Atlanta is horrible! Sad part about it is, there is no rush hour. It's bad all day long. When I came home from North Carolina a few months ago, I went from Franklin, NC to Macon, GA via US441. I completely skipped over I-985 and I-75. I'm not quite sure I lost any time doing it either. Very pretty drive. Only thing I didn't plan on was hitting Graduation Day at UofG haha.
You're in it for the long haul now. ;)