Arrival & Check-in, Registration & Orientation, Get Acquainted, Jazz Presentation

Afternoon: HOTEL CHECK IN: You may check into your hotel beginning at 4:00 pm.
PROGRAM REGISTRATION: Please register with the Road Scholar program staff at our desk in the lobby. Your coordinator will be in the lobby area to welcome you and give you your name badge and packet of information between 4 and 5 pm. Orientation is at 5:15 pm followed by dinner at 6:00 pm. You'll have an informative overview of the program to come plus an opportunity to meet the program staff and your fellow participants during an introductory get-acquainted session. We'll review the updated schedule, answer any questions you may have, and cover responsibilities, safety guidelines, and emergency procedures.

Dinner: Dinner will be catered in our hotel conference room at 6:00 pm.

Evening: Get the low-down from local performers who will also entertain you their stories and music....some holiday, some from times gone by. Jazz musicians will entertain you after dinner. Review the origin of jazz as you listen to jazz performers in your conference room.

Lodging: Hyatt Place Buckhead Atlanta

Meals Included: Dinner

A Southern Trilogy: Bulloch Hall, Archibald Smith Plantation, Barrington Hall/Lunch in Roswell/Gone With The Wind

Breakfast: Breakfast will be catered in the conference room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: We'll board the motorcoach for a ride into the magic and wonder of the holiday season in the historic district of Roswell, about 25 minutes northeast of Atlanta. Roswell boasts 640 acres of Civil War era homes, churches, and historic site including many on the National Register of Historic Places. We will explore three plantation homes that serve as outstanding examples of the architecture and culture of a bygone age: Bulloch Hall, Barrington Hall and Smith Plantation Home. As you enjoy seasonal decorations, learn what life was like when the world turned a bit slower. N Field trips: 1

Lunch: Lunch in Roswell.

Afternoon: Life on a plantation and holiday traditions will continue as you make your way through three plantation homes and gardens.

Dinner: Dinner at hotel.

Evening: PRESENTATION: Gone With The Wind Linda Randall, volunteer with the Atlanta History Center and Swan House Mansion will present the facts of the fiction "Gone With the Wind". She will reveal interesting facts about the author, Margaret Mitchell and her life in Atlanta, GA.

Lodging: Hyatt Place Buckhead Atlanta

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Atlanta History Center, Swan Mansion & Gardens, Swan Coach House, Fanfare Dining, Cirque du Soleil - Totem

Breakfast: Breakfast will be catered in the conference room.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: We’ll explore Swan House, an elegant, classically-styled mansion named for the swan motif that appears indoors and out. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it built in 1928 for Edward and Emily Inman, heirs to a cotton brokerage fortune. The house was designed by well-known and influential Atlanta architect Philip Trammell Shutze, who adapted Italian and English classical styles in the house and its gardens. In 1966, the Atlanta Historical Society purchased the Swan House and most of its original furnishings, that range from eighteenth-century antiques to twentieth-century objets d’art.
With its Christmas trees, lights, and holiday decorations adorning the beautiful outdoor double staircase, Swan House is ready to receive you as a guest and welcomes you to learn what life was like on this 33-acre estate in the heart of Atlanta.

Lunch: We’ll have lunch at the Swan Coach House Restaurant, where you can enjoy tasty treats in one of the beautifully decorated rooms.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: At the Atlanta History Museum — part of the Atlanta History Center and one of the largest history museums in the nation — you’ll learn about the region's people, from its earliest settlers to the international city of today, as we explore award-winning signature exhibitions. Depending on what is scheduled at the time of your program, we’ll also take in seasonal offerings.

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel.

Evening: See Cirque du Soleil - Totem, at Atlantic Station in Atlanta. As one person was quoted: "Cirque du Soleil steals your heart" TOTEM traces the fascinating journey of the human species from its original amphibian state to its ultimate desire to fly. The characters evolve on a stage evoking a giant turtle, the symbol of origin for many ancient civilizations. Inspired by many founding myths, TOTEM illustrates, through a visual and acrobatic language, the evolutionary progress of species. Somewhere between science and legend TOTEM explores the ties that bind Man to other species, his dreams and his infinite potential.

