Archives for posts with tag: southern

My Favorite Atlanta Spots – Phase 1

June 12, 2018 //

I do love Atlanta because of its Southernness and history; my history there; varied trees, plants and flowers; backroads; special places to visit; and Ava memories. I had a blast giving one of Ava’s dearest friends and mentor Phase 1 of Donna’s Atlanta Driving/Some-Walking Tour.

As always, I start in my home area of Sandy Springs which is in Northwest Atlanta which used to be a sleepy little area of farms (including ours) and quiet country living. Now, it’s all that and more. It’s THE place to live! Do those rich people know that a tenement farmer raised pigs on that property and that’s probably why their grass is so green? Or that the multi-million dollar house sits in our cow pasture of yesteryear? It’s definitely hard to recognize and my brain gets all tangled up in reality and my memories of horseback riding over to the Chattahoochee River and riding the old timber roads or milking the cow or playing in the creeks or happily padding along barefooted chasing after someone or something. Awww. The Good Ole Days!

Me “driving” our tractor I called “The Green Dragon!” Looks like I got stuck!

Anyway, here’s some of which I included in the Phase 1 Driving/SomeWalking Tour for Ava’s friend and one of my Chirrens yesterday. Yeehaw!

Swan House is in an area we call Buckhead because it was there was a General Store at its old crossroads with a Deer Buck Head over the door. The Swan House is a part of the Atlanta History Center. One Ticket at the History Center gives you access to Center’s fabulous Exhibits, the Swan House, and, in October, to the relocated Cyclorama which used to be at the Atlanta Zoo!

Fox Theater’s outstanding acoustics have been recognized all over the world!

When we used to go to the movies here, each side of this area was where the latest, finest lady’s fashions were exhibited. It was saved from demolition in 1976 by locals. YAY!

I’ve been wondering where they moved the famous CocaCola sign to and there it was in all its glory right over the building at Five Points in the heart of Downtown Atlanta on top of the old Wormser Hats Building!

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Brand new Mercedes-Benz Atlanta Stadium! Quite impressive!

On to my favorite restaurant – No Mas – in the Castleberry Arts district across the street from the old GE Supply Building where I used to work a hundred years ago!

Whoever created this place, needs a gold star for doing it right! Plus, the food is amazing!

Got a hankering for outdoor seating?

So many interesting things going on inside with the old and new structure being married with Mexican artifacts and art!

Ohm yeah! I want one of these for my front porch!

Before you leave, go into their Artisans Market store just to the left of the restaurant patio for more stimulation of the purchasable kind! LOVE this place!

Our State Capital Building is crowned with none other than Gold from our very own Dahlonega! I remember when they brought the gold to the Capital in wagon trails from there to refurbish it.

And, last but not least, Ava’s love – Little Five Points. She loved living here and felt safer here than anywhere. Junkman’s Daughter was her favorite place to shop; The Vortex was her favorite restaurant; and the Brew House was where she’d go for libations.

I modify each tour according to the wishes of my passenger, their age, the heat/humidity index and my energy. Most of this was a driving tour but we’ll hit the streets next time she’s in town and do it right! This was just the tip of the iceberg tour!

HAPPY TRAILS…until we meet again!

Tags architecture, artists, Atlanta, Atlanta Clyclorama, Atlanta History Center, Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer travels, Buckhead, Coca Cola Sign, eating southern, faith, family, Five Points, Fox Theater, Georgia, Georgia back roads, Georgia State Capital Building, Junkman's Daughter, Little Five Points, living southern, No Mas Artisan Market, No Mas Restaurant, reinvention, relationships, Renaissance Woman, Single Woman travel, Southeast, southern, Swan House, travel, woman cross-country traveling, woman traveling alone

Categories Baby Boomer, life adventures

Lake Rabun Hotel & Restaurant

June 10, 2018 //

Mom’s favorite place for me to take her for any occasion was our very own Lake Rabun Hotel & Restaurant (www.lakerabunhotel.com) but especially for Sunday Brunch! So, whenever a newbie comes to the my mountain home (Southern Comfort Cabin) to visit, I take them for their great Sunday Brunch.

