Visiting Atlanta, GA, part 1
One of my articles for New England Celiac now National Celiac.
I was a speaker at the 40th Annual Gluten Intolerance Group Conference May 2014. Atlanta is somewhere I wanted to see, so my husband and I took a few extra days to explore the area. Atlanta's airport is huge and does not have 'user friendly' signage. Walking, train, get your luggage, walking, train, get to rental cars. Then trying to find your way to the airport exit when it's pitch black even with GPS was difficult. Plus we'd been sitting on the tarmac in Baltimore for a long time since Atlanta airport was closed due to storms. And of course no provision made by airline for carrying additional drinks or snacks. Returning to the airport was even worse with roadworks and again poor road signage to rental car return.
Atlanta Aquarium
Reserve a car in advance otherwise you might find yourself with a very poor selection. Even with booking in advance we only had the choice of a tiny car or a huge (gas guzzler) SUV. Since Atlanta is a very busy city, a small car is better for space and parking. AAA has an excellent tour guide and an even better map of the city, clearly showing the major tourist attractions. Most attractions are marked in red and are either side of I 75/85 the main route through the city from the airport. Even with GPS it is easier to use the map to choose a day based on attractions physically near to each other. If you can't get the AAA map, there are free tourist maps available at places in the city. I spent time checking out Trip Advisor for advice. I didn't find either Groupon or Living Social had any deals. www.clatl.com is the web link of the free weekly newspaper with 'what's on, where to go' articles etc. It actually means Creative Loafing and has a lot of useful articles, events, discounts etc. Check it out in advance.
There is an Atlanta City pass available but we didn't use it since it didn't cover attractions we wanted to visit. Be aware that there are 100 streets, avenues and lanes in the metro area that have Peachtree as part of the address, so quite confusing until you catch on.
Moose Sculpture at Manchester NH Airport.
We went to Georgia Aquarium http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/ $34.95 +tax per adult, prices do vary, price listed was 2014. I tried to book online from home. They offer discounts if you do this, but the web site wasn't user friendly. I phoned and booked day of our visit and they charged a fee. They do have automatic ticket booths outside the aquarium which people were using. Parking onsite is extra. Airport-like security checks your baggage. I was somewhat shocked to see signs outside many attractions warning people not to bring in knives, machetes etc. Very comforting! The aquarium is huge and was full of school parties in May. The dolphin show was fun but very Disneyfied with a fantasy musical that distracted from the dolphins. Allow several hours and wear comfortable sneakers. They do have a large cafeteria but mainly high starch meals. Apart from salads, the only (I presumed) gf option that day was plain roast beef and potatoes but servers were blank faced when I said gluten free and had to ask supervisor. So I had roast beef. And yes, we did enjoy the Aquarium , but very different from Boston, far more of a Disney set up. 2015 menu is burgers, fries, pizza, sandwiches and salad bar with no mention of gf.
