Grab Your Jackets Travel Blog: An Atlanta Afternoon

The last home game before we hit the road for a few weeks. Is it just me or have the games had better scheduling this year. I am enjoying not have to get up super early to tailgate for noon games. I could get used to that, gives me more time to enjoy things around the city.

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I’m sure our visitors appreciate that as well. Traveling all the way from Oxford will take its toll on you. Might be nice to sleep in a bit before cranking things up to 11.

Travel How To: Getting from Oxford to Atlanta

Gotta love the U.S. highway system, it makes giving directions super easy. If you’re driving from Oxford, Mississippi to Atlanta, Georgia is super simple even if it is a 5 hour drive. Take I-22 till you get to Birmingham, then hop on I-20 until you get to Atlanta. Nothing to it.

Depending on how far you are willing to drive there are also a few airport options. Tupelo is about 45 minutes away and Memphis is about an hour away, with both providing flights to Atlanta for around $200 for a round trip. It’s not too bad but at that point you probably won’t be saving much time for the money you are spending.

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Places to Stay:

During my last segment I highlighted hotels, and there are plenty around the city to choose from, but this time I just want to point out Airbnb locations are also quite easy to find downtown.

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There are many fully furnished condos and houses across Atlanta ranging in price from $100 to $150 a night for the upcoming weekend. Why spend that same amount of money on a hotel room when you can get a full house or condo.

Things to Do and See:

We spend so much time in Atlanta that I am definitely covering some territory I’ve already discussed, but lets look at some of the places near campus that are worth enjoying.

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Since you are here for, maybe you would be interested in seeing the college football hall of fame. It is not too far from campus and near the Olympic Park. If you’re looking for more information about the history of college football and some of the most impactful people, like say John Heisman and Bobby Dodd for example, then you can learn quite a bit at the CFB Hall of Fame. The site isn’t just for older people, it offers many interactive exhibits which children can greatly enjoy while simulating their own big game moments.

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Within walking distance of the CFB Hall of Fame is the Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum. This museum has plenty of tie ins to the fight for civil rights across all of America, but there are quite a few historic exhibits which fall directly within Mississippi and Georgia.

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Fernbank is a natural history museum which is a bit farther from downtown. Fernbank is most well known for its T-Rex skeleton which is on show in its main atrium and the large star gazing simulator it has. Fernbank is a good location to take your kids if you want to see the wow factor of being up close to real fossils.

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The High museum of art is a large art museum which is a short distance from campus. The museum is most well known for its art exhibits but occasionally houses history exhibits such as those for King Tut’s tomb and Terracotta Soldiers which it has provided a temporary home to in the past.

Gameday

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Once you’ve finished exploring downtown be sure to stop by the Georgia Tech campus to tailgate and enjoy the atmosphere. We don’t usually have chandeliers at our tailgates, but we are still friendly and look forward to meeting new people... until the game starts at least. Whatever you end up doing downtown this weekend be sure to enjoy yourself.

As always, Go Jackets!