I’m truly blessed to have many wonderful Chirrens and Grand Chirrens, especially after my daughter, Ava, passed (avascorner.org). My Chirrens keep in touch with me and visit when possible from all over the country and beyond. I had two of my Chirrens meet for the first time! It’s been so exciting! They really are twins! Mirjana (from Canada) has been with me learning Southern beginning in Jacksonville, Jekyll Island, Savannah, my mountain cabin with Little Five Points being her last stop, of course. Stacey, who I adopted upon meeting fifteen years ago, came up to meet Mirjana (her “sister-by-another-mother”). We’ve easily recognized we’re all of the same Gypsy, Bellydancing Singing blood! How could we not be when Ava brought us all together?

As my Chirrens come up for a visit, the tradition has become for me to take them to Lake Rabun Hotel’s Sunday Brunch. Today was the day! Yum!

Path entrance Lake Rabun Hotel

Front View Lake Rabun Hotel

Lake Rabun Porch Dining

Lake Rabun Hotel Witham Room

Local “farm to table” foods

Always good eats!

For more information, please visit http://www.lakerabunhotel.com or email Josh Addis, their General Manager, at joshaddis@lakerabunhotel.com to make your reservations to stay in one of their newly renovated suites, have dinner or to have one of their signature drinks!

It’s all good and a fabulous way to spend your time up here in the Northeast Georgia Mountains…and make new friends!

HAPPY TRAILS…until we meet again!

Tags artists, children, dining, eating southern, faith, family, farm to table food, Georgia, Georgia back roads, growing up in the south, Lake Rabun Hotel, living southern, love, music healing, northeast Georgia, reinvention, Southeast, southern, travel

Categories life adventures

Bonaventure Cemetery Tour, Savannah, Georgia

June 10, 2018 //

Savannah, Georgia…deeply steeped in history beginning with its founding in 1733 and the women who were responsible for much of it remaining mostly intact…is a breathtakingly gorgeous city worthy of a much longer stay than Mirjana and I had. But, we gave it our all even to the very minute we left.

We finished our whirlwind tour with none other than the infamous Shannon Scott walking tour of the Bonaventure Cemetery mostly made famous by a book/movie a couple of decades back, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” We who have made that trek to Savannah for decades know, or thought we knew, a great deal about this Cemetery and it’s residents but Shannon Scott’s ability to entertainingly weave this base knowledge with his obvious hunger to find the secrets behind the curtains in his guided tour (www.shannonscott.com) is certainly a treat worth doing. In the two hour tour, Shannon not only gave his audience the insider view of how the Bonaventure Plantation became a cemetery but how Savannah lives changed by the persons who now reside within its hallowed grounds.

I wish I could have made notes during Shannon’s tour for this writing, but I was totally captured by his vibrant storytelling; of interjecting the secrets of its inhabitants; and how strangers’ lives were forever changed by these now gone but forever alive people in history. Shannon’s sixteen years of Bonaventure touring experience and love for its history and art is most evident and entertaining. Take the tour; absorb its ambiance and his knowledge as it’s so worth the investment.

As pictures speak volumes, I’ll just tell of my adventure with photos.

Bonaventure’s Custodial House at the entrance.

Bonaventure gardens

Elegant chiseled white marble art forms.

Walz was the most famous of the artists who took wooden mallet & chisel in hand to create these standing beauties of art history.

Different symbols on these iron slave grave markings indicated the person’s standing at the time of death…slave or freedman.

Angels among us.

Gracie is the story of a young girl who won the hearts of many just by being herself, playing daily in her parent’s hotel and surrounding area. Walz was new to Savannah and hoped to get his monument sculpting business started when a grieving father walked into his shop, handed him a picture of a young girl and turned and walked out without a word. The rest is history.

