The Willie B. statue at Zoo Atlanta was featured in this week's Access Points photo game. AJC/Jamie Gumbrecht

Did something in this week’s Access Point photo game look familiar? It certainly did to Twitter users @ratpack and @lisaashmore — they were the first to correctly guess that it was the Willie B. statue at Zoo Atlanta.

Since Atlanta said good-bye to its first panda cub, Mei Lan, this week, I thought we should look back on some zoo history, and an animal we’ve bid farewell to before.

Willie B, shortly after he arrived at Zoo Atlanta.

The most famous, of course, is Willie B., a 400-pound silverback gorilla and undisputed king of Atlanta’s zoo. The gorilla was born in the wild in Africa, came to the Grant Park Zoo as a baby in 1961 and lived for decades in a cage with only a television for entertainment. In the 1980s, Atlanta’s zoo was known as one of the country’s worst, and it lost its accreditation. But with new leadership and a capital campaign, the facilities …

Continue reading Access Points 23: Willie B. gorilla statue at Zoo Atlanta »

Do you know what and where this is? Share your guess in the comments!

After a couple weeks off because of other assignments, our Access Points photo game is back this week!

As always, this is one way to explore fun stuff to do around Atlanta and give ourselves a visual check of how much we’re really taking in when we see the sites around the city.

So tell me what’s in this photo and where around Atlanta you’ll find it. Post your ideas in the comments, or on Twitter @insideaccess.

I’ll reveal the answer in photos and a story about that fun thing at 4 p.m. tomorrow!

To keep playing, check out our earlier Access Points stops, or see them on our Access Points map.

Continue reading Access Points 23: Do you know what and where this is? »

Did you recognize this week's Access Point? It's the Plaza Theatre in Poncey-Highland, shown here in 1983. AJC/Jamie Gumbrecht

If I’d posted a color picture of this week’s Access Point, I don’t think there would have been any question. It’s not The Varsity, nor Chuck E. Cheese, but the more popular choice: The Plaza Theatre on Ponce de Leon Avenue. The first commenter to guess correctly is two-time Access Points winner Lain Shakespeare.

Easy to see why so many of you guessed the photo correctly. The sign and marquee stand out on that stretch of Ponce, and they’ve been there a long time, 70 years, in fact. Theater owners Jonathan and Gayle Rej will celebrate this Friday by partying with Robert Osbourne of Turner Classic Movies and screening of the 1939 hit, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” plus more 1939 films the rest of the month. This will also kick off the fund-raising campaign for the Plaza Theatre Foundation, the new non-profit that runs the theater.

A quick history:

• The …

Continue reading Access Points 22: Plaza Theatre in Poncey-Highland »

Does this look familiar? Share your guess at what it is in the comments!

For this week’s Access Points photo game, I decided to try something a little special. This isn’t a photo I shot — it’s one dug from the AJC archives. Still, you might recognize this fun thing to do around Atlanta because it’s still there.

So, as always, tell me what’s in this photo and where in Atlanta you’ll find it. Post your ideas in the comments, or on Twitter @insideaccess.

I’ll reveal the answer in photos and a story about that fun thing at 4 p.m. tomorrow!

To keep playing, check out our earlier Access Points stops, or see them on our Access Points map.

Continue reading Access Points 22: Do you know what and where this is? »

Do you know what and where this is? Share your ideas in the comments! AJC/Jamie Gumbrecht

It’s time again for our weekly Access Points game, where we get to explore fun stuff to do around Atlanta and check our talent for spotting the details.

As always, tell me what’s in this photo and where around Atlanta you’ll find it. Post your ideas in the comments, or on Twitter @insideaccess.

I’ll reveal the answer in photos and a story about that fun thing at 4 p.m. tomorrow!

To keep playing, check out our earlier Access Points stops, or see them on our Access Points map.

