Hike Info : Description : Menu : Extra Photo's
Type: Touring
Trail head: North Ave MARTA
Trail: GPS My City Atlanta MidTown Walk
Destination: Civic Center Station
Distance: 2.34 miles 1
Start Time: 12:28
End Time: 3:35
Travel Time: 3:06 (0,76 mph)
Moving Time: 1:28 (1.60 mph)
Elevation Rise: 445 '
Descent: 254‘
Maximum Elevation: 1,161'
1The GPS track is missing first part of our walk. But the map has the missing part in blue.went to sleep last night about 11:15. Then I woke up at 8 this morning. Sherri gets us shortly after I do and she makes French toast while I continue to write yesterday's blog.
Sherri talked with MARTA about her phone. We left our AirBnB about 11:20. We have a choice about going on the bus to the Brookhaven train station or walking there. We decided to try out Sherri’s phone on the bus. So we catch the 110 and Sherri’s phone does work! Mine on the other hand does not seem to read. Oh well, guess we will have to see if this is a pattern.
We continued our walk to one of the more interesting places on our walk today: MaryMac Tea Room. This is the last of the downtown diners in Atlanta. From how busy it is I do not think it will be out of business anytime soon. We asked permission to look at the dining room. But even before making it that far, we stopped and looked at the popular people’s photographs which have been here. There were local politicians whose names I recognized up to President Carter. But there were also lots of celebrities. This sort of confirms this is a place to be in Atlanta. We took a look at the dining room, dodging the wait staff which was running everywhere-highly energetic. Looks like a good place to come back to when we are hungry-breakfast is still with us.
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| St Marks |
Then it is down the Piedmont Street aways. There is some colorful street sculpture we pass by before getting to the William Perrin Nicolson House. We did find a Little Library, much like our own in that it is designed to match the house. Theirs is much larger than ours. When we get to the Nicolson House, there are no signs marking this as a historic building. But the house does match what is on GPSMyCity. It is interesting and an older house, looking like it is well cared for. Later on I found out that it is an AirBnB going by the name of Shellmond.
Next up is St Mark’s United Methodist Church which is only a few blocks away. What can one say from the outside?It looks like an older church. Its claim to fame is that it is one of the few places in Atlanta made out of granite. From what I read, from Stone Mountain. But from appearances, nothing special.
Then it is a walk down Peachtree to the Margaret Mitchell House. But we see an interesting building, remarkably called the Peachtree Manor which is on the National Registry of Historical Places. It is behind a wrought iron fence, so we cannot get a good look. As a note: First, after reading about the Manor, if we had gone to another entrance, we would have gotten a better view. Also, because of the Civil War, most of Atlanta’s buildings are newer than 1865. Also it looks like Atlanta has not taken too good of care of its historical buildings as they are not well marked. From what we can see, it values new and vibrant and tall over stately and old.
The Margaret Mitchell House may be the highlight of our trip for Sherri, even though the MLK area and the Carter Library are contenders for those honors. Sherri is a fan of Margaret Mitchell and Gone With the Wind. She has been looking forward to visiting places which are associated with her. This House is where Mitchell lived while writing the book, her one and only. It has been turned into a museum about her. We were willing to pay full freight, but the lady at the desk talked about the exceptions which included first responders. I mentioned that we volunteered at a fire lookout in California. She gave us that discount. I guess I can no longer say we are only paid in sunsets.
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| Margaret Mitchell House |
The museum was a bit surprising to me. I thought it would be more like a shrine to the author, and there were elements of that. But it did a good job of presenting both Margaret Mitchell (Marsh) as a person and a product of her times. It talked about how she did not want anybody to know she was writing a book, how that she wanted to recall the book even after she showing it to a publisher, and how after the book was published she recoiled against the fame she received. Maybe that is the reason why she only wrote one book.
But Mitchell was a product of
her upbringing. She was raised in the culture of the Lost
Cause,
not even knowing that the South had lost the Civil War until she was
ten years old. Her upbringing taught her that the South was justified
in seceding from the Union as it was their right to.Also that the
slaves were treated kindly, with only a few exceptions. This
influenced how she wrote Gone
With the Wind.
