06 Jul Best Activities in Marietta for Teens
Written by Michael Duncan, Marietta High School Class of 2020
Growing up in Marietta, I spent many summers with my friends, trying to figure out what to do for fun. Over the years, my friends and I discovered some of the best activities in our hometown. These were able to keep us occupied and gave me some of my best memories as a teenager in Marietta.
Disc Golf in Oregon Park
I was and still am a very active outdoorsy person. This was the same for many of my friends in Marietta. One summer, my friend recommended we play disc golf. Like most of you reading this, I had no clue what that was. He had told us that his dad had shown him how to play, and there was a course in Marietta. So we trekked over to Oregon Park off of Dallas Highway and threw these tiny frisbees into chain linked baskets around the woods. Little did I know this would become one of our favorite activities. It’s a nice activity for teenagers because it is free and fun. As teenagers, it was always fun for us to find cheap and, in this case, free activities.
The course at Oregon Park is maintained very well and includes 18 holes that will take you approximately two hours with a group of friends. There is a silver and gold course. Silver is the easier shorter one and gold is for the more advanced. It is great to have this because it gives you time to learn and one day, move up to the more advanced course. Having Oregon Park growing up gave me some of my best memories with my friends. Many of them now play disc golf at their colleges and compete on the team.
Eddie’s Trick Shop
Another exciting activity to do in Marietta as a teen is going to Eddie’s Trick Shop on the Marietta Square. It is a shop dedicated to jokes, magic, tricks, costumes, makeup and much more. Once you enter the store, you are treated to an array of items. That could be the mask wall with many characters, such as Pennywise or a horse. Or you could go back even further into the shop and discover all the costumes you could think of for your next costume party with your friends. You walk into the store and immediately have a good time because it is unlike any other store in the Square. Stop by on a summer day, when it is too hot to be outside.
Eat on the Square: Pizza, Ice Cream, & Candy
After visiting Eddie’s Trick Shop you could partake in another of my favorite activities. Eating at one of the many restaurants on the Marietta Square. A favorite for local teens is the Marietta Pizza Company. The slices are huge. An insider tip for an often less crowded seating area is to sit in the back room next to the takeout area.
It is fun to go to the dessert shops inside Marietta Square. There are two ice cream shops and a candy store. Sarah Jean’s and Sweet Treats are both of the ice cream shops and neither will disappoint. If you are not in the mood for ice cream, then you can visit Rocket Fizz. This is a candy store filled with sweet, sour, chocolate, and even wacky flavors. Along with the candy, they have many brands of soda. They even have barf soda or pimple soda that are sure to make your taste buds shiver.
Hiking Kennesaw Mountain
Another favorite activity of local teens is to hike or run the miles of trails on Kennesaw Mountain. This mountain is right on the edge of Marietta and Kennesaw. Kennesaw Mountain has an elevation of 1,808 feet. I grew up hiking it before I was even a teenager when I would journey up the mountain with my grandfather and his dog.
It is not an easy stroll to get to the top. It is very hilly and has rocky terrain which can be hard to navigate. There is also the option to drive a car to the top on the paved road going through the mountain. After making it to the top, you will have a great view of Marietta and Atlanta off in the distance.
Visit Marietta, there are so many enjoyable activities for teens. They made my summers very enjoyable and gave me fun activities to do by myself and with my friends.