Weekday Atlanta Trip Ideas — My Weekday Trip to Atlanta
August holds a special place in my heart, as it is my wedding anniversary month. I was able to get some time away from my full-time job, to enjoy myself during my anniversary week. And I decided to treat myself to a trip down to Atlanta, Georgia. My amazing sister-in-law hosted me, and hosted the most Midtown-Atlanta couple of days you could ask for. I didn’t have to do any planning for the activities — just planning the outfits to go with those activities. Today, I wanted to share with you all the activities we got up to, the places we visited, and the food we ate! Hopefully, it will inspire one of you to make a trip down to Atlanta & try something new. So… let’s get down to the agenda we followed — it was a mid-week visit so traffic at some locations of course, may be busier on weekend/peak hours.
Day One (evening)
I arrived in Atlanta, Georgia around 3pm, after traveling from North Carolina. The drive was almost 5 hours, which is not too shabby when it is a straight-shot on I-85. After chilling in my sister-in-law’s apartment for a bit to settle down from the drive, we went to The Establishment in Colony Square for happy hour drinks. After we got some happy hour drinks in us, it was time for a quick walk to our dinner choice of the night, Henry’s Midtown Tavern. I honestly loved the vibe of the whole place - the patio was so pretty and was basically built around a tree rooting from the ground. Plus, we got not-too-hot of weather, so it was very nice to sit outside and eat al fresco. Once dinner was over, we decided the party was not over with.
So, to tie the night off, we went to Pour Taphouse, and enjoyed ourselves with the 3-floor selection that they provide in their cool establishment. If you have never been to a taphouse, it is a very cool place to visit if you are not sure what you want to drink that night, or maybe you are in the mood to try something new. With a taphouse, you are able to get a card/wristband, and when you scan that card/wristband on the tap you wish to try, you can pour as much or as little as you want into your cup. This means you could have endless tastings & countless taps to explore! This Pour Taphouse location was very cool, as they had three separate floors you can walk up and down on, exploring the taps on each floor. Each floor also had different games to play, comfortable seating, and an overall cool view of Midtown Atlanta. I got to try a cherry-lime hard kombucha, and it was delicious!! I would have never explored/tasted hard kombucha, had I not had the opportunity to in this taphouse.
Day Two (day and night)
After some rest, we got up and at ‘em in the morning with some donuts from Five Daughters Bakery, and coffee from BRASH Coffee. If you have never heard of Five Daughters Bakery, let me tell you a little bit of what makes them special. Five Daughters Bakery uses croissant dough in their donuts! They call them their “hundred-layer” donuts, and I can swear by it. I was able to try the Quinnamon, which the name might be a bit misleading — but it was absolutely delicious. It was essentially croissant dough, wrapped into a cinnamon roll shape, and topped with a cream cheese icing. The Quinnamon was so big, I ate it over two days! But the buttery layers were divine, and the flavors were out of this world. To pair with this amazing creation, we crossed the street and got some iced coffee from BRASH coffee, which is a cute little coffee shop built out of a shipping container. Since it was a cool morning, we got to enjoy our coffee and donuts outside, and enjoy the weather and calmness of Midtown Atlanta on a Wednesday morning.
After we were caffeinated and fed, it was time to explore the city. And what better way to explore the city, than on Bird scooters through The Active Oval in Piedmont Park. It was honestly the best scenic route to take and let me see all the beauty of Piedmont Park. After our trip through Piedmont Park, it brought us to our next stop — Ponce City Market. I wanted to visit Ponce City Market, when we visited Atlanta for a Braves game in September 2022, but we didn’t have time during that visit. But I wanted to make sure we made Ponce City Market a for-sure stop on my anniversary trip. If you have not been to Ponce City Market in Atlanta yet, you should definitely consider it! It had the feel of an outlet mall & a food hall, combined. The lower level of Ponce City Market was filled with a bunch of retail shops, such as Glossier, Sugarboo, West Elm, Madewell, Archer Paper Goods, and more. After we were done exploring the shops, we worked up an appetite and ventured to the upper levels for some grub. There were so many food vendors to choose from! But we ended up getting some Chicken Tikka from Bottiwalla, and it was so flavorful! We got to eat outside in their covered patio area, which was decorated to the nines with beautiful Indian decorations.
After filling up our stomachs at Ponce City Market, we went on a little field trip to Georgia Tech, and my sister-in-law gave me a tour of the campus. We visited the week before student move-in, which was actually very ideal, as we didn’t have to force our way through crowds of incoming students. I love touring a good college campus, and Georgia Tech was absolutely beautiful. I did feel a little aged though, as the last time I visited a college campus was when I graduated from ECU back in 2018.
