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We could have popped into Atlanta to explore World of Coca-Cola, which celebrates the soda’s creation in Atlanta. Or we could have paid our respects at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site since he was born in Atlanta in 1929. Or we could have perused the Jimmy Carter Center and Presidential Library. Or we could have spent the day with all things fishy at the Georgia Aquarium, the world’s largest. Or we could have delved into Gone with the Wind history at the Margaret Mitchell Museum. Or we could have checked out some of the venues built for the Summer Olympic Games of 1996.

Instead, we ventured into Atlanta for baseball; the Atlanta Braves were taking on the Florida Marlins. Since we enjoy a good ball game it seemed like a great chance for us to catch a game at Turner Field. Named after the media company founded by Ted Turner (also known as the “Mouth of the South”) the stadium is called “the Ted” by locals. Before we talk about the game, let’s talk about the city.

Atlanta, the capital of the Peach State, is not small. The metro area is home to well over five million people, making it the ninth largest metro area in the U.S. To avoid the city’s notorious traffic we stayed in one of the outer rings of the urban sprawl and rode MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Authority) into town. Apparently traffic has been horrible in the city for years. In 1949 the author Margaret Mitchell was killed by a speeding car while crossing Peachtree Street (on the way to the movie premiere of her book). Not only are the roads extremely busy, they are confusing. Atlanta has more streets named Peachtree or Peach-something than any other city!

Game day in Hotlanta (as the locals call it) was anything but. The high temperature was 45 degrees and the wind was whipping right along at 22 mph. We layered on our cold weather clothing and went to the game anyway. Game day, Sunday April 15, was a special day in baseball. It marked the 60th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s first Major League appearance at the plate.

Why is that so important? Because, when Jackie put on his Brooklyn Dodgers uniform he was the first black man to play Major League Baseball. In 1947, during the days of segregation, Jackie broke the color barrier of baseball.

Baseball was (still is?) America’s sport and to have a black man on a team influenced many Americans. Jackie, who incidentally was born in Georgia, won MLB’s first Rookie of the Year award in 1947 and had a wonderful career that included stealing home 19 times. For those of you who are baseball fans, you know just how difficult that is.

In recognition of Jackie, his number 42 is the only number retired league wide. For the 60th anniversary players from all teams honored Jackie by wearing his number. Andruw Jones wore number 42 for the Braves and Dontrelle Willis wore it for the Marlins.

During the game Andruw seemed determined to do something big for #42 and in the fifth inning he hit a long homer. The Atlanta Braves went on to win 8-4. Interesting bit of baseball trivia for you: the Braves are the oldest continuously operating baseball team (they were founded in 1871 as the Boston Red Stockings, became the Braves in 1912, and moved to Atlanta in 1966).

Since we’re doing trivia, here are some interesting tidbits about the Peach State. Georgia was named after King George II of England and was one of the original thirteen colonies. On January 02, 1788, Georgia became the fourth state in the nation. Springer Mountain in northern Georgia is the start of the Appalachian Trail, which is over 2,000 miles long. Despite the state nickname, Georgia is not first in peach production in the U.S., but third. The highest point in the state is Brasstown Bald which tops out at 4,784 feet above sea level.

Georgia is quite musical—not only was the kazoo invented there but the state can claim REM, the B52’s, Widespread Panic, the Indigo Girls, Black Crowes, James Brown, Otis Redding, and Arrested Development (to name a few music makers).

Although we enjoyed our blustery day in Atlanta, we’d certainly like to spend more time exploring the city. We had a date with relatives in northern Georgia to keep, so we braved the road and we were gone with the wind…

Photos: View our photos from Atlanta, Georgia.

Notes: We visited Atlanta, Georgia on 04/15/07.