Atlanta has quickly become a hot US travel spot for great family vacations in the south. It’s easy to spend a weekend getaway or entire spend your entire vacation in Atlanta. Fine restaurants, cheap hotel packages, direct flights from most anywhere and wild new attractions like the Georgia Aquarium are just some of the great things Atlanta has to offer.

The Georgia Aquarium was a gift to the Atlanta community from the founder of The Home Depot, Bernie Marcus and his wife Billi. At a cost of over $250 million dollars, it opened November 23, 2005. It is run by a non profit organization and at the time of its opening, was debt free.

The aquarium is the worlds largest in two categories, gallons of water (over 8 million gallons) and by largest number of aquatic life. The whale shark habitat by itself is over 6 million gallons and is 30 feet deep. The general admission tickets at the Georgia Aquarium are sold on a timed ticketed process which means you can pick what day and time you want to visit. You can purchase your tickets online at the Georgia Aquarium page.

Wolfgang Puck Catering is in charge of special events held in the huge ballroom that can seat 1,100 for dinner. The main feature of the ballroom is the two fabulous viewing windows to see the beluga whales and the whale sharks. The whole facility can host events for over 7,000 visitors at a time and there is a 330 seat Café Aquaria in the atrium level that serves a broad range of meals.

Fun Facts about the Georgia Aquarium (from www.georgiaaquarium.org)

• The operational systems in the Georgia Aquarium include enough pipe to more than encircle Atlanta on the I-285 loop (61 miles).
• The cooling capacity of the air conditioning system is equivalent to that used in a 50-story, one million square foot office tower or 1,200 average-sized homes.
• Plumbing systems include 290 plumbing fixtures, 200 floor drains and 53 roof drains.
• The Georgia Aquarium’s habitats hold the equivalent water volume to 85 million cans of Coke.
• The drains are connected by 1.5 miles of underground pipe and 5.5 miles of aboveground pipe.
• Approximately 230 newly constructed average-sized American homes can fit inside the Georgia Aquarium.
• 234 pumps use 4560 horsepower to move 275,000 gallons of water per minute through our habitats.
•  Beluga whales are called the “canary of the sea” due to their extended repertoire of vocalizations. They also use echolocation to find prey.
• The Husbandry Commissary prepares 572,000 pounds (260,000 kilograms) of fish and seafood every year

Looking for a unique family vacation idea then the Georgia Aquarium would be the one US travel destination that you would have to put on your idea list.