City living can get expensive. For college students, especially, one of the biggest dissuading factors against exploring the city of Atlanta is money. Everything is pricey, from food down to the last drop of gas. But what if someone told you that you could enjoy a day in the city of Atlanta for fewer than twenty dollars? In this article, I am going to tell you how I spent a day enjoying the diverse city of Atlanta without straining my wallet.
9:00 am: Piedmont Park. Entrance into the park is free, and sometimes if you get lucky you can find a free place to park along the street within walking distance (which I did, and therefore a parking fee was not accounted for in my total). If anyone has ever been to the park I’m sure they would vouch for me when I say that it is a beautiful place to sit under the shade of a tree and sketch or paint. Piedmont Park also has a variety of different things to offer such as areas to play sports, picnic or just take a walk.
Total spent at Piedmont Park: $0.
12:30 p.m.: Lunch at Tin Lizzy’s. After spending an enjoyable morning in the park, I walked a few blocks over to a restaurant called Tin Lizzy’s on 13th street. Tin Lizzy’s serves specialty tacos, including buffalo chicken tacos, Philly cheese steak and BBQ Asian pork, for less than four dollars and they are always delicious. The atmosphere is very relaxed, and I would recommend going to Tin Lizzy’s for lunch on a nice day because their outside seating has a very beach-like feel.
Total spent at Tin Lizzy’s: $3.35 after tax.
1:30 p.m.: Little Five Points. If you want to experience the eclectic culture of Atlanta, visit Little Five. Known for its great restaurants and unusual shops, this section of Atlanta is great if you want to go window shop or if you can spare the change buy a few things.
The stores are all very brightly colored in expressively decorated in artistic décor. For an artistic person looking for inspiration, this is the place to go because not only are the shops loud in their aesthetics, the people walking in the streets of Little Five are also very unusual.
It’s definitely a great place to sit and people watch because you never know what you might see. Total spent: $0 (although it is a great place to spend money if you have it).
4:30 p.m.: Zesto. After hanging out in Little Five Points for a while, I decided to walk over to Zesto and get some ice cream. A small cup of ice cream was only $2 and it was big enough for two people. Zesto’s ice cream is soft serve and very sweet.
After purchasing my ice cream, I decided to walk around and browse more shops. For a delectable and cheap afternoon treat, Zesto’s ice cream will do the trick.
Total spent at Zesto: $2
6:00 p.m.: Ru San’s. For dinner, I headed over to a sushi restaurant called Ru San’s. Located in Midtown, Ru San’s is one of my favorite places to grab a good sushi dinner. They serve rolls of maki sushi for one dollar apiece; I tried two different rolls (salmon and shrimp) and the dish was savory and filling for only two dollars.
Food aside, the restaurant itself makes for a great place to go on a date, with an upbeat and urban atmosphere.
Total spent at Ru San’s: $2
8:30 p.m.: Starlight Six Drive-In Theater. Just down the road from Little Five Points is a theater called Starlight Six Drive-In. Unlike the rest of the day, you must have a car to attend this theater and it is not within walking or busing distance of Tech’s campus.
The payoff, however, is that the movies are extremely cheap. A double feature is only $7 a person, and unlike some drive-in theaters, the movies are relatively new. I went and saw “Bad Teacher” and “What’s Your Number” to end the day, and I very much enjoyed the setting of an outdoor movie theater. It’s cheap and fun for anyone and I highly recommend it.
Total spent at Starlight Six Drive-In: $7.
So, if you’re looking for something to do for very little money, try taking a day to explore Atlanta.
Even just searching for new things to do is always fun and you can always make it cheap. The total I spent for the day was only $14.35 and I had a day full of enjoyable activities.