Atlanta-Tallahassee at Christmas

[PeppyGPhiB]

My boyfriend and I will be spending Christmas this year with his family in Tallahassee. We're flying in to Atlanta on Dec. 23, flying out Jan. 2. BF says there's nothing to do in/around Tallahassee, but I'm determined to find stuff in town or within a couple hours drive. Since we're flying in/out of Atlanta, I'm looking for things to do around there, too, possibly on our way down to Florida or returning.

There are a bunch of Atlanta/Florida folks on this board, so I figured this might be a good place to ask for suggestions. Anyone got some?

[Munchkin03]

Why are you flying out of Atlanta? Is there something specific there that you have to do?

[PeppyGPhiB]

Flights from Seattle to anywhere down there (other than Orlando) during the holidays are very expensive. And many of the flights have two stops. Flights into Tallahassee, Valdosta and Pensacola were all around $800 and they had two stops each way. So it was cheaper and more convenient for us to fly into Atlanta.

We also figured we might as well make the most of our vacation, and being that I've never really spent time in Atlanta, that might be a nice add-on to our trip.

[AGDLynn]

If you're downtown area, check out the Georgia Aquarium, the new Coke Museum, Atlantic Station (near Ga. Tech) has IKEA

You'll be driving past Macon, Ga. It's a nice place to see.
http://www.cityofmacon.net/visiting/visit.htm

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Flights from Seattle to anywhere down there (other than Orlando) during the holidays are very expensive. And many of the flights have two stops. Flights into Tallahassee, Valdosta and Pensacola were all around $800 and they had two stops each way. So it was cheaper and more convenient for us to fly into Atlanta.

We also figured we might as well make the most of our vacation, and being that I've never really spent time in Atlanta, that might be a nice add-on to our trip.

Yeah, I grew up right around Tallahassee, and I'm pretty familiar with how expensive the tickets can be all times of the year. I'm going to a wedding in New Orleans right before Christmas, so I'm excited that the cost of a NOLA ticket + hotel + wedding gift will STILL be less than what a round trip ticket to the Panhandle is.

Even flying into Jacksonville can be a cheaper ticket, and the drive is about 2.5 hours instead of 4.

That said, I'm very partial to the small beach towns along the Panhandle!

[Army Wife'79]

Yes, check out the beach towns on the panhandle. They are great, even in winter. Destin, Panama City etc.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! I think we might be spending a weekend at the beach somewhere, but his family is in charge of that.

Thanks for the link to Macon, too!

And we did look at flying into Jacksonville, but that too was more expensive. Four-five hours driving is no big deal to us, so we don't mind the road trip.

[DSTRen13]

I like Apalachicola, FL - not too far from Tallahassee, if you wanted to go on a little day trip.

In Atlanta, I second the aquarium. The MLK Nat'l Historic Site is always good. Haven't made it to the new & improved Coke Museum yet, but I liked the old one, so I would imagine the new one can only be better I always like to go to the High Museum of Art. Not really sure what kind of things you're into, but I would recommend checking out the Virginia Highlands area (http://www.virginiahighland.com/) - lots of great local places.

[AGDLynn]

I thought of Virginia Highlands but didn't know how much/far you wanted to venture.

[FlaGirl07]

St. George Island is fabulous, Mexico Beach, and even PANAMA CITY (I'm biased, it's my home =)!! )

The GA Aquarium was also FAB, you should definitely check that out as well.