Traveling Tramps: Atlanta Day 2 - a city re-invented

After breakfast on the porch, we took the train to Midtown and theWoodruff Arts Center, home to three renowned institutions: the Alliance Theatre, the Symphony Orchestra and the fantastic High Museum of Art. The museum's campus was designed by two world-renowned architects: Richard Meier (1983) and Renzo Piano (expansion, 2005). On the L vast grounds artwork is set up, e.g. the famous "House III" by Roy Lichtenstein (left photo).

On to the Margaret Mitchell House. The famous author lived in the building with her second husband, John Marsh. They occupied a small apartment on the first floor, nicknamed apartment no. 1 “The Dump.” Shortly after moving into the apartment in 1925, Mitchell quit her job as a reporter at the Atlanta Journal, primarily because of a foot injury, and, home-bound, started writing "Gone With the Wind". As a book and as a movie it became a highly influencial bestseller!

Midtown - with the Georgia Tech Uni campus (left) - has definitively picked up and sort of became the new "downtown". Colony Square (also a fan zone during the world championships), new highrises and restaurants are really an upgrade to the formerly not so attractive neighborhood. After a quick visit at the Peachtree Plaza "Green Market", a glimpse at the famous historic Fox Theater and a quick lunch at The Varsity (a must and an institution for dogs and burgers!), we took a bus (apparently, not highly popular with white people) out to the East of town, to Le Ponce Market.

Oh, almost forgot all the fancy driver-less Waymos and even delivery robots we noticed in the city center!

Named for Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León’s mythical search for the Fountain of Youth, Ponce de Leon Springs attracted Atlantans seeking rest and rejuvenation in the 1860s. The springs and the surrounding gardens were converted into the Ponce de Leon amusement park, which was dubbed “The Coney Island of Atlanta.”The amusement park closed in the early 1920s and Sears, Roebuck & Co of Chicago purchased the land for a retail store and warehouse distribution center for the Southeastern US. The Sears showrooms close in 1989. In 1991, the City of Atlanta purchased the building and transformed it into a center for city offices, City Hall East.

After nearly two decades the City of Atlanta gave up the historic structure at the crossroads of four neighborhoods and on the future Atlanta BeltLine transit corridor and it became a multi-functional entertainment complex with very creative shops, many of small local producers/artists, restaurants, offices, apartments, a hotel, etc. Huge, and unique in regard to its "industrial atmosphere". Very well preserved, too, and directly adjacent to the BeltLine it opened in 2014.

The Atlanta Beltline is a currently 22-mile long loop of trails and parks, connecting 45 neighborhoods and creating a vibrant public space for recreation, art and culture. When complete, the Atlanta BeltLine will comprise of 33-miles of trail network.We walked part of the beltline, admired the "arboretum" along the trail, the artwork, plus some great food/drink offerings. The weather was perfect for this excursion and for some people-watching, too!