Atlanta Neighborhoods and Beyond

One of Atlanta’s charms is the diversity of its neighborhoods. And the real advantages are to experience Georgia’s beautiful landscape, quietude and a less hurried pace. There is the suburban as well as rural delights and anything in between.

 

Avalon- This classy community is in Alpharetta, 30 miles north of Midtown Atlanta. A conglomeration of busy restaurants, shops, and beautiful cafes and hotels. We enjoyed the high street walking and sipped the Irish tea and cheesecake in the stylish Café Intermezzo. The European style café offers endless varieties of coffees and teas, cakes and pastries, wraps and sandwiches. We soaked in the old order charm in this urban oasis.

Sandy Springs and Brookhaven:  The tree lined streets of Sandy Spring ooze a sense of timelessness. it offers corporate flavor’s, art, chilly vibes and trees. The creatives restaurants are quite in numbers. And the Brook Run Park in the nearby Dunwoody is a walker’s heaven and the dog park. A lot of events are organized there. We attended Spring Fair there. Food trucks have satisfied our gastronomical splurges.

Brookhaven’s best nature view is from the Murphey Candler Park. We started walking from the western shore route and made a circular journey covering a loop of 2 miles through the sundrenched sandy stretches, crossing wooden bridges on the way and reached to the leafy and shadowy path on the other side and then to the starting point at the Nancy Creek Drive.

Ducks and geese looked at us with expectant eyes for food. Rose bushes dotted the trail at times while the tall pine trees provided a creek-filled forest canopy. rippling waters of the lake.

The wooden terrain, mashes and tendrils of ivy climbing up the trees- all rolled into a visual delight.

Allatoona Lake

It is a water reservoir on Etowah river in northwestern part of Georgia and around 30 miles from Atlanta. It covers mindboggling 12000 acres of watery areas and 270 miles of shoreline.

The speed boats and slow boats flap across the serene water. Summer months offer long stretches of daylight to squeeze most of your sightseeing. On a sunny day the wind tends to ease, and you need those fervent eyes and a long wistful gaze. Bird watching is a newer focus now. swimming, fishing, boating and other water sports activities are all very popular.

We enjoyed our boat ride. The view of both side of the shimmering lake were stunning with forested green all around. While the view of the dam was stunning from a distance but we couldn’t go very near to the dam because of the strong water currents.

And there is the silence.

I say again to myself.

For a change, we docked our boat in a small wind-swept island and walked in the wild. There was no other sound in this island except the voice of the birds sitting at the top of the tall trees, ripples of water and the spreading silence.

There were picnickers is some other islands. Even the people had their sunbaths lying on the boat itself. Even pet dogs were had their water baths on the lake.

it is what I was born for-
to look, to listen,
 
to lose myself
inside the soft world-
 
to instruct myself
over and over
 
in joy,
and acclamation (Mindful by Mary Olivier)

A ninety-mile drive from Atlanta, Helen is located against a scenic backdrop of Appalachian Mountains in North East Georgia. You can immerse yourself in the Bavarian Village. German delicacies are aplenty, and this place is indeed a shoppers paradise completed with cobbled streets.

We went to the Unicoi State Park and the view was amazing from the top of the Unicoi Lake and waterfalls. The Winsome Chattahoochee River flows calmly in Helen and you will be reminded of listening to Sufi Poems.

The local history is linked with Cherokee Indians and the recreation is in abundance here. floating in tubes in the river is really relaxing. it is not uncommon to get out here and find yourself no rush to leave.

Such is the beauty of this place. And that is the part of allure.make a day of it or spend a night here in this German inspired alpine village town.

Callaway Resort and Garden:

We visited Callaway Resort and Garden during the springtime and witnessed the spectacular azalea blossoms. It was at around 90 miles from Atlanta. The garden covers 2500 acres, filled with hiking and bike trails, golf green, flower gardens and white sand beach adjoins the Robin Lake. we marveled at the Pine Mountain vistas with stunning surroundings.

Butterfly conservatory was a delight to watch. The open settings and picturesque landscapes were beautiful with blossoming flowers all round. Rhododendron garden was breathtaking. We walked along the white sandy lake beach and rocky terrain in the forest as well.

We walked on the trails and visited a beautiful old chapel , (Ida Cason Callaway Memorial Chapel) near the Falls Creek Lake in the wild.

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Setu, June 2023