Built for the 1996 Summer Olympics, Centennial Olympic Park is 22 acres of green space in the heart of Atlanta’s downtown area, surrounded by some of the city’s top tourist attractions. We arrived in Atlanta late in the afternoon and decided to walk around the city after checking into our hotel. The Centennial Olympic Park was just a few blocks away from our hotel. We entered the park from the north, after passing by the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, and the Center for Civil and Human Rights. They were setting up for a festival but for now the entire park was open for us to wander.
After walking across the large lawn area, we came to the Gateway of Dreams statue. This statue honors Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics. Climbing stairs to the Greek columns, the Baron is about to receive a wreath made of olive leaves from a group of doves. With the backdrop of a bright blue sky, the Olympic rings really stood out and the birds seemed lifelike perched on the rings.
Continuing south, next we came to Centennial Plaza and the Reflecting Pool. The Plaza is full of symbolism and the Olympic spirit. The Plaza itself is sized at 100 meters squared, the distance of the popular Olympic track race. The Olympic flag flies here, as do 23 national flags representing each of the previous summer game Olympic host countries. There are also 48 willow oak tree planters – 23 have a plaque honoring the previous host cities from the first 100 hundred years of the Olympics and 25 remain for each of the future host cities for the next 100 years. (The Olympics were not held during World War I and II, which is why there are only 23 for the first 100 years.) Finally, there are 8 65-foot high lighted towers known as Hermes Towers, reproductions of ancient Greek towers used to lead people to significant events in Greece.
Just beyond the Reflecting Pool and Centennial Plaza was the park’s most exciting feature (for my kids at least) – the Fountain of Rings. Where else can you run in and out of the Olympic rings, with water shooting up all around you? This was such a unique, surprising and fun experience for the boys. At first they just stood back and watched. But it was surprisingly hot even at 5:30 pm in April and soon the boys were inching towards the fountains, tentative at first, hoping not to get too wet since they were in their sneakers and clothes.
But soon all hope of – and interest in – staying dry were out the window. Before long the boys were trying to anticipate where the water would come up next so they could jump in at just the right moment to get soaked. They ran full circles around the rings while the fountain was up. They ran in and out, straight through the stream of water. They just could not get enough. I was so happily surprised at how much fun they had there. I haven’t brought them to fountains or splash parks for years because I thought they were too old, but the pure joy that this brought them was amazing to witness. They got soaked to the bone and loved every minute of it. (At least until it came time to walk back to the hotel in dripping clothes and soggy shoes.)
I would definitely say this was the most outright fun that they had on the trip. And we even missed one of the best parts of the fountain! They do a music and light show at 12:30, 3:30, 6:30, and 9:00 every day. Set to familiar songs, the fountain jumps and sprays and lights up to the beat. It is apparently quite a show, but we missed it by about half an hour, which is too bad. But once the sun started setting and the boys were done playing, there was no standing around in wet clothes.
We headed straight back to the hotel to dry off on that day, but we were in and out of the park every day of our visit. One other highlight for the boys was the Olympic Rings at the east entrance of the park. The first day we were there it was impossible to get a photo of the rings without two dozen people in it, but on one of our trips past later in the week, we were lucky enough to find them nearly empty. The boys had fun climbing in the rings and posing for pictures.
One thing to note is that they do hold concerts and festivals in the park relatively frequently and this occasionally results in the closing of the park itself for preparations. They had been setting up for an event the whole time we were there, and in the afternoon of our last day we found all the entrances to the park closed. So check the park’s schedule before your visit to be sure it will be open on the day and time you plan to go.
Playing in the park on our first afternoon was a rare unplanned and completely spontaneous activity and it was fabulous. The kids burned off their energy after the car ride and we got to relax and enjoy watching them have a blast. I highly recommend spending time here – walking around, enjoying the city views, taking in the Olympic spirit, and of course, splashing in the fountains. (Spontaneous is great, but so are towels so don’t forget one if you think there’s a chance of splashing around.)
