Where are the Best Views in Decatur and Around Atlanta?
Decatur Metro | December 5, 2012 | 10:08 am
I thought of this question while waiting at the intersection of Church Street and North Decatur and was surprised to see that if you peer over the Nally car dealership, there’s a pretty nice view to the east. Decatur doesn’t have a raging river to gaze tenderly, mournfully, or peacefully at, but we’ve got some decent high points – be them natural or built on great pillars of steel – where you can look at the west and see the hiccuping, vertical skyline of Atlanta (DOWNTOWN, Midtown, buckhead) and to the east you can sometimes get a peak at Stone Mountain.
So I thought I’d ask: where are your favorite views in Decatur and around Atlanta? If anyone wants to snap a pic or two from their fav spot, I’m certainly willing to post a collection of them! That could be very cool.
Photo – an old EOTS submission by Clark from the Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) building on East Ponce
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As much as I hate the amount of parking we have in Atlanta, parking decks can make a great place for taking photos of a city skyline. Some have security, but many you can just walk into, climb the stairs to the top and take photos.
But my favorite spot is the top of the Westin downtown. You can pay $6 to ride the elevator to the top. Apart from being a fun way to show visitors the city, you can take some great pics. I took this one over Thanksgiving:
http://instagram.com/p/STdIBinTfi/
Lovely!
Glenn Hotel Rooftop Bar, Downtown.
BTW, unless they’ve recently changed policy, there is no fee to ride to the top of the Westin if you tell the attendant that you’re going to the restaurant or bar.
” if you tell the attendant that you’re going to the restaurant or bar.”
Yeah, I did that when I was a carefree young man and wanted to catch the view. But these days, if I’m really not going to the restaurant or the bar, I just pay the $6. That way I can enjoy the view without being encumbered by ethics anxiety.
I meant if you’re **telling the truth**. Why would someone pay $6 just to go up there when you can go up for free and spend less than $6 on a beer or a soda?
Ha! You’re joking, right? I don’t recall there being anything on the menu less than $6, even a soft drink, and it’s been at least 5 years since I’ve been up there.
I’ve had some $4 beers up there. $6 soft drink? Sorry, but you”ve gotta back that up with a link if you want me to believe you…which I assume you do since you took the time to respond.
EDIT: I don’t see beer prices listed, but they have a $5.50 glass of moscato. Don’t try to troll me unless you know you’re right. http://sundialrestaurant.com/bar-wine-menu/
Boom! See that Kathy? That’s a $0.50 difference. Not counting tax and tip! That will show you. Jeff has the google and he’s not afraid to whip that sh!t out. So don’t troll him!
That goes for all of you. And double for some of you.
Sorry, Jeff — I misunderstood. I guess I was just having a flashback to my 20-year old self and adventures downtown, forgetting that actually buying a drink at the bar was an option.
At the Talley Street Lofts condos (corner of Sam’s St. and Talley), 4th floor has a beautiful western view of the Midtown Atlanta skyline! It’s the best place to see fireworks happening as far away as 6 Flags, Turner Field, and Buckhead. Our neighbors gather on the balconies to watch every 4th of July. The west-facing units have a lovely view of the pool and fountains, too.
Inside the Pink Pony.
Beat me to it. You haven’t been drinking already today, have you?
There’s a nice view from the windows by the tenth floor elevator bank at 315 W. Ponce.
Indeed. I work in that building. Very cool view.
Cool views from atop the Milltown lofts. I really enjoy coming into the City on North Ave. by car, or the views you get from the train going into and out of downtown on MARTA. Love riding by the GA State practice field.
Hard to beat the view from the top of stone mountain!
This also brings up a conversation I recently had with a friend regarding the under-utilization of roof-tops in downtown Decatur. On a recent trip to Austin, I noticed that a great deal of restaurants and bars (OK mainly bars) had roof top seating. Besides the great views from the top of these buildings, it also offered a neat place to hang out.
I’d love to start seeing some of our restaraunts and bars heading to the roofs
I had hoped the Big Tex people would do that. I love the bar at Six Feet Under. Even Marlow’s Tavern in Northlake is cool even though the view sucks. I imagine the permitting for something like that on an existing structure could be nightmarish.
