Hotlanta!

Saturday we went to Piedmont Park for the weekly farmer's market. The day was very sunny and hot.


I bought a pair of locally made earrings and, while in Georgia, of course we had to try the Georgia peaches, which did not disappoint!

Flowers are in bloom all over the city.

After the market, we went to lunch in a little tavern near the park and then drove to the Carter Center. I wanted to see Jimmy Carter's library and museum and especially the Center, which works on peace and justice issues. Unfortunately, everything was closed for remodeling so we just looked around the grounds.

The Freedom Parkway stretches from the Carter Center to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, which was our next stop. The Site includes a large center dedicated to educating people about Martin Luther King's life and the Civil Rights struggle. It was fascinating and moving to see recreations of events that occurred during our growing up years, while listening to some of King's words playing in the background. Seeing signs that said "whites only" reminded me of my own life as a child in another part of Georgia. It is still hard for me to believe that, as a society, we were comfortable treating people so cruelly.

This is the house where Dr. King was born.

And the gravesite where he and his wife Coretta Scott King are both buried. It was a very hot day but there were throngs of people walking in the hot sun to visit this site, school classes, families wearing their reunion Tshirts, church groups and travelers. It just made me think that the dream is still alive and maybe there are enough of us to change the way of the world.

A view of downtown from the MLK site.

Walking to the Ebenezer Baptist Church.


This is where I want to work: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. :)


From there, we went to Underground Atlanta, which is basically a mall under the city where there are still some old Civil War era buildings and streets. It was interesting to see the historical information but otherwise not all that impressive.

Yes, according to the Coca Cola building, it was 94 degrees. Not too bad!

We had dinner at a place called Pittypat's Porch, which also serves "southern" style food. We had fried chicken, ribs, black eyed peas, collard greens, cornbread, biscuits, mashed potatoes, salad bar and desserts of pecan pie and bread pudding. We were miserable afterwards. We have got to stop eating so much!

Back at the hotel, we watched "Gran Torino" on pay per view. This is an excellent movie by Clint Eastwood. See it if you have not already!

Today we drove to Augusta and had lunch with our old high school friend Terri, then on to Charleston where we are spending the next two nights. I'll add more photos and catch up on those portions of the trip tomorrow.