Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Atlanta, Atlanta

I took a weekend excursion to Atlanta, GA with a good friend. This is the farthest south I have been in the US (to the best of my memory), and I must admit I really enjoyed myself while down there. It was warm, I got a lot of sun, and a lot of exercise. In retrospect, my exercising may have been defeated by the heavy meals I consumed (a typical southern meal is not figure friendly). My friend and I stayed at wonderful the Georgian Terrace Hotel (I would definately stay there again if I am ever in Atlanta again).

Since I was walking around a lot, I couldn't carry my usual camera, but I did have a camera with me and took a lot of pictures. Not surprisingly, I took a lot of pictures of plants, flowers, and blossoms. Of course I visited a lot of the "touristy" spots (e.g. CNN Studio, Coca-Cola factory, High Museum of Art, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Martin Luther King memorial etc.), but we also went off the well beaten tourist path and just walked (often because Atlanta has poor signage and we were generally lost). With the help of generous people, who were willing to give us directions, we found Piedmont Park (where the Atlanta Botanical Garden is located at), the residental neighborhood around Ansley Park, and Little Five Points (which reminded me of Ashbury and Haight in San Francisco).

I would love to go back to Georgia and just see more of it. I am beginning to understand why so much has been written and sung about this state and many of the cities in it. I found Atlanta very wonderful and I'd ardently want to see Savannah. There will always be a next time.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Better Weather is Coming Soon

Today, I thought it was a bit cold. The high was 36 degrees Fahrenheit with some light wind thrown in for a later winter mix. Although, today's weather was a lot better than the day before (it was 18 degrees Fahrenheit), and definately a lot better the day before yesterday (it was 8 degrees Fahrenheit with subzero wind chill). A lot of the snow has melted and there's a lot of slush, which unfortunately sometimes turns into layers of ice.

Well, weather forecasters are predicting that tomorrow will be in the mid 50s. I'm so excited and can't wait to go for an afternoon walk. It's been quite some time since I've actually had a nice walk outside and hopefully I'll be able to capture some pictures of my neighborhood.