If the old Maddy’s location is a teardown, I would be surprised if the Meehan’s taking it’s place didn’t have an upper level bar.
I like the view of downtown from the hill near the CDC on Clifton Road. some of those new apartments there will have great views
Good skyline views:
Jackson St. bridge over Freedom Pkwy
Top of the Lindbergh MARTA deck
Park Tavern in Piedmont Park (Monroe & 10th)
Freedom Parkway at Boulevard – my favorite view of the Atlanta skyline.
Rooftop of the Stacks Lofts in Cabbagetown…
+1
I love driving the Connector when the traffic doesn’t suck, and Atlanta can take on an Emerald City aspect when approached from the west on I-20 out near Six Flags. I can’t think of many other cities where the interstate runs right through the skyline like that. Of course, we don’t have anything like the Queensboro Bridge or the RFK (formerly Triboro) Bridge here in Atlanta. Yowzah!
We have the BAY (Big Ass Yellow) bridge in midtown. Even better than the Golden Gate.
+1 on the I-20 view coming into Atlanta. I always enjoy coming into town at night that way.
Since this is open to greater Atlanta views, the view from the Overlook in Vinings is awesome. I had a client who had the top floor of the blue building everyone associates with the Overlook complex, and it has the best skyline view in the city.
You can go up to the graveyard on the top of the area there also, bring some beer at twilight and watch the lights turn on between Vinings and the City.
That’s Wilkinson Mountain. Bert Adams Boy Scout camp was in the vicinity long ago.
Where is Wilkerson Mountain?
It’s Signal Mountain.
Love it when a DM comment informs me and/or prompts me to do a bit of research about local points of interest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Wilkinson
Mount Wilkinson is a low mountain immediately north-northwest of and directly overlooking downtown Vinings, in southeast Cobb County, Georgia, USA. Although it rises significantly from the surrounding terrain, it is actually at or slightly below the average elevation for the region, as it is in the Chattahoochee River valley. Formerly called Signal Mountain, today it is commonly known as Vinings Mountain. The mountain, left only partly forested, is now topped with high-rise office towers, part of the Cumberland/Galleria edge city of metro Atlanta. Among these buildings lies a small, private cemetery in which Hardy Pace (1785–1864), a founder of Vinings and operator of Pace’s Ferry, is buried.
Mount Wilkinson was named in honor of Mell B. Wilkinson, co-founder and first president of the Atlanta Scout Council.[1] It is located at what once was the Bert Adams Scout Camp (now located near Covington, Georgia).
The Atlanta Rotary Club contributed one half of the $5,000 cost of the mountain and the other half was quickly made up by smaller gifts.[1]
The camp also included land that was sold to build the present day Cumberland Mall and surrounding office complexes and apartments. Streets in the immediate vicinity are still named for the camp (e.g. Bert Adams Road) and the mountain (e.g. Mt. Wilkinson Parkway).
I forgot about that one — it is fantastic.
Back in the day, we would take our girlfriends up to the top of that parking deck to do a little smooching. We kind of screwed ourselves over by repeatedly shooting bottle rockets until security/cops would come and then block us from going up there… The mind of a 17/18 yr old just isn’t too sharp I guess!
Dinner and drinks on the patio at TWO urban licks can be pretty inspiring, and there’s a real nice deck on the roof of the nearby Telephone Factory Lofts on the Beltline that’s cool at sunset.
I was using the facilities at The Goat Farm, which is by default a kudzu patch. It is on a ridge and near where Sherman watched Atlanta burn. Great View.
The swings at The Goat Farm
Long range views are nice, but how about a good view of the area by seeing the people. My vote is for the view walking around the Marta Five Points station during the morning rush hour.
And for those who prefer who prefer a more sedentary vantage point, and possibly an adult beverage, the patio at Brewhouse in Little 5 Points is also good for people watching.
What’s left of the outdoor portion, that is.
A great new view is from the rooftop garden at the new Clough Undergraduate Learning Center at Georgia Tech. When I get back to town next week, I’ll try to get a couple of snaps.