9 A.M.
SILVER SKILLET

The next morning, we drove to the nearby Silver Skillet diner featured in Travis Tritt's music video "Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)." Settled comfortably into a booth, we feasted on eggs, homemade buttermilk biscuits and hotcakes (200 14th Street; 404-874-1388).

10 A.M.
FERNBANK MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Our next stop was the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, where the dinosaur galleries looked so realistic that Sam asked pointedly, "These are pretend, right, Mom?" Reassured, she donned a vest to learn about camouflage in the preschoolers' Fantasy Forest while Heather perfected making giant soap bubbles (767 Clifton Road; 404-378-0127; adults, $12.00; kids ages three to 12, $10.00).

11:30 A.M.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

The best way to take in the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site is on the park's free tour, which includes the house where King was born and the church where he, his father and his grandfather preached. At the visitor's center, we checked out exhibits about King's role in the Civil Rights Movement, and the girls sidled up to figures marching down the symbolic Freedom Road (450 Auburn Avenue; 404-331-5190; free).

1 P.M.
MARY MAC'S TEA ROOM

At Mary Mac's Tea Room, we literally wrote our own ticket, penning on an order pad such Southern delicacies as pot liquor (greens and broth), corn bread and "table wine of the South" (sweetened iced tea). An autographed photo of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter grinned down at us from the wall above our booth (224 Ponce de Leon Avenue; 404-876-1800).

2 P.M.
SCITREK SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM

It was obvious to us why the SciTrek Science and Technology Museum ranks among the nation's top 10 science centers. Sam loved the Frozen Shadows exhibit where a strobe made gradually fading "photographs" of her shadow. Heather designed a top that spun for an impressive 156 seconds (395 Piedmont Avenue; 404-522-5500; adults, $9.50; kids ages three to 17, $7.50).

3:30 P.M.
CENTER FOR PUPPETRY ARTS

We arrived at the Center for Puppetry Arts in time to catch a performance of THE FROG PRINCE. Next, we walked through a set of giant Pinocchio legs to the interactive exhibits, where a trash can suddenly transformed itself into a nine-foot phoenix (the symbol of Atlanta), spooking even me. (Sam asked to see it again.) Before leaving, the girls took turns working the controls for the head, mouth, eyes and eyebrows of Xelas, a Native American puppet (1404 Spring Street; 404-873-3391).

5 P.M.
THE VARSITY

For dinner, we stopped at The Varsity, the world's largest drive-in restaurant, and ordered one naked dog (Varsity lingo for a plain hot dog), a chili dog and a "steak" (hamburger) with a side of "strings" (french fries), of course (61 North Avenue; 404-881-1706).



Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change. Updated June 2005.