October 2023
I was in Georgia for six days: three days in Atlanta and three days in Alpharetta. There will not be an Alpharetta blog because I did not have time to explore. The two places I know in Alpharetta is Top Golf & The Avalon shopping area. Alpharetta is a nice suburban area and is located 45 minutes north from Atlanta.

Now onto Atlanta… I think 2.5 days to 3 days is enough to explore Atlanta. My good friend, Nick, visited me for two of the days so that was nice to have some company! I have listed things to do/eat below in alphabetical order. 

Where did I stay?
I stayed at the Marriott Atlanta Marquis hotel and I am not sure if I would recommend it.
-The workers at the welcome desk were not as friendly nor informative
-We had to wait a while at the desk for a bellhop worker to store our bags since we had an early arrival
-We called for extra items for the hotel room and they took super long to answer the phone and deliver
-My card access got denied on one of the days
-On top of that, the wifi did not work for any of the days we were there…thank god for our strong cellular data

Besides the negatives, the positive things about the hotel:
-It was near all of the major sightseeing
-Pool was amazing (and empty the time I swam!)
-The room was on a very high floor so the view was nice

If you do stay here, I hope you have a better experience than I did! If I do come back to Atlanta, I would not stay in downtown, because there was nothing “near” it, besides tall buildings. The nearest sightseeing is about 15-20 minute walk away. I think I would stay in Midtown if I ever visit Atlanta again.

How to get around Atlanta?
I ubered and walked everywhere in Atlanta. Believe it or not, the first day I landed at 4:30am EST (which is 1:30am PST), I rested a bit, and then went sightseeing ALL DAY. I walked 42,000+ steps which is 16+ miles!! I have never walked that much in a day in my entire life!! It was a new record ha! Anyway, it was easy to catch an uber/lyft. If you want to rent a car, that could work too, but may be hard to find parking! Also, I thought traffic was bad in CA…but wow, to get from Atlanta to Alpharetta and back (especially during rush hour) was madness! 

How was the weather?
The first day in Atlanta, it was warm and humid, partly cloudy. After that, the rest of the days in Atlanta and Alpharetta, it was cloudy and cold! Around 50-60ish degrees.

Things to Do/See
Atlanta Sign
Centennial Olympic Park
Flight Club
Georgia Aquarium
Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park & Home
Mercedes Benz Stadium
Peachtree Center
Piedmont Park
Ponce Market/Belt Line
World of Coca Cola

Things to Eat/Drink
26 Thai Kitchen & Bar
Botiwalla
Five Places Inn
Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken
Red Door Tavern
Red Phone Booth
Rose & Rye
Thirty

Things to Do/See
Atlanta Sign
A quick stop to see the Atlanta sign mural. It is located on the side of STATS restaurant at 300 Marietta St. This is near the Georgia Aquarium.

Centennial Olympic Park
A cute little park to pass by and see the olympic rings statue! Fun fact! Atlanta was the host city for the 1996 Summer Olympics!

Flight Club
This place is more of a bar, but super fun, because they have darts! So, this is a good place to go on a date, with friends, etc. I scored TWO BACK-TO-BACK bullseyes! The first one, I did not get on video, but I did take a photo with my bullseyes. Then, I asked my coworker to record me on my next round, and what were the odds that I scored another bullseyes on video!! I wish I could attach the video, but here is a photo of my 2nd bullseye. Look at my huge smile haha!

Georgia Aquarium
This was probably my favorite sightseeing in Atlanta. I love anything that has to do with water and the ocean. This is the biggest aquarium in the U.S.! I understand that the animals should be free out in the ocean, but the Georgia aquarium is a nonprofit committed to inspiring awareness and preservation of our ocean and aquatic animals worldwide. I was here for three hours and I could have spent almost the entire day reading every single little thing and just stare at the beautiful fishes. Can you believe there are TWO WHALE SHARKS and three HUGE manta rays, five beluga whales in this aquarium?! This aquarium was big…but honestly, I think it should be bigger! I went on a weekday morning around 9:30am and it did not get pack until 11:00am. I would recommend visiting on a weekday rather than the weekend. There is a section with a LARGE glass tank and it was so calming and relaxing. They also have a food court there as well. Tip: buy your ticket online a day or so beforehand to save $5! I would definitely go here again.

Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park & Home
Both of these places were free and had no fee. I would recommend to do the MLK Jr. house tour first because that is limited. I was in awe that I was INSIDE MLK Jr.’s home. The tour itself was about 10-15 minutes. They also had a gift shop next door too. Then, head over to the MLK Jr. national historic park/site to learn and read more about history. I said I could spend almost the entire day at the Georgia Aquarium…but I could have easily spent the entire day at MLK Jr.’s national historic site. There was so much information to read and soak in of what he has done in the past. What an amazing leader.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Nick and I watched the Falcons game here! It is Nick’s favorite team. The stadium was very nice, but not going to lie, the field looked way smaller in person than on TV. The Falcons played the Washington Commanders that day and the rivalry between both teams were respectful. No one was rowdy which I appreciated. We need to know how to agree to disagree in a kind and respectful way when it comes to sports, politics, heated discussions, etc. We sat in Section 225 and the seats were not bad at all!! You can see almost everything (if you have good vision, LOL). There were two minutes left of the game, and we moved about few rows down and the seats were even better! Too bad the Falcons lost but we still had a great experience. Another thing about the stadium is that the food was SO cheap!! Pizza & water were $3, chicken tenders & fries were $6, bbq nachos were $10, and drinks were from $8-15. So cheap compared to other stadiums and venues!

