Gluttonous Weekend
My friend Jon came down from DC for a weekend visit. Atlanta is great in the Spring, especially after the pollen has cleared, the weather is warm and the mosquitoes are just a twinkle in their daddy's eye.
I picked him up at the airport on Friday night and we went to Nickemotos for a belly full of sushi before heading to the Star Bar for a night of rockabilly. The Star Bar is in the Little Five Points section of town and used to be a bank before transforming into one of the best rockabilly clubs in the country. The bank vault has been turned into a shrine to Elvis Presley and the bartenders dole out Pabst Blue Ribbon beers where the tellers used to stand.
There was a $10 cover charge for a full night of music. We missed the first band called the Rusty Rebels, but caught the second band Atomic Boogie. These guys were great, a three piece band that consisted of a guitarist who was the lead singer, a drummer and a guy on the stand up bass who stole the show. They got the whole room rocking and the bass player was lying down on the stage still playing by the end of the set. The headliner was Rosie Flores who mixes rockabilly and punk. She does a great version of the Sex Pistols Pretty Vacant. There were some pretty amazing swing dancers in the club, but by the end of the night everyone was out on the dance floor.
The next day we were off to the Inman Park Festival. Inman Park is an intown neighborhood and they have a yearly festival with local artists, musicians, a parade and some of the best food in town. We sampled a few margaritas, some Mexican food and some tasty BBQ ribs while checking out some cool woodwork and metal artists. There was a really cool guy who made knives out of exotic materials. One of the sheaths was made out of stingray skin, another had a handle made out of wooly mammoth tusk and he even did some stuff with chicken feet. Very detailed, intricate work.
Saturday night we went to East Atlanta and had even more food and drinks. We had a dozen raw oysters, some steamed mussels and fried green tomatoes at the Glenwood and fried pickles at the Graveyard. We stopped by The Earl and even went to Mary's for drunken karaoke.
The next day we went to Ria's Bluebird for breakfast. It's little dinner that overlooks Oakland Cemetery and we ordered more food than we could possibly eat. If you ever stop by be sure to get the short stack of pancakes with caramelized bananas….yum! We drove past Cyclorama on the way back to my place and decided to stop in. They have a huge mural which is over 40 feet high that depicts the Battle of Atlanta during the Civil War. The room rotates and the battle is narrated while you view all 360 degrees of the painting.
I finally dropped Jon of at the airport on Sunday afternoon. I'm sure we were at least 10 lbs. heavier than when we started on Friday night. That's what Atlanta is all about, good food, music and friends and hopefully all three at the same time.