USA 45 Days by Rail: Day 13 - Seeing downtown Atlanta

I got up in time so that I didn’t miss the complimentary breakfast that ended by 9 am. It wasn’t anything special but still I got my breakfast. Soon after the breakfast I left the hotel by shuttle and transferred again to the MARTA subway. I got myself a day pass for $9 which seemed reasonable and made me flexible in using all public transport in and around downtown Atlanta. That is where I headed by subway. I changed from the airport line to the east bound line at the central MARTA hub called Five Points. After two stops I reached the King Memorial Station. Unfortunately I just had missed the bus to the memorial and the next was in about half an hour. So I decided to walk the mile which didn’t actually seem that far. I had a look at the church in which Martin Luther King was working as a priest and went then next to see his tomb and the visitor center of course. The visitor center was small but featured interesting artifacts. I also visited his birth house that was just one block away. I was lucky because just when I was bound to leave by walking back to the subway station a rarely running street car showed up and took me towards downtown which was handy. I visited downtown which was at this time of the day quite empty with exception of many homeless people all asking for change. I eventually made my way down to the Five Points station. Before heading off by subway again I however had lunch downtown. Next I took the eastbound train again in order to get to the Georgia State Capitol and the Atlanta town hall, both very beautiful buildings and worth a visit. I discovered the neighborhood a bit more and ended up at the Garnett station from where I again got into the MARTA system. Changing at Five Points again I took the westbound train to the Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center station (never seen such a long station name) and had a look at the Dome, the CNN Center, the Olympic park, the Coca-Cola Museum and the Museum for Human Rights. Although I didn’t enter any of these buildings I had a great time admiring the architecture which I really liked a lot. I also spend some time in the park by the fountains which was refreshing at such a hot and humid day. I went on to the Civic Center from where I again got on the southbound train bound for the airport. I took one more stop at Five Points station and went to get some refreshments before finally heading back to the airport. At the airport I checked in for my flight for the upcoming day and also informed myself at the Southwest counter about how early I could check-in my baggage the next day. Before heading back to the hotel I took the chance and climbed one of the parking structures which gave an amazing view on the runways. I took a few pictures of landing, taxing and taking off airplanes before I headed back to the hotel shuttle bus terminal. Again I had to wait quite a while until my shuttle showed up. Once back at the hotel it was time to take care of my laundry, the first of three planned laundries during this trip was due. This was one of the reasons I had chosen this hotel because they had self-service laundry facilities. The next laundry is scheduled for the day after my arrival in New York and the final one on the last day before I leave New York heading back to the West Coast. Finally I also had the time to edit all the stories I wrote for this blog so far and to start working finally on the blog itself. Nevertheless, I didn’t get it online yet, I hope that will soon change.