August 2016
Features
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8 nature escapes only an hour away from downtown Atlanta
As host of GPB’s Georgia Outdoors, I’ve discovered many places to escape into nature that are an hour or less from downtown. Here are some of my favorites.
Six of Georgia’s natural wonders
From rivers to caves, swamps to beaches, our state has a lot of natural beauty. Six wonders, including Okeffenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Ellison’s Cave, Ossabaw Island, and more.
Where your recyclables end up may surprise you
It smells in here. Like wet cardboard. Old shoes. Hot milk. Cat litter. And it’s your fault. That is to say, the reason it’s stinky inside “the MRF,” Waste Pro’s 400,000-square-foot Material Recovery Facility on Fulton Industrial Boulevard, is because most of us put out the wrong stuff for pickup.
Gone: The race to stop the fungus killing millions of bats
There are two ways scientists know when white-nose syndrome has colonized a cave: when bat carcasses carpet the floor or when the bats, normally clutching the cave walls, are simply gone.
7 ways Atlantans are saving the planet—or our little corner of it
Seven ways Atlantans are helping our environment, including Agnes Scott’s solar energy program, the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge, the Living Building at Georgia Tech, and more.
Essay: Sometimes we are blind to to the beauty of this world
On this morning the sky was a transparent blue-and-white bowl, resting upside down on the far horizons. Situated within this bowl was my heartland, my beloved Georgia. The sky was as blue as china, as blue as a bluebird, cerulean blue, the blue of the Caribbean, blue as the bluest eye; it arched like a cathedral over me, vaulted over everything I love, and I was in love with everything it covered, whether I wanted to love or not.
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The Connector
4 things to know about the 19-story AMLI tower coming to Buckhead
AMLI is building 640 luxury apartments in a 19-story tower and adjacent five-story building, expected to be completed in 2017. Annie Evans, AMLI’s vice president of development, says the site’s walkability to a MARTA station, Lenox Square, Phipps Plaza, and a Publix is crucial.
You can climb and play on these whimsical animals at the High Museum
The High’s newest outdoor art installation is named Tiovivo, Spanish for “merry-go-round,” which is the first hint that it’s intended to serve as both eye-catching sculpture and children’s playscape.
A radical program to break up English Avenue’s drug market helps former dealers find a way out
“We are giving you one chance to hear our message before we are forced to take action against you,” the letter said, vowing that he wouldn’t be arrested that night. On June 30, 2015, Vincent Stephenson sank into the front pew of the crowded sanctuary and was given a choice: keep dealing and face the full extent of the law, or accept help and leave that world behind.
Training unwanted mustangs revived Elisa Wallace’s Olympic equestrian dreams
Since Elisa Wallace is a veteran trainer and world-class equestrian, it seems only natural that she’s able to get horses to follow her commands. That is until you consider that unlike many of the horses Wallace works with, Fledge and Rune didn’t come from a breeding farm with a documented lineage. Instead they’re mustangs who were running wild across the western plains not long before she bought them.
How the women behind Stuff You Missed in History Class became unlikely celebrities
Since taking the reins in 2013, Holly Frey and Tracy Wilson typically churn out two half-hour stories a week about bizarre, obscure, bewildering, and often distasteful facets of human history. In doing so, they’ve tripled listenership and created one of the world’s most popular podcasts.
The oldest Catholic church in Georgia gets a holy overhaul
Attorney Bill deGolian, who chairs the Friends of Purification, says the goal is to restore the church to its original condition, with reasonable upgrades such as lead-free paint and a bathroom.
The Agenda
Southeast’s best drum and bugle corps face off at the Georgia Dome
Collin Rishell was a high school freshman in Spanish Fort, Alabama, when his band director took him to watch a Drum Corps International competition. What he saw was something like a massive Broadway show, with a big sound and elaborate choreography.
National Poetry Slam comes to Decatur: Meet two local poets
At the National Poetry Slam (August 1-6)—taking place in Georgia for the first time this year—more than a thousand rhymers and freestylers will face off in a spoken word death match.
Beyond the Chattahoochee—3 less crowded spots to dip in a paddle
Want to dip your kayak, canoe, or paddleboard into a deliciously cool current? The popular Chattahoochee isn’t your only option. Here, three less familiar (and less crowded) spots to get wet.
The Masquerade hosts its final Old Fourth Ward encore
How do you celebrate the beginning of the end of the Masquerade? An alternative music festival in the dog days of summer is a good way to start.
Atlanta-based activist Cecily McMillan hopes her memoir will inspire millennials
In 2012, Occupy Wall Street activist Cecily McMillan and a police officer allegedly assaulted each other while police were clearing Zuccotti Park. When a jury found McMillan guilty and a judge sentenced her to three months in prison, it created a national outcry. This month the 27-year-old Atlantan’s memoir introduces readers to the woman behind the headlines.
Booth Museum highlights Edward S. Curtis’s portraits of Native American women
At the turn of the 20th century, photographer Edward S. Curtis traveled to the Southwest to document Native Americans, whose traditions and way of life he believed would soon vanish. He spent the next 20 years living among more than 80 tribes across America and producing upwards of 40,000 images.
