Atlanta, home of the Braves

Many people often forget Atlanta is the capital since the capital ends up being almost hidden among the multitude of high rises that have been built around it.

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We were fortunate to find a very good rate, $79 per weekend night, during the Atlanta Home Show, which is held at the World Congress Center, a short distance ($10 cab ride for four persons) from the Westin.

Since I do not do heights well, my wife and I compromised on taking a room lower than the upper floors she wanted to stay on. Upon checking in we were assigned a room on the 20th floor, but when we got to the room we found it had not been cleaned. After a trip to the front desk, we were assigned a room on the 39th floor, but upon opening the door to the room we found it to be in worse shape than the one we had just vacated. After calling the desk and being told a bellman would be up to move us to a new room, we waited for 30 minutes and no one showed up. At this point we went back to the front desk, where we found another couple who had found the room they had been assigned to have not been cleaned either, we were assigned a room on the 58th floor and assured we would find it was clean and made up. Although this was a lot higher up than I had originally planned to be I found it was not too bad if I kept my distance from the window.

The room was very nice and featured the Westin''s new heavenly bed. My wife liked the pillow so much I had to order one for her when we returned home. The hotel was 1,068 rooms and I believe they were all filled the weekend we were there because there was often a long wait for the elevator. While I would not pay the hotel''s regular rate, I would definitely come back again at the reduced rate.

The hotel offers complimentary shuttle service to the airport and the driver was nice enough to drop us at the MARTA stop both times that we went into downtown Atlanta. He also picked us up on our return. There is bus service from the downtown MARTA station at Five Points to Turner Field. The hotel has 190 rooms on six floors. Upon arriving home I discovered I had left my travel bag sitting on the bench outside the front entrance of the hotel. I called the hotel immediately, knowing that I would probably never see it again. They told me they would check for me and let me know. Within 30 minutes they called and said they had found it and would send it to me. They overnighted it to me and I had it the next day.

But that still couldn''t take away from the elegant surroundings of the public rooms and my guest room. While the hotel has 25 floors and 441 rooms, it seems much smaller. Among the things my room came stocked with were a mini-refreshment bar, an AM-FM clock radio with CD player, and even a bathrobe. If you can''t afford the regular rates of the Ritz Carlton, between Jan.1 and March 31, 2001, the hotel, inconjunction with American Express are offering rooms for $135 per weekend night and a rate of $224 per weekday night.

Upon opening the door, and going inside, my wife''s first words were "What a room and what a view."

There weren''t two bottles of water on the dresser but two bottles of Vasa. In between the dresser and the desk was a honest to goodness electric shoe shiner - one side for dark shoes, the other for lighter shoes. Since I had only brought my sneakers I was unable to try it out. The bed had already been folded down for the night and on the pillow were several truffles to leave a sweet taste in your mouth before going to sleep.

From the window, you could see Hartsfield International Airport, but due to soundproofing, there was no sound of the planes taking off and landing. In the distance was the skyline of Atlanta.

In the bathroom were the usual amenities of soap and shampoo, along with cotton balls, qtips and a sewing kit.

I ordered a pork chop and the carrot that came with it was so big - it hung over two sides of the plate. I had never seen a carrot that big so I took a picture, which is posted with this entry. My wife had po boy of andouille sausage and shrimp and said it was so good she wants to make another trip to Atlanta to make a return visit to Mick's.

Our ride was free to the top, since we were guests at the hotel, but for those just wanting to sightsee, it is a $5 charge.

When visitors would call on her, she would place a towel over her typewriter and her manuscript to keep prying eyes from reading what she had written. Tours are given daily between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

One of my favorite things was the soda fountain exhibit while my wife liked watching all of the Coca Cola commercials throughout the years. But the most fun is trying the different flavors of Coca Cola from throughout the world. A quick tip on saving money on the admission to World of Coca Cola. Look in the numerous publications about Atlanta that are available at your hotel. Generally on the inside of these you can find a coupon good for one free admission with the purchase of another admission.

We usually try to make a weekend out of our trip so I usually try to get tickets for a Saturday game, allowing us to leave home on Friday afternoon and return on Sunday afternoon. With it being a night game on Saturday we are able to take in some of the sights of Atlanta during the day before going to the ball game that night. I think the best place to stay for a game would be at the Holiday Inn Express next to the stadium but we have stayed at different places around the city and have had no trouble getting to the stadium. Just allow yourself plenty of time before game time because there is a lot of traffic. If you don't want to drive to the stadium, MARTA offers a shuttle service to and from the game, which we have used several times.

If you have never been to Turner Field then plan to get to the game early so you can walk around the stadium. If you have children I am sure they will want to do the interactive games. Eating at the ball park is expensive so if you are watching your pennies you might want to eat before you go to the game. From my experience there is not a bad seat in the park - some seats are just more expensive than others.

One other thing, be sure and watch the Coca Cola bottle when the Braves hit a home run. Going to see a game is a lot of fun - so what are you waiting for - order your tickets now.