ATLANTA (WXIA) -- Every day more than 275,000 passengers go through Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, leaving or arriving on 2,500 daily flights.
Hartsfield-Jackson is a place in continuous motion with a neverending stream of people, baggage and frantic activity, both above ground and below. For passengers who have a few extra minutes a quick bit of advice -- when you go below ground level, where you catch the train, don't get on board.
You'll be in for a surprise.
"I would not expect to see this at an airport," said Alabama airline passenger Sherman McClaikey. "Maybe a museum, but not an airport."
Lining the tunnel route from the T Concourse to the A Concourse, extraordinary sculptures from Zimbabwe.
"Everything is done by hand. Rock is worked on with files; with chisels and hammers. It is all very labor intensive," said Katherine Dirga, art manager at Hartsfield-Jackson. "We have 20 sculptures and 30 photos of Zimbabwe and of the quarries and stone ruins of Zimbabwe."
Continue along the Concourse route and you will soon think you are at the Atlanta History Center.
Between Concourses B and C is a stunning look at Atlanta with video, photographs and descriptions taking you through the city's most important times. The exhibit takes you through the tumultuous times of the civil rights era, talks about Atlanta's color line and deals with history as it is even up to today.
Cindy and Randy Nichols said they often allow extra time to get to the gate, in order to visit the underground exhibits.
"We moved here in 2000, so we did not know a lot of the history before, and it would be really great if more people from out of town saw it," Randy said.
McCaikey, just back from his fifth Army tour in Afghanistan, was one of them.
Coming to Atlanta to visit family, the Alabama native got off of the train so he would not miss the exhibit.
"I wish my kids were here, so we could actually go through the history as we walk to get our bags," he said. "I think it is a great thing, and a great idea to come here and you can feel it. It leaves an impression."
It becomes an impression you do not want to miss.
