I wanted to see several sites in Atlanta plus the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield but didn’t want to stay in Atlanta. The traffic there drives me mad, worse than Washington or Chicago, so I found a nice place in Marietta. There is plenty to see here and it’s not far for a visit to Atlanta.

Recommendations

I enjoyed walking around downtown, Marietta Square, and Glover Park. It’s a beautiful area, a lovely walking district, with many stores and restaurants.

There is a lot of history in town. I visited one of the oldest homes in the greater Atlanta area, the William Root House. It has the original home, with award winning self guided tour and videos, plus old enslaved quarters, the kitchen, and gardens.

I also really enjoyed the Marietta History Center. $7, $5 for seniors, free for veterans. Just one floor in the old Kennesaw hotel, there are exhibits covering a lot of local history including about Andrew’s Raiders.

Boo and I also walked around town following the Black Heritage Walking Tour. There is a Black History Tour brochure I picked up at the William Root house, slightly different but many of the stops overlap.

I visited both the Marietta National Cemetery and Confederate Cemetery while in town. I saw some interesting historical markers and information. There is a Slave Lot in the Confederate Cemetery. The National Cemetery has a section for the US Colored Troops (USCT) and the grave of freed slave, Emma Stephenson, who served as a nurse, caring for the Union soldiers wounded during the Atlanta campaign.

After all the museums I wanted to get out and enjoy some trails so went over to the Island Ford area of the Chattahoochee River National Recreational Area. Beautiful and great trails. There are multiple areas on the river depending what section you’re visiting.

Kennesaw 

I visited the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park visitor center, watched the video, then did the driving tour available in the NPS app on my phone. There are a number of great trails to get out and explore. This battle was part of General Sherman’s campaign for Atlanta. Joe Johnston’s Army of the Tennessee won a tactical victory here but failed to stop Sherman’s advance and retreated again. Jefferson Davis replaced Johnston within a few weeks of the battle, frustrated by his continued retreats to Sherman’s advances.

I had a friend recommend the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History. It was very interesting, and I learned a lot of new information on the use of trains in the war and especially the history of the “great locomotive chase” about the General.

Atlanta

Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park is a large district; it includes his birth home, a historic fire station, where “ML” played, the Freedom Center with the tomb of MLK Jr. and Coretta Scott King, the Ebenezer Church (unfortunately not open) and the visitor center with a movie and great exhibits.

Very close to the MLK Jr. site, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum is located on lovely grounds and gardens that I enjoyed with Boo after a few hours in the museum. The exhibits include President Carter’s childhood, Naval career, life in the White House, the Camp David accords, and, of course, all Jimmy and Rosalyn’s post-presidential work with the Carter Center, Habitat for Humanity, disease eradication, and so much more. Jimmy and Rosalyn are truly amazing people; there is no other former President or First Lady who have accomplished as much as them, or worked as hard.

I was originally planning on visiting the National Center for Civil and Human Rights the same day I visited MLK Jr NHP and the Carter Library. I had a couple hours at the end of the day but historic sites and museums can be tiring and I wanted out of Atlanta traffic. I’ll have to visit this museum another time.

Restaurants

• Paul’s Pot Pies has a wide selection of premade frozen savory pies, I had a hard time deciding but the Italian sausage was great.
• I ordered a chicken enchilada bowl from Taqueria Tsunami one night, delicious! It was large enough for two full meals.
• Bernhard German Bakery & Deli Excellent sandwiches and pastries.
• Stockyard Burgers and Bones I had the “Mary”, the lamb burger, it was great!
• I stopped in Glover Park Brewery for a flight one evening while out walking around downtown. Just a couple blocks off the square, it has a great patio, dog friendly, good beer.
• Queenie’s BBQ I had some great pulled pork and cole slaw while having a few beers at Reformation Brewery (Woodstock) with a friend who lives in Woodstock.

** All photos property of Lisa, not to be copied or reproduced **

The Big Chicken