSA, federal government, and City of Atlanta employees all working to make the structure run smoothly. Annually, the airport generates over $35 billion dollars for the state of Georgia.
One of the best things to do when picking someone up at the airport is just sit and people watch. You will see all types of people, cultures, and outfits in this airport which is awesome!
Largest Aquarium In Western Hemisphere
A great feature of this city is the massive Georgia Aquarium right in the middle of it. Built in 2005, the aquarium is the largest in the western hemisphere. Visitors will need anywhere from 4 – 6 hours to simply see most of fish and get around the building. You can easily spend an entire day here just walking around and imagining swimming with the fish behind the 2-foot thick glass in some areas.
Some cool facts about the aquarium are:
- It is estimated that over 2 million people visit the aquarium each year
- An estimated 170,000 gallons of water is filtered per minute
- The marine life eat around 500,000 pounds of food each year.
Specifically, the Ocean Voyager tank, the largest habitat, holds three-fourths of the aquarium’s water. This tank hold the main attraction, the whale shark. A slow moving conveyor belt moves spectators through a 100-foot glass tunnel under the tank which lets you take some awesome photos from below.
Home Of Coca Cola
The Cola Cola company actually opened its doors first here in Atlanta. This chimes with the fact that there is the Coca Cola Factory here in the city you can visit. Do not worry, it is not a real factory. At this factory, you learn all about the history of coke, taste different sodas from around the world, and enjoy yourself throughout the day!
Coca-Cola’s history stretches all the way back to an Atlanta pharmacist, Dr. John S. Pemberton, who created the soft drink we today call coke! The first glasses of the soda were actually sold for as little as $0.05 per glass. For the first year, sales averaged 9 servings of coke per day in Atlanta. Today, those averages are closer to 2 billion, wow.
Home of Martin Luther King Jr.
Most people do not know this, but Martin Luther Kind Jr. was born right here in Atlanta. He was born on January 15, 1929 at 501 Auburn Avenue which is the home of his maternal grandparents. Martin lived here with his entire family for over 12 years. The home is now a historic land mark and located in the residential section, “Sweet Auburn”.
Additionally, there is a area called “The Kind Center” which was established in 1968 by Mrs. Coretta Scott King. Anyone can come and visit the center and around 1 million people do just that each year. The purpose of the center is to be a living memorial filled with the vitality of Dr. Kind’s life and commitment.
Tallest Escalator In The Southeast
The tallest escalator in Southeast US is in Atlanta which is at the MARTA’s Peachtree Center station, having a height of 192 feet. Besides this landmark, the MARTA is an easy and fast way to get around Atlanta. The tickets to take the train are very cheap and reasonable, so we recommend buying a ticket both ways when you purchase your ticket initially.
Most people in Atlanta will use the MARTA to get to their day jobs around 7:30 to 9:30 am, and again in the evening to get home from 4:30 to around 6:30. On Fridays, the MARTA will be pretty busy most of the evening for people going into the city for the Atlanta Hawks basketball games, Braves baseball games, Atlanta United soccer games, Falcons football games, and the occasional concert. In addition, Marta usually only closes late at night around 1:00 am and reopens around 4:00 am for those people that like to be out all night.
Largest Road Race
The largest 10 kilometer race in the world, with around 45,000 participants, is held annually in Atlanta, Georgia on July 4. The Independence day run, the Peachtree Road Race, has been the largest race in the world since 1970 and continues to this day to host the largest group of runners in the world for a single race. Traditionally there are only 60,000 slots for runners with over 100,000 people applying for the race. There are other ways to qualify for the race, but that for another article.
This event is massive and starts bright and early on July 4. The race will usually start in the part of the city known as Buckhead and continue all the way to Piedmont park in the center of Atlanta with an awesome after party for all of the runners on the field. For the race, you will want to actually take the MARTA since most roads will be blocked off for the huge event. A fun feature for this race is the wheelchair race!
Second Largest Convention Center in the World
The Atlanta Convention Center at America’s Mart is one of the largest convention centers in the world. It is also the newest convention center in Atlanta that opened in 2009 after an expansion project. This convention center is built to host trade shows, association events, meetings, events like comic con, dragon con, and any type of event requiring tons of floor space essentially. Atlanta hosts the busiest international airport in the world, thus making Atlanta a prime spot for such a large event space.
In addition, the center is in the heart of the city around some of the best hotels in Atlanta. The space specifically offers over 500,000 square feet for vendors and events, over 33 massive break out rooms, 100,000 contiguous square feet of space, and luckily, plenty of bathrooms.
