So now that summer is here, it is time to relax and enjoy summer, right? Well if you suffer FOMO and can't stop doing something productive for 10 seconds, like me, then this isn't an option. You might be working on your next screenplay, novel or short film. Maybe you are sharpening up on your foreign language that you took in high school and maybe freshman year because you realize that you lost literally everything you ever knew about Spanish (Sorry, Señora). You could be applying for all those internships you didn't apply to during the semester because you were too busy with all of your classes, jobs, clubs and sports teams. Well, if none of these were on your list--get busy, but start off the summer with some relaxed learning at some of Atlanta's coolest museums.
1. High Museum of Art
Warning: This place is very intimidating. As an Atlanta native, I've only been here like twice... on purpose.
While the High is very intimidating because it has a lot packed into a smallish space, the quality of art they have there is bizarre. When I went in April, there were dresses made with a 3D printer, chairs that looked like they belonged at my grandma's house (too bad I couldn't sit in them), and political pieces inspired by the new civil rights movements. Bonus: The very popular house that looks 3D that is actually not.
PRICE: 2nd Sunday of the Month FREE
2. Center for Civil and Human Rights
This museum seems so small, but really offers a large experience. If you go to the World of Coke parking lot and walk up to the building that looks like an uneven barrel--you've found it.
In the Basement is the MLK Jr. exhibit with TONS of files from the archives of Morehouse down the street.
As you climb the stairs, you climb through a chronology of the Civil Rights Movement, ending at the current movements around the world to make our universe a better more just place for all humans.
Also, they have this huge wall with a hand on it. Did you really go to the museum if you didn't take this photo? Didn't think so.
PRICE: $13.00 for students
3. College Football Hall of Fame
Granted, I have actually been to the first two museums, but these last three--never been, but top of the bucket list.
For starters, even though it is supposed to be a football, this building looks almost identical to the Center for Civil and Human Rights in that it looks like a giant uneven barrel, kinda hard to miss. Berry's team goes every season with the team and points at their helmet on the wall of ubiquitous football helmets.
How do I know they go every year? You could say the only snap stories posted that day are of this wall. This could be the entire museum for all I know, because it's all that Snapchat has ever shown me in the 3 years of our team's history, this is the only wall I know of in the entire building.
PRICE: $18.00
4. Center for Puppetry Arts
While I have never been to a performance here, I have grown up with the center as a major part of the Atlanta culture. They put on puppet programs all around the city that I have been a part of. I gladly made a very realistic puppet fish when I was 6 and it still sits in my mother's closet (thanks Mom). But on the real, this place is crazy and even though some of their shows are aimed mainly toward the younger generation (read 3-8 year olds), the performances are stellar and can be respected by all of us.
PRICE: $10.50 - 14.50.
5. Observatory at Georgia Perimeter College
So yeah, this isn't a traditional museum, but the stars are a kind of museum of the sky. If you've never been to an Observatory, this one is close to the city of Atlanta and is a functioning observatory for the use of the school, so the people you will meet will be people who know what they are talking about in the sky and not just some kid at his summer job who memorized a script. Stargazing is beautiful, but if you want something a bit bigger scale you could venture over to Fernbank which is still affordable at ($18 per adult) but there is much more to see and do.
PRICE: Second Saturday of the month FREE (unless it rains, then canceled). Note: This is a working scientific laboratory, so there's no heat, bathrooms, or refreshments.