Lodging: Hyatt Place Buckhead Atlanta

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Atlanta by Motor Coach/Free Afternoon/Holiday Dinner Outing, Atlanta Botanical Gardens "Garden Lights Holiday Nights" Show

Breakfast: Breakfast will be at the hotel.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Explore Atlanta by motor coach with stops at significant locations. You will be getting on and off with interior visits at some locations.

Lunch: You are on your own for lunch. Your coordinator will have a list of places you might want to visit on your free afternoon in Atlanta.

Afternoon: FREE AFTERNOON: Take this time to pursue your own personal interests. Your local coordinator will be happy to assist you in making decisions about where to go and what to see. The hotel provides free shuttle service within a two-mile radius of the hotel. Atlanta beckons with all of the sparkle and festivities of the holiday season!

Dinner: Dinner will be at a favorite restaurant called Brio's. We will enjoy fellowship and holiday lights plus soft music before attending the Holiday Light Show at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.

Evening: Atlanta Botanical Gardens "Garden Lights Holiday Nights" Show: Glimmering with more than 1 million lights, the show blankets the Atlanta Botanical Garden's 30 acres in every shimmering color under the rainbow. New sparkling attractions include "Liquid Lights", spectacular lighting effects casting an icy cool vibe in the Cascades Garden, while "Starry Night Walk", inspired by Van Gogh's famous painting, features dozens of swirling stars twinkling along the walkway through the camellias. The Great Lawn is transformed into "Orchestral Orbs" - a one-of-a-kind topiary light show choreographed to holiday music. Find enchanting frog elves (frelves) hidden along the paths and listen for Unlikely Sounds of the Season in the Fuqua Conservatory.

Lodging: Hyatt Place Buckhead Atlanta

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: Crooner and pianist extraordinaire Tony DeSare and his trio ring in the New Year with Michael Krajewski and the Orchestra for an evening of great American standards, from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Porter and Prince(!).

Breakfast: Breakfast will be at the hotel.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: During our guided exploration at the High Museum of Art, we’ll take in their special holiday exhibitions and/or activities. The High — founded in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association — is the leading art museum in the southeastern U.S. with more than 11,000 works in its permanent collection. The High is notable for its extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American and decorative art; significant holdings of European paintings; a growing collection of African-American art; and burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, African art, and photography.

Lunch: Lunch will be at a popular restaurant called Shout. Great food and holiday chatter will be the order of the day.

Afternoon: We have saved part of the afternoon for some down time before the evening New Year's activities.

Dinner: We will dine at Fanfare in the Woodruff Arts Center before our concert. Conveniently located on the balcony level of the Woodruff Arts Center just steps from Symphony Hall, Fanfare offers a sumptuous three-course meal with buffet-style fine dining. Beverages other than tea, water, or coffee are on your own but are available with your dinner.

Evening: Crooner and pianist extraordinaire Tony DeSare and his trio ring in the New Year with Michael Krajewski and the Orchestra for an evening of great American standards, from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Porter and Prince(!). A surprising and thoroughly enjoyable way to celebrate the New Year! PRESENTATION: Jazz in Atlanta. Did you know that Atlanta has one of the most exciting jazz scenes in the country? The list of native-born jazz musicians is full of notables from Ida Cox (b. 1896) to Wycliffe Jordan (b. 1967).

Lodging: Hyatt Place Buckhead Atlanta

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast will be served at the hotel.

Morning: An historian and author of several books on the Civil War will present, The Battle of Atlanta: Turning Point. The Battle of Atlanta was a battle of the Atlanta Campaign fought during the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. The fall of Atlanta was especially noteworthy for its political ramifications.

Meals Included: Breakfast