5 unique museums, stores & collections around Atlanta

Looking for an outing a little more unusual and unique than a trip to a history museum? 

These Atlanta museums, bars, stores and trails are just a few of the many fascinating collections around the city that we may have never thought to visit. Check them out, and let us know what you think!

Unusual and interesting places to visit in Georgia’s capital

David J. Sencer CDC Museum

Back in 1995, the hit movie “Outbreak” showed a glimpse into what the United States would look like under the hold of a lethal, rapidly spreading virus. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) was tasked with controlling a virus they knew nothing about, and movie-goers became fascinated with the totally completely super unlikely possibility that this would ever happen. 

Huh. Hindsight, amirite?

Though not directly related to the movie and more likely associated with the CDC’s 50th anniversary, the CDC Museum opened its doors in 1996 with an impressive collection of informative displays on the science, medicine and technology in the world of viruses, illnesses and overall public health in the United States. 

Probably worth a visit, all things considered. You’ll need to be vaccinated against today’s current real-life lethal global virus which, considering the location, makes perfect sense.

Doll’s Head Trail

If you’re looking to be thoroughly unsettled while simultaneously preserving the environment, then the Doll’s Head Trail is definitely worth checking out. 

Not necessarily a museum, per se, but a collection nonetheless, the Doll’s Head Trail in Constitution Lakes Park encourages visitors to display any found art in the park in a creative way. Founder and artist Joel Slaton envisioned a trail that displays repurposed found art (i.e. pretty litter?) from around the park in a way that would both help clean the park and spark creativity.

It started with a lot of doll heads and body parts, yes, but there’s plenty else to see on the trail besides potential childhood trauma. 

The Junkman’s Daughter

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and here at the Junkman’s Daughter this proverb is certainly put to good use!

Founded in 1982 by the daughter of, you guessed it, an Atlanta junkman who owned several salvage yards around the city. Over the years, Pam Majors collected, bought and traded eccentric items that she and her father had found in their salvage yards, and over time her collection made a name for itself among the student and alternative communities of the area. 

Today, the 10,000-square-foot Junkman’s Daughter is the city’s finest purveyor of alternative treasure, featuring anything from art to clothing to collectibles and more. You’re sure to find something interesting here, and you’ll never know what to expect each time you walk in!

Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room & Ping Pong Emporium

Is it a museum? Is it a church? Is it a table tennis league? 

It’s actually an irreverent Southern Baptist-themed bar, but there’s still plenty to look at here at Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room & Ping Pong Emporium.

There’s a drink menu that is on the brink of being pretty offensive, plenty of entertainment and, as the main feature, enough eclectic art to keep you gazing at the walls, floors and ceilings of this funky bar. Be sure to catch the organ karaoke on Wednesdays, too!

Crypt of Civilization

On the brink of another devastating world war and under the looming threat of total economic collapse, people in 1930s Atlanta certainly had reason to wonder whether future civilizations would have anything left of their world to discover and learn from. Future generations, as in humans several thousand years into the future. 

Then-president of Oglethorpe University Dr. Thornwell Jacobs wondered just that, and as a professor of ancient civilizations himself, he knew a thing or two about the kind of information archeologists look for. In 1936 he set about creating the world’s largest time capsule filled to the brim with household goods, everyday inventions, notes, data and more to inform future generations on what life was like in Atlanta in the year 1936. 

The capsule, housed in an old basement in the Phoebe Hearst Hall, measured only 200 square feet yet was absolutely packed with carefully curated goods that, according to Jacobs, represented Atlanta's best at the time.

The Crypt of Civilization was sealed in 1940 and has been shut ever since; until, of course, the requested opening date in the far future. Like, far in the future — in the year 8113 A.D. Even “Star Trek” isn’t set that far in the future (The Original Series takes place in 2266 A.D., for those wondering).

So, while you can’t check inside this crypt right now (you’ll have to wait a few millennia) you can certainly go check out the door and the somber plaque that details the time capsule’s mysterious contents. And who knows? Maybe one of your descendants will be some of the first people to see it when it’s finally opened!

Next time you’re itching for an unusual outing, check out these interesting spots and unique collections around our luxury Atlanta apartments!

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Featured photo courtesy Pixabay/paulbr75