Highlights

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Itinerary

Day 1 – Atlanta, GA – Ponce City Market & Roof Top

Arrive Atlanta, GA for a three night stay. This evening your group will visit Ponce City Market and the Rooftop. Ponce City Market is one of Atlanta’s favorite gathering spots featuring plenty of shopping and dining options . . . and there’s a carnival on the roof. Skyline Park, atop Ponce City Market, features boardwalk-style games, an 18-hole mini golf course and classic carnival fare fit for kids and adults.  Enjoy some of the most incredible views of the Atlanta skyline from atop Ponce City Market. The building, formerly known as Sears, Roebuck & Co., is one of the South’s tallest brick buildings.

Day 2 – Illuminarium Visit with Lunch – New Realm Brewery Tasting – Sweet Auburn Neighborhood Tour – Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint Dinner & Live Music

Start the day with a visit to the world’s first Illuminarium, a fully-immersive spectacle.  Their first show, WILD: A Safari Experience, is brought to life through 4K laser projection, 3D audio, and even scent.  Come face-to-face with the world’s most exotic animals in their natural habitats in this unique cinematic experience. Take in the majestic landscapes, gaze at the splendor of the savanna’s sunrise, feel the wonder of a Kenyan sky lit up by stars. Illuminarium activates all your senses and places you into the world unfolding around you.

Included with your safari visit is lunch in the Café featuring authentic African cuisine and artisanal gifts from the African continent, along with local favorites.

Next, visit the New Realm Brewery for a tasting.  Explore the grounds on the Eastside Beltline Trail from the Beer Garden to the Barrel Room and then take in the Rooftop views. Wherever you choose, pull up a seat and reach for a glass – there are new brewing realms to explore.

This afternoon is a guided tour of the Sweet Auburn Neighborhood.  Located just east of Downtown Atlanta, the Sweet Auburn district is steeped in history. Famously the birthplace of civil rights pioneer Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Sweet Auburn is the best place on Earth to connect with his enduring legacy.

Walking the streets of modern Sweet Auburn, it is fun to imagine the neighborhood in its heyday. In the 1940s and 50s, Sweet Auburn flourished economically with scores of African-American-owned businesses, newspapers, churches, and nightclubs. The success even prompted FORTUNE magazine in 1956 to call Sweet Auburn “the richest Negro street in the world,” a term originally coined by John Wesley Dobbs.

Tonight, dinner is include at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint, bringing the ultimate in Southern style, food and entertainment. This is a place to relax, dine and tap your feet. Live, local entertainment changes daily. The Joint’s southern cuisine includes award-winning fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, and house-smoked smoked ribs & wings, paired with moonshine cocktails. (B,D)

Day 3 – Atlanta Botanical Gardens – Colony Square – Center for Puppetry Arts & Puppet Making Class – Millennium Gate Museum – No Mas! Cantina Mexican Dinner

This morning visit the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.  Renowned plant collections, beautiful displays, and spectacular exhibitions make the Atlanta Botanical Garden the loveliest place in town to visit. An urban oasis in Midtown, the Garden includes 30 acres of outdoor gardens, an award-winning Children’s Garden, a one-of-a-kind Canopy Walk through Storza Woods, and the innovative Edible Garden featuring an Outdoor Demonstration Kitchen. The Fuqua Conservatory is an organic biosphere and home to important collections of tropical palms and conifers; the Fuqua Orchid Center is home to the foremost collection of species orchids in the United States.

After a break for lunch on own at Colony Square’s Food Hall, visit the Center for Puppetry Arts.  The Center for Puppetry Arts is a unique cultural treasure — a magical place where children and adults are educated, enlightened and entertained.  You will visit the World of Puppetry Museum which features two galleries: the Global Collection Gallery and the Jim Henson Gallery.

The Global Collection Gallery begins in North America and winds its way through Europe, Africa, and Asia. Learn the five main types of puppets; learn about some of the world’s most important puppetry traditions.

The Jim Henson Collection Gallery explores the imaginative mind of animator, inventor, filmmaker, screenwriter, and puppeteer Jim Henson. Explore his life, career and legacy while viewing his iconic creations. The Jim Henson Gallery features many Muppets including those from Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock.  The gallery also includes figures from The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and more. The Center is home to the world’s largest collection of Jim Henson puppets, props, and costumes.

Also included with your visit is a Puppet Making Class.  Explore different puppetry styles, celebrate the history of the art of puppetry, create an exciting puppet of your own, and then bring that puppet to life by learning basic puppet manipulation!

The afternoon also includes a tour of the Millennium Gate Museum.  Millennium Gate at Atlantic Station is a nod to Atlanta’s history of being a transportation hub. The 100-foot tall gate houses an impressive Georgia history museum as well as works of art by Scottish sculpture Alexander Stoddart.

The Gate is a classically styled monumental arch located in Atlanta, historically called “The Gate City.” It is designed in the tradition of classical Roman triumphal arches that have been built around the world over the past 2,500 years, and houses a 12,000 square foot museum that narrates Georgia’s history through sophisticated interactive technology, film, period rooms, and exhibitions.

Dinner is included tonight at the No Mas! Hacienda & Cantina for an authentic Mexican meal. Shop the No Mas! Hacienda Artisan Market next door for gifts, silver jewelry, decor, & accessories, all handcrafted in Mexico. Hand carved wood furniture, wrought iron, blown glass lighting, ceramics, sculptures, paintings – an endless array of the arte de Mexico: truly individually created functional works of art that enhance your unique environment. Escape to Mexico, for a meal… and stay for the shopping! (B,D)

Day 4 – Depart for Home

After breakfast, depart for home. (B)

Tour Map