Georgia, a country at the intersection of Europe and Asia, is a former Soviet republic that’s home to Caucasus Mountain villages and Black Sea beaches. It’s famous for Vardzia, a sprawling cave monastery dating to the 12th century, and the ancient wine-growing region Kakheti. The capital, Tbilisi, is known for the diverse architecture and mazelike, cobblestone streets of its old town. Georgia is a representative democracy governed as a unitary parliamentary republic. Tbilisi is its capital as well as its largest city, and is home to roughly a third of the Georgian population.
Georgia is a southeastern U.S. state whose terrain spans coastal beaches, farmland and mountains. Capital city Atlanta is home of the Georgia Aquarium and the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, dedicated to the African-American leader’s life and times. The city of Savannah is famed for its 18th- and 19th-century architecture and leafy public squares. Augusta hosts the Masters golf tournament.
During the classical era, several independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia, such as Colchis and Iberia. In the early 4th century, ethnic Georgians officially adopted Christianity, which contributed to the spiritual and political unification of the early Georgian states. In the Middle Ages, the unified Kingdom of Georgia emerged and reached its Golden Age during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Thereafter, the kingdom declined and eventually disintegrated under the hegemony of various regional powers, including the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire, and the successive dynasties of Persia. In 1783, one of the Georgian kingdoms entered into an alliance with the Russian Empire, which proceeded to annex the territory of modern Georgia in a piecemeal fashion throughout the 19th century.
1.Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta
Georgia Aquarium is a public aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It exhibits hundreds of species and thousands of animals across its seven major galleries, all of which reside in more than 11 million US gallons (42,000 m3) of water. It was the largest aquarium in the world from its opening in 2005 until 2012 when it was surpassed by the S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore and the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China; the Georgia Aquarium remains the largest aquarium in the United States and the third largest in the world.
The aquarium’s notable specimens include whale sharks, beluga whales, California sea lions, bottlenose dolphins, and manta rays. Its centerpiece is a 6.3 million US gallons (24,000 m3) whale shark exhibit.
According to founder Bernard Marcus, the Aquarium’s conservation and environmental mission are equal in importance to its role as an attraction. Before opening, the Aquarium was already working with Georgia Tech and Georgia State University in Atlanta and the University of Georgia in Athens to help save endangered species through education and research programs.
The acquisition of the male beluga whales, previously suffering in an inadequate environment, was hailed by Marcus as a prime example of the type of conservation activities the Aquarium should be involved with. Roughly 100 tarpons stranded in a tidal pool at Skidaway Island, off the Georgia coast, were rescued for the collection. Coral used in exhibits at the Aquarium is grown in a collaboration between Georgia Tech and the University of the South Pacific, produced by suspending blocks of pumice over a reef near the village of Tagaqe, Fiji for eight months to allow seaweeds and reef invertebrates to establish colonies.
2.Explore Rock City on Lookout Mountain
Rock City is a tourist attraction on Lookout Mountain in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Opened in May 1932, the attraction gained prominence after owners Garnet and Frieda Carter hired Clark Byers in 1935 …
Lookout Mountain, at the border between Georgia and Tennessee, was the scene of a Civil War battle, but is best known today for the nature park along its rocky ridge. Begun in 1932 and made famous by more than 900 barn signs in 19 states, the park features trails through a series of rock formations and across a swinging bridge to Lookout Point.
On exceptionally clear days, points in seven states are visible from the top of the sheer cliff. Alongside the winding trail through the formations are gardens, stone bridges, narrow passages between massive rock faces, art installations, a mushroom-shaped balancing rock, and other features. Seasonal festivals and events include Christmas lights and a Halloween festival with a corn maze.
3.Blue Ridge Scenic Railway
The Blue Ridge Scenic Railway is a heritage railroad in northern Georgia. Based in Blue Ridge, Georgia, United States it follows the former Marietta and North Georgia Railroad line along the Toccoa River north to McCaysville, Georgia, and its Twin city of Copperhill, Tennessee.
Based in Blue Ridge, Georgia, United States it follows the former Marietta and North Georgia Railroad line along the Toccoa River north to McCaysville, Georgia, and its Twin city of Copperhill, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of the Georgia Northeastern Railroad, which also operates freight service on the same line. The Blue Ridge Scenic Railway started operations in 1998.
Trains generally run Fridays to Mondays from late March to the last weekend in December, daily (except Wednesdays) during spring break (first full week of April), and summer (mid-June to the end of July), and from October until Thanksgiving. A special Christmas train runs Thanksgiving weekend, the weekends following, and the full week prior to Christmas itself. Normal trips resume for the final week of the year.
4.Atlanta Botanical Garden
The Atlanta Botanical Garden is a 30 acres botanical garden located adjacent to Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Incorporated in 1976, the garden’s mission is to “develop and maintain plant collections for the purposes of display, education, conservation, research and enjoyment.
