How do I find fictional Kate Daniels in real Atlanta?

February 10, 2016 6:46 PM

I'm a huge fan of Ilona Andrews's Kate Daniels series. It's a great mixture of worldwide myths revisioned, butt-kicking urban fantasy heroine, and vivid writing. Decaying and fallen Atlanta is a significant part of the atmosphere.

I am going to Atlanta this weekend and staying in Decatur. I'd love to match up fictional landmarks with real locations. Driving around Atlanta traffic sounds like a nightmare....especially since I'm spatially challenge. Regardless, what landmarks in the series translate to real life and wouldn't be agonizing to get to? Are there any usable maps? Pinterest boards with pictures?

posted by Measured Out my Life in Coffeespoons to Travel & Transportation (7 answers total)

Wow, I've never heard of this series but now I want to dig in! Can't help you about the landmarks that you are looking for since I haven't read this yet but I live in Atlanta and traffic can be a nightmare. It is usually pretty good on the weekends unless there is a game or something big going on intown. We have great Uber and Lift service. Out public transportation (MARTA) isn't great but you can usually navigate it easily and combine with busses to get pretty much anywhere inside the perimeter (I-285). I would find a good map on the Google, and hunt down the landmarks and then I would probably drive using the google maps app or the waze app. Waze works great in Atlanta. Weekend traffic really isn't bad. Glad you are coming, Welcome to my city and be sure to come hungry.....soooo many great places to eat!!
posted by pearlybob at 7:36 PM on February 10, 2016

If you are in downtown Decatur there is a MARTA stop smack in the middle of the square and from there you can take the the Blue Line, which runs East/West, and within a 15 minute ride you can meet up with the Gold and Red lines to go North/South. Buses are hit or miss on a weekday and, depending on where you are, can take hours on a weekend. There is one very special streetcar route around downtown, I think it costs $1 to ride. It takes you to a lot of tourist attractions (Underground Atlanta, MLK house, Auburn Market) and you can get to it easily from the Five Points MARTA stop. Atlanta is hard to get around in without a car, but once you are inside the perimeter it is not bad for driving, just don't let the tailgaters stress you out. Waze and google maps would both do well to help you get around.

Would you be able to share the names of some of the landmarks? That might help with sorting out how to get there.
posted by arachnidette at 8:11 PM on February 10, 2016

It's not a nightmare on weekends. As long as you're not going somewhere at 5:30 pm on a weekday, you're fine. In fact, driving around is really the best way to get to some of the cool little neighborhoods we have here. MARTA is really handy for getting from downtown Decatur to the east side neighborhoods, but once you get off the train, you'd probably need a car to get to your next stop. Using Waze will help. It's not as stressful as you may have heard.
posted by pourtant at 8:36 PM on February 10, 2016

Most of my Atlanta knowledge comes through Kate Daniels' eyes, so I can in no way vouch for the correctness, but this google map of Kate's Atlanta looks like it's exactly what you're looking for. (Again, I have NO idea if you'll find something-or anything- at these locations.)
posted by instamatic at 3:58 AM on February 11, 2016

Oh, and straight from the source, Ilona Andrew's site has a map. And in an interview, they affirm that they use Google maps to keep their locations as accurate as possible for a post-Apocalyptic city, which gives a bit more credence to the first map, though the two maps don't look like they have the same content. (And I would definitely be prepared for pre-Shift boring skyscrapers when you follow either. Maybe Atlanta residents in this thread can take a look at the fictional maps and give guidance now that they know where things are "supposed" to be?)

Also, please take notes and pictures and come back with a travelogue for us armchair/paperback tourists.
posted by instamatic at 4:11 AM on February 11, 2016

I'm looking at the first map instamatic posted. I'd take MARTA from Decatur to North Ave, then walk up through Midtown (past the Fox Theatre) on Peachtree or West Peachtree, which parallels the map's Unicorn Lane. There's a bunch of map icons along that route, and you can cross back and forth pretty easily. You can also end up at the High Museum, take a side trip to Piedmont Park, and enjoy the sort-of-ish walkable parts of the city doing this.

The Georgia Dome does not look correctly placed on that map; it should be by the Dome MARTA and is also very very accessible by transit. You will not get to Pack Territory as marked on that map because Christ Jesus why go to Norcross. Little Five Points (Andriano's Bar) is a fun place to walk around on the weekends.

Don't drive. All this stuff is close in and close enough to each other. Parking is a fucking pain (and expensive) in Midtown and Downtown. You will save money even if you take an Uber all the time. I would MARTA to the Dome, then to North Ave and do the walk from south to north, then take an Uber to Little 5. Grab drinks and dinner in Little 5 and then Uber home.
posted by quadrilaterals at 10:28 AM on February 11, 2016

Don't know this series but you should be able to see a lot of the downtown/midtown places with walking and MARTA. Conveniently, this is the part of the city that sees the most conventions, etc., so you're well set up to see not only landmarks but also museums, etc.

I would advise against making a trip to Pack Territory unless you want to go to Medieval Times (it's the wrong time of year to go to Lake Lanier.) It's just suburbs; no better or worse than any other suburbs but there's nothing there worth a special trip, I don't think. People who live there go into town for fun excursions.

Looks like the "Casino" is near the CNN Center and the Georgia World Congress Center: I think there are CNN studio tours if you're interested there, otherwise it's more of a mini-mall that caters to conventions at the WCC.

Little Five Points is a fun place to go with lots of funky shops and restaurants to walk around and explore.

While you're in the general area, the World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium are close to one another and is the usual "out of town visitors want to see Atlanta sites" spot (at least when it isn't nice enough outside for the middle-school field trip one-two punch of Zoo Atlanta and the Cyclorama (is that even a thing anymore?)).
posted by oblique red at 3:50 PM on February 11, 2016