What can you recommend to an Atlanta tourist?

18+ Miles

Today culminated week 12 (counting backwards) of my ING Georgia Marathon training plan. I ran 18 miles this morning, through Buckhead, Midtown, and Downtown Atlanta. It was a beautiful day for a run: sunny and cool, but not overly cold.

The Tourist Encounter

15 miles into my run, I was in Centennial Olympic Park, when two British tourists stopped me and asked me if I knew of anything interesting to do around Downtown. They didn't have a car, so they were bound to walking and maybe transit. I felt bad: I did not have much to recommend to them. Other than the aquarium and the World of Coke, I could think of very little else within walking distance of Centennial Olympic Park that would be interesting for them. (Later I did realize I could have recommended the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, though it would have been a bit of a hike from there.) They also asked about any independent restaurants around Downtown, noting (correctly) that the area was dominated by chain restaurants. I could think of a few (Dailey's, Stats, and Pittypat's Porch), but that was it. I recommended that they take the train to Midtown where they'd have more independent options, but they showed me their tourist map, and the north part of the map cut off at North Avenue! Midtown was not even on their map.

It's pretty sad that Downtown Atlanta has so little to offer tourists. It has improved over the last few years, especially near Centennial Olympic Park, but it has a long way to go.