Atlanta is home to five professional sports teams and all offer group discounts, making tickets more affordable. For senior citizen centers with sports fans, a trip to Turner Field to see the Atlanta Braves play baseball in the spring or summer might be a popular outing. Football fans can also take in an Atlanta Falcons game in the fall and for basketball aficionados, the Atlanta Dreams, a women's team, and the Atlanta Hawks, a men's team, both play in Phillips Arena in the winter and spring. Atlanta's hockey team, the Thrashers, takes on opponents in the winter and spring, although there's been talk about relocation.
Atlanta is a hotbed of history. From the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement, many historical events have taken place within the city limits and close to 50 of those places are still around and open to the public. History buffs at senior citizen centers might enjoy a day trip touring local Civil War battlefields, or going to one of several locations that were part of the Underground Railroad that smuggled slaves north in the early 1800s. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthplace and his grave are also popular destinations.
The Georgia Aquarium is one of Atlanta's newer destinations, built in 2005. Senior citizen center groups will enjoy looking at more than 500 different varieties of sea life and taking in the shows, including a 4D movie and live dolphin show. As of May 2011, the Georgia Aquarium is the largest in the country, which makes it quite a tourist attraction. To avoid large crowds, senior citizen center groups should consider visiting in the early morning or late afternoon.
The Atlanta Botanical Garden offers senior citizen center groups hours of entertainment. The facility has 30 acres of outdoor gardens, an award-winning children's garden, a unique canopy walk through the woods and an indoor conservatory. It also has a restaurant for groups wanting to stay for lunch and lectures on plants and flowers throughout the year. The gardens are wheelchair and walker friendly and there are benches and other places to rest scattered throughout.
Atlanta provides many different arts experiences that make for great "field trips" for senior citizen centers with residents who enjoy seeing shows and performances. The Alliance Center and Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center offer traveling Broadway shows as well as local theater productions. Atlanta is also home to a world-class opera, symphony and ballet, each offering productions throughout the year that would be perfect activities for arts-minded groups of senior citizens.