Even thought I grew up 20 minutes outside of the city, I hardly ever made my way to downtown Atlanta. The reason was simple: too many one way streets. And more than half of them are named Peachtree.
So when my family suggested we meet downtown for lunch during our recent visit, I said sure, as long as I’m not driving. Thankfully, the CPA volunteered and with his sense of direction and my map reading abilities we were able to make our way downtown without getting too lost. (Although I will admit that we missed our turn and had to go down a couple of extra streets because the one we wanted was one way only.)
Finally, we found what we were looking for – The Varsity.
Don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of it before. But if you’re from the area or if you’re visiting for the first time, it’s more than likely on your list. Why is it such a big deal?
Because it’s the world’s largest drive-in. It can accommodate 600 cars and over 800 people inside (apparently during Georgia Tech games, more than 30,000 people visit).
The Varsity opened in 1928 and has been a downtown landmark ever since. A few random facts for you: every day the Varsity makes 2500 pounds of potatoes, 300 gallons of chili, 5000 fried pies, one ton of onions, and two miles of hot dogs.
I hate to state the obvious, but that’s a lot of food! As you can tell from the list of ingredients, The Varsity is not known for serving health food.
In fact, it’s a heart attack waiting to happen, if you ask me. But I didn’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, so I went along with it (and ate the grapes that I had stashed in my purse).
The workers at the Varsity really get into their role, wearing the traditional Varsity hat and yelling, “What’ll Ya Have, What’ll Ya Have?”
The lines are long and you’d better have your cash ready because things move fast.
And don’t forget your Coke. This is Atlanta, after all, home of Coca-Cola. And for you non-Southerners, it’s called a “Coke.” Not “pop” or “soda,” but just plain “Coke.” Even Pepsi is called “Coke.”
The food was served quickly and we grabbed a seat by the window.
Everyone enjoyed their meal and managed to keep from getting indigestion afterwards. I did just fine with my grapes and crackers, thank you very much.
After lunch, we took a quick tour around the city.
If you’ve not been to Atlanta before, you may be surprised that it’s a fairly small city and very condensed. Although it must not be too small because we hosted the summer Olympics in 1996, which was a big deal for us Georgians.
There are a lot of landmarks here, such as the Fox Theater, which has been a part of Atlanta’s history since the 1920s.
Of course there are some parts that are not so historical, but are part of any major city.
Atlanta was pretty much like I remembered it. Lively, full of people, and confusing to drive in. We didn’t stay very long because we wanted to see the Cyclorama, which is just outside of downtown.
The Cyclorama is home to the world’s largest painting. It’s really amazing actually – it’s a painting of the battle of Atlanta during the Civil War and was done in 1886. It’s also huge as it overs 15,030 sq. feet and weighs 10,000 pounds. To view the painting, we entered a circular room and took a seat in the theater-style chairs. The lights dimmed and the platform where we were seating began to move. For the next half hour, the platform moved slowly in a circle, allowing us to see the entire painting which is 42 feet high and 358 ft long. Figurines and props have been added in front of the painting, giving it a 3-D appearance.
Unfortunately, because of the age of the painting, we were not able to take photos.
So we took silly pictures instead.
And we took pictures outside of the building, which was quite lovely.
Then it was time to go home. I wasn’t sad to leave the city because I haven’t ever been close to it, but I did enjoy my brief visit. Just as much as I enjoyed getting back to two-way streets.
Ya’ll be sure and stop in Atlanta if you’re ever in the area. And be sure to bring a map.
Have any of you visited Atlanta – what did you see while you were there?
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