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13 Holiday Events Around Atlanta

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Whether you have family coming into Atlanta to visit you, or you want to join friends or your family here, you might be looking for some things to get you into the holiday spirit. Maybe we found something you’ll find interesting in our 13 Holiday Events Around Atlanta!

(The Title of Each Event or Place is a like to their website, if we found one!)

2018 Holiday Events Around AtlantaLights of Life

Drive through the campus of Life University in Marietta to experience the Lights of Life, open Every night from dark to 9 p.m. on weekdays and until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays through December 31. Since 1989 this light show has grown to encompass more than 1 million LED lights in displays set up along the grounds. Other activities include visits with Santa, pony rides, and concessions.

Through December 13, admission is $5 per car Monday through Thursday and $10 per car Friday through Sunday. From December 14 to 31, admission is $10 per car regardless of day. Additional fees are required for onsite activities and concessions.

Holiday in The Park at Six Flags Atlanta – Thru January 6

Celebrating its fifth year, Holiday in the Park returns bigger and brighter than ever with more than 1 million LED lights, 16 themed areas, 30 holiday rides, a variety of live shows, and plenty of photo ops scattered throughout that would be perfect for next year’s holiday cards.

Open select days through January 6, tickets vary based on age and date. See website for exact pricing and to purchase tickets.

Skating at Park Tavern — A Midtown Favorite! Through January 21st

“The Rink Powered by Pepsi” is a popular ice skating rink that returns with a “Fire & Ice” theme featuring a Neo-Victorian feel and design elements, holiday décor, games, seasonal cocktails, and more.

Through January 21, skating is open to all ages from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday for $15 and on Friday through Sunday for $20. Each evening at 8:30 p.m., The Rink turns into an “ages 16 and up” venue until midnight. Rental skates are included.

Parking is $3 on weekdays and $5 on weekends. 

Santa at The Battery Atlanta

This one has all kinds of different hours and options. December 16th for example, is Santa Paws Night when you can bring the family pet. 

World of Coke Holiday Highlights

To celebrate the season, this downtown attraction is highlighting the history of the Coca-Cola Santa as well as spotlighting seasonal Coke ads and artifacts from around the world. Guests also can sample seasonable beverages like Apple Pie Sprite and Gingerbread Coke.

 Photo ops galore, including with the Coca-Cola Polar Bear, positioned in Santa’s sleigh, and outside the venue by giant ornaments. Ticket prices vary by day and age, so check website for full calendar and pricing. Available through January 1.

Stone Mountain Christmas — Through January 6th

Stone Mountain Christmas invites residents and visitors alike to come experience some of the park’s top attractions all decked out for the Christmas season. See an abbreviated 4-D version of “The Polar Express,” take a ride on the Scenic Railroad as you sing carols, visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. When you’ve finished, how about that holiday photo made with holiday characters Rudolph, Clarice, and Bumble from “Rudolph, The Red-nosed Reindeer.”

Ticket prices vary based on age and date; see website for exact pricing and to purchase tickets.

Milledgeville and The Old Governor’s Mansion – thru December 21

holidays at Old Governors MansionThrough December 21, tour the Old Governor’s Mansion to see how the state’s elite celebrated the season in a bygone era. Tickets are $10 per person, $7 for seniors and pre-booked tours, and $2 for students.

Also available will be tours of Rose Hill, a circa-1852 Greek Revival home. 

 

 

Savannah’s 21st Annual Holiday Lights Tour

If you are headed to Savannah, this is a must do! The Old Town Trolley Tour takes you on a caroling tour as you pass by historic homes and city squares! How fun! 

Christmas at Rock Ranch — Who Knew?

Christmas at Rock RanchThe Rock Ranch is a beautiful 1,500 acre working cattle ranch located about an hour south of Atlanta in Upson County. The farm was founded by the late S. Truett Cathy of Chick-fil-A and is dedicated to “Growing Healthy Families!” and “Uniting Families to the Land and Each Other.” It’s a place where families, school groups and businesses can come to enjoy “agritourism.” (Ah, now we know……)

Check the website for more details about travelling around the farm by wagon, riding the Christmas Express Train, the Holiday Gift Shop and the Christmas Cafe. 

Festival of the SEAson at The Georgia Aquarium

Festival of the SEAson transforms Georgia Aquarium’s plaza, galleries and exhibits into a winter wonderland, including appearances by Santa and SCUBA Claus, a holiday edition of our live entertainment experience, tree-lighting ceremonies, and Santa Claus events.

