On our (sometimes) annual trip to visit all ten of our nieces and nephews, we went some places in the Atlanta/Marietta, Georgia areas and in the Raleigh/Wake Forest, North Carolina areas.
Baseball and Soccer Practices
For security reasons (and laziness reasons on my part) no paparazzi allowed at youth sporting events. There was much watching, some sidelines monkey-in-the-middle playing and chewing of bubble gum, and only a small, pre-approved amount of cheering allowed. Adult spectators can be sooooooo embarrassing.
This is more of a world market grocery store than traditional farmers' market with many types of imported produce and specialty imported foods. We made huge to-go salads for lunch. (Sadly the dining area features windowless fluorescent lighting and cramped quarters.)
If I lived in Decatur, Georgia, I'd be on a steady diet of Dekalb Farmers Market salad bar and Revolution Donuts coffee and pastries. That's real raspberry in the pink glaze, and it is phenomenally delicious.
Hello, pretty fountain. I love Chihuly glass art. Winter was still loitering at the gardens, but we loved taking the skywalk suspended bridge path among the treetops, seeing the humid house orchid environs, the rainforest greenhouse and some master-of-camouflage jungle frogs enclosures.
Later in North Carolina:
I could live here happily ever after. Jamie Meares, the grand empress of Furbish, is who I want to be when I get it together and act like a fabulous grown up. Calling this place a store, or even a studio, is too diminutive. Furbish is an interiors design destination.
So. Yummy. We had savory pies for "real food" lunch and amaze-cray sweet pies for dessert. Bananas in Pajamas and Crack Pie were my favorites on the sweet end. The welcoming atmosphere with sit and stay for a while vibe added to the overall wonderfulness.
In response to Raleigh's famous (really?) First Fridays, Wake Forest holds Second Fridays until 9:00 PM for early-bird-night-owls to explore boutiques and galleries along the main drag of Main Street.
Again with the winter loitering. I qualify this as more of a nature hike with a creek running through it, than a traditional botanical garden at this point. Fun was had by all, even the thirteen year old among our group. Nature walloped me with an allergy attack later in the day. I see how you roll, Nature.
On a walk
My mom requested a trip here for her birthday lunch at The Tavern. My sister's family took a short spin in a horse-drawn carriage. Uncle Chad gave piggy back rides in the square for nieces under thirty pounds.