Going to our first championship

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

When in Atlanta, you will have to get a hotel no matter what, but as for transportation down in Atlanta, there is a very good public service called MARTA similar to the subway system of NYC.

It goes right from the airport to the Georgia Dome, and is really not that much of a cost to take the ride. 5-10 dollars if that? I forget the exact amount. It may even be less.

I used MARTA in 2005 to get from/to the airport, as well as a couple other places, and I believe it was like $7-10 for a weeklong pass that got you unlimited rides. Definitely a great value.

[Chris Marra]

Don't forget the added costs of getting tools to and from the Championships. If you decide to fly down, either you'll need a mentor or adult to take down all of your tools by car, which is not a pleasant task, or you'll need to ship them down, which can get very expensive. If you decide to take a bus or other mode of wheeled transportation, chances are you can fit tools into your vehicle, or split them amongst multiple vehicles along with students, and the need to drive them down seems like less of a burden considering that you are already doing the same with students.

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Chris Marra

Don't forget the added costs of getting tools to and from the Championships. If you decide to fly down, either you'll need a mentor or adult to take down all of your tools by car, which is not a pleasant task, or you'll need to ship them down, which can get very expensive. If you decide to take a bus or other mode of wheeled transportation, chances are you can fit tools into your vehicle, or split them amongst multiple vehicles along with students, and the need to drive them down seems like less of a burden considering that you are already doing the same with students.

We were able to pack all of our tools and spare materials into shipping boxes and carry them as checked luggage on our flight. It's important to consider the weight limit for an individual piece of baggage when doing this, but the airline had no problem with it.