Continue reading Access Points 21: Do you know what and where this is? »

It's Snow Mountain! AJC photos by Jamie Gumbrecht

Were you able to identify the image in this week’s Access Points photo game? Indeed, commenter Tony was correct — it was a snow tube at Stone Mountain Park’s Snow Mountain attraction.

This is Stone Mountain Park’s second year of Snow Mountain playtime. It planned to open the attraction for the first time in 2007, but caught criticism for using more than 1 million gallons of tap water during a drought and watering ban. The park brought the plan back last year, using water from its own lake.

And I’m glad it worked, because snow is far more fun to play in than to drive in. By 9 a.m., there were hundreds of kids and parents dressing snow people, throwing balls at the Snowball Shooting Gallery and carving icy angels into the ground. I underestimated how much fun there is to be had with a bucket and a fresh layer of white on the ground.

There’s no time limit to how long you can stay in the play areas, and I could tell some children …

Continue reading Access Points 20: Snow tubes at Stone Mountain Park »

Hmm, where around Atlanta have you seen this before? Share your ideas in the comments. AJC/Jamie Gumbrecht

Wow, we’re already at the 20th edition of our Access Points photo game? Way to play, Atlanta!

Just like the past 19 times, tell me what’s in this photo and where around Atlanta you’ll find it. Post your ideas in the comments, or on Twitter @insideaccess.

I’ll reveal the answer in photos and a story at 4 p.m. tomorrow!

To keep playing, check out our earlier Access Points stops, or see them on our Access Points map.

Continue reading Access Points 20: Can you guess what and where this is? »

It's the Pink Pig at the Lenox Square Macy's! Photo by Barry Williams

The guesses for this week’s Access Points photo game were a-plenty — The Vortex, the eye of the Atlanta Hawk, the Big Chicken, an Elmo float — but in fact, it was a little Atlanta holiday tradition you can find these days at Lenox Square.

Yes, Laura, it is the Pink Pig at Macy’s. You were the first to identify it, so you win four passes from Macy’s for two rides aboard the Pig!

Percival, one of the Monorail Twins, in their glory days. AJC file photo

The modern Pink Pig is a 3 1/2-minute ride based on a holiday attraction that appeared a the downtown Atlanta Rich’s store beginning in 1953. Priscilla, the original Pink Pig, was a sales-driving monorail that flew along the department store ceiling, giving kids an overhead view of the dreamy toy department. Another pig, Percival, was added later. Later on, the monorail moved to the roof the department store, and offered up a view of downtown Atlanta and Rich’s …

Continue reading Access Points 19: Macy’s Pink Pig ride at Lenox Square »

Does this look familiar? Share your guess at what it is in the comments! AJC/Jamie Gumbrecht

UPDATE 12/17: Want to know the answer? Here it is!

Time for this week’s Access Points photo game: share in the comments what’s in this photo and where you’ll find it. There’s a prize for the first person to correctly name in the comments or on Twitter what and where it is!

Continue reading Access Points 19: Do you know what and where this is? »

Were you able to identify the image in this week’s Access Points photo game?

What if it looked a bit more like this?

This home on Fairview Road in Druid Hills was designed by architect Leila Ross Wilburn. Models based on Wilburn's homes are featured in the Atlanta History Center. AJC file photo

The image on Thursday is a model of a home designed by architect Leila Ross Wilburn. It’s inside the Atlanta History Center’s “Metropolitan Frontiers” section, with a small biography of the architect.

Homes built with Wilburn’s designs still stand in older sections of Atlanta and Decatur, but History Center’s model houses are small, white, made to fit inside the exhibit, provide a hands-on model for kids or a useful aid for people with visual impairments.

Leila Ross Wilburn

In that section of the museum, visitors are moving out of 19th century Atlanta and into streetcar suburbs, like Inman Park, and Craftsman Bungalows. Wilburn was born in 1885, and studied at Agnes Scott College in …

Continue reading Access Points 18: History Center’s Leila Ross Wilburn exhibit »