The Friday of Independence Day starts with a 7am flight to Atlanta. My wholly Spanish speaking uber driver tries to drop me in the middle of nowhere, the flight is overbooked - general holiday weekend chaos. So Atlanta and I didn't get off to a great start.....however I had an intense but good day with one of our most charming members of the sales team meeting customers - couldn't quite make the flight home that night, so a night and Saturday in Atlanta it was.
I had no plans or expectations, my hotel in midtown gave me the impression of a lively, cultured city. Saturday morning I indulged my love of coffee at the excellent Caribou coffee ( the hand holders have different little messages on, a nice touch) , and my new love of biscuits. Biscuits are like an American scone - my god they are addictive. I sat outside, enjoyed the sunshine and realised a film set was right opposite - so some good people watching. I then strolled through piedmont park , Heading in the direction of Atlanta's version of the highline park. The beltline is going to be 22 miles of pedestrian friendly walking / cycling loop using old railway lines. I walked on one of the first sections to open which took me from Piedmont Park to fourth ward market. Such a lovely space - lots of people exercising, sculptures and street art make the uglier parts on the route interesting. It reminded me of being in brick lane/ shoreditch.
Half way on the route is a building which has been turned into the most incredible eating and shopping space - Ponce City Market. For me it was heaven - cool space, some of the best shopping I've experienced so far in the US and lots of individual food stalls. I managed to eat a chicken tikka roll ( very like dishoom) from the retro Indian space, and a gelato from the lovely Honeysuckle gelato. If I lived here, I would be at this space every weekend. It is ace.
From there, I wandered through town to see the old Fox Theatre - but then my time was up. Brief but lovely.
I wish Miami was a bit more like Atlanta.....
https://beltline.org/about/the-atlanta-beltline-project/atlanta-beltline-overview/
http://www.poncecitymarket.com
I stayed: Hyatt Atlanta midtown
No comments:
Post a Comment