Scenes from the weekend

This weekend marked the return of NICE WEATHER! W00t! A most welcome change after a week of rainy, thundery misery that I care not to document. On Saturday, Maren and I explored Little Five Points, Atlanta's hippie neighborhood. It's the perfect place to shop for funky vintage clothes & accessories and to check out the cool crowd. Little Five Points is also a good illustration of Atlanta's crazy city structure: you walk through a nice residential neighborhood when you get out of the MARTA station, and then, suddenly, you're in the wild west.

Luckily, Darth Vader is always around to protect you.

Good burritos here. The alien said so.

It's a really cute and slightly off-beat neighborhood. Cactuses grow in fountains and shops with cute vintage dresses neighbor tattoo parlors. As I was taking this picture, a guy with a long white beard wearing a psychedelic t-shirt arrived on a bycicle. I wish I had the guts to take a picture of him, but I'm a wuss when it comes to taking pictures of strangers.

Anywho, Maren & I were starving, so we decided to go in search of a restaurant that our tourist guide was raving about, called the Flying Biscuit Café. It's a mile or so to the east of Little Five Points, so we set off in search of it. In just a few blocks, the city transforms from hippie central to suburb Americana. Atlanta is eclectic, to say the least.

We finally located the restaurant, but we were not the only ones. But after about a half-our wait, we finally got a table and perused the menu that our tourist guide was so enthusiastic about.

Turns out, the Flying Biscuit Café's specialty is... breakfast! And they serve it all day long. So we just rolled with it and ordered the egg-ceptional breakfast and a mimosa to drink.

Let's take a closer look at that plate, shall we?

The egg-ceptional breakfast includes scrambled eggs (they said it was only 2 eggs, but it felt like 5), baked potatoes (mmm, potatoes!), creamy grits (a typical Southern thing, it's kind of like polenta but creamier) and a biscuit, which apparently is American for scone. The scone, my dear friends, in heavenly. Heavenly! No wonder they named the place after it. You eat this delicious, fluffy half-cake/half-bread roll with equally delicious apple-cinnamon marmalade.

By the way, don't you just love the tablecloth?

After that lunch, I can't remember us doing much save for digesting...

so onto Sunday!

On Sunday I decided to do a little solo tourism (Maren returned back home today and Erin is in San Francisco for her birthday, in case you're wondering where my friends are...) Anywho, I decided to visit the Atlanta History Center, which Silvia had warmly recommended. To get there, I had to take the MARTA to Buckhead, one of Atlanta's thriving business districts full of tall glass towers.

Atlanta is not a great city for the carless. There is some public transport, obviously, but you have to be lucky if it takes you near your destionation. The Atlanta History Center, for example, is about 2 miles away from the nearest MARTA station.

But I made it... obviously. But not without an enormous blister on the sole of my foot. Ouch!

The history center hosts a typical 1800's farm from Atlanta. This house actually stood further south, closer to downtown, but was moved here a couple of decades ago for its historic interest. Quite a contrast with the glass towers from before.

The surrounding park has a gorgeous garden, and trees are still blooming everywhere.

I also decided to try out my gorillapod for the first time. Quite a handy photography gadget to take along when you're doing solo tourism! (By the way, if you decide to get a gorillapod for yourself, buy it on Amazon instead of the official website - it's cheaper!)

The park of the history center also houses the Swan House, which was originally built here by the Inman family, who got rich in the cotton trade in the 19th century.

Although the house was built in 1928, it is still in the classical style. It kind of reminds me of Pemberley (for all you Pride & Prejudice fans out there).

I took a guided tour inside, but unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures. Too bad, because the decoration is really beautiful and almost all the furnishings are original. You'll have to come visit and see for yourself, I'm afraid.

But outside the house we were free to click away. In the backyard, there's a Victorian children's playhouse, with wall-papered rooms and curtained windows, and a little front porch, awww!

The stairs leading up to the front door.

Aaaaand a random stone elephant somewhere in the front yard. Cute.

Let's see if my gorillapod can stay put on the edge of a fountain... why, yes it can!

On my way back to the MARTA station, I passed this diner. Does stuff get more American than this? It kind of reminded me of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.

And those shoes on the billboard? What the heck indeed.

After I made it back to the MARTA station, I hopped off at the stop nearest to Atlantic Station, a brand-new neighorhood with modern housing, lots of shops, and a cinema. After two weeks in the US I thought it was time to hit the movie theatre! I saw Red Riding Hood. Ever since I saw the trailer I had been curious about it, and I confess I've been a fan Amanda Seyfried ever since I saw Mamma Mia. I liked it, although the score composer had obviously recently developed a fondness for the Swiss horn. (Watch the trailer and you'll know what I mean.)

Anyway... that was my weekend. How was yours?