Well, ever since moving to the South, we’ve talked about visiting Atlanta. Because it’s a little bit of a lengthy drive (about 8 hours, including stops – maybe actually 6 hours of drive time), we decided to save it for a holiday weekend. Memorial Day weekend 2009, it is then!
We went camping, of course. I chose Red Top Mountain from the list of state parks for its cheapo price and proximity to Atlanta (about 45 minutes or so). It was a pretty nice park, which we definitely would have taken more advantage of had the weather been nicer – “Hot-lanta” did not live up to its name this weekend, and we ran into a lot of rain and highs of about 70 degrees. (Though, we did partake in going to a bluegrass concert one of the nights – that’s a whole other story!) Definitely not lake and hiking weather now is it? Luckily our fancy tent held up well to the elements and I never woke up in a puddle.
So, Atlanta. First thing was the Coke Museum, which was pretty neat. It had a bunch of Coke memorabilia, a “4-d” ride on the pursuit of the Coke secret recipe, a recreation of a Coke bottling plant, and a tasting room where you can drink different soft drinks from around the world. Overall the museum was pretty well done, but the content was a little self-promotional and lacking in history and information. I felt myself being brainwashed to drink Coke every 5 minutes. Apparently the SPAM museum has set a pretty high standard on food history museums. However, we really did enjoy tasting all the different sodas, and the free coke at the end of the tour!
The only other really “toursity” thing we did was go to a battlefield. Yawn. I mistakenly admitted to Oak that I fell asleep during the informational movie (luckily he is a kind and forgiving husband). A demonstration of Civil War artillery was frighteningly similar to one we saw at a fort in Savannah (the round versus bullet-shaped canons, etc) – am I actually RETAINING INFORMATION?! Surely this must be stopped. Other than that – uuh, it’s a FIELD. (PS Yes I do realize it was Memorial day and dutifully paid my respects, but now I get to complain a little! 
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I really wanted to go to a plantation house, a la Tara in Gone with the Wind, but it appears that the real plantation area of Georgia is about 3 hours south of Atlanta. Durn it! There were some GWTW museums but they did not look very “worth it”! Sighs. The author of GWTW was from Jonesboro, which we briefly visited, and let me just say – there ain’t much goin’ on there.
We did a mini “Good Eats” tour – which included visiting popular Alton Brown hangouts such as Cooks Warehouse and Harry’s Farmers Market. Both were cool. The equipment specialist “W” and the creepy vampire guy in the beef section of Harry’s were nowhere to be seen. Apparently they took off for the weekend.
In other foodie finds, we did have to go to the Varsity for its status as an Atlanta institution. It was good but not mind-blowing (luckily one of our friends that went to Georgia Tech warned us not to be “wowed” !) I also trolled Chowhound a bit and came upon this place in Marietta called Tasty China, which is supposedly ranked as one of the top Sichwan restaurants on the East Coast. It was really pretty amazing. My favorite dish was almost like a pressed tofu salad with peanuts, scallions, and garlic. I’ll have to find a recipe. It was my first time eating Sichwan food (YUM!) and we’ll have to pursue it some more in our travels to other major cities.
We also wandered Your Dekalb Farmers Market, which wasn’t really a farmer’s market but more of a global food marketplace. However, it was like 20 times bigger than any other ethnic market I’ve seen. It had a bunch of crazy vegetables, its own bakery, an entire fish section where you could pick your own fish and they’d clean it for you, a restaurant, a deli.. plus the regular groceries like dried goods, etc. Holy moly. Too bad we are trying to clean out our pantry! Because of the holiday it was SUPER crowded. The low prices bring everyone and their mothers there apparently.
The State Farmer’s market paled in comparison – it was pretty dead compared to the NC one. However the food at the attached restaurant was very good. Here’s my “Rachael-Ray $40 a day-esque” dining out tip: ALWAYS check out restaurants or eateries that are associated with the farmers markets in the areas that you visit. You are always guaranteed tasty food at a great price! (Proof in point: both restaurants at the NC farmers market, and the Moose Cafe near the market in Asheville.)
We also did some wandering of local neighborhoods when we had enough sun - Marietta had a cute square with some shops, and we went to an art festival type deal in Decatur. We weren’t wowed enough by anything down there to feel a need to go back any time soon, but we enjoyed our stay. Bye Atlanta!
All I can say, is when you sell your house, listen to everything they tell you on HGTV. Remove all personal belongings (photos etc), paint your walls beige, and keep it IMMACULATE! We’ve been busy the past few weeks repainting some of the crazy colors I chose – sigh. It upset me a little to see my colors go, but I’m pretty much used to the Beige now.
Every time we leave the house now, it has to be ready should Someone (ie potential buyer) call for a showing while we are out. If you have your underwear hanging out to dry, that WILL be the day someone decides to make an appointment. Trust me. Yesterday we were about to start making dinner and we got a call that someone would be there in 15 MINUTES! Geez Louise! Good thing we hadn’t started already!
So, I’ve developed my own special house staging routine. I fully realize that for some people, this might be a NORMAL cleaning routine, but let’s just say I’m not all that fond of cleaning. I read Martha Stewart’s homekeeping handbook (took it out from the library) and thought — who ACTUALLY DOES THIS STUFF? Well, now me, apparently. Here we go:
- Divide up the responsibility with your loved ones. Oak is in charge of the kitchen only – it requires the most day-to-day maintenance, so it’s pretty much equal if I take care of the rest of the house.
- Once a week, vaccuum and mop all floors. Throughout the week, wipe up spills and pick up large pieces off the floor. Also do some dusting and clean the toilets once a week. Fun stuff.
- Develop a “before we leave the house” checklist. Ours includes:
- Open all blinds and curtains.
- Make the bed.
- Ensure that all bathroom surfaces are wiped clean. (Clorox wipes are GREAT for this!!! I don’t care if they cost a little extra money)
- Hide all personal items - mail, books, magazines, random pieces of clothing, shoes, etc. in the closets or under the bed.
- Verify that the garbage doesn’t have anything funky-smelling in it. If it does, take out the garbage.
- Make sure there are no dirty dishes in the sink, and that all kitchen surfaces are clean.
- Spray a room-scenting spray throughout the house. You never notice the smells of your own home after you’re inside for awhile, so better to be safe than sorry!
Needless to say, I’ll be a little relieved when we don’t have to do this stuff anymore! It’s also inhibiting my scrappy chica creativity because I don’t want to make a mess in the craft room (mon dieu!). Here’s hoping 
