If this country has a common crossroads, a meeting place where paths cross and dreams converge, it is the busiest airport in the land. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport sees some 89 million souls pass though each year, many of them through the megaport’s signature atrium.
The light-suffused rotunda is dominated by a massive clock. Like the clock at Grand Central Station in an earlier era, people pause under the massive timepiece, embrace and head their own separate ways.
And, as with that time some 70 years ago, young Americans march to war – 10,000 of them per month though Atlanta airport alone. When they march en masse through the atrium passengers almost always stand and applaud – forgetting, if for just a moment, their own suddenly insignificant irritants.
If America’s meeting place is filled with pride, it’s also full of music. “Bronco” is Atlanta’s piano man, and he holds court at Houlihan’s Restaurant and Bar almost every afternoon. Bronco’s piano also eases the passage for frazzled flyers before they hit the security line.
Indeed, Atlanta’s atrium morphs into a full-blown concert hall every so often. During Black History Month this past February jazz, blues and rhythm and blues filled the massive space as groups such as the Eldridge Simms Jazz Quartet and the Darren Winters Ensemble performed.
All great spaces embrace art, and the Atlanta atrium is no different. The latest temporary exhibit underscores the international ambience of the planet’s busiest aerodrome with ‘Tribes of Papua New Guinea.’ Get an insight into these fascinating folk through a photographic exploration of facial expressions, headdresses, necklaces and the like. “This exhibit provides a…snapshot of the group’s rich heritage and undeniable pride,” says Airport Art manager Katherine Dirga.
It’s the kind of international, eclectic exhibit that has come to characterize the airport’s art.
Keeping watch over all the comings and goings is a 33-foot-long skeletal Yangchunosaurus, a bonafide meat-eater.
If you’re hungry the atrium offers plenty of “landside” (pre-security) options. Houlihan’s is a sit-down eatery. Ask for second-floor seating, the better to view the passing parade. Faster food? Atlanta Bread offers fresh sandwiches while Seattle’s Best Coffee helps hone the edge of all those Type A flyers. Type B’s can slow way down by chowing done before departure at Paschal’s, which specializes in southern comfort food.
Need to grab some cash before departure? Capital City Bank has a branch on the atrium, and Wells Fargo has ATMs. There’s a currency exchange too.
Spend some of that money at one of the airport’s unsung gems – Bijoux Terner. Hats, jewelry, travel pillows. Purses, blankets and watches (really) can all be had for $10 each.
Take the escalator one floor up and minister to body and soul. There you’ll find a walk-in AeroClinic, as well as an Interfaith Chapel. The USO is there too. Soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen gather on this level, to check e-mails, write letters and await their flights to places most of us just know from the news. Down below them the people they’ve sworn to protect pass by, pursuing their own paths home.
Story by Jerry Chandler
Photo by YimHafiz
