Last weekend, we headed to the Peach State for some quality family time with my mom, a whole lotta good eating, and a visit with some very good friends. My brother Brian has been living in Atlanta since college, (and is the only person I know who has moved 8 times in 8 years) and for the last several years, my mom has been making this trip down to Atlanta to spend Mothers’ Day with her son. This year, we joined them. Mom had landed a few hours earlier so after dinner, Brian and mom picked us up at the airport Friday evening.
On the porch swing at our bed and breakfast
We soon arrived at The Gaslight Inn, our charming Bed & Breakfast. Located in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood, it was very close to Brian’s house and several restaurants, bars and stores. We dropped off our bags and headed around the corner to Atkins Park patio for drinks. The place is literally right across the street from Brian’s place, the beer selection is good and they serve food until 2:30am- no wonder he’s the mayor of the place! We had a really nice night catching up but eventually had to get some sleep for our very full day of activities and eating ahead of us.
Checking into the B&B and heading out for cocktails
Saturday morning started out with a nice breakfast at the Gaslight Inn, walking around and exploring the Midtown and Little Five Points neighborhoods, some shopping and sipping mimosas at Piedmont Park.
Then we met up with Kevin and Andrea and met baby Jordyn (!) at Fox Bros for some fine southern BBQ.
Boys and BBQ = HAPPY
Jordyn is amazing- she is fascinated with her hands and feet and is constantly putting them in her mouth. She was very happy to be the center of attention, making sounds and laughing the whole time.
We had a great time with the Rubin family- we ate ourselves silly full of chicken and ribs and brisket and all kinds of BBQ goodness. Then, we went back to their home to see Jordyn’s room and the mezuzah we got for her. And now we pause our regularly scheduled weekend recap for a brief current events message: If you live in Bucks County, PA, Please vote for MICHAEL RUBIN for JUDGE in the primary tomorrow!! Thank you. And now back to our recap currently in progress….
Jordy and Mommy
Jordyn
Jordyn and Daddy
the mezuzah (waaay up in the top left corner)
Ali and Jordyn - I'm only slightly obsessed with this child, can't you tell?
After quite the jam-packed afternoon, we went back to the bed & breakfast for a classic Koles family activity- washing up. There have been several Marty Koles road trips and family vacations over the years, many states visited, many museums toured, many state fairs attended- and ALL of them include designated time to ‘wash up’ before lunch or dinner. I don’t know why we think it’s funny, maybe it’s the way our dad always said it as one word, “washup” but this has become a part of how Brian and I go about our vacations- we plan each hour or each day filled with activities and attractions which ultimately culminate in a very specific time to ‘wash up’.
Now I need to take another slight detour from the weekend recap to talk about eBob. So… if you’ve ever met us or if you have read this blog for more than 2 posts you would know that David and I are into wine. No surprise there. We blog about tastings we’ve attended, wine dinners we have hosted and the amazing people we have met who also share our genuine interest in wine. Much of what I have learned over the last few years has been gathered through developing my palate at tastings and by reading threads on the Mark Squires' Wine Bulletin Board housed on the eRobertParker.com. You can learn so much just by browsing the posted messages on the Wine Bulletin Board. Wine Talk is the central forum, it includes a wide range of wine-related discussions on topics such as buying tips, tasting notes, questions about winemaking, wine growing regions and tons more. The Food and Wine forum is for discussions about food/wine pairings, food and wine events, restaurants, and recipes. The Off-Line Planner is for members planning off-line, real life wine dinners and events and lastly, the Commerce Corner and is a place where board members can look to trade or acquire wine. A few days before our trip to Atlanta, I posted a request for Sunday brunch recommendations in the Food and Wine forum. I received several useful suggestions from local board members. Another individual posted a separate request for dinner restaurant recommendations in Atlanta, and in the replies I saw that Aria (the place we were going to on Saturday night) came well recommended. I called the restaurant and found out about their corkage policy (you can bring your own for a fee) asked the board if anyone could suggest a good wine shop in the area. And this is how we met the Johnsons- a wonderful and munificent family.
With the Johnsons
We were invited to their beautiful home to share a drink, talk about our mutual interests in wine and explore their cellar. As David said, it never surprises me how many great people there are out there who are all united by their love of wine. We had a lovely time talking about our families, upcoming travel plans, tastings we’ve been to and wines we enjoy. We left their home that evening with more than just some great wine(s) for dinner- we also gained a great friendship. One we hope to continue to build upon in future visits to the Atlanta area.
(Now I promise no more walk talk for the rest of the post) We had an excellent dinner at Aria – I think mom had a really nice evening. We dropped her off at the hotel and spent a few more hours with “the mayor” of the Virginia Highlands on the patio at Neighbors Pub. Thoroughly impressed and exhausted, we went to bed a few hours later.
At dinner at Aria
On Sunday, we packed up our stuff, checked out of the B&B and checked out the impressive Dekalb Farmers Market. What began as a small 7,500 sq. ft. produce stand in 1977 has grown into a 140,000 sq. ft. true world market serving up to 100,000 people per week. The original founder and owner of the market, Robert Blazer, is still in charge of operations along with his wife, Barbara, and son, Daniel. It had everything you could imagine! We had a great time walking around checking out the gorgeous produce, watching people cleaning fresh seafood, sampling some delicious fresh breads, and looking at the selection of meats and cheeses. After eating such a great dinner the night before, we thought we’d never be hungry again but this was the perfect way to stir up our appetites.
So then it was on to South City Kitchen in Midtown for brunch. It was delicious contemporary Southern cuisine- sophisticated and comforting- and a perfect way to round out our good eatin’ tour of Atlanta.
We hung out at Brian’s place for a bit and played with Hammer until it was time to head to the airport. We called all the amazing mothers and grandmothers in our lives to let them know we were thinking of them on their special day and then we flew back to Maryland. Our flight home was uneventful and we got home in plenty of time to unwind from our whirlwind weekend.
2 comments:
Uh, what's wrong with Hammer's tongue?!?!?!?!
right??!! In his defense it was hot out- but wow!
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