Home & Away with Robert Walshe
Holiday Hotspot – Atlanta Georgia
Atlanta may be known for its busy airport but there’s much more to it. Since hosting the 1996 Summer Olympics, the city has been on the radar for visitors. Of particular attraction is its arts and culture scene, flourishing with young crowds, museums, cafés and bars. Visit Buckhead in affluent uptown with tree-lined streets, mansions and luxury hotels drawing tourists to its upscale shops. Ponce City Market in the old fourth ward is one of the most talked about developments with many bars and restau-
Inside CNN Tour.
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rants. www.atlanta.net The High Museum of Art located in Midtown has an extensive collection of 19th and 20th-century American art as well as a significant amount of European artwork on display. There is a growing collection of African American art and increasing collections of modern and contemporary art. The High is also dedicated to supporting and collecting works by Southern artists. www. high.org. The historic Martin Luther King site commemorates the life, work and legacy of the Civil Rights leader. www.
thekingcenter.org Piedmont Park is Atlanta’s Central Park while Centennial Olympic Park has transformed itself into a year-round venue, hosting everything from marathons to pop concerts while in winter, you can get your skates on at the ice rink. Nearby the “ World of CocaCola” celebrates the history and culture of Coke and is especially fun for those visiting with children. Expect a vast collection of neon signs, fridges, advertising signs, cars and vintage posters on display. One of the best parts comes at the end of the tour where you can sample Coca-Cola products from all around the world. www. worldofcoca-cola.com CNN offers visitors a chance to see news in the making in its behind-the-scenes tour. Start off by stepping into a room that simulates CNN’s main control room and get a glimpse into what goes into creating a real news broadcast. Attendees will also get to learn about all of those special effects and how they work, like the weather map. Your tour also includes a glimpse of the newsroom, where you can potentially catch part of a live newscast. www.cnn.com/tour Atlanta offers plenty of variety in terms of lodgings.
Atlanta Skyline.
Travel & Leisure Magazine ranks the Four Seasons as one of its favourite hotels, saying it represents “old-school opulence with a southern flourish.” The hotel occupies the first 19 floors of the 50-story high-rise, where earth tones and polished woods set a relaxed elegance in the 244 rooms and suites. All guest rooms boast city views and some have terraces. www.fourseasons. com The Delta Flight Museum traces the development of commercial aviation. It has displays and exhibits filled with hundreds of artefacts, many of which have never been on public display. The collection has five historic aircraft, including a Travel Air 6B Sedan similar to the one that operated Delta’s first passenger flight in 1929, and The Spirit of Delta, a Boeing 767 bought for the company by
employees in 1982. Also on display is a DC-3, Ship 41 that flew for Delta and was restored by Delta employees and volunteers. The museum features a 117-seat theatre and a 30-seat conference room located inside the fuselage of an L-1011 TriStar aircraft. Visitors also can pilot a Boeing 737-200 full-motion simulator, the only one open to the public in the U.S., formerly used to train Delta pilots. www.deltamuseum. org Delta airlines also fly daily from Dublin to Atlanta. For great fares visit www.delta.com My preferred car rental company on this trip was Hertz & pick up is available at the International airport. www.hertz.ie Robert Walshe is a travel broadcaster with Q Radio in Northern Ireland. He is also Travel Editor for River Media newspaper titles across the island of Ireland. www.robertwalshe.com