Top Things to Do in Atlanta
HOP 1 BEGINS IN ATLANTA
But first…
We did it!! We were now a full-time travel family and ready to start our Hop 1 of traveling the world one hop at a time. Hop 1 will be 2 years of traveling the United States and Canada in a truck (Maximus Prime) and travel trailer (Dutch). During the planning phase of Hop 1, we looked through each state and made a list of places we wanted to see on our way to Maine for a family reunion. We decided to stop at a couple of places on the way. But before we could head out, we had 2 really important items to check off our to-do list: Chris’s retirement from the Air Force and Kiersten’s graduation from high school!!
The End is Only the Beginning
Our journey as Hinton The Trail officially began on May 26, 2019 when Chris retired from the Air Force after 22 years of service. It was a nice ceremony with family and friends and allowed us to say goodbye to the life we knew for so long. Corbin had his last day of 1st grade on the same day and made plans to try to keep in touch with his friends. The next day we packed up the rest of our stuff and headed to Florida. Kiersten’s graduation was Saturday morning and we had quite a drive from our campground in Destin to Pensacola for her ceremony so we wanted to get there early.
Kiersten’s graduation went off without a hitch and we were fortunate to spend the weekend with her and Matt before we started on our journey. This was our last opportunity to see Kiersten as a family because she heads to Hawaii for college in August. We also wouldn’t see Matt again until he came to Maine for his summer break. The day was great and we had a nice brunch, walk around the beach, and raced go-karts in Destin. As we drove away, we thought some very big chapters in our lives ended and marked the beginning of new and exciting ones.
ATLANTA!!
Here we come! We had just a short drive from Florida to Georgia so it was a nice and easy beginning to our journey. We arrived in Atlanta and got settled into our RV park at Stone Mountain Park.
STONE MOUNTAIN PARK
Stone Mountain Park Campground
Stone Mountain Park Campground is not too far from Atlanta. Not only can you explore the park but it’s convenient to lots of things to do in Atlanta. At a little over $54 per night using our Passport America membership, the RV park was a good find. It has sites in the woods overlooking a small lake and each one comes with a firepit and picnic table. Seriously, this was our second ever campground so it impressed us!
The campground is also located inside Stone Mountain Park which surrounds Stone Mountain. It includes a small theme park, golf courses, miles of hiking and nature trails, restaurants, hotels, and lots of history. At over 3-acres in size, Stone Mountain is the largest high relief carving in the world. The sculptors completed it in 1972 after over 56 years of stop and go work. The carving is of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis all astride their horses.
Stone Mountain
Stone Mountain is Georgia’s most-visited attraction and there are a few great ways to experience it. If you don’t want to drive the road, you can take a vintage locomotive that circles the base of the mountain. The 5-mile train ride provides a history of the carving construction and the surrounding landscape. There is also a high-speed Swiss cable car that provides a really nice view of the carving while transporting you to the top of the mountain.
The 360-degree views are amazing from the top as it overlooks Atlanta and many other towns. There is a store with snacks and souvenirs you can visit before your ride or hike down from the summit. Yes, you can hike up, and down, the mountain via a 1-mile path. We chose not to take it because it was 90 degrees outside and the humidity was…well…sucking the life out of us.
Laser Light Show
The park offers a free (if you don’t mind sitting on the ground or bringing your own chairs) 45-minute laser light show. There are vendors for snacks and drinks before you head to the lawn in front of Stone Mountain. Tickets are also available to purchase reserved seats and unlimited popcorn ahead of time. The laser light show is viewed on the carving side of the mountain and varies by season and holiday. The music and lights combine for an awesome experience and it all ends with a fantastic fireworks display. We headed home after the show because we were leaving early in the morning to the Coca-Cola Factory which is a top thing to do in Atlanta!
WORLD OF COCA-COLA
Our World of Coke experience began with a fresh can of Coke and a semi self-guided tour in the Coca-Cola loft. The loft has memorabilia from the beginning of Coke and this is where we got our first taste of Coca-Cola history. After the loft we headed into the main lobby that leads to many different areas. There are a couple of different museums, a bottling plant, the Coca-Cola Polar Bear photo section, and of course, the vault where they keep the secret formula. A wall of Coca-Cola products at the end of one of the museums was surprising to us. We didn’t realize all the drinks that were actually Coke products. We had many of them when we lived and traveled in Asia and Oceania.
After we learned about Coke, it was time to taste more. The drink sampling section offers products from all over the world, separated out by continent. Some of the drinks were quite tasty and others were not. Maybe tastes are different in other parts of the world. One of the drinks tasted like mouthwash!! Our favorite samples were from Asia and Africa as they were sweet and refreshing. Afterward, we made a quick exit through the Coca-Cola store and headed to the Georgia Aquarium to experience another one of the top things to do in Atlanta.
GEORGIA AQUARIUM
Located in Atlanta, the Georgia Aquarium is one of the world’s largest aquariums and houses thousands of animals. It’s almost overwhelming when you enter the lobby because of all the different exhibits to see. A map is definitely a good thing to have so you don’t miss anything. At the entrance, tickets can be purchased for the daily shows. It’s wise to get in line early for the shows as the lines are huge. While they do have enough seating for everyone, the early bird gets the better, drier seats.
A side note for the dolphin show; the first 10 rows are guaranteed wet zones. The rows are labeled and the staff makes every effort to give you opportunities to move. The dolphin and seal/sea lion shows were spectacular with lots of interaction with the crowd and fantastic animal tricks. The animal trainers absolutely did a wonderful job!
With thousands of sea creatures to see and touch, the Georgia Aquarium was a nice, cool part of our day. The tanks were clean, clear, and good-sized. Corbin enjoys the touch pools and we finally were able to catch the stingrays when they weren’t on a break. The aquarium ensures the sea creatures don’t get too overstimulated by little hands and gives them regular breaks. We’ve been to a lot of aquariums and this is the first one where we’d seen them do that.
FERNBANK MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Commercial?
Another top thing to do in Atlanta is to go to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. The museum was a gem that we found on our last day in Atlanta. Somehow after we purchased our tickets, the staff picked us out of a crowd and asked to be in a commercial. This was our chance at fame so of course, we said YES!!! Chris and Corbin each had an extensive makeup and hairstyling session while Suzannah only needed a quick touch up. After that, it was lights, camera, action!
This was our first television appearance so we were excited and a little bit nervous. Would we fail astronomically? Would they cut us from the final product? We had nothing to be worried about because they just wanted us to look extremely interested in the dinosaurs and trilobites. Who doesn’t love dinosaurs, trilobites, and history? Once our part of the filming was complete, we were free to head out and explore.
Other Exhibits
With life-sized dinosaurs and 75-acres of outdoor exhibits, science and nature, we had quite a bit of walking to do. It was an enjoyable experience. There are plenty of hands-on activities for children so Corbin was happy. After exploring the inside we decided to end our day with a walk through the woods along their many paths. And while it is a beautiful area we highly recommend going in the spring or fall as the heat of summer can take a bit of the fun out of it. Regardless, what a great way to end our day in Atlanta.
The walk was our last experience in Atlanta as we planned to head out the next day for a 2-day drive to Luray, Virginia with a short stopover in Mount Airey, North Carolina. It was an amazing few days experiencing the top things to do in Atlanta and a good start to Hop 1 as Hinton the Trail and our journey as a full-time travel family.
Hop On! Don’t miss our next adventure.
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