Remember when we went to Atlanta and had an awesome time? Shortly after I wrote about the trip, a very lovely lady named Deborah emailed me. Deborah works at CityPASS, which I’d mentioned in the post as something I’d like to try the next time we were in Atlanta. And Deborah? She offered Rockford and I a pair of CityPASSes to try out.
So naturally I love Deborah. But not just because she’s made it possible for us to visit a bunch of terrific Atlanta sites, but because she wants you to visit them, too! So she also sent me a pair of Atlanta CityPASSes to give away! Three cheers for Deborah! (And also for exclamation points! Because they are handy!)
In other words, this would be a pretty cool thing to win. Especially if you live in or near Atlanta.
There are three ways to enter, and you can use each once. Here they are:
Leave a comment here, telling me which of the Atlanta CityPASS sites you’d be most excited to visit. (OK, you don’t have to tell me that. It’s fine if you’d rather say something else.)
Tweet about the giveaway, and leave a comment here linking to your tweet. You can say whatever you’d like as long as it links to this post. Here’s an easy cut-and-paste tweet if you’re at a loss for words: “I want to win an #Atlanta @CityPASS from ButterscotchSundae.com! Enter to win at http://bit.ly/ATLcitypass”
Blog about the giveaway, and leave a comment with a link to your post.
(This contest ended at noon EST on Tuesday, March 29, 2011.)
As I said yesterday, our Atlanta hotel’s proximity to Fabulous Attractions made our visit just wonderful. We were only there for a few days, so we weren’t able to visit everything nearby. But what we did do was pretty great.
The children’s museum was fun, but it was really chaotic when we first got there. I’d recommend going in the afternoon, after all of the school groups clear out. The rumpus didn’t bother the kids at all, though. They loved the “simple machines” set up, which is made up of gears and geegaws and a really neat little crane, all of which works together to move plastic balls around the exhibit. The little fishing pond and the tree house in the Under Five area were big hits, too. We spent four hours at the museum, which was good. Because I might have felt that the $40-plus it cost the three of us would have been exorbitant for less time than that.
Admission for adults is $24.95, it’s $18.95 for ages 3-12, and it’s $20.95 for ages 65 and up. But you might be able to find a coupon code online if you Google something like “Georgia Aquarium” and “discounts.”
Even at full price, the Georgia Aquarium is absolutely worth the money. The Ocean Explorer exhibit alone is almost worth it. It holds 6.3 million gallons of water, and it is breathtaking. There’s a walk-through tunnel that runs under the tank, and the kids wanted to go through it over and over and over again. As did I. It was so cool. In all, we spent five hours at the aquarium. Did you know that five hours is a very long time for something to hold the attention of a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old? It most certainly is, and the Georgia Aquarium managed to do it.
My only complaint about the aquarium was the play area. It seems to me that the space could be better used for an actual exhibit, and there would be fewer opportunities for unaccompanied hoards of 11-year-olds to knock over your 3-year-old whilst running toward the whale slide.
Wild schoolchildren aside, though: If you’re ever in or near Atlanta, you should most definitely make time to go to the aquarium. It’s phenomenal. And like the children’s museum, the field trip groups had all cleared out after lunchtime.
It doesn’t cost anything to get in to Ikea, but chances are you won’t leave without dropping some dough on a Salong and some Smycka or a roll of Snovita or something. We went primarily to get some storage boxes for Pete’s room, but also because on of Poppy’s friends had told her about the glories of the Ikea play area. And oh, how glorious it was. Because you check the kids in and then leave them there for 45 minutes. Rockford and I used the childless time to share a Swedish meatball plate, and the kids used the parentless time to run amuck.
If we were going to be in town for more than a few days, I would probably buy the Atlanta CityPASS. After March 1st, the CityPASS will be $69 for adults and $49 for kids (ages 3-12), and it gets you into the aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola and the Inside CNN Tour. The World of Coke is right next to the aquarium, and the CNN studio tour is at CNN Center, which is across Centennial Park. So had the kids been older, we might have visited them, too, but at this point I don’t think they would’ve been interested. Anyway, the CityPASS also includes your choice of either the Fernbank Natural History Museum or the High Museum of Artand either the zoo or the Atlanta History Center.
I like to take my vacations pretty slow, so I’d probably want a full five days to take advantage of the CityPASS. If you had the time and inclination to do all of that, it’s a good deal.
