Marietta Gives Vacationers Reasons to Stay in Town

Spring Break for Cobb County and Marietta schools and many colleges is just around the corner, and no doubt most members of the younger set are clamoring for a beach trip or some other amazing getaway. But you want to keep the vacation closer to home. You have your reasons—traffic, budget issues, gas prices, aversion to sand, whatever—and you need some ideas.

Thankfully, you live in Marietta, and there are many alternatives to the expensive weeklong getaways.  And if the list below doesn’t quite work for you, you must visit the Marietta Welcome Center either in person or virtually. In fact, they even have a list of clever day trip itineraries with names like “Circling the Square” and “The Cannonball” complete with dining suggestions.

In the meantime, here are some Marietta Patch suggestions:

1. Marietta Museums.  Marietta enjoys a wealth of great museums, and we love pushing them here on Patch. To fully enjoy them would take at least a couple of days. Of course, we’re talking about the Marietta Museum of History, the , theand the.  Here are three more that often get overlooked but should be considered: the , which features “Aurora,” a steam-powered fire engine purchased by the city in 1879; the , dedicated to the history of black culture in Cobb County within a church built by former slaves; and the , a new and growing exhibit of planes that had been built here in Marietta.

Be sure to purchase a Heritage Passport at the Welcome Center. Only $10 gets you into the Marietta Museum of History, the Root House Museum and the Marietta Gone With the Wind. Call 770-429-1115 for details.

2. Take a Tour. Marietta boasts five National Register Historic Districts, and you can pick up a self-guided tour map at the Welcome Center. If you want a guide, then try the for one of their tours. offer something a little different, showing the “Scary-etta” side of the city. Call 678-290-9193 for details.

3. Enjoy the Theatre or the Cinema.  Again, Marietta enjoys a bounty of riches in the arts department. The , an Art Deco-style movie house, hosts everything from classic films (see the 1925 silent classic Ben Hur this weekend to music (Cobb Symphony Orchestra Jazz is playing) and stage productions, including many from the Atlanta Lyric Theatre. is a uniquely Marietta offering and has been called "the most charming performing space in the Southeast" by Southern Living magazine.  Check out The Little Foxes until April 17.

4. Go to the Parks. Marietta has 18 parks that provide nearly any type of recreational amenity you can possibly imagine. For tennis and basketball and picnics, there’s the 25-acre Laurel Park; for golf, there’s City Club Marietta; for socializing, nothing’s better than Glover Park; and for sheer uniqueness, there’s the tiny quarter-acre Monarch Park, with its butterfly garden.

5. Ditch the Kids and Hit a Bed and Breakfast near Historic Downtown Marietta. The , 236 Church St., gives you luxury accommodations within the Stanley House Mansion.  The , 57 Whitlock Ave., is a restored Victorian mansion.