By Jon Waterhouse

For the AJC

Out-of-town visitors will be invading Atlanta this weekend to watch the Florida Gators crunch helmets with the Alabama Crimson Tide. Good thing there’s plenty to do when you’re not watching football, and Atlanta’s known for good grub.

But you can’t just grab a cab with a hail Mary, and MARTA trains and buses don’t go everywhere. And remember, bars shut their doors at 2:30 a.m. Here are a few destinations. Some are in the general vicinity of the Georgia Dome and others are just a few minutes away by car or MARTA.

ATTRACTIONS

Imagine It, the Children’s Museum of Atlanta

You’ve dragged the little ones to the big game, and they need to get their ya-yas out. This collection of six interactive and educational exhibits allows them to do just that. The current featured exhibit in the revolving Morph Gallery features children’s book star Curious George. It all takes place in George’s neighborhood with hands-on activities and a retrospective of the “Curious George” books. The other sections allow kids to climb a John Deere Tractor, operate a forklift, climb and crawl, do some faux fishing in a man-made stream, paint the walls, play with sand and more. Kick back and watch the in-house Imaginators put on 20-minute mini-musicals throughout the day.

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. $12.50 ages 2 and older; free ages 1 and younger. 275 Centennial Olympic Park Drive N.W., Atlanta. 404-659-5437, www.childrensmuseumatlanta.org .

World of Coca-Cola

Be it tailgating or arena concessions, ball games wouldn’t be ball games without Coke. Since Atlanta is home to Coca-Cola, visitors splash into the experience by viewing the world’s largest collection of Coke artifacts. Take a look at a real bottling line and grab a free 8-ounce bottle. The facility houses its own 4D movie theater complete with moving seats. Its Pop Culture Gallery features art by the likes of Howard Finster and others. Yet the most popular spot in the museum is arguably the Taste It! room, where guests can sample more than 60 different Coke products from across the globe. Special holiday treats include the opportunity to have your picture taken with a classic Coca-Cola Santa painting as the backdrop. It’s just a short walk from the Dome adjacent to Centennial Olympic Park. You’ll need about 90 minutes to make it through the attraction.

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 4-5; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 6. (Additional operating times vary. Call or check Web site for info.) $15 adults; $13 ages 65 and older; $10 ages 3-12; free ages 2 and younger. 121 Baker St. N.W., Atlanta. 404-676-5151, www.worldofcoca-cola.com .

Georgia Aquarium

More than 8 million gallons of water help make it the world’s largest aquarium, housing more animals than any other. Set aside 2 hours to 4 hours to explore.

The aquarium is split into four distinct sections.

Don’t miss the massive whale sharks located in Ocean Voyager. That’s where you’ll find the second-largest viewing window in the world at 23 feet tall by 61 feet wide.

The Tropical Diver area is teeming with colorful eye candy such as clownfish, seahorses, jellyfish and more.

Take time to soak up the new penguin habitat in the atrium. “Deepo’s Undersea 3D Wondershow” in the 4D Theater and the Planet Shark: Predator or Prey shark exhibition are extra attractions included in combo tickets.

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays-Fridays; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays. (Call or check Web site for special hours.) $26-$35 adults; $21.50-$30.25 ages 65 and older; $19.50-$26 ages 3-12. 225 Baker St. N.W., Atlanta. 404-581-4000, www.georgiaaquarium.org .

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NIGHTLIFE

Livingston

You might not expect a plush restaurant on Peachtree Street catering to Fox Theatre patrons to double as a hub for nightlife activity. On weekend nights, you might find a crowd spilling out from the Livingston’s bar and onto the patio the restaurant shares with the Georgian Terrace hotel. Inside, just below the draping chandelier, guests nosh on a limited menu. Some chill while others submerge in cocktails, and clusters of people occupy patio tables.

11 a.m.-12 a.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 659 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-897-5000, www.livingstonatlanta.com .

Whiskey Park

Nightlife wizards Rande Gerber and Scott Gerber worked their magic when creating this dance venue and cocktail station located on the third floor of the W Atlanta Midtown hotel. Fashion-conscious patrons sip on signatures like the Whiskey Park (bourbon, Grand Marnier, white cranberry juice, sour mix and simple syrup) as a jock spins dance tracks. Decorated with plenty of glam, including over-the-top chandeliers, and sci-fi furnishings, Whiskey Park is unapologetically hip. In the mood for elitism? Seek out The Vault, a hidden VIP room dressed in black featuring its own bar. W guests get special treatment and can skip the wait.