Many events are part of your General Admission to the Aquarium, but some could have additional fees. As always, check the link provided above for more information! 

Ride The Pink Pig — Lenox Square

Let’s just leave it at that… Individual rides are $3 each, and you can get multi-ride tickets (you know, in case you just can’t get enough of the Pink Pig) for $5.50 for 2 rides and $7.50 for three rides. 

 

Garden Lights, Holiday Nights – Atlanta Botanical Gardens – Midtown Atlanta

Garden Lights, Holiday Nights returns with new features and crowd favorites – including new music and motion for last year’s buzz-worthy spectacle, Nature’s Wonders. 

This year brings the debut of the Skylights Lounge in the Skyline Garden. Plus, several larger-than-life plant giants from Imaginary Worlds: Once Upon a Time will be awash in holiday glow.

See the Ice Goddess and Tunnel of Light along with the Orchestral Orbs, Radiant Rainforest, Model Trains and other favorites that continue to make the exhibition a must-see holiday tradition.

A Value Night ticket (We picked Wednesday, December 19) is $24.95 per person. Check the website for other ticket prices based on Value, Regular and Peak night dates. 

Ponce City Market 

Check the website for a variety of activities going on at this vibrant “re-make” of the historic Sears, Roebuck & Co. building, located on Ponce De Leon Blvd in Old Fourth Ward. 

There you have it…..some fun things in, around and outside of Atlanta to round out your holiday adventures! We hope you enjoy one, or many of them, along with all the other magic that IS the Holiday Season! 

Citizens For Progressive Transit November 2018 Newsletter

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Citizens for Progressive TransitA world-class city needs world-class transit. And let’s face it, a rail system that runs the limited places it does like MARTA, does not a world-class city make. 

Citizens For Progressive Transit

Most can agree that is one of the major reasons that the recent hunt to land the Amazon’s HQ2 did not end up in Atlanta. Our transit just doesn’t take you many places. But what we DO have makes one want to consider where they live to have access to the MARTA. Cities we cover like Doraville, Chamblee, Brookhaven, Buckhead and Midtown all have transit stations.

We always read, and like to share the Citizens for Progressive Transit newsletter to our readers and website visitors. It has some great information. 

The November, 2018 issue goes further into the new ATL regional transit authority. All 16 Board Members are in place, but the face a complicated task…for sure. Coordinating a transit system between some 13 counties in the Metro Atlanta region. That is just plain…YIKES!

How many non-MARTA counties will pass a sales tax required to participate in the plan? (After my 45 minute ride to Midtown this morning in bumper-to-bumper traffic starting BEFORE Clairmont Road…you’d think all of them, right?) But I’m going to guess there will be some that say No to Rail. And one can’t say how sad that really sounds. 

Here is a link to the November, 2018 issue of Citizens For Progressive Transit Newsletter. 

Chamblee Household Hazardous Waste Recycling Event

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You know you’ve got that “stuff” in your garage. Or you Basement. Or even under your kitchen sink. Household Hazardous Waste. 

Chamblee Household Hazardous Waste Recycling Event

Think old week killer, or that little bit of fertilizer you never used. Maybe some old rat poison. Of course paint. Lots of cans of paint you never use anymore. All of this nasty stuff is even more nasty when it ends up in our landfills and someday seeps into the water table where our drinking water comes from. Not good stuff then. But we’ve got a place for Chamblee residents to get rid of it all. 

And yes….Chamblee Residents ONLY!

When:     Saturday, August 25th — 9AM – 1PM

Where:    Plaza Fiesta — 4166 Buford Highway — (Northeastern Parking Lot along Dresden Drive)

Who:        Sponsored by City of Chamblee and Keep Chamblee Beautiful

For:          Residents of Chamblee ONLY — Must show proof of residence (i.e. photo ID, piece of mail, etc)

 

Household Waste Recycling

 

 

10 Questions To Ask Your Kids Instead of “How Was Your Day”

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Questions to ask Your Kid about How Was SchoolI personally don’t have any children. But I have loved the recent sensory overload on Facebook of my friends and family posting photos of their kids headed off to school. Whether, they are in 1st grade or a Senior in high school, the first day back is always a bid deal. I can remember those days when I was in school. If you had not seen kids all summer, it was all about how you looked, what you were wearing, did you get a different haircut, where did your family go on vacation, etc., etc. Remember? 

