Make Your Vacay A Staycay
- cherryblossomtravels
- Feb 22, 2019
- 7 min read
Living in a tourist attraction city such as Atlanta has so many advantages. There is constantly events going on, new places to see, and a variety of restaurants to try. For impulsive people who want to try and do everything, this blessing can sometimes become a curse. Doing things on the few days you have off a month can become an overwhelming challenge. There is always a constant struggle between wanting to save money and do cheap down-to-earth things as well as wanting to treat yourself and indulging in luxuries you haven’t experienced before. It is hard to find the right balance but if planned out right, you can plan out the perfect Atlanta “staycation”. We will help provide options to have a cheap fun day as well as a fancy elegant day out in Atlanta.
Having a successful staycation requires planning, just like most vacations do. This can take a lot of time and effort , which is the sad truth. To have the most financially and time efficient staycation, if the city is not too far away from your home, don't waste your money on a hotel room; drive, ask Uber for a ride, or stay at home. A complete staycation weekend requires the following: lots of sleep the night before, lots of coffee, and a good attitude.
There are so many inexpensive things to do in the city of Atlanta. Here are some of our favorite suggestions on how to spend your day/ weekend in Atlanta!
Start your day off with a down to earth, hole in the wall brunch spot. Ria’s Bluebird has an extremely diverse menu that has something for everyone from traditional pancakes, eggs, and bacon breakfast lovers to vegans who love soysage. After a relaxing and soul soothing brunch, head next door to Java Cats Cafe! Java cats offers time slots to people who want to play with lots of different cats. Java Cats is a coffee house that also has a seperate room that is just for the cats they house that are up for adoption. The entire room is a gigantic play area for the cats filled with scratching posts, ledges to climb everywhere and tubs of toys for them to play with. The cats also have a seperate private room for themselves if they get tired of playing with people. Each one hour session is $10 , which includes the customers choice of coffee or tea to sip on while you play with cats.
Playing with cats are not for everyone though. Another great option for inexpensive fun are Lime scooters. Lime scooters are electric scooters that people can use from a simple app on your phone. These Lime scooters are a really fun and inexpensive way to explore Atlanta. These electric scooters have a lot of power to them and do take time to get used to, but there is no better way to go from place to place avoiding traffic in the city than on these Eco friendly scooters.
If you don’t want to play with cats or ride Lime scooters, Ponce City Market is a trendy mall to walk around. The bottom floor has a food hall type area filled with restaurants of different cuisines as well as little stands that offer desserts and candy (if you’re not completely full from brunch). If you’re stuffed and can’t handle any more food, they have little shops and boutiques on the second floor where you can purchase tarot cards or a new outfit. Outside of Ponce City Market is an elevator that takes you up to the very top of the building called Skyline Park; there is an amazing view of the city at every angle, a bar, a mini golf course, as well as carnival games and a huge slide. All of these activities are open all year round at a cost of $20 per person to enter. There is also a full service restaurant at the top of the building called 9 Mile Station in case you want a late lunch with an amazing view. If carnival games and mini golf aren’t your jam, they also offer ice skating during the winter.
If you just want something more laid-back to do, Ponce has an entrance to the Atlanta Beltline. The entrance is located on the second floor of Ponce City Market down the elevator. As soon as you get out of the elevator you see a small garden where you can see the remains of an old railroad as well as a great view of the skyline. They have some benches if you want to have some wine, chat and unwind. However, if you’re ready for an adventure, I recommend you keep walking through the entrance walkway where you will see a serene pond, next to this pond is an enormous bike rack where you can rent a bike and bike along the beautiful beltline for as long as you would like! There also Lime scooters availble to rent to explore the beltline. There are shops around many parts of the beltline, which provides another exciting way to explore the city in a completely different way.
After this jam packed day of fun, the best place to have a simple yet amazing meal would be Pho 24. Here you can have an authentic Vietnamese meal at any time of the day, even if it’s past midnight.
If you’re always out and about doing casual inexpensive activities and want to treat yourself to an extravagant day out, here are some recommendations of the best places to go if you want to spend that extra money on yourself (because you deserve it).
Start your day at South City Kitchen ( it is not technically in Atlanta but it is pretty close and is 100% worth driving the few extra miles). South City Kitchen has a wide range of options for people who want something light but also elegant and also provide options for people who want a meal that is hearty and filling. They also offer brunch cocktails if you want to go the extra mile in your fancy day out! After eating, there is a nice outdoor shopping complex in Alpharetta called the Avalon. The Avalon is a great place to walk around and explore. At the Avalon there are a variety of shops to browse through, a frozen yogurt shop for all age groups (Pinkberry), and events to partake in on certain weekends. On occasional days there is a flower truck called JJ’s Flower Truck set up selling unique bouquets of flowers and also an adorable dog named JJ to play with.
After a lot of walking around (especially after an amazing meal) I usually crave some coffee, check out Cafe Intermezzo for some of the most unique cappuccinos. This elegant little coffee house has an old little French cafe feel to it, leaving their customers with a feeling of simpler living of the old times. The price points are high but it is an amazing experience that will definitely change your life a little bit.
Hopefully after you have a cup of coffee you’ll have the energy for the little paradise that is the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. They describe themselves as an urban oasis, which is the most accurate description. The whole garden covers about 30 acres and every inch of it is covered with beautiful landscape. They are always having different events all year round so no two trips to the Botanical Gardens is exactly the same! Tickets are about $24 per adult person and $21 for children aged 3-12 (children under 3 get free admission) and you can plan your trip ahead as well if there is a specific event from their calendar you really want to attend. They are currently featuring a Narcissus Garden as a contemporary art installation from the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in efforts to partner with the Infinity Mirrors exhibit she currently has at the High Museum. I would recommend preparing to spend about 3-4 hours here since it is all supposed to be explored on foot (if you get hungry they even have a little cafe).
After an afternoon of walking around, shopping, and looking at flowers, a great day to end the day is sitting down and relaxing to have a few drinks and look at a nice view. The best place to have all these experiences in one is at the Sun Dial. The Sun Dial is a spinning restaurant at the top of a hotel where you have a complete 360 view of the city often accompanied by live music. They close at 10 on weekdays and 11 on weekends so having a reservation is vital , since it is such a popular date night restaurant. Not only do they have a restaurant, they also have a beautiful cocktail lounge as well as an observatory level where you can see the entire city. They have an extremely elegant menu that has options for vegetarians (many times high end restaurants will not offer a vegetarian option but Sun Dial is not like most high end restaurants) as well as an expansive drinks menu where you can order any kind of wine you want as well as cocktails and beers.
If you’re still itching to do some more exploring and/or don’t feel like going home yet (or at all that night), the Georgia Aquarium offers sleepover events they call Sleep Under the Sea. They have sleepovers designed for kids as well as adults that they call Sips Under the Sea. The sleepover includes admission to the whole aquarium all night all as well as admission for the entire next day. The sleepover happens in front of their biggest gallery window where you can see whale sharks to sea turtles to little blue tangs (they look like Dory from Finding Nemo). They offer bedtime snacks, breakfast, guided tours, fun activities, and access to the exhibits. The adult sleepovers are hosted about once a month and it is about $112 per person but the group and family sleepovers are hosted almost every weekend and is worth trying at least once.
Click pictures or highlighted words to learn more about these awesome staycation destinations.
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