Storm Chasers: The ‘Canes fan travel guide to Atlanta, GA

Miami fans invade the 404 during the heart of fall in a late season showdown with the Yellow Jackets

This is a summer series for Miami Hurricanes fans who plan on attending away games for the 2022 season. The ‘Canes have five away games in ‘22, taking trips to: College Station, TX; Blacksburg, VA; Charlottesville, VA; Atlanta, GA; and Clemson, SC.

Bloggers from around the country will contribute their answers to set up Miami fans for the perfect trip to watch the ‘Canes beat the home team.

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Miami @ Georgia Tech, Nov. 12 (Atlanta, GA)

Logan Sandor from the blog From The Rumble Seat will give us the inside scoop on where to visit in the 404.

Plug your social: Logan Sandor, From The Rumble Seat

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How are you familiar with the city/town?

Logan: Marietta is my hometown, while that is not technically in downtown Atlanta, it is part of the Atlanta Metro area.

What’s the best strip/street/neighborhood to visit that’s away from campus?

Logan: Away from campus, assuming you’re around student age you will probably want to visit either Little Five Points or the Virginia Highlands. Those areas tend to have good eats and some fun sites to look at. Virginia Highlands tends to be more hipster’ish though.

If you’re just doing the tourist thing, check out Centennial Park where all the museums are. You have the World of Coke museum, College Football Hall of Fame (Editor’s note: IT’S WORTH SEEING!), the Georgia Aquarium, The National Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum, the CNN Center, Phillips Arena, that Ferris Wheel that you occasionally see on TV when watching sporting events.

What’s the best strip/street/neighborhood to visit that’s close to campus?

Logan: Midtown is a nice area which has been revamped in the area… It’s not right off campus, but you can definitely get there by walking. That whole area has gotten a facelift recently and has plenty of food places, parks, shops, and other things to do. It is well known as the LGTQ+ area of town and many civil rights parades and pride parades. It is a strange contrast given what Georgia is generally known for, but that whole area is beautiful and has many friendly people.

Best pizza in the city/town?

Logan: Antico Italian Pizza is the best pizza. Hands down. It is brick oven pizza and the ingredients hit all the right notes. The owner has his own problems… so I guess if you’re philosophically opposed you can get a more traditional pizza experience at Rocky Mountain Pizza which is within walking distance of Antico Italian Pizza.

Best breakfast place for the next morning?

Logan: Just find a Waffle House, best place for either the next morning or 3 am on the same night.

Best dessert (cookie, cupcake, donut, ice cream) place?

Logan: Sublimes donuts are well known and right off campus. It’s a dessert donut place. Also you can get what is called a frozen orange at The Varsity which is good on a hot day.

Best local beer / cocktail type place?

Logan: Go to SweetWater Brewing Company. While it’s not near campus, it is probably the most well known brewing establishment in Atlanta.

Any hotel recommendations, or Air B&B neighborhoods?

Logan: No recommendations, just don’t stay in Home Park.

Best place to watch the other games?

Logan: Taco Mac is the sports bar with a million TV’s. Not sure what the equivalent is in Miami, but Taco Mac has a million beers and a million TV’s.

Is there a prime tailgating location for game day?

For tailgating info, check the GT website here.

What is the first place you would take someone from out of town to see/eat/visit?

Logan: Probably Centennial park again if we were doing the touristy thing. I actually like showing off the Tech campus. The Tech Tower is pretty and from the top of Freshman hill you can get a good view of where the 1996 olympic flame was located (its now a golden colored statue, and for some history most of the fraternity houses on campus were used to house Olympic athletes and the rec center on campus was where the athletes trained).

The Varsity is a famous food place right off campus. I recommend trying it once, but it either is your thing or isn’t. I like the food once or twice a year but it is super greasy and super college style (i.e. hot dogs, burgers, chicken tenders, fries, onion rings, not much else). In the words of my Finace “cool, we went to the Varsity and now I never have to go here again”.

The Coke Museum is still my favorite. It’s weird not to list the CFB HoF given what we blog about, but I have to shout out the Civil Rights Museum. That museum… you just walk away from it a little different inside. Definitely check that one out.

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The wrap

As someone that has spent some time in Atlanta over the years, you’re going to want to see the College Football Hall of Fame, grab a bite over at The Varsity to get some agita, and then wash it down with seeing the Ramblin’ Wreck as the band and cheerleaders lead the way into the stadium.

I’ve always enjoyed grabbing a slice and a beer in Little Five Points, too. I received an advanced copy of Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story and loved it. It doesn’t matter if you’re a hip hop fan or not, it’s part rap, but mostly a case study on city planning, sociology, education, and psychology.