CHAPTER 15

Atlanta, Georgia

Savannah, Augusta, Louisville, and Milledgeville have all been capitals of Georgia. Atlanta is the fifth city to be Georgia's State Capital. Atlanta, originally named Terminus in 1837, was the site of a railroad connecting Georgia with the Tennessee River. It was called Terminus because it was situated at the end of the railroad. Atlanta was renamed Marthasville in 1843 after Governor Lumpkin's daughter.

The third name change of the city came in 1845. In 1864 Atlanta was burned to the ground. The Union Army lead by General William Tecumesh Sherman marched into the city and then to the sea. After the confederate army's surrender in 1865, the men and women of Atlanta vowed to rebuild their city. The seal of the city, adopted in 1887, shows a Phoenix, a mythical bird, rising from the ashes of its funeral pyre to live again with the Latin motto Resurgens, meaning "rising again." Like the Phoenix, Atlanta has risen from the ashes.

The Atlanta Story (adapted from Slang Expressions: How to Understand What People in Atlanta are Talking About - Stephanie Saxon) "Newcomers Guide."

"Shoot the Hooch" is taking a raft trip on the Chattahoochee River. It usually starts just outside the Perimeter. The "Perimeter" is Atlanta's beltway interstate highway, I-285. If you're not careful you can wind up going through Spaghetti Junction about four times. "Spaghetti Junction" is the nickname for the Tom Moreland interchange where I-285 and I-85 loop over and around, up and down. It actually has a certain cultural appeal - as long as you're just looking at it from the lowest level.

If you play your cards right, you will eventually make your way to the downtown connector. The "Downtown Connector" is the interstate highway running through downtown created by the merging of I-75 and I-85. It passes the "Varsity."

The "Varsity" is a fast-food restaurant established in 1928, and was the largest drive-through restaurant in the world. When the downtown connector was built, it was cut down in size, but you can still get a Nekked Dog Running. "Nekked Dog Running" is a plain hot dog to go. It's especially good when you're in a hurry to get back on Peachtree Street, not to be confused with "the Peachtree."  "The Peachtree", is the nation's largest 10k footrace, and is held every 4th of July morning with 50,000 participants. It is covered on local TV, but it's a great excuse to cruise down to Piedmont Park to watch the runners cross the finish line, then head downtown for the "Salute-2-America" parade. Be forewarned, it's usually a pretty hot day…..maybe you'll want to "shoot-the-hooch" instead.

ATLANTA TRIVIA

Did you know Atlanta …..

ZOO ATLANTA FACTS

Did you know...

  • Willie B the late gorilla, one of Zoo Atlanta's most loved attractions, ate one pound of bananas and six pounds of carrots per week? His favorite food was celery and his favorite drink was milk. Male gorillas consume 5½ pounds of produce a day. Females consume 2¾ pounds. In addition to water, the gorillas drink a glass of milk each night. There are twenty gorillas that make the zoo's Ford African Rain Forest their home.
  • the Bushmaster, a snake in the reptile house, only eats twice a year?
  • Zoo Atlanta's oldest mammal is a 38 year old female orangutan named Sibu?
  • the zoo's elephants -- Starlett, Zambezi and Victoria -- eat ten bales of hay a day (500 pounds)? Zambezi is the zoo's largest animal at 5,800 pounds. These three elephants consume more than 120 gallons of water per day.
  • the tallest animal in the zoo is the seventeen-foot male giraffe?

ATLANTA'S PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAMS

Atlanta is one of a few cities in the U.S. with its major sports facilities centered downtown. They are:

If you are interested in ticket information, phone Ticket Master at (404) 249-6400.

There are also amateur sports teams in Atlanta such as:

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