Around About Town

We have been enjoying some exceptionally beautiful weather here in the Atlanta area lately. Friday was no exception, and so after we had finished up a bit of holiday shopping, we decided to explore the "Old Fourth Ward" and see what was going on down there. Back in October, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution had published a rather enticing article entitled "A Diamond in the Rough" about the resurgance of that area, which is not at all far from our little condo. Our daughter Kristin had taken us to dinner at Calavino Donati's "Roman Lily Cafe" in the Old Fourth Ward several times and we had enjoyed it greatly, but had never seen much else that looked appealing. Well, it turns out that things are really coming into their own down there! Hooray!! What used to be crack houses and street corners inhabited by ladies of the night (and day, I'm just guessin') are now turning into funky eating establishments, flower shops, and even a shop featuring hand-sewn sateen lingerie!

This is Power Plant, a great little Vegetarian restaurant, and below is the Irwin Street Market which houses the very vibrant Amber Schoepp's Flower Bar, Jake's Ice Cream, Kristin Sullivan's Picnic and Alexandria White's La Peche Rose. Quite a colorful structure!!
Below is LottaFrutta, which focuses on (what else?) fruit cups. Cute, isn't it?!!
After moseying around the OFW for a while, we set off to find Martha Stewart's new development Hampton Oaks, which is south of the airport. You will note that there are no photos....it was Horrible.....yes, with a capital H!!! The AJC had also had a most enticing article about it, so I couldn't wait to see what old Martha had done. Forget about it! The houses looked to be very poorly constructed with one rather untastefully on top of the next. I dunno, maybe I was just tired, but the place had no appeal. I'd like to say we'll go back when there are trees and flowers, but I doubt it.

So then there we were driving back into town on a Friday afternoon, in the middle of rush hour traffic. Here are a couple of Atlanta sites:

The Capitol with its gold dome....and of course a Delta billboard. Hope that both remain intact for years to come!And above is the Georgia Power main downtown office building, affectionately referred to by many of its employees as "the leaning tower of power"! That is where Kristin's office is located.

During the entire afternoon sojourn, the faithful Barker was as patient as could be....isn't he handsome!!!!

I am behind on my blogging but wanted to show you a bit of our Friday travels. We had more fun in the city yesterday, and perhaps I will blog about that tomorrow.

My blogger buddy Gerrie and her daughters Lisa and Stephanie are organizing an online auction to aid the James Kim family, and they have asked me to participate. I will furnish you with an address as soon as I have one, and you will be able to go there and bid on your favorite items in order to help the Kims. Remember: buy early and often!!!!

Happy December 17th!!!