My husband travels a lot for work. Often it’s to a far-flung location, but every now and then he goes somewhere that’s within driving distance. And as homeschoolers, my kids don’t have to skip school in order to go on a little mid-February vacation. Their school hops into the car and goes right along with them. So when Rockford found out he’d be spending a few days at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, there wasn’t much discussion about whether or not we’d be going along, because the Omni is right on Centennial Park, which is where a good bit of the Awesome Family-Friendly Stuff in the city is located. The Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Atlanta, Ga. Photo courtesy OmniHotels.com.Being within walking distance of our planned outings was a wonderful thing. I don’t much enjoy driving, and I especially don’t like it in high-traffic conditions. From what I can tell, there is no such thing as light traffic in Atlanta. Not having to drive to the majority of our destinations made it a much more relaxing trip for me, which I’m sure in turn made it more enjoyable for the children.
The full name of the hotel we stayed at is “Omni Hotel at CNN Center.” And CNN Center? That’s where CNN is located. There are actually two Omni buildings, and we were in the one that doesn’t actually house the CNN studios. A walkway joins the two, though, which made it very easy to walk over there and enjoy the food court. I didn’t spot any television personalities, but I’m pretty sure Anderson Cooper is the only one I’d recognize anyway.
But back to the hotel.
The service at the Omni is excellent. They have little backpacks and toys for kids at check-in, and the front desk guy remembered Poppy and Pete’s names when we walked by a few hours later. Oh, and the nightly turndown service? That was a lovely surprise. Some of the experience, though, was a little too indulgent for my comfort level. I felt really awkward, for example, when the valet insisted on waiting next to my open car door while I buckled in the kids so he could close the door once I got in. Even after I asked him not to wait. I understand that the employees are expected to offer a certain level of service, but it made me feel very weird. (Also, it makes me feel very weird to complain about being pampered. But I will deal with my issues another time.)
This is not to say that I wouldn’t stay there again. I most definitely would, and I’d love to go back to Atlanta sometime when Rockford didn’t have to spend his days working. To that end, I did a little research on the mid-week prices at the hotels on or near Centennial Park. I picked a week in the middle of March and looked at rooms that would comfortably accommodate our family of four.
Two double beds for $179 a night ($152 if you pre-pay in full). Parking is $30 daily.
This is the type of room we stayed in, and it was big enough to put a sleeping bag on the floor for one small person. (I don’t know whether or not the Omni would condone that, but that’s what we did.) The space was sufficient, but we either had to let the kids stay up really late or we had to go to bed super early, since we were all in one room. The Omni doen’t offer any sort of free breakfast, so we packed breakfast foods. We also packed lunches and snacks, because I do not enjoy spending money.
Two double beds for $179 a night ($159 if it’s pre-paid). Parking is $28 daily. I didn’t see any mention of a free breakfast, so my guess would be they don’t offer it.
A two-room suite with two double beds and a pull-out sofa for $199 a night ($169 pre-paid). I couldn’t find parking info.
This would probably be the way we’d go in the future if we were able to go again, because the two rooms would mean Rockford and I could stay up after the kids went to bed. And they also offer a free breakfast, which would mean I wouldn’t have to bring quite as much food.
Two double beds for $90-$130 a night (the rate goes up on Wednesday, for some reason). I couldn’t find parking or breakfast information for the Holiday Inn, either, but the site does say that “kids eat free.”
Two queen beds for $159 a night ($143 advance purchase). Parking is $18 a day, which seems to be a steal. The parking rates at these places are atrocious.
OK, this is my “Hooray! We won the lottery!” option. They have a 1,200-square-foot suite with a king bed in one bedroom, two doubles in the second bedroom, a living room, a kitchen and two bathrooms. And it’s only $359 a night! I don’t think the savings that the in-room kitchen would provide would be quite enough to cover the price difference between this and the Holiday Inn, but a girl can dream. Also, it isn’t actually all that walkable to the park and its surrounding attractions, so it wouldn’t be as awesome anyway. Although if I had won the lottery, I would just hire a driver to cart us about. So maybe it would be awesome. But I don’t actually play the lottery, so I don’t think I need to spend any more time worrying about it.
Tune in tomorrow for more about what we actually did in Atlanta!
Remember when we went to Atlanta and had an awesome time? Shortly after I wrote about the trip, a very lovely lady named Deborah emailed me. Deborah works at CityPASS, which I’d mentioned in the post as something I’d like to try the next time we were in Atlanta. And Deborah? She offered Rockford and I a pair of CityPASSes to try out.