Monday, January 21, 2008

Weekend in Atlanta


Michael and I were lucky enough to get a much-needed weekend away from the B&B and our other responsibilities, and we took the opportunity to visit Atlanta. What a relief it was to be away for a couple of days...no animals, no phone, no responsibilities!

We visited the Shakespeare Tavern on Friday evening and watched the play "Twelfth Night." If ever in Atlanta, we highly recommend this playhouse! They did a fantastic job, and we laughed through the entire play.

We stayed at the beautiful Georgian Terrace Hotel, just down Peachtree Street, in a great King Suite, complete with a kitchen, livingroom, and office in addition to our bedroom. We felt like we were getting the royal treatment! This beautiful old hotel is right across the street from the famous Fox Theatre, and was host to the premiere party of "Gone with the Wind" in 1939. It's been visited by presidents and famous actors over the years and can boast quite a guest list! In recent years, it's been bought and managed by Camberly, a hotel management company for historic inns, and one that we feel could do a much better job. Still, the hotel itself is lovely and quite a piece of history!

On Saturday, we went to see comedian Sinbad. We love him because he's funny without being offensive. That's difficult to find in a comedian these days! We also at at the Cheesecake Factory and saw the movie, Atonement, which I enjoyed and Michael hated. He called it an "Artsy-Fartsy" film.

Our plans were to go to the High Museum of Art, but since there was at least a half inch of snow on the ground in Atlanta (yes, I'm being sarcastic), the town literally shut down! There wasn't a lot of traffic on the roads, which is completely unusual for Atlanta. We'll have to get there next time we're in town. We also ate at the famous Varsity restaurant, an Atlanta icon. I'd never been, so Michael had to teach me the fine art of ordering a chili dog. What fun!

We hated that our weekend ended so quickly, but we loved it so much, that we're already planning our next weekend trip to Atlanta. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is on stage in April....

The lobby of the Georgian Terrace Hotel on Peachtree Street, Downtown Atlanta

The Grand Ballroom, the location of the premier party of Gone With the Wind in 1939.

The draperies and other embellishments are quite elegant.

The moulding is original to the hotel, built in 1911.

The chandelliers in the ballroom and lobby are outstanding pieces of art.

Good-bye, Atlanta...