8 = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
COVERSTORY
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2002
Here,There & Everywhere
Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park is a place many Georgians visit to escape city life. The park was built especially for the 1996 Olympic Games and encompasses 21 acres.
Contributed art
The Kansan's guide to U.S. travel
From coast to coast, the United States is rich in cultural, historical and educational activities—and lots of super cool places to visit. For students planning a vacation in the coming months, The University Daily Kansan correspondents have compiled a list of America's greatest cities—here, there and everywhere.
Lauren Beatty, Kansan special section editor
Atlanta, Georgia
Fast-paced city life meets the distinguished charm of southern hospitality in Atlanta, and a Waffle House is around every corner.
A flight from Kansas City to Atlanta is two to three hours long, and driving time from Lawrence to Atlanta is between 14 to 15 hours, including the one-hour time change.
Before touring Atlanta, be prepared for its rather confusing setup. The word peachtree is in more than 50 streets names, including the most famous street, profoundly named Peachtree Street. Unlike most major cities, Atlanta is not built on a grid pattern. Many roads change names several times within a few miles. But, if travelers are still confused, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority is accessible throughout the city.
In downtown Atlanta one of the most popular attractions is the World of CocaCola. This three-story pavilion allows visitors to sample a taste of the soft drink's world-wide history that began in Atlanta more than 110 years ago. Visitors can witness a re-enactment of an old-time soda jerk and taste Coke products not sold in the United States. Domestic brands of Coke are also available for unlimited consumption. Even Tab, the first major diet cola, popular in the 1980s, is available to sample in its original form.
For football or baseball fans, Turner Field and the Georgia Dome are within walking distance of the Coke pavilion. Also within walking distance are the Georgia capitol building, CNN Center, Martin Luther King, Jr. History Center and Underground Atlanta.
Underground Atlanta, a six-block three-level shopping center, is only one of the memorable areas of historic Atlanta after its devastation during the Civil War before the city was rebuilt. Underground Atlanta is one of Georgia's most popular
attractions. It provides live music, various forms of art and entertainment and namebrand stores, as well as stores with an authentic Atlanta feel.
"Underground's the place to be," Stone Mountain, Ga., freshman Ty Green said. "That's where all the tourists come in and do their shopping. It's kind of like the Mecca of the center of Atlanta."
The Atlanta experience cannot be complete without getting a bite to eat at the city's most famous restaurant, The Varsity. Created in 1928, The Varsity now exists as the world's largest drive-in restaurant, holding as many as 600 cars and 800 people inside. With fresh food daily, fast-paced, efficient and hospitable service and a lingo all of its own, The Varsity can only be fully understood from a personal experience. While there, make sure to order The Varsity's famous onion rings and a frosted orange drink, and don't forget to pick up a souvenir from its gift shop.
"It's a totally different kind of atmosphere," Green said. "The food is not the healthiest, but it draws in people from out of town all the time. Getting some greasy food is sometimes good."
Green recommends a chili dog, onion rings and a chocolate malt.
For those who want to experience Atlanta during the Civil War, the Atlanta
Cyclorama is the place to go. Located in historic Grant Park, minutes from downtown and next to Zoo Atlanta, the Cyclorama is home to the world's largest painting, which depicts the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864. Visitors view a documentary of the Atlanta Campaign narrated by James Earl Jones. The 358-foot painting, which wraps around a circular room, is viewed as a guide points out events portrayed in the painting.
Visitors wanting to see antebellum mansions will be disappointed, because they no longer exist in Atlanta. They burned down during the burning of Atlanta by the Union Army. More Civil War artifacts and authentic southern heritage can be found in the nearby cities of Marietta, Roswell and Kennesaw.
Sixteen miles east of downtown is another of Georgia's popular attractions. Stone Mountain, exposing 25 million square feet of granite, is the largest face of exposed granite in the world, as well as the largest Confederate memorial sculpture. Carved on the north face of the mountain are three Confederate war heroes riding on horseback: Robert E. Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and Jefferson Davis.
Unlike Mount Rushmore, visitors can
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