8 p.m.-2:30 a.m. Thursdays-Saturdays 188 14th St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-724-2560, www.gerberbars.com .

Stats

Thanks to the SEC Championship, you’ve got sports on the brain. Here you can stay in step and continue your nightlife festivities. It’s a sports bar and restaurant, but don’t expect a musty corner pub experience. The genre goes snazzy as approximately 70 TVs help illuminate a dark and swanky atmosphere. Thoughtful touches pepper game day. Some tables boast beer taps and their own TVs, which drop down from the ceiling. Multiple levels offer different dining spots and a total of five bars, including a rooftop deck. Sports radio station 790 The Zone sets up shop on select game days broadcasting live from a glass-shrouded booth. It’s a Concentrics restaurant, so the beautiful people will be cheering.

11 a.m.-12 a.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 300 Marietta St., Atlanta. 404-885-1472, www.statsatl.com .

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SHOPPING

Atlantic Station

This outdoor live-work-play development brings mall shopping outdoors. Target, Old Navy, Victoria’s Secret, Gap, H&M, Dillard’s and more make up the retail roster. In between shopping sessions you can catch a flick at the nearby movie theater, bowl some frames at an upscale alley or choose from a laundry list of restaurants.

Most stores open 10 a.m.-9 p.m. 17th Street between Northside Drive and the Downtown Connector, Atlanta. 404-733-1221, www.atlanticstation.com .

Lenox Square

A quick zip on MARTA can whisk you to this mall with its upscale tenants and pick-of-the-litter shopping. Fashionistas, gold-card carriers and local celebs such as Elton John often roam the halls. Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus and Macy’s serve as the anchors. More than 200 shops help fill the additional space including Cartier, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade and Brooks Brothers.

10 a.m.-10 p.m. Dec. 4; 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Dec. 5; 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Dec. 6. 3393 Peachtree Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-233-6767, www.simon.com .

Virginia-Highland

Casually hip neighborhood offers independently owned boutique shopping in abundance. Keep stores like Bill Hallman Original (clothing, accessories and shoes), Mooncake (women’s clothing boutique) and Gems of Africa (fine art and sculpture) on the radar.

Most shops open around 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday; noon on Sunday. Shops close between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Most stores located off North Highland Avenue between Ponce de Leon Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue.
 www.virginiahighland.com .

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RESTAURANTS

BLT Steak Atlanta

$$$$

Here you can find everything one would want from a French-American bistro-steakhouse hybrid created by French chef Laurent Tourondel: fat juicy steaks, pretty signature cocktails, towers of perfectly fried onion rings in tiny cast iron skillets, and gruyere-laced popovers. The room has the markings of a great Midtown Manhattan restaurant.

6:30-10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., 5:30-10 p.m. daily. 45 Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd. N.W., Atlanta. 404-577-7601, www.bltrestaurants.com .

Busy Bee Café

$

Open since 1947, Busy Bee Cafe in Southwest Atlanta is a soul food institution — and with good reason. True to its name, the cozy, family-run place is almost always buzzing with happy, chatty regulars, who come in for the signature fried chicken, Southern-style veggies, and super sweet potato pie. Not surprisingly, Busy Bee has the feel of an iconic 1940s diner. In the venerable plate lunch tradition, daily specials change on a weekly schedule. So if you like meatloaf, come on Monday; if you like neck bones, come on Tuesday; and so on.

11 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, noon-7 p.m. Sundays, closed Saturdays. 810 Martin Luther King Drive, S.W., Atlanta. 404-525-9212, www.thebusybeecafe.com .

Pricing code: $$$$ = $75 and less; $$$ = $50 and less; $$ = $25 and less; $ = $15 and less. (The price code represents a meal for one that includes appetizer, entree and dessert without including tax, tip and cocktails.)

5 Seasons Westside


$$

Executive chef David Larkworthy has strived to make what comes from the kitchen as impressive as the beers this brewpub makes. Depending on the season, diners may munch on pizza blanketed with tangy cheese and topped with organic local blackberries, fried jalapeño peppers, sliced onions and feathery arugula, never knowing that Larkworthy is one of our state’s greatest proponents of the slow-food movement. It’s a point worth making, since most people think that white tablecloths and second mortgages are involved when it comes to kitchens that source their products locally and organically.

Noon-10 p.m. Sundays, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays, noon-11 p.m. Saturdays. 1000 Marietta Street N.W., Atlanta. 404-875-3232, www.5seasonsbrewing.com . Meridith Ford Goldman