Located at the intersection of Hwy 75 (Helen Highway) and Hwy 17 in North Georgia, lies the 162-acre Hardman Farm State Historic Site. It is one of the newer additions to the Georgia State Park system. The farm was built by Colonel James Nichols in 1870 and originally called West End. After discovering the Indian Mounds, he built the red-roofed gazebo on top of it. As a side note, the nearby Anna Ruby Falls was named after Nichols’ daughter. (more…)
Update: Tipple & Rose permanently closed December 2019
I just discovered a new tea shop in the Virginia Highlands neighborhood in Atlanta.
Tipple & Rose Tea Parlor and Apothecary opened in late 2015. Located in the heart of Va-Highlands near Dark Horse Tavern and Surin, the shop is housed in a former hair salon.
Entering the long narrow shop, you pass by the wood tables and exposed brick walls to get to the counter towards the back of the store. There, scrumptuous looking desserts tantalize you through the glass window. The L-shaped counter has workers busily brewing tea, dishing out desserts and ringing up purchases. On top, you will find a multi page tea menu. Organized by type (black, green, white) and region, there is a corresponding number to it. At first I thought it was just so the staff know what you want.
The owner explains that the menu numbers correspond to the numbers on the sniffing jars sitting on the other glass counter. How I missed it, I don’t know. There’s a huge board of about 100 jars.
The tea-sniffing bar at Tipple+Rose
I tried my hand at this. One of the black teas was called Gingerbread. As I held the menu, my husband found the corresponding number and passed me the jar to sniff. I love this place already! (more…)
Christmas lights are a BIG deal in Louisiana and Texas. It was part of our holiday routine to go drive around neighborhoods and look at the lights. And it was free! One year in the early 1990s, Al Copeland, founder of Popeye’s Chicken, donated his trillions of lights to the city of Baton Rouge. They decided to light up the state capitol – all 34 floors of it! The town of Natchitoches, Louisiana’s annual holiday lights were featured on the movie, “Steel Magnolias.”
When I first moved to Atlanta, I was surprised that more people didn’t put up Christmas lights. Even though both Lake Lanier and Callaway Gardens offered light shows, they each entailed planning a long drive and paying admission. However, about six years ago, the Atlanta Botanical Gardens began Garden Lights – Holiday Nights. After hearing positive reviews, I wanted to go but was resistant to paying the steep fees.
So I held off. But I had heard good things and always wanted to go. Finally we did this year – the night before Thanksgiving. It didn’t disappoint.
Walking on the garden path, bright stars hung high in the trees focusing our gaze upward. When the path crests to the Chihuly fountain, a plethora of lights awaits with the Atlanta skyline serving as the backdrop. At the far end, a large lighted Christmas tree beckons. Along the brick path, the smell of roasting marshmallows attracts our attention. A bar is set up offering hot chocolate and s’mores kits. At the two fire pits, parents are helping kids hold their rods with marshmallows over the flames. (more…)
The sunshine was out – the first time in over a week. We had to get outside and do something. We headed down I-75 just about an hour south of Atlanta and did three distinctly different activities.
Jarrell Plantation:
Built in 1847, by John Fitz Jarrell, this plantation survived Sherman’s March to the Sea. As time went on and the family grew, more buildings were added, such as the 1895 House for son, Dick Jarrell and the sawmill in the early 1900’s.
At the visitor center, a 15-minute film describes the history of the plantation. Interestingly enough, one of the descendants continued farming on the land until the 1960’s. Fortunately, the family donated most of the buildings in 1974 to the state of Georgia to show others what plantation life was like.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t the Tara or Seven Oaks type of house. Rather, the original 1847 House was just a one story house for the Jarrell’s and their seven children. The boys slept in the loft upstairs, while the girls had a room and the parents had a room. Later, the porch on the back of the house was enclosed making two rooms and a “honeymoon room” a room for travelers was added by enclosing part of the front porch.
My husband enjoyed that everything, especially the location of each of the buildings, was original. This was unlike Oconaluftee Mountain Farm Museum at the Cherokee, NC entrance of the Smokey Mountain National Park, where the buildings had been moved their from elsewhere in the area. Here, we could see how the house was built on the highest part of the property in order to get the best breeze.