While she consulted references and made sure the book was
historically accurate, the book’s portrayal was not accurate
concerning slavery. This is all brought out in the museum. The movie
was aware of this and tried to downplay some of it, but there were
protests against it. It looks like the movie and book were not just
fantasy of an author, but a statement of belief.
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| 1st Church of Christ, Scientist |
We spent about two hours in the museum. It is well worth the time. I am not sure that I will be reading the book, but if Sherri watches the movie, maybe I will. By now it is mid-afternoon and we are hungry. Close by is the Atlanta Federal Reserve. There is a sign talking about museum hours for the Reserve. Sounds like something to add to our list of things to do. There are some benches outside and the sunshine feels good. So out comes our peanut butter sandwiches. We discussed what we saw at the Margaret Mitchell House. More or less what I said above.
After we have let our stomachs digest the food, it is time to continue our MidTown walk, even though we are getting towards the end of the tour. The next item on the list is the First Church of Christ, Scientist. But opposite from the church is a sculpture called Trilon by Steffen Thomas. After duly observing it, we move on to observing the church. It has an elegance about it. The front faces the corner and has columns which reminds a person that this is someplace serious.
Instead of continuing on our route, Sherri has spotted a house which looks interesting a block away. It has a feeling of oldness and wealth to it. As we look at the house and wander down the block, we realize that this is the other end of Ansley Park-where we stood yesterday waiting for the bus. I suspect it is a better part of the older section of the city. Afterwards, Google Maps puts a label on the home: Sam K Kaywood, Jr.
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| House in Ansley Park |
We returned to our route and came to Woodruff Art Center. I was not expecting much and got what I was expecting. We talked with a person inside of the building. She said that there was not much going on right then as the building is used mostly for the Atlanta Symphony and for theater productions. We continue our walk, through the building and out the other side. This brings us to the High Museum of Art. We confirmed that tonight there is jazz at the High and there were still tickets for it. We bought tickets for us tonight.
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| Parabolic Sculpture |
The Arts Center Station is just across the street from the High. We catch the Gold train and are back to the AirBnB About 4:30. We rested for a while and then had left overs from Maggioni’s. Apparently we did not get done resting as we did some more after dinner.
We leave about 6:15 for our return engagement at the High. We get there at 7:00. It is certainly crowded. And loud. We can hear the jazz group in a different part of the complex. The group is Téja, not that I have heard of them before-turns out Teja is a person. When we get to the room in which they are playing, it is filled wall to wall, both sitting and standing. It is even louder in the main. Enough so, we look for a way to escape. Not saying that Téja was bad, actually, they were very enjoyable. But their sound just reverberated off of the walls, increasing the volume.
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| MidTown At Night |
But by far, what we spent time around was a parabolic dish which reflected at various angles images in front of it. It was fun looking at a person in it and realizing that as they were speaking not only was it reflecting the person’s mouth once, but there was a whole strip of the person’s mouth moving. And not only that, but depending on where the person was, the sound was being amplified and thrown back at them and us. It was a great conversation gatherer.
By about 9:15, we decided to go back to our room. We go back to the Arts Center Station, and wait about 25 minutes for the Gold train. Then walk back from the Brookhaven station. We get in about 10:20, pretty tired. I get to sleep around 11:20.
Breakfast |
Lunch |
Dinner |
Snacks |
French toast |
Peanut Butter and Nutella sandwich |
Left Overs from Maggioni’s |
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Extra Photo's
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| Sculpture Street Art on Piedmont St |
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| Nicolson House |
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| Sherri at the Margaret Mitchel House |
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| Atlanta Federal Reserve |
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| Trilon by Steffen Thomas |
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| First Church of Christ, Scientist |
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| Our 10th Floor AirBnB |
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| Sherri being looked at |
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| Contrasting View of possible econmics |
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| Snake Lady |
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| Sherri and some miniature sculptures |
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| Side of the Parabolic Sculpture |
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| MidTown at Night |
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| Art Center Station mural |
