Downtown ATL

On Saturday afternoon James and I went up to Atlanta, to spend a few hours. We wanted to figure out a few different stations on the MARTA system, because we decided it would be easier and cheaper to go to the Falcons or Hawks games this season on the train instead of driving our car into all that traffic. We live on the airport side of Atlanta, where the MARTA train runs to on the south line, but we went up to the next station, which as you can see by the photos of the planes overhead is still extremely close to the airport. We chose to catch the MARTA at the College Park station, because we can get there without ever getting on the interstate, and the parking is free. We rode it into downtown, to the Peachtree Center station, and walked a few blocks north to have dinner.



We ate at Max Lager's, where I had a pizza and James had a filet, and we shared fried cheesecake (one of my favorite desserts!). All of their entrees, including the pizza, is prepared on a wood-fired grill. They also have their own brewery there at the restaurant, and James tried a few of their different beers, some of which have not only won awards but have been voted the best beer in Atlanta. I'm sure this place isn't a secret, but it was a nice find for us, and we enjoyed their food and the atmosphere of a more upscale sports bar. We kept our eyes on several TV sets watching Tiger, the Falcons, and the Braves all at once. James checked out the upstairs to find a few pool tables, but we didn't stay and play. We said we would definitely go and eat there again.

We walked around downtown for a bit, it was very pleasant weather (see the sky in the photos above and below) and not too crowded in that area of the city. But we didn't really want to be out on the streets that night, so we headed south on our walk to Underground. Now, I know Underground is a really overly-hyped tourist attraction in Atlanta, but if you are coming here for a visit, don't waste your time- there are way too many other places to see. I've been there plenty of times in past years as a tourist, but as a resident I would tell people to cross it off their list.

We only went there Saturday night because they have several penny machines, and we needed those designs in our elongated penny collection. And, that will be the station we will be using when we go to the football and basketball games- just a few blocks of walking to get to the Georgia Dome and Phillips Arena, although we could switch trains to ride it all the way if we need to. So we wanted to check it out first without the gameday crowds. That part of town was still extremely crowded for just a normal Saturday night, and we didn't stay any longer than we had to in order to map out the vicinity. We've been to games at the Georgia Dome before, but not since becoming residents of the area, so we decided it was a nice night and a perfect time to do a little investigating. And a little eating!