Ode to Gracie.

Johnny Mercer was born a musical savant and into a wealthy, established Savannah family. His early talents were reflected in his ability to pick up and play any musical instrument. He wrote volumes of songs loved by all: “Moon River,” “One For My Baby.” “Blues In The Night,” and “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” It was in the Mercer House in Savannah where the story of murder and mayhem took place in the 1980’s touted story written in the 1997 book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”

Italian artists and historic influences evident here!

Flowing fabrics of marble reminded me of Michelangelo’s hand.

All roads in Savannah eventually lead to the River! Nice ending!

Wow! The ultimate in intricate, elaborate gateways.

Words of wisdom for your summer visit to Savannah’s Bonaventure tour are: dress code is cool & comfortable, bring water, tennis shoes over sandals because of sand and ants, hat for shade (or find shade) and listen to every word Shannon imparts. He definitely gives his all in this mystical, magical tour the likes of which I’ve rarely seen in a cemetery!

HAPPY TRAILS…until we meet again!

Tags artists, Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer travels, Bonaventure, Bonaventure Cemetery, children, Georgia, Georgia back roads, growing up in the south, living southern, reinvention, Renaissance Woman, Savannah, Savannah Historic Districts, Shannon Scott, Single Woman travel, soul searching, Southeast, southern, travel, woman traveling alone, writing

Categories life adventures

More adventures in Savannah, Georgia

June 6, 2018 //

There’s so much to do and see in the Historic Districts of Savannah especially if you walk it all like we have done. Knowing parking can be challenging here, I told Ava’s friend/mentor, Mirjana, we weren’t cranking it again until we were leaving! She’s such a great sport and travel buddy that we both jumped in on our first day and walked the whole River District meandering in and out of all the wonderful shops.

As we spent yesterday getting caught up on our Savannah history and planning our walking tours with the best driver/docent ever (Hey, Rubin at TrolleyTours.com), we tackled our wildest walking tour dreams today! Although it was predicted to be 91 degrees, walking in the morning was quite pleasant. We headed off right away for a place a friend of hers recommended called The Collins Quarter for a highly recommended Lavender Mocha. I got mine served cold and hers hot.

Just ordered our Lavender Mochas!

Yum!

Outside seating

The Collins Quarter is a must!

On our list was walking the entire length of Bull Street to view all the beautiful parks which were craftily and cleverly created by Savannah’s founder, Oglethorpe in 1733 before he even left England! And so our adventure began! Enjoy!

Statue of Savannah’s designer/founder, Oglethorpe.

Many movies have been made here over the years and this restaurant was in one with Julia Roberts.

Sorrel-Weed House known for its haunting experiences.

Details of the Sorrel-Weed House.

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

Wonderfully inventive walls, wrought iron and private gardens are found only in walking tours.

Our day was topped off with lunch with a local artist friend of mine, John Mitchell, at Belford’s restaurant in Savannah’s exciting City Market! So many wonderful shops to visit! I visit with John every time I get back to Savannah as I admire him and his works so much that I own many. My collection is a range of his mid-1990 multimedia works consisting of ceramics, wood, collage and paintings. He’s now exploring more mixed three-dimensional art a few of which can be found in the A. T. Hun Gallery in the City Market. Support local artists!

But, back to the food at Belford’s!

Inside Belford’s

BEST Friend Green Tomatoes ever!

Lunch special – Seafood Frittata. Yum!

I’ve not enjoyed Savannah this much not only because I have a kindred spirit enjoying it with me but I’m in a better place to embrace and absorb more of it. It’s been outstanding having Mirjana to explore its art, history and the wonderfulness of all the various heritages still present in this magical area they call Historic Districts of Savannah!

Tomorrow, we’ll have the pleasure of meeting a local historian who will guide us through the Bonaventure Cemetery before we leave for the cabin! Can’t wait to hear all the history he’s going to share with us!