Peachtree Center
This was two blocks away from the hotel and it is a center with some shops and lots of restaurants (moreso with ToGo style). This area was filled with people who work in downtown Atlanta. I saw a lot of people in their business outfits who grabbed a quick lunch here. Tip: if you did not bring your portable charger, you can charge it here. There were many plugs and outlets for that.

Piedmont Park
The weekend I came to Atlanta was Pride Weekend so I wanted to check out Piedmont Park (otherwise, I would have not went here, because the weather was not as nice). Pride in Atlanta is huge! There was a large grass area with music, and people with canopies, tables, lawn chairs, music, games, all hanging out and celebrating Pride. It felt like I was at Coachella parking lot! Then, there was a walkway with over 50+ companies representing and celebrating Pride and had a lot of giveaways. It was super fun as an ally! I loved the spirit! I am sure on a regular & sunny day, a lot of people would have a picnic and/or, even go for a walk/run.

Ponce Market
A huge building filled with restaurants and shopping! This place reminded me of Time-Out in Boston. I think this place may be more fun at night! They also have a rooftop area with mini golf, etc. but you have to pay to go up there. At the top of the building, there is the “Belt Line”, which is a long walkway to/from Piedmont Park. You can walk, bike, or take a Lime scooter.

World of Coca Cola
This place is a very touristy area…but I guess it is a “must” do if you care about these type of attractions. John Pemberton, a pharmacist, created the syrup for coca cola in Atlanta! This cost $21.00 and you can stay for however long you like. The first section takes you on a quick tour of all of the different signage of coca cola around the world, then you go into a theatre room and watch a quick commercial, then you are free to roam wherever you like. They had a 3D theatre, a vault room, a scent discovery room, milestone room, the tasting room, and ofcourse, the giftshop. The tasting room was my favorite part, because we tasted many different beverages around the world! It was super fun, but super crowded! I do not drink soda anymore and it was a lot of sugar and I was BLOATED from drinking the beverages so fast.

Things to Eat/Drink
26 Thai Kitchen & Bar
I was craving for some soup and this was nearby and it was a good restaurant! The vibes were intimate and classy. The basil fried rice was SPICY. I really enjoyed the tom yum soup the most.

Botiwalla
This restaurant is located in the Ponce Market and I got the lamb boti kabab roll and it was delicious! It was probably my favorite food out of my entire Atlanta trip ha.

Five Places Inn
This bar was cool, because it was a two sided bar. One side was had a place to sit and drink, and the other side was a dance floor and you can also order drinks here too. If you do not want to be on the dance floor, you can stand on a ledge where you can be a bit higher and watch every one else dance. Service was good here.

Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken
Ofcourse, you have to have some fried chicken while you are in Atlanta and I had Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken. There is also a location in the Bay Area and it is very good too. The one in Atlanta was the same but the restaurant is bigger here. The food was yummy and it helps to have the cole slaw and beans.

Red Door Tavern
This was a random dive bar that we went to after Rose & Rye. It was chill, not crowded at all!

Red Phone Booth
Woo….have you ever been to a cigar bar? This was my first and last. I do not like the smell of cigarettes and I do not like people who smoke cigarettes. Okay, maybe I should not judge the people who smoke cigarettes…but the smell…ew, awful! Smell is awful. Smoking cigarettes is awful for your health, and so on! The smoke and smell was SO strong in this bar. It is actually a speakeasy. They have two locations, one in downtown and one in Midtown. We went to the Midtown location and the phone booth was not working, but you are able to call with your cellphone and then they let you in that way. We were able to fit three people in this tiny phone booth area!! You should dress up here because everyone were in dresses and suits, however, Nick and I passed! The drinks were very good but we did not stay long because of the smell. If you smoke cigars, I think you would enjoy the place. I think the concept of it was nice.

Rose & Rye
This bar is a rooftop bar with indoor and outdoor lounge. Too bad the outdoor lounge had a group party that day so we could not see part of the outdoor rooftop. This bar was more sophisticated and they played really great music. It was my favorite bar of the night!

Thirty
This bar had a nice atmosphere. It was semi dark and the music was good. The vibes felt like mid 20s to early 30s in there. I liked this bar a lot!

As always, thank you for visiting Vivian’s Ventures. Have you been to Atlanta or Alpharetta? If so, tell me in the comments/reply section of your experience. What should I do there if I go back? If you haven’t been, tell me what you are planning to do there. Any questions or comments, let me know. Let’s chat!