10 Questions To Ask Your Kids Instead of “How Was Your Day”

But as a parent of a kid today, there are so many forces at work out there. Kids have smart phones and social media to carry on the stories waaay past the lunch room or the playground. And when they come home from school, how do you REALLY know how their day was? Was it good? Did they learn something cool? Did they get picked on for the new glasses of the shirt they really didn’t want to wear but you made them wear it? 

There is a lot going on in the time they are at school. So maybe you need to consider asking them some different questions to see how their day went. So here are 10 Questions To Ask Your Kids Instead of “How Was Your Day?”

 

  1. What made you laugh today?
  2. Did you like your lunch?
  3. Rate your day on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being AWESOME!
  4. What was the hardest rule to follow today?
  5. Teach ME something I don’t know.
  6. Did you learn any new words today?
  7. What part of the school building do you like the least? The most?
  8. Who did you sit with at lunch?
  9. What was the best thing that happened today?
  10. Did anyone cry? Why?

By asking more specific questions, you learn more about what their day was really like and what happened~! 

We do the same thing in real estate. Ask questions so we have a better understanding of the kind of house or condo you may be looking for. Rather than “What kind of neighborhood/community do you want to live in?” we might ask more specifically, “Do you want to live in a neighborhood where you can walk to shopping or restaurants? Or, “Is a 1-story house better than a 2-story house?” by asking more specific questions, we get a much better idea of what and where you want to live. 

10 Questions To Ask your Kids Instead of “How Was Your Day”

Midtown Atlanta Real Estate

Citizens For Progressive Transit – July 2018 Newsletter

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Somewhere, somehow, I stumbled upon this organization and their monthly newsletter. 

Citizens For Progressive Transit

Atlanta Streetcar…their website seems to be a tad behind…I’m sharing the July, 2018 newsletter with you here, and the website has April, 2018…so the best way to keep up with them would be to subscribe to receive the newsletter. But the highlights of July are:

Marta Takes Over Atlanta Street Car –$1 Fare Continues

The Atlanta Streetcar was turned over to MARTA on July 1. But they opted to keep the $1 fare, which has been blamed for the dramatic drop in ridership. It should probably be included in your regular MARTA fare, and you could transfer to the Streetcar. 

I’ll give Atlanta credit for trying, in getting the Streetcar started. (You remember the plans called for it to run from Downtown to Buckhead on Peachtree Street, but the funding was not there, along with some lack of interest, challenges with it being on Peachtree, etc, etc.) But, to go from Centennial Olympic Park to the King Center….not much service there. 

ARC Grants to Expand Suburban Bus Service

Douglas County (that’s way out West for us In-Town folks) will get its first fixed-route bus service, and Cobb and Gwinnett will get to expand, due to new federal funding by the ARC. 

Bond Money to Go For GA 400 Bus Service

Gov. Deal announced that recently approved bonds to raise $100M will be used in North Fulton County to facilitate MARTA bus service along GA400. 

A Faster Path to Regional Rail (THIS one caught my eye big time!)

We’ve talked about regional passenger rail. And talked. And studied. And talked and studied…..but nothing. Yet North Carolina has launched a fourth daily round-trip on its state-funded Amtrak line, running from Charlotte to Raleigh. The three round trips carried 427,000 people last year. HELLO GEORGIA? It’s the 21st Century…and we can’t keep widening roads or adding cars. 

This is why I love reading the Citizens For Progressive Transit newsletter….it keeps me informed.

You can read the entire newsletter here. 

You can JOIN CFPT, and subscribe to the newsletter HERE. 

July 2018 Newsletter Citizens For Progressive Transit

 

Brookhaven’s New Zoning Code to Get Public Input

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New Zoning For Brookhaven GABrookhaven has been working off Dekalb County rules…and have decided it’s time to have their one rules and plans. And there are some interesting new options including Mixed-use districts, backyard cottages and a new Buford Highway Overlay District.

If all goes well with two more public meetings for residents on July 19th at 9am and 6pm, this new zoning rewrite could go before the council in September as the City of Brookhaven looks to set the  course for the city’s look and feel for years and years! 

Two more public meetings for residents to hear more about the zoning rewrite are set for the July 19. The Planning Commission will also dedicate its July 11 work session solely to going over the draft, according to Chair Stan Segal.

You can read more about the new zoning code in an article in the Brookhaven issue of Reporter Newspapers. 

Additional information about the Zoning changes can be found at brookhavenzoning.com

Thom Abbott

Associate Broker, REALTOR(R)
905 Juniper Street, NE Suite 110
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
770.713.1505 Direct
404.876.4901 Office

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

PalmerHouse Properties