48 Hours in Atlanta
Text by John Rosenthal

With a showy new aquarium and art collections from the Louvre, Atlanta is on the rise.

Atlanta is at it again. Ever since Sherman reduced it to ashes in 1864, the city has had a burning need to rebuild. For years, that meant sprawl-ing out to suburbs on the edge of infinity and beyond. But lately, Atlanta has begun to reinvent itself by filling in its once neglected center. A building boom in midtown started about five years ago; now it's downtown's turn. Around every corner some vacated factory or office building is being converted into luxury lofts or restaurants.

Until recently, this headlong reconstruction has been of interest primarily to residents, who are beginning to migrate back from suburbia. But that all changed last November with the splashy debut of the 290-million-dollar Georgia Aquarium, which promises to transform Atlanta into a bona fide tourist destination—a feat even the 1996 Olympics couldn't accomplish.

Visitors are discovering sophisticated restaurants and a music scene that defies easy categorization. "There isn't a genre that's not represented in this town—everything from hip-hop and rap to folk, country, R&B, and rock," says Eddie Owen, founder of Eddie's Attic, a local venue that has launched singer-songwriters like Shawn Mullins and John Mayer. "And it's all in little rooms like ours that seat 150 people."

Don't Miss

An aquarium in Atlanta, 300 miles from the nearest ocean? "That's the best place," says Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Atlanta-based Home Depot and benefactor of the new Georgia Aquarium. "Many people here might never see the ocean, so this is a great opportunity. Plus we have fish that nobody in North America is going to see unless they have a lot of money and go on a worldwide ocean safari." The world's largest aquarium has leapfrogged to the top of Atlanta's list of attractions with a dazzling array of carefully re-created habitats for jellyfish, stingrays, hammerhead sharks, beluga whales, sea otters, spider crabs, reef squid, seahorses, and thousands of other sea creatures. The marquee stars are Ralph and Norton, two massive whale sharks that rule the main tank, but a personality-packed golden trevally named Sam is a shameless flirt who often steals the show.

The High Museum of Art has always been better known for its Richard Meier exterior (1983) than for its collection of decorative art. But a recent 177,000-square-foot Renzo Piano addition has doubled the museum's exhibition space and fueled grander ambitions. Beginning in October, those galleries will host works by Raphael, Rubens, and Rembrandt on loan from the Louvre in Paris, which has made the High Museum of Art its exclusive U.S. partner through 2009.

You won't meet Anderson Cooper on the CNN Studio Tour, but you will get a behind-the-scenes look at green-screen technology, which allows weathercasters to pinpoint thunderstorms on an invisible map. You'll also get a bird's-eye view of producers scurrying about the newsroom while an anchor reads the news for live broadcast.

For a unique Atlanta experience, join Sunday services (7:45 or 11 a.m.) at Ebenezer Baptist Church's Horizon Sanctuary, where every member of the congregation greets visitors with a handshake or a "holy hug." Across the street is Ebenezer's original Heritage Sanctuary, where Martin Luther King, Jr., moved a nation. In the nearby National Park Service Visitors Center, stirring video displays capture the power of Dr. King's oratory.

Shopping

For unique finds, head northeast from downtown to Virginia Highland where leafy streets are lined with stylish boutiques, neighborhood taverns, and sidewalk cafés. Stop in at 20th Century Antiques for a marvelous selection of Eames-era furniture and accessories with a retro flair. You might find a glamorous Heywood Wakefield vanity, a gleaming chrome cocktail shaker, or a vintage dinette set from the 1950s. Mitzi & Romano is the place for fashion-forward women's clothing including frilly blouses and cocktail dresses, cool designer jeans, and contemporary handbags.

Little Five Points, east of downtown, is a more eclectic hunting ground with a counterculture vibe. Junkman's Daughter is a gargantuan treasure trove of cheeky, silkscreen T-shirts, kitschy gifts, and pop culture relics like Fab Four lunch boxes. The knowledgeable staff at Criminal Records will help you negotiate an excellent selection of new music and independent releases. The store hosts frequent record-release events, with live performances in the parking lot on weekends.

Atlanta's gallery scene is as sprawling as the city itself. But that too is changing, says Anna Walker Skillman, photography dealer and owner of Jackson Fine Art in Tony Buckhead, specializing in classics like Henri Cartier-Bresson, contemporary artists like Mona Kuhn, and local photographers like Angela West. Skillman urges gallery-hoppers to head to Castleberry Hills Arts District, a compact area just south of downtown, where dozens of studios showcase emerging artists. Skillman favors the Skot Foreman Fine Art for prints and the Marcia Wood Gallery for contemporary paintings by artist Frances Barth. "The neighborhood is quickly becoming a serious arts district," Skillman says.