Choose Your Own Father’s Day Adventure

This Father’s Day, give your dad an adventure he’ll never forget. Here are some ideas in and around Atlanta that you can give the adventurous father who likes to explore new places, new skills or new ideas. He might even invite you to come along.

Andy Traub’s BBQ Boot Camp offers instruction for both grilling novices and pros.

BBQ Boot Camp
Sign dad up for Andy Traub’s Big Green Egg BBQ Boot Camp on June 25 or July 23 in Johns Creek, starting early in the morning. (Breakfast is included.) He’ll learn how a real pit boss prepares a mouthwatering selection of grilled meats — including brisket, ribs and chicken — as part of a complete meal. The July class also includes sea bass and lamb racks. Every participant gets detailed recipes and an invitation to dinner for themselves and a guest at 6 p.m. on the day of the class.
Traub has been a sponsor of the Atlanta Kosher BBQ Festival that the House of David puts on each October. You can add knives, kitchen accessories and jars of spice rubs to your order as well. Complete the package with tickets for the Kosher BBQ Festival, coming up October 23.
Cooking classes and other merchandise: https://a-and-s-culinary-concepts.square.site/#APqMgc.
Tickets for the Kosher BBQ Festival: https://theatlantakosherbbq.com/product-category/tickets/.

The Atlanta Zoo is one of only four places in the U.S. to see pandas.

Wild Encounters with Pandas: Zoo Atlanta
Go behind the scenes at the giant panda exhibit to learn about these fascinating and rare animals on loan from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China. Zoo Atlanta is one of only four zoos in the United States that have giant pandas on exhibit. The Atlanta panda pair, Yang Yang and Lunn Lunn, may be observing Father’s Day as well. Three cubs have been born to the pair since they arrived over 20 years ago. Wild Encounters with the Pandas are held each week on Thursday through Monday by advance reservation. You must also provide proof of COVID vaccination for every participant age 6 and up. Reserve at https://zooatlanta.org/activity-type/wild-encounters/
The Zoo Atlanta Panda cam gives you a close-up view of the animals without a trip to the zoo: https://zooatlanta.org/panda-cam/

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The Breman Museum’s History with Chutzpah exhibit is an adventure in Southern history.

History With Chutzpah/Genealogy Conference
If you haven’t yet seen the History with Chutzpah exhibit yet at the Breman Museum (https://www.thebreman.org), you’re missing a major adventure in Southern Jewish history. There are 250 exhibits and artifacts from every period of Jewish life in the South. The museum is open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Want to explore your own family history? Who knows what kind of secrets you’ll discover at the Breman Museum’s 2022 International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Conference on Jewish Genealogy. Topics include tracing your own family tree and deciphering your DNA results. The conference is virtual from August 21 to 25 and archived until October 25. To register, visit www.IAJGS2022.org.

The Porsche Experience Center presents a variety of off-road driving opportunities.

Porsche Driving Experience Center Atlanta
Haven’t quite come up with that down payment on the Porsche 911 you’ve been coveting? Atlanta is home to the Porsche Experience Center at their North American Headquarters building near the Atlanta airport. For a fee, you can test out Porsche vehicles on a 1.6-mile off-road track, which features six different driving experiences. There is a one-mile handling circuit, a low-friction handling circuit, a wet low-friction circle and something called the kick plate. You get personalized instruction from world-class professionals on one of 75 vehicles. The program isn’t exactly cheap, but then again, some of the special models of this year’s 911 can set you back over $200,000.
You can also test your driving skills on famous racetracks in the Porsche simulator lab. There are also driving experiences for the Boxster, the Macan, Cayman, Panamera, as well as other services for the diehard Porsche enthusiast. To top it off, dine at the Carrera Cafe or Restaurant 356: https://www.porschedriving.com/atlanta.

See sharks up close at the Georgia Aquarium.

Cage Dive with the Sharks at Georgia Aquarium
This two-and-a-half-hour program takes place in the latest addition to the largest aquarium in the Western hemisphere. The shark exhibit invites you inside the fascinating world of some of the most enigmatic and misunderstood creatures of the sea. The Cage Dive at the Aquarium is an immersive experience, not an interactive one. Guests don a wetsuit and enter a stainless steel cage to descend into the 185-foot Predators of the Deep exhibit while some of the most fearsome predators — including Great Hammerhead and Sand Tiger sharks — swim all around you.
For a more hands-on experience, the Shark and Ray program is an exploration of the Predator of the Deep Gallery, an in-depth look at the Aquarium’s research and conservation program and an underwater immersive encounter. Visit https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/experience/shark-cage-dive/.