ATLANTApix: Atlanta Braves Day One 2011

Sky Field at Turner Field, Home of the Braves

Today, the Atlanta Braves (Go Braves!!!) kick off the 2011 baseball season in a game with the Washington Nationals at Nationals Field in Washington, D.C. (where I lived for nine years before returning to Atlanta). You hardly have to use your imagination to know who I'm pulling for...

The best part about being a Braves fan? Well, there are too many to mention here, but one of them is being able to walk onto Turner Field during one of their tours. And the view from Sky Field (photo), including the full Atlanta skyline, is definitely a home run!

When you go to a Braves game this season and it's one of the really, really, really hot days, remember that you can go up to Sky Field and stroll through the misters to cool off...just remember your sunscreen so you don't burn!

ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: Phillips Arena Building

Phillips Arena

The Phillips Arena building is unique in Atlanta in that it actually bears the name "ATLANTA" within its facade, in the biggest letters I've seen in any other building in the city.

When I lived in Washington, D.C., I heard the city called by visitors as "the city where everything is carved in stone." An accurate observation where architecture is concerned...many of the city's buildings do indeed have names and quotes engraved into them (fortunately because of our democratic voting system, not 'everything' is carved in stone). But I do not recall a building with such a prominent namesake incorporated into a D.C. structure, as it is at Phillips Arena.

Phillips Arena is home of the city's hockey team the Atlanta Thrashers, named for the Georgia State Bird, the Brown Thrasher, as well as concerts and special events. And the Thrashers have what I think is one of the coolest uniforms in the NHL, but maybe that's a biased opinion. Not at all biased, hockey is one of the most exciting sports to watch live and Phillips is the place in Atlanta to catch that action.

ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: Centennial Tower is Thriving

Centennial Tower

It's difficult to believe that one of the more modern-looking buildings in downtown Atlanta was actually built in 1975. Centennial Tower, formerly known as Marietta 101 (for its street address), underwent a major renovation, inside and out, that left it a trademark building in the Atlanta skyline.

From what I've read in my research, when the chevrons were added to the top of the building during its 1998 renovation the total height was increased by 13 feet and the dramatic lighting of said chevrons makes it uniquely distinctive at night. 

To see how beautiful it is on the inside, check out the Jackson, Oats, Shaw virtual tour or you can always pop into the sleek, contemporary first floor restaurant Thrive and enjoy the euro charm of this upscale yet casual dining destination (it really looks like a lot of fun...I want to go!).

When I snapped this photo, I was downtown buying tickets to an Atlanta Thrashers game and clouds were coming in very quickly. Skyscrapers in cloudy downtown Atlanta at sunset can look rather ominous...and cool at the same time.

ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!