Atlanta, Georgia is a peach

Where we Stayed:

Atlanta Marriott Marquis: We were here for a conference and were upgraded to an executive suite at the beginning and ending days of our personal stay to match what we were given for the business days. When we first arrived it was in the middle of a History Bee competition and the place was crawling with children. Forget about getting into the pool or finding a deck chair. Later in the week it was back to mostly adults and there was plenty of seating at the pool. Unfortunately, the pool bar is open only on weekends, which means we had to walk back and forth to Velocity for refreshments. The pool water is cold. Very cold. Shockingly so. The suite itself was phenomenal, especially the floor to ceiling views. The only things I would change: add a microwave to the kitchen; add more shelves or drawers for clothing; fix the shower door in the primary bathroom so that it doesn’t sound like its about to crack in half whenever its opened or closed.

What we Did:
Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta: MLK, Jr. was senior pastor here in the 60’s. There’s a running tape of his sermons playing during visiting hours. There was also a great museum for kids front and center, engaging them immediately upon entering.
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site: There are actually three parts to this site: MLK’s childhood home, the church where he preached, and the memorial site where he’s buried. It’s beautifully done.
Krog Street Market: A converted industrial building filled with unique shops, food, and brewery.
Ponce City Market: A collection of high-end shops, restaurants and a roof-top winery.
Georgia Aquarium: This is a very well done aquarium and the flow through each of the exhibits was easy to follow. It wasn’t crowded on the day we went, so we were able to spend the entire day seeing everything and even doing some of the interactive features.
DTour: From Civil War to Civil Rights: Lou didn’t have a lot of free time on this trip, so we started it off with an intense and personalized tour for just the two of us. Our guide drove us all over the city to share with us the history of the town dating from the civil war to current times. I highly recommend this tour as our guide was knowledgeable not just about history, but also about local politics, architecture, and the people and culture of this area.
Atlanta Site-Seeing Bus Tour: This was your typical big tour on a greyhound-like bus with lots of other passengers. It was five hours long, and having already had the personalized tour the day before, could have done with less time. We met at the Peachtree Center, and from there were driven around the city while our tour guide gave us the run-down on what we were seeing. They made a couple of stops so we could get out and shop, and one stop for lunch at the CNN Food Court. If I hadn’t already had a much better tour the day before, I would have been satisfied with this one.
Piedmont Park: This is a 185 acre park that’s part of the Botanical Garden. Lots of stuff happening here usually, though there wasn’t anything going on while we were there.
Oakland Cemetery: This is a very old and storied cemetery and beautifully maintained. They even give tours on weekends as they have some famous (and infamous) people buried here.
Peachtree Center: It was under construction while we were there, so not many shops were opened. I did, however, score a comfy pair of shoes and a backpack purse.
Historic Fourth Ward Park: We walked here from our hotel, which I definitely don’t recommend doing after dark. The renovation of the park and the lots around it were really well done. There’s lots of things going on there on weekends and has a lovely bike path you can catch from here.
CNN Studio: We stopped here as part of the bus tour to have our lunch. The food court has something for everyone, including a couple of souvenir shops.
Atlanta Botanical Garden: I think this was one of my favorite days. On a whim I decided to walk over from my hotel (which I don’t recommend unless you don’t mind walking miles and miles before you even get to the garden). This was my first (and only) experience at a garden that spent so much time and money creating exhibits of fantasy creatures out of plants. I walked the entire park and around every turn you had to pay close attention or you’d miss something spectacular. 
Southern Company Energy Innovation Center: We got to see an augmented reality display of smart cities technology. Southern Company designed and built two smart neighborhoods served with micro grids, and will be breaking ground soon on doing the same with townhomes. 

Where we Sipped and Supped:
High Velocity: Where I had my very first Georgia Peach Martini made with Fruitland Augusta Peach Vodka
Atlanta Grill (AG): We elected to eat on the balcony as it was a nice evening. I don’t recommend it as it was noisy from all the street traffic and the exhaust smell stole some of the pleasure of my filet with truffle fries and asparagus.
Sear: We had cocktails here one night and dinner with Lou’s colleagues the next night. We shared a scallop appetizer, both of our salads were way over dressed, and my BBQ shrimp and grits was greasy. Lou said his lamb was on-point.
The BarrelHouse: We had lunch here after touring the innovation center on our last day in town. It looked like a newish restaurant that catered to the local college kids. I had a half BLT and spinach salad and Lou had BBQ sliders and Caesar salad.
Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint: Not just for eating southern comfort food, but also for listening to blues and jazz. We came here twice. The first time we just had a cocktail and dessert while listening to the Splitz Band (motown, funk, & R&B). The second time we started with a Down South Moon Shine cocktail and the Southern Starter (tomatoes and okra). I had the fried chicken with southern mac n’ cheese and black eyed peas while Lou had the fish & chips with steak fries and collard greens. The band that night was the Soul Sultans.
Park Tavern: This is located at the far end of Piedmont Park at the Meadow and adjacent to the Atlanta Beltline Trail. We walked there after one of Lou’s long days where I had a peach belini martini while people watching. It has a more formal dining space inside, but on the backside facing the park is a huge covered space for informal dining. The night we were there seemed to be popular for dogs as there were several of them accompanying their people and their friends.
Murphy’s Restaurant: After one of Lou’s long days we wanted to eat somewhere at least 20 minutes from the hotel so he could get away from work. We called a cab and asked him to take us somewhere yummy and we’d walk back. This is where he dropped us. He did good, and the walk back through a lovely little neighborhood was nice.
Pacific Rim Bistro: This is a trendy Asian-fusion restaurant near our hotel that we weren’t planning to try because it was always crowded … and trendy. We ended up going there anyway as guests of one of Lou’s colleagues. The sushi was good, but not a good as the stuff we get from a traditional sushi place near our home.
Gibney’s Pub: How could I say no to $3.00 fireball shots and complimentary dried chickpeas?
Ray’s in the City: The horseradish grouper was a unique dish.
Jia Szechuan Food & Bar: First sake bomb I’ve had in awhile. We had the steamed dumpling, spicy pheasant noodles and dan-dan noodles. I think we over-ordered for just the two of us.