Alliance Theatre kicks off its new season with The Prom
After director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw helmed Tuck Everlasting on the Alliance Theatre’s stage in 2015, the musical quickly landed on Broadway—one of five such shows that he’s shepherded to the New York stage. To open the Alliance’s new season, Nicholaw is reteaming with Aladdin collaborator Chad Beguelin for the world premiere of a new musical comedy, The Prom.
3 things you didn’t know about the ancient Olympics
On Saturday, a new exhibition, The Games: Ancient Olympia to Atlanta to Rio, opens at the Millennium Gate Museum, highlighting plenty of Greek artifacts—including a model of the statue of Zeus at Olympia. Here are three things you might not have known about the ancient games.
The Bite
How to make craft Jell-O shots
With so much attention (and beard-stroking seriousness) given to high-end cocktails and specialty spirits, it’s easy to miss the fun in drinking. But sometimes you need something festive and laid-back.
Technique: How to make the Iberian Pig’s gazpacho
The gazpacho that appears on the summer menu at the Iberian Pig stays true to the traditional formula of ripe tomatoes, vegetables, herbs, olive oil, and vinegar. What distinguishes Eric Roberts’s version from the original Andalusian recipe is the assembly
4 great Atlanta dining events in August
Get ready to pig out on barbecue, beer, and more ice cream than you can believe.
Review: At Drift Fish House, chef Doug Turbush is finding his sea legs
Over the course of three meals, I kept writing in my notes, “Doesn’t trust the ingredients.” However high the quality of the fish and seafood, Turbush seemed compelled to cloak it in a comfortingly familiar blanket. Yet it’s clear that there’s real expertise lurking in Drift’s uneven kitchen.
Life Hack: Tsamma watermelon juice makes a great cocktail mixer
“The dangerous thing about Tsamma is that there’s not an alcohol on the planet that doesn’t mix well with it,” says founder Sarah Frey-Talley.
Would you buy beef from the back of a trailer? You should if it’s from Carlton Farms.
Carlton’s cattle spend their entire lives on organically managed pastures in Rockmart and never end up on a feedlot for “grain finishing.” As a result, the beef is lean, flavorful, and loaded with omega-3s.
The Christiane Chronicles: We have a ways to go when it comes to smelly restaurants
Who wants to eat steak while smelling fish? I like the cocktails at Amer, but must the entire bar smell like a grilled cheese? Please, get a better vent hood. Plus, I worry that we’re overlooking chef Allen Suh, who has a knack for turning Asian food on its head.
ASW Distillery can finally make its liquor locally
Five years after launching Atlanta-based ASW Distillery, the pair finally ran liquor through their custom copper stills for the first time last month.
The Goods
Meet the 19-year-old behind popular Atlanta design blog Thou Swell
Sure, it’s impressive that Kevin O’Gara has tens of thousands of followers on social media; that he writes, produces, and takes all of the photographs for his own popular design blog, which has attracted national sponsors from Target to Home Depot; and that his room makeovers have been featured online by Apartment Therapy and House Beautiful. But did we also mention that he just turned 19?
Room Envy: This Serenbe cottage is a rural, industrial hybrid
With Serenbe’s strong focus on sustainability and organic farming, Claudia and Rod Hoxsey wanted their new cottage there to be a modern version of a classic farmhouse.
Hot Shop: Angeliki brings authentic Greek chic to the U.S.
Since she was a kid, Angelica Tassoulas Connelly has spent summers visiting her father’s family in Greece, where in recent years she has watched the country’s arts and design movement flourish.
Local Find: 3rd & Hudson’s chic diaper bags
It doesn’t take a mother’s intuition to know diaper bags are the Croc of handbags. But after the birth of her first child, Parsons School of Design grad Sasha Fridy realized she didn’t want to sacrifice fashion for function.
Atlanta-based app Colour brings expert haircare to women of color
“Even with the rise in popularity of on-demand beauty apps and [styling salons like] Drybar, women of color and multiracial backgrounds still have a hard time finding trusted stylists who know how to work with their hair.”
Destination: Amelia Island, Florida
Even though my miniature schnauzer Jasper is a seasoned traveler, he’s usually not welcome at posh resorts. So I was delighted to find that swanky Amelia Island loves canines as much as I do.
Hipster Lifters: The East Atlanta Barbell Club
Around the time Atlanta Barbell reopened in a sleek new space in Decatur, the retro East Atlanta Barbell Club landed nearby, indicating that simple black iron is back in style.
Miscellaneous
Editor’s Note: From here to there
All of the places we ended up highlighting are pristine in their own way, but the Okefenokee has a quality about it that I can only describe as ancient. Vast parts of the swamp’s 700 square miles are so remote and inaccessible they remain unexplored.
One Square Mile: Robinson & Sons is a lottery beacon that never closes
Yvonne Alexander doesn’t want a Maserati. And a Lamborghini, she says, would make a mockery of her otherwise simple style. At 55, beset with gout, this gregarious, retired Birminghamian hopes the Georgia Lottery will bless her with three bedrooms and no stairs—a nice, flat house—and enough dough to really uplift a charity.