Following a petition by citizens of Atlanta in 1973, the garden was incorporated in 1976, as the private, 501(c) non-profit corporation Atlanta Botanical Garden Inc.. The garden incorporated the pre-existing Dr. A. Leslie Stephens Memorial Bonsai Garden, now known as the Japanese Garden. Within a year Bill Warner, previously employed at Holden Arboretum, was assigned office as the first executive director. He was soon followed by Ann L. Crammond in 1979. The following year marked a turning point in the history of the garden as a 50-year lease was negotiated with the city, securing the site of the Garden for years to come.
The Atlanta Botanical Garden is home to the Kendeda Canopy Walk, a 600-foot-long (180 m) skywalk that allows the visitors to tour one of the city’s last remaining urban forests from around 40 feet in the air through the treetops of the Storza Woods. The skywalk extends from a bluff in the Garden into the branches of oaks, hickories and poplars. The structure also provides an aerial view of the woodland garden below.
The Canopy Walk was built for $55 million and opened in 2010. It was originally set to open in 2009, but during its construction in 2008, the skywalk collapsed, killing one worker and injuring 18 others. Because of the uniqueness of the Canopy Walk, city leaders believe it will become an icon for Atlanta.
5.Savannah Historic District
The Savannah Historic District is a large urban U.S. historic district that roughly corresponds to the pre-civil war city limits of Savannah, Georgia. The area was declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1966, and is one of the largest urban, community-wide historic preservation districts in the United States. The district was made in recognition of the Oglethorpe Plan, a unique sort of urban planning begun by James Oglethorpe at the city’s founding and propagated for the first century of its growth.
Each year, the Savannah Historic District attracts millions of visitors, who enjoy its eighteenth- and nineteenth-century architecture and green spaces. The district includes the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, see Juliette Gordon Low Historic District), the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences (one of the South’s first public museums), the First African Baptist Church (the oldest African American Baptist congregation in the United States), Temple Mickve Israel (the third-oldest synagogue in America), the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex (the oldest standing antebellum rail facility in America), Christ Church (the Mother Church of Georgia), the old Colonial Cemetery, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Old Harbor Light, and Factors Row, a line of former cotton warehouses, along its waterfront, some built from ships’ ballast stones.
6.World of Coca-Cola, Atlanta
The World of Coca-Cola is a museum, located in Atlanta, Georgia, showcasing the history of the Coca-Cola Company. The 20-acre complex opened to the public on May 24, 2007, relocating from and replacing the original exhibit, which was founded in 1990 in Underground Atlanta.
There are other World of Coca-Cola locations beyond Atlanta as well. Club Cool, formerly Ice Station Cool, was located in Walt Disney World Epcot park. The facade was themed to resemble a polar expedition with props such as a snowmobile. Like other Coca-Cola exhibits, it included an area where guests could taste Coca-Cola beverages from around the world. However, Club Cool closed in 2019. In 2016, the World of Coca-Cola opened in Disney Springs, which was modelled like the Atlanta attraction. It features a sampling of Coca-Cola products from around the world.
Everything Coca-Cola Store in Las Vegas Nevada as seen in June 2017
World of Coca-Cola Las Vegas, built in 1997, was located in the Showcase Mall on the Las Vegas Strip. It closed in 2000, but the Everything Coca-Cola store remains open.[citation needed][when?] World of Coca-Cola Tokyo was located on the 6th floor of Mediage in Odaiba. It closed on January 15, 2007.There is also a Coca-Cola Museum in Taoyuan City, Taiwan as of 2007.
7.Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain
Callaway Resort & Gardens is a 2,500-acre (1,000 ha) resort complex located near Pine Mountain in Harris County, Georgia, 18 miles (29 km) from LaGrange, Georgia. The destination draws over 750,000 visitors annually and is the world’s largest azalea garden.
Callaway Gardens opened on May 21, 1952, as the Ida Cason Gardens, with a number of lakes, a golf course, and scenic drives. The gardens were named for the mother of founder Cason J. Callaway.Robin Lake Beach and the Overlook Azalea Garden opened the following year in 1953. In 1955, The gardens were renamed Ida Cason Callaway Gardens.
Fishing licenses are not required on private Callaway property, but fishing is highly regulated. Although there are 13 lakes at Callaway Gardens, only Mountain Creek Lake allows shore fishing (at an hourly rate) and is accessible without a guide. Callaway’s website says their lakes are “renowned for enormous bream, crappie, shellcrackers, and trophy sized bass, and several lakes are seasonally stocked with rainbow trout”. All bass, carp & trout are catch and release, and trout fishing is only available through a “Personalized Trout Trip”. Private boats are prohibited; Jon boats, kayaks & canoes can be rented.