Civil Rights Tour - Friday 10 AM

$105

It’s nearly impossible to be in Atlanta and not feel the ghosts of the civil rights movement.  Atlanta is the home of the movement and many of the key events were either planned or held here.   We start the tour back in 1895!

 The Piedmont Park of today began with the “Cotton States International Exposition of 1895.” The land, purchased from the Gentlemen's (now Piedmont) Driving Club, was first used for a local event. “The Piedmont Exposition” in 1887 prepared the way for what became a world's fair of its day.  You will see where Booker T. Washington made his famous “Five Fingers” address, arguing that blacks and whites should remain socially as separate as the fingers on a hand.  This is Atlanta's most beloved green spaces. 

Lunch and beverage will be served at the historic Paschal’s Restaurant in downtown Atlanta.  Paschal's has a rich history that dates back to 1947 when the Paschal brothers, James and Robert Paschal opened their first location. The brothers decided 'Fried Chicken' would be the specialty of the house, and with that mandate, Robert created his 'secret recipe'.  It became the "meeting place" for some of the most famous, including  Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Andrew Young, Vice President Al Gore, and Dr. Martin Luther King. Southern soul food at its best. 

Headed back to the hotel,  The King Center (The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change) is a must destination for those wanting to learn, be inspired and pay their respects to King’s legacy. View the artifacts and memorabilia of the movement and spend a moment by King’s crypt.  We will also drive by the Ebenezer Baptist Church,  where King delivered his first sermon in 1947 and served as an associate minister and later co-pastor with his father.  Down the street is MLK's childhood home.

A few blocks from the Four Seasons, we will complete our tour by riding by the house where Margaret Mitchell wrote her Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, Gone With the Wind.   The home is on the National Registry of Historic Places.