Events around the Super Bowl

[Hotsauce]

Living in Atlanta, there has been so much going on around the city this week. For sure a bit crazy with an estimated 1 million people coming into the city. But in a city known for people and traffic it hasn’t been too insane. 

On Friday I took my kids to the NFL Fan experience.  It was a really awesome event. It was put together so well. They basically had an indoor scouting combine, the kids had a great time playing, racing, running obstacle courses, etc. It was a great family event,  it they also see selling beer, so I could see it being cool to go with your friends or chick.

There were current and former NFL players all over the place.  While I never approached anyone, or you could tell they bring their families to experience this event.  

The nfl or the city of Atlanta(?) had volunteers everywhere that helped direct out of town guests. MARTA was surprisingly fluid, without too much craziness. I was prepared to deal with a bunch of Falcon fans, but it was a very neutral event, there wasn’t even a lot of Patriots and Rams propaganda.  

The city passed a temporary lift on bar closing times. 4am!  I did t make it anywhere close to staying up that late. There were tons and tons of great concerts of all genres going on. Lots of celebrities everywhere. Notable performances by Aerosmith, Zac brown band, foo fighters, and your typical ATL rappers to name a few bands playing. NO OUTKAST however, maybe we get a surprise at the halftime show?

Also a bonus, you got to see some good people watching.  There were all the usual street performers, protestors, hate groups, wacky cult-like groups on just about every corner.  It was interesting just to walk around and take it all in.

In summary, if you ever have a chance to do the events around a Super Bowl, I would encourage you to do it!  Just last week I was determined to stay away from downtown Atlanta to avoid the crowds and hoopla, but I am really glad I checked it out.  

Here are a couple of pics.

 

[coralreefer_1]

Dont you dare post here saying there are good times to be had in Atlanta. The salty brethren here cant take such heresy!

[The Lobo]

Awesome man glad you had a good time. It’s good to see a city that’s well prepared and can handle the chaos. 

[mc52beast]

WFNZ is in Atl, Mac was talking about how rude drivers are there, said it’s like racing at Daytona without the spin-outs

[PanthersATL]

On 2/3/2019 at 12:25 PM, mc52beast said:

WFNZ is in Atl, Mac was talking about how rude drivers are there, said it’s like racing at Daytona without the spin-outs

it's only because we don't use blinkers. It's really not that bad outside of rush hour.

[PanthersATL]

And ditto what @Hotsauce said. Other than a bit of a cold snap early in the week, the NFL festivities were really nicely done and worthwhile way for those in town to celebrate.  I didnt' make it to anything other than a party that Greg Olsen was at (see previous thread), but I heard lots of good things from others who did go to all the concerts/parties/showcases/etc.   And Arthur Blank didn't even raise the food/drink prices at the stadium for the event.  Hate to say it, but good for him.

Figure ATL is going to be on the major rotation for future Super Bowls after the way this week went...

[Hotsauce]

13 minutes ago, PanthersATL said:

Figure ATL is going to be on the major rotation for future Super Bowls after the way this week went...

I dunno, did you see that halftime show?

[t96]

33 minutes ago, PanthersATL said:

it's only because we don't use blinkers. It's really not that bad outside of rush hour.

It's always rush hour in ATL

[PanthersATL]

2 hours ago, Hotsauce said:

I dunno, did you see that halftime show?

it was as exciting as the game.

but seriously, that wasn't Atlanta's fault. Everyone knew what it was going to be as soon as it was announced.

They've run out of Major Music Acts who'll play for free and would have a Massive Draw on an international scale.  That's why they haven't gone down the country route:  https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/super-bowl/8496109/super-bowl-halftime-show-country-music-headliners

I say, bring on country music.  It'd be AWESOME.

[PanthersATL]

all that said -- this morning at the ATL airport was a madhouse.

Normally, they get about 60,000 people through security on a busy monday.  Today, they expected 120,000 people.  Baggage Check was 30 minute wait, the Pre-Check and CLEAR lines were both close to 45+ minutes by themselves, and GenPop was around 2.5 hours.

Could Charlotte's airport handle that kind of crowd?

[4Corners]

Drivers in Georgia, especially Atlanta are some of the worst in the entire country. They are awful. 

[countryboi]

1 hour ago, 4Corners said:

Drivers in Georgia, especially Atlanta are some of the worst in the entire country. They are awful. 

Atlanta drivers have the same problem we have here in charlotte. we have so many drivers from all over the country with so many different types of styles that its a fuging mess. 

[4Corners]

11 minutes ago, countryboi said:

Atlanta drivers have the same problem we have here in charlotte. we have so many drivers from all over the country with so many different types of styles that its a fuging mess. 

Agree but Atlanta drivers are on an entirely different level of being awful. Georgia drivers are bad across the board. Next time you drive through ATL or Ga look at how many personal injury, auto accident lawyer billboards you see on the highway and major roads. They are everywhere. I went to a Braves game during the summer and we saw three different wrecks within a mile or two of each other approaching the battery and stadium. 

[countryboi]

11 minutes ago, 4Corners said:

Agree but Atlanta drivers are on an entirely different level of being awful. Georgia drivers are bad across the board. Next time you drive through ATL or Ga look at how many personal injury, auto accident lawyer billboards you see on the highway and major roads. They are everywhere. I went to a Braves game during the summer and we saw three different wrecks within a mile or two of each other approaching the battery and stadium. 

when i go to Atlanta i know how close i am to Atlanta by how bad the traffic and the drivers are. you can see it go from this aint so bad to holy fug, what is wrong with these people???