After scootering around Piedmont Park and exploring the Georgia Tech campus, we relaxed at the apartment for an hour or so, until it was time to venture back out for dinner and post-dinner activities. We uber-ed our way over to Chattahoochee Food Works for dinner, which was the best spot for an indecisive person like me. Chattahoochee Food Works is a Midtown Atlanta food hall, filled with boutique shops & a variety of international food choices. We did visit this food hall last September, and I got a delicious sandwich from Mushi Ni. This time around, I was feeling very adventurous with my food choices, so I got the Gyoza Ramen, from Sakura Ramen Bar. It had miso pork broth, chicken gyoza, chicken karaage, American cheese, miso corn, scallions and topped with a spicy chili crisp. I think I finally understand the ramen hype, because this was unlike any packet ramen I have ever made. Sakura Ramen Bar was such a cool stall to order from, since you could customize your ramen bowl down to the broth. I love being able to customize my meal and make it fit my tastebuds, but I left it up to the professionals and ordered straight from their selection. I think my sister-in-law can attest to how much I was enjoying & savoring my ramen bowl. I honestly ate all of the fix-ins until there was only broth left, and I do not regret it. I even kept the ramen soup spoon they gave me. For the memories, of course. I highly suggest getting the Gyoza Ramen if you are in the mood for chicken, potstickers, ramen and delicious goodness. My sister-in-law always gets food from Delilah’s Everyday Soul, and she believes it is the best fried chicken & homemade Southern sides you can get in Atlanta.
Your 3rd Spot on a Wednesday Night
After filling our stomachs up at CFW, we shimmied our way over across the parking lot, to the best adult version of Dave & Busters, and that place was called Your 3rd Spot. I wish I could visit this place every weekend, and I will highly suggest it to anyone that visits the Atlanta area. Per person, this is what the pricing looks like,
SUNDAY - THURSDAY
Before 5pm
$25 All Guests
FRIDAY + SATURDAY
With your Experiences Pass purchase you unlock up to 3 hours of play on dozens of arcade, board, table and yard games from all around the world for one great price. No more quarters or counting down credits.
After 5pm
$30 Walk-Ins / No Reservations
$30 with Dining + Gaming Reservation
$40 with Gaming Only Reservation
$20 - 60 minutes before Close 7 days per week All Guests
There were so many activities to do within Your 3rd Spot that I did not even think about bowling. We visited from 7pm to about 10pm on a Wednesday night, and it was still pretty busy. But with an indoor and outdoor space for their customers to enjoy, there was plenty of space for our crew to bounce around and explore what Your 3rd Spot had to offer.
We first started with Giant Jenga (of course), and then we got our drink on. Then, we explored the arcade and I felt like a little kid again playing air hockey, but this time around I had alcohol in my hand. There were 2 stories within Your 3rd Spot, so after the arcade section downstairs, we ventured upstairs to see what else was in store for us. Not only did they have a giant Scrabble board on the wall & Scrabble pieces to play with, but they also had curling and more old-fashioned arcade games, like Pac-Man and Street Fighter. The best part about the second floor? You can choose to go down regular stairs or, go down a yellow slide outside. Of course, we all chose the slide route out, and somehow, I managed to slide backwards down the whole slide. Outdoors, Your 3rd Spot had bucket pong and giant Connect 4. We tied off the night with darts, and I had such a fun time with the different games that were programmed and the whole ambience of the atmosphere. But we were feeling our age, and felt the bedtime clock ticking around 10:30pm, so we Uber-ed our way back home.
Day Three (morning)
My last morning in Atlanta was not too eventful, and I was happy about it since I felt like I lived so much within just a short time visiting my sister-in-law. We walked over to The Flying Biscuit Cafe for breakfast, and I enjoyed a mango sweet tea, along with a pancake and some good ol’ scrambled eggs with bacon. I needed some good fuel before the 5-hour drive home (which fell right around lunch time), and TFBC was great food for a great price. It was also really nice to explore Midtown Atlanta and be able to walk to multiple places on my trip. I believe Atlanta is a little bit more walkable than Uptown Charlotte, but what do I know — I am a Colorado native, after all.
Ever since this little girls’ getaway, I have been reminiscing about my memories from there, and which places I want to visit next in Atlanta. My sister-in-law and I actually have a shared Instagram “saved” folder for different places we see that we want to visit. Highly suggest this as a way to jointly share ideas! I loved visiting Atlanta in the Midtown area, and I cannot wait to visit again and explore more.
Are there places in Atlanta, GA you think I should go to? What about in Charlotte, NC? Let me know down below
