Georgia A-Z pt. 7

Whether or not you are an avid follower of my blog or just visiting for the first time from the April A-Z Blogging Challenge, welcome! Over the past month and a half, I have dedicated every Tuesday to listing out tourist attractions in Georgia from A-Z. Today and next Tuesday I will be conquering some of the most difficult letters in the alphabet. With that in mind I am skipping to the letter U which is where I left off in my last post. I'll get back on track again tomorrow… :)

Before I begin, if you've missed any of my other Georgia A-Z posts, you can find them in the links below, listed by letter. Be sure to check them out especially if you are planning a future trip to Georgia!

A-D • E-G • H-K • L-O • P-S • T

U. Underground Atlanta

Underground Atlanta is made up of buildings that were constructed during the city's post-Civil War reconstruction era between 1866 and 1871 when the population of Atlanta doubled to 22,000 residents. The oldest building in this section of town is currently the train depot which served 100 trains per day with routes between Atlanta and a number of other cities including New York City, Cincinnati, Chattanooga, and Knoxville. During the 1920s (and the prohibition era), storefronts moved to upper floors (where they were more visible), and the ground floors were transformed into basements for storage and service as well as speakeasies and juke joints. Shortly after the 1920s, as street level continued to rise, Underground Atlanta was effectively forgotten.

Around 1960, two Georgia Tech grads "rediscovered" the area and attempted to restore it to it's original glory establishing it as a retail and entertainment district. The area re-opened in April 1969 and was considered an upscale area where men and women could consume alcoholic beverages so long as they came dressed to the nines. The popularity of the area only lasted a decade, however, when neighboring Deklab County began to allow alcohol in the early 70s. With the dress code restrictions dropped, fights became more commonplace and the area became dangerous closing once again in 1982.

The most current renovations for Underground Atlanta occurred in 1982 with the area re-opening in 1989, but it has not seen near the influx of people or money as it had previously. While the area itself is pretty empty and a little boring (unless you are interested in bars), hope has been restored to the community when in 2014 a new contract was placed on the area wherein developer WRS is set to turn Underground Atlanta into a mixed-use development with retail, restaurants, and above ground apartments, which will const between $150-$200 million. It will be very interesting to see how this effects the city. Similarly developed Atlantic Station has done quite well improving and changing the concept of what it means to visit the city of Atlanta. Will the new developments do the same for Underground Atlanta?

V. Vogel State Park

With nearly 233 acres, this state park located near the Chattahoochee National Forest was one of Georgia's first state parks and was construction by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The park offers a variety of outdoor activities for visitors including camping, hiking, fishing, and swimming. Located at the center of the park, visitors can enjoy the beauty of Lake Trahlyta.

I've only been to the park once when I went for a picnic, but that was years ago and I can't recall what all there is to do there. Rated highly on their website and located in the mountains of Georgia, it is certainly a beautiful area to visit with your family for a day … or a week if you intend on campaign, fishing, and hiking through all there is to see. Let me reiterate though that this is not a place you go for shopping or the city experience. Then again, if you are considering going to a park, I doubt that's what you are looking for anyway. :)

W. World of Coke Museum

One of the most obvious tourist attractions (and traps imho) is the World of Coke museum which opened in 1990 and sat across from Underground Atlanta until 2007 when it was moved closer to Centennial Olympic Park and the Georgia Aquarium. Having never visited the newest museum, I can only comment on the older museum noting that, from what I've heard, the newer museum is pretty much the older museum at a higher cost. Upon entering the museum, you are allowed to walk through 3 levels of Coke advertisements and memorabilia in chronological order beginning at the top floor and working your way downward. As you reach the lower floor, you have the opportunity to try coke branded products from all over the world as well as shop at the gift shop.

While I imagine this museum could be fun and a fantastic way to broach the topic of "other countries" with younger children, this museum is not one I would recommend for your Atlanta must-do list. It is fun trying all of the different drinks from all over the world, but it is a bit more educational and exciting to go to those places and try the drinks as opposed to paying an $18 entrance fee to be advertised to. That's just my opinion though.

Have you ever been to any of these locations? Do any of them spark your interest and make you want to travel to Georgia? Is there some place I've missed in my A-Z list that you think should have been included?

** Participate in the A-Z blogging challenge with me! You know you want to! :)