Gone with the Wind Itinerary

Atlanta’s history is filled with Southern soul

Although the movie premiered more than 80 years ago, “Gone with the Wind,” the movie and novel, still inspire curiousity about Atlanta. Use this Gone with the Wind Itinerary to explore the events, fact and fiction, that put Atlanta on the map.

Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind" Movie Poster — Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind” Movie Poster

Morning

The Marietta Gone With the Wind Museum at Historic Brumby Hall features hundreds of artifacts and memorabilia, including the original Bengaline honeymoon gown worn by Vivien Leigh in her role as Scarlett O’Hara. Also visit the Marietta National Cemetery where more than 10,000 Union soldiers are buried.

Estimated time: 45 minutes for museum tour

Lunch

Serving Southern staples for more than 70 years, Mary Mac’s Tea Room is a landmark Midtown eatery. The destination for a mix of Atlanta faithfuls, Mary Mac’s offers entrees such as chicken and dumplings, country fried steak, sweet potato soufflé and fried green tomatoes.

Afternoon

Atlanta History Center features the largest collection of Civil War memorabilia in the country. Also affiliated with the Atlanta History Center is the Margaret Mitchell House at Atlanta History Center Midtown, or “The Dump” as Mitchell lovingly called her Midtown apartment. The museum includes the restored rooms where most of “Gone With the Wind” was penned, complete with Mitchell’s writing desk, period furnishings and original leaded glass windows.
(NOTE: Margaret Mitchell House is at the Midtown campus of Atlanta History Center and is not open to the public at this time.)

Estimated time: 3 – 3.5 hours

Margaret Mitchell's writing desk and typewriter at the Margaret Mitchell House — Margaret Mitchell’s writing desk and typewriter where most of “Gone with the Wind” was penned

Historic Oakland Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 3,000 Confederate soldiers and 16 Union soldiers, as well as Margaret Mitchell. The cemetery offers guided tours on weekends and self-guided tours each day.

Estimated time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

The final resting place of Margaret Mitchell in Atlanta's Historic Oakland Cemetery — The final resting place of Margaret Mitchell in Atlanta’s Historic Oakland Cemetery

Dinner

Head to Livingston Restaurant + Bar at the Georgian Terrace Hotel. Found beneath the grand staircase in the hotel where Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable and Margaret Mitchell attended the after-party for the Atlanta premiere of “Gone With the Wind,” Livingston features a menu of seasonal flavors and hand-crafted cocktails.

Pittypat’s Porch has been serving old Southern charm for more than 40 years. Dishes include fried chicken and Georgia peach cobbler.

Other places of interest in and around Atlanta

The Atlanta-Fulton County Library (downtown branch) houses a permanent Margaret Mitchell exhibit on the fifth floor. Across the street is a monument dedicated to Atlanta’s most famous author.
Rhodes Hall (Midtown), nicknamed “The Castle on Peachtree,” features nine stained glass windows titled “The Rise and Fall of the Confederacy.”
The Gone With the Wind Tour (Jonesboro) is a tour of the “Gone With the Wind” Historic District, featuring stories behind the novel.
The Road to Tara Museum (Jonesboro) exhibits a collection of Margaret Mitchell’s china, as well as original props, costume reproductions and a photo gallery.
At the Stately Oaks Antebellum Home & Plantation Community (Jonesboro), guides lead tours of this 1839 home and its grounds.
Smith Plantation Home (Roswell) is an 1845 antebellum home that features fully functioning outbuildings including a cookhouse, a carriage house, a barn and a sharecropper’s cabin.
Bulloch Hall (Roswell) is the 1839 childhood home of Mittie Bulloch, who later married Theodore Roosevelt in 1853 in this house.
The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History (Kennesaw) highlights the story of a Confederate conductor who chases his stolen “General” locomotive from Atlanta to Chattanooga. It exhibits more than 50,000 Civil War and railroad artifacts.
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (Kennesaw) is the site of the June 27, 1864, battle where the Confederate Army defeated the Union Army.
Visit Stone Mountain Park (Stone Mountain) for a view of the likenesses of Confederate notables Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis, which are carved into the world’s largest exposed piece of granite. The park also houses the Historic Square, representing an authentic, pre-Civil War Georgia plantation and farmyard.