Getting Oriented

Atlanta, the state's capital and seat of Fulton County, was founded in 1837 and sits on the Piedmont Plateau in northern Georgia. Though the metro area spans 8,000 square mi, don't let the sprawling size—or all the transplanted "Yankees"—fool you into thinking Southern hospitality is dead. It's alive and well in Atlanta's pith-helmeted Downtown ambassadors, drawling coffee mug-fillers, waving neighbors, and good ol' boy politicians.