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If you only do one thing: Drive along West Paces Ferry Road, which takes you through the heart of Buckhead, a neighborhood of elaborate mansions and traditional Southern homes. One of them is now the Atlanta History Center, where you can spend a day learning about Southern history; taking historic house tours, and wandering the walking trails and five gardens that are part of the estate's 32 woodland acres.

What's new: In July, the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau added an interactive cultural exhibit at its visitor center in Underground Atlanta. Visitors can now get information about museums, plays, and events, as well as purchase, at the AtlanTIX ticket booth, half-price, day-of-show tickets for area performances.

Old-faithful restaurant: Around since 1928, the Varsity in downtown Atlanta is the world's largest drive-in restaurant. Known for its hamburgers and hot dogs, the crazy terms for items on the menu ("bag of rags" equals potato chips), and the hurry-them-out attitude of the waitstaff.

Of-the-moment restaurant: If you call now, you might snag a reservation at Floataway Cafe (near Emory University), which serves "sun" food – that is, dishes reflecting southern French and Italian influences); also popular is Virginia-Highland's Dish, where the ambiance is friendly and the menu is contemporary American.

With the kids: Downtown's Center for Puppetry Arts amuses both adults and children with puppet shows, interactive exhibits and a collection of puppets gathered from everywhere in the world.

Side trip: Seventy miles south of Atlanta, but worth the trip, is Callaway Gardens at Pine Mountain, which includes 14,000 acres of gardens, hiking-biking trails, a butterfly conservatory and lakes where you can swim. Call ahead (800/282-8181) to find out about upcoming concerts and other special events frequently staged here.

Off-the-beaten track: Travel back in time to the '60s by visiting Little Five Points, the funky neighborhood just south of Virginia-Highland, where hippies and their tattooed-with-green-hair descendants tend health-food stores and vintage-clothing shops.

Average per-night lodging rate: $147

Distance from airport to city center: 12 miles

Information: 800/285-2682, http://www.acvb.com

"I Made This Jar." This High Museum of Art exhibition highlights the life and works of an African American potter named Dave, who worked in the Edgefield district of South Carolina during the antebellum period. Through July 31. Information: 404/577-6940. B.B. King Blues Music Festival. B.B. King, Tower of Power and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra are among the performers at this event, Aug. 27-28, at Chastain Park. Information: 404/733-4800. "Basil Milovsoroff – Innovative Puppeteer (1907-1992)." The Center for Puppetry Arts displays the whimsical figures created by puppeteer artist Milovsoroff, whose childhood was steeped in Russian folklore, through Jan. 8, 2000. Information: 404/873-3391.
• A Road Trip to Atlanta Reveals the Real South • Stuck at the Airport? Take a Tour of the Margaret Mitchell House • The City's Sweet Southern Drawl, Before and After the Olympics		• Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport • Public Transportation • Live Cameras • High Museum of Art • Atlanta Zoo
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