Heavens

My DH is going for a business event and staying downtown at the Hyatt Grand. I am debating whether I want to go or not. These are usually kind of fun events, some of the same people we have seen for the last 20 years, mainly men, his friends. I love to travel, but will I enjoy downtown Atlanta in Aug? YUK, is all I can think of. Sweat, steamy and balmy...what are your thoughts? Would you go or stay home and save the $$$. We would be flying over from the left coast...so not cheap.

Heavens

PS, I have been there before, in high school. Saw many of the sites. We also went to Savanah on the high school trip and I much preferred that to Atlanta...just much more to see and do and not such a huge, steel, overwhelming city...

starrsville

Geez, Heavens, we DO have air conditioning!

Great (cool) shopping near the hotel at Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza. The Grand is in Buckhead and not downtown.

Amazing (and cool) new aquarium.

It depends on what you usually like to do while he is in meetings.

starrsville

Rent a car and drive in the cool North Ga mtns. Get i2 to join us and we'll go out for a spin on a mountain lake (VERY cool crystal clear water).

iceeu2

For sure do Atlanta. You can usually get airfare from the left coast for $189-$239. Not a bad deal.

If you are staying at the Grand Hyatt, you are out in Buckhead and around some great shopping areas. If you are at the Hyatt downtown, you can enjoy the new Aquarium (I guess it's always gonna be new!).

It will be hot, that's for sure! But, like starrs said, we do have a/c and aren't afraid to use it.

I'll meet y'all for a spin on the lake if we can get it together.

i'2

Heavens

Sorry, it is the Hyatt Regency on Peachtree Street. That is downtown, right? I think we went there for a drink when I was there earlier. Wasn't it one of the first atrium designs for Hyatt?

I know ya'll have AC. But ya'll are so humid!!!

starrsville

Yep, that's downtown.
Humid? That's why we have such beautiful skin

LauraATL

I have relative in SoCal who refuse to come here in the summer because of our humidity. It can be brutal in August even for those of us who have lived here all our lives. You either stay inside in the A/C or do something that involves water!

padams421

I live in ATL so I'll be here in early Aug. We have air conditioning everywhere here.

iceeu2

And, since we are so a/c dependent, that's why when we go to the tropics, we don't believe that nonsense about the tradewinds keeping you cool! )

Heavens

What would be a fun day trip from Atlanta? Or maybe a two night trip, three night trip, besides Savannah. I know that one, but it still might be the best bet...other ideas? Thanks.

GoTravel

LOL!

I will say that if I could I would try and avoid Atlanta in the Summer.

stumpworks73

The new aquarium in downtown Atlanta is a great destination new this year. Will fill a cool day a close walk from the Hyatt. If you haven't been to the art museum mid-town, you will love it also.

starrsville

There's an exhibit from the Louvre at the High Museum of Art.

gail

Savannah is just as hot in August and even more humid. It is not really close enough to coast to be cooled by ocean breezes.

Newsboy

GREETINGS! I posted the following "Top 10 Things Not to Miss Visiting Atlanta" back in November in response to another query and repeat it for your benefit (with a few minor changes).

But first, let me point out that nearly EVERY MAJOR CITY IN THE CONTINENTAL USA is hot as the devil in August - and I dare say Chicago, NYC and Washington are all hotter and MORE HUMID than Atlanta in that stickiest of months. Besides, Atlanta's high elevation in the foothills of the Blue Ridge almost always ensures SUBLIME summer evenings (Starrsville will back me up on this!)

NOW ON TO THE ATL "MUST SEE" LIST!

1. Georgia Aquarium (can't brag enough on the world's biggest fish tank, and did I just read where they're getting ready to EXPAND? Unbelieveable!)

2. Centennial Olympic Park / CNN Center (thanks to the Fish Tank, the new heart and soul of the city)

3. Stone Mountain Park (a natural wonder itself but so much more than just a big rock, especially for history buffs)

4. High Museum of Art Louvre Exchange (who needs Paris?! and our restaurants are pretty damn good too!)

5. Midtown-Piedmont Park / Morningside-Ansley / Va-High-Little Five ("real" neighborhoods where you'll find the "real" Atlanta)

6. City of Decatur (this very hip, young, popular suburb on the east MARTA subway line has an awesome scene on its downtown square)

7. Driving tours of Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead or Ponce de Leon Avenue in Druid Hills to see the city's most lavish homes and estates.

8. Atlantic Station near Georgia Tech in West Midtown, a hugely successful urban renewal project that turned an abandoned steel mill into another "downtown" home to 20,000 residents and the South's only IKEA (sorry, Florida!) Of course, the Lenox Square-Phipps Plaza district in Buckhead remains epicenter for some of the finest shopping in the world (Bloomie's, Nieman's, Nordstrom, et al)

9. Atlanta Braves Baseball (you don't have to be a fan of the game to enjoy an outing at Turner Field / aka Olympic Stadium. It's practically a sports themepark!)

10. Grant Park (just a short distance from downtown, this neighborhood of finely restored antebellum mansions is also the site of Zoo Atlanta, home to one of the few panda cubs ever born in captivity in the US, as well as the world's foremost gorilla habitat. The Cyclorama, a huge circular painting depicting the Battle of Atlanta during the Civil War, is also housed here and quite fascintating).

DID I MENTION ATLANTA HAS TERRIFIC RESTAURANTS?

;-)

eschule

"What would be a fun day trip from Atlanta? Or maybe a two night trip, three night trip, besides Savannah."

Depending on time you have tons of options. You can go up to nashville (less than 3 hrs) or chattanooga (less than 2 hrs?) or the mountains. You can go to asheville, NC (3 hrs). You can go a little further and head east and hit the South Carolina beaches or Charleston. You can go south to the Florida panhandle or the georgia islands. That is just off the top of my head and I know I am missing an awful lot. Lived in the ATL for 3 years awhile back and regret not venturing to more places. There is a ton of places within an easy drive of Atlanta (which itself is a great city).

iceeu2

eschule, you need to add an hour onto driving to Nashville, it's more like 4 hours...and 1/2 hour onto Asheville...it's more like 3 1/2 hrs.

lakeside77

Yep - definitely at least 3 1/2 hours to Nashville - could lean more towards 4 hrs.

starrsville

Newsboy, I didn't see your reference to me in the earlier post. Dang right! Up in the moun-teens, it's 10 to 15 degrees cooler than Atlanta. In fact, the county's motto is "Where Spring spends the Summer". Folks don't believe they are going to need a sweatshirt or blanket in the summer.

I agree that MOST eastern seaboard cities are hot in August. I've sweltered in temps just as miserable in NYC and Washington DC. Humidity is your skin's friend