As a performing artist I tour the country constantly, often finding myself in a new city every day. Not having the time that leisure travel affords, I’ve been perfecting the art of Hit and Run Tourism, learning how to take in a new city as quickly as possible. While I like to see the normal sights, I have a particular love of good coffee, good food, good art and anything exceptionally strange and unusual. This is what I’ve found in cities across America.

—————————————————————

First lesson learned in Atlanta: where not to stay. Due to a $1,100 airfare debacle, I decided to do what for me is unusual - book the cheapest hotel I could find. Already significantly over budget, I set my fingers to work on Orbitz to locate a clean if modest hotel to stay in for a reasonable price. I thought that they came through with the Stratford Inn on Parkway Drive. The pictures looked nice, decor not run-down and I even spoke with them on the phone, after which I was certain that the staff were nice people and the hotel would be more than adequate.

The first red flag came from my cab driver during the short ride from the MARTA station to the hotel. A big, friendly black man, he warned me that “a white boy like you doesn’t want to go out at night around here. The only reason you’d be here is to buy drugs.” While the hotel turned out to be not nearly as bad as my racing mind made it out to be after that warning, it was nevertheless filled with questionable folk, was exceedingly small in every regard and left an uneasy anxiety in the back of my mind. I didn’t go out at all unless it was by cab, and you can be certain that my exceedingly heavy luggage (officially declared so by the airline!) was planted firmly in front of the locked door while I slept. My recommendation is to stay away from the edge of mid-town and opt instead for either a downtown hotel, or take my friend Melissa’s suggestion and go just to the other side (geographically not far, but a world apart) and find a place somewhere in Virginia Highlands, such as the Highland Inn.

Getting into downtown Atlanta from the airport, or pretty much anywhere that you’d be staying, is quite easy though. Despite having to take a cab a short distance due to excessive luggage constraints, the MARTA train from the airport is easy to use and only costs $1.60. A far cry from the $32 cab fare from the airport. And if you’re staying downtown you won’t need a cab like I did, as all of the hotels are close to MARTA stations.

My first priority in town - after sleep and performing - is usually coffee. I’m sad to say that in the downtown area there is not much in the way of good, independent cafe’s. There’s plenty of coffee to be had though, Starbucks having the usual presence that they do in big cities, so if you’re just looking for a fix and not concerned with quality, you’ll be fine.

I had the opportunity to dine several times at a fantastic sushi bar called Ray’s In The City - my work put me there - and while my choices are naturally restricted at sushi bars, being a vegetarian and all, maki remains one of my favorite foods. My first sampling of their vegetarian maki left me believing that their rice was quite dry, but it’s nothing that a little soy sauce and wasabi didn’t fix and the meal ended up being quite good. Judging by the other elaborate dishes that I saw being served and the smells emanating from the kitchen, I’d recommend a stop there if sushi and seafood is what you’re after. The live music was fantastic and the staff were beyond exceptional.

Of course, what I was really after was the unusual and bizarre, but I must confess that Atlanta did disappoint in this regard. Quick web searches didn’t turn up much in the way of suggestions, and the only thing that the kind lady at the information booth could conjure up was a bar named Shout. Needless to say, despite it’s “hip” status, extremely neat decor and proximity to the theaters, it wasn’t exactly what I was after so I didn’t go. For that matter, neither the 38 foot Coca-Cola bottle or the giant fish statue (largest statue of a fish in the world!) really fall into my category of “weird”, though I was tempted by the Atlanta Cyclorama, the largest oil painting in the world.

The best that I could find in the way of even slightly curious was gleaned from a tip from Wired magazine. Readers of that magazine are familiar with a short column entitled Jargon Watch, where the latest buzz words are reported and defined. This month’s article includes the term Scent Marketing. From Wired:

Scent Marketing n. A subgenre of “sensory branding,” it’s using smell to attract customers.

While I don’t know that this is necessarily that new, it did tip me off to the Omni Hotel, which is “perfumed with a mix of green tea and lemongrass.” Smell is, after all, the scent most strongly connected to memory, and I’m sure that this is an effective tool! And while we’re on the topic, check out Douglas Rushkoff’s phenomenal book Coercion, which details the many ways in which we are swayed, swindled and sold.

While I didn’t have time to indulge in this myself, my good friend Matt The Knife highly recommends seeing the Georgia Aquarium, which just happens to be the world’s largest aquarium. I saw Matt just last week in Nashville, TN and he couldn’t say enough good things about it. It was number one on his must-see list.

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of downtown Atlanta though is not a sight at all, but rather, the teams of Downtown Ambassadors - or The Ambassador Force - that you find everywhere throughout the streets, walking, biking and riding their Segway’s. These extremely helpful people are part of a non-profit organization that began just over ten years ago, right around the time of the Olympics in Atlanta, as a volunteer organization dedicated to helping both tourists and residents find their way, see the sights and manage in a city that may at times be overwhelming. Now a fully funded non-profit, you’ll find oodles of these people throughout the city, recognizable by their safari/tropic-style pith helmets.

My first encounter was around 10:30 at night after having wrapped up a show. Walking down the street with my luggage, I was approached by an “ambassador” and asked if I needed help with finding my way. I didn’t, but I did ask if he knew of any good places for a vegetarian to eat. Not only did he recommend several places, he told me all of the various methods of getting there and chit-chatted with me for quite a long time. He went out of his way to make me feel at home and his efforts were not unsuccessful.

After that initial encounter I made it a point to chat with as many of them as I could and was pleased to find that each and every one of them were exceedingly friendly and more helpful than any guide book could possibly be, regardless of how detailed. It was because of their efforts that I was directed to Centennial Olympic Park and was able to see not only the park, but also the CNN Studios, the Omni Hotel and, from the outside as I mentioned, the Georgia Aquarium.

Special thanks go to Emmett Ruth, Field Training Officer with the Ambassador Force, to whom I promised a special mention here. He not only spoke with me and made recommendations, but also walked with me for quite some distance and truly made me feel welcome.

Overall, I’ve not yet discovered the “curious” side of Atlanta, and though I had some good food, I didn’t score any great coffee. The hospitality is fantastic - I’ve not met more friendly cab drivers anywhere - and there’s plenty to eat for any diet (there’s lots of cheap ethnic food - I love greasy kabob shop falafel!). If you want to see the major sights - the parks, the buildings and the aquarium - it’s all within easy walking distance. Despite what Fodor’s may say, Atlanta really is a mellow, laid-back southern city, and its people are what make appealing. It is a city nevertheless though, so do expect some amount of hustle and bustle, and remember that no city is entirely safe - there’s gang activity here as well. Now, if anyone has recommendations for the weird side, feel free to leave them here! I’ll be back in Atlanta in just a few weeks.

.

tags: ambassador force,emmett ruth, atlanta, centennial olympic park, cnn studios, coercion, cyclorama, douglas rushkoff, downtown ambassador, georgia aquarium, giant coke bottle, giant fish statue, highland inn, hit and run tourist, marta, omni hotel, ray’s in the city, segway, shout, starbucks, stratford inn, tourism, travel, virginia highlands, wired magazine

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 25th, 2007 at Feb 25, 07 | 8:00 pm and is filed under Just Noumenon Posts, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.