Happy Trials…til we meet again!

Tags architecture, artists, arts, Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer travels, Georgia, healing, healing from grief, healing from suicide, healing heart, Historic River District, living southern, reinvention, relationships, Savannah, Savannah Historic Districts, Southeast, southern, spiritual healing, travel, writing

Categories life adventures

Jekyll Island & Savannah, Georgia

June 5, 2018 //

Awwww. It feels so good to be back in my home state and first love, Georgia. You know you’re back in the real South when a man waits for more than a few seconds to hold the door open for an approaching woman. So, when one of Ava’s best friends decided to come my way for a visit, my focus was to “learn” her some “Southern” was of major import, I determined there is no better place to start than Jekyll Island where the millionaires of yesteryear played (Rockefeller and Goodyear to name two), huge Live Oaks lined lazy pathways and roads and a quiet, white sand beach to explore.

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Millionaire Row…playground of Rockefellers and Goodyears of yesteryear.

Awwww. The Live Oaks lining the streets. Never can get enough of this.

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As I had been trained by my father at an early age the language of birds, I heard a mother bird chirping loudly above where I was seated at one of her chicks. It was as if my dad was whispering to me that she was trying to teach her baby to fly. I looked up and that’s exactly what she was trying to do. My hands weren’t quick enough to catch the whole scenario but I remember it because it mimics what we all have to do with our own chicks…encourage them to fly. The interesting part was that each time the baby bird flew away…even if only inches…the mother bird called it back to here and did what appeared to be giving it a kiss. She was probably giving it an “atta girl” treat of some juicy bug but this continued until she chirped no more and the chick was not to be seen. It felt so good to experience not only the Jekyll Island of my childhood in this way but to have my father guide me through this incredible journey of letting go.

Hidden white sand beaches next to marshlands.

Pathways lined with Live Oaks. You don’t get better than this!

Marshlands by the white sand beach!

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Then, it was time to get back on the road again headed for her next lesson in Southern. On the drive to Savannah, I explained to her that she must drop “g” from every word ending in “ing” and gave her some critical colloquialisms like “I’m fixin’ to,” “cattywampus,” “cattycornered,” and, of course, “buttah.”

The only place to learn my kinda Southern is in my all-time favorite area in Georgia – Savannah’s Historic District. If you stay in this area and park your car and not take it out until ready to go home, you won’t be disappointed. It’s so easy being here. Its friendly, customer oriented, down home “glad ta see ya'” kinda easy framed in a comfortable, slower paced, stimulation unique to it. Being a history buff, the only place to stay here is in the area claimed by King George II through Oglethorpe in 1733.

First on the must-dos is to visit the history center and then take a trolley tour of the Historic District. It’s the only way to steep yourself in the local color and atmosphere I so dearly love. Then walk along the Savannah River, which adds it’s own flavor to the the River Historic District of restaurants and shops which have been here for decades providing great places to explore and juicy stories of yesteryear complete with murder, ghosts, famous people and great food with lots of buttah,

23 K Gold Dome Savannah Courthouse

The Cotton Exchange for the World!

Being a major port city means Savannah was also a major Railroad Hub for importing and exporting goods. After all, it was the heart of the Cotton Exchange for the World!

Oglethorpe had drawn out his plans for the 24 sections of this city before he ever left England. Each section had a park in the center surrounded by a church, business, homes, etc. Some of these homes survived the numerous fires of the 1700’s…but some didn’t. As they were rebuilt, bricks and rock and other materials were used. And, the more iron work you had on your property, the wealthier you were purported to be.

The Pirate House luncheon buffet is the BOMB! If you haven’t had REAL Mac N’ Cheese in decades, you have to come here! They got it, baby! Yeah! And Fried Chicken, Collards, Buttah Milk Biscuits…YUM! And, they have some intereesting history!