It was early November and they were already decorating the Atlanta Botanical Gardens for the Christmas light show.
It was putting me in the holiday spirit even though it was warm while we were there.
Walking through the wooded path, the colors were popping. It felt very different from the color in central Florida (which was still the usual green).
The Atlanta Botanical Gardens still had a lot of color blooming when I was there in early November. Atlanta hadn’t gotten a lot of cold weather yet and it was warm the morning I was there. We were hoping we would get to wear our jackets on this trip but that wasn’t the case.
Beauty in the gardens including the blooming lady statue behind the waterfall.
The trees also had a lot of color. I took a ton of pictures with my phone so more to come on this visit.
It was a little weird standing under Georgia 400 during our trip to Atlanta in early November. We found this small park that runs along the Chattahoochee River as we were heading north to have lunch with a friend. After lunch we stopped by the park and got out and walked around. It was loud standing under the major highway that is at least 4-5 lanes going each direction. I have driven on this highway a million times when I lived here but never thought to stand underneath it.
Most of the trees were in bright colored leaves with just a few still with green leaves. If you follow the trail that leads away from the highway it starts to get quieter. We didn’t go too far since we still had a lot to do that afternoon but it was a nice quick stop.
The next morning I headed out early for a walk around Piedmont Park before going to the Botanical Gardens. I love this spot on the lake in the middle of the park where the buildings reflect off the water. The park was busy and there was a movie being filmed in one corner of the park. I couldn’t get close enough to see what was going on though.
The trees here were just starting to turn colors.
It was time for a road trip. We headed up to Atlanta for a long weekend to visit friends. I was also hoping to see some fall leaves but we may have just missed the peak season.
Along the way we passed miles of cotton fields that were ready to be picked. It almost looked like the ground was covered in snow as we whizzed by.
As we got closer to Atlanta I could see lots of color. There was still a lot of yellow, orange and red in the trees so we didn’t miss the season completely.
Passing by the iconic Olympic torch tower. This replica was built for the 1996 Summer Olympics that was held here. At the time you were able to climb the stairs and see all around Atlanta but it has since been closed. We were living here at the time and my sister and I spent many nights down at the Olympic park during the games.
The parking lot at our hotel was like a fairy tale with all of the bright colors.
An early morning walk before heading out for the day.
We stopped at a friend’s house for lunch and her camellia bushes were still blooming.
She also had some little green critters hiding in her garage.
More to come on those fall leaves.
A shot of downtown Atlanta from the Ponce City Market.
Street art.
Two old favorite hangouts in Little Five Points. Old vintage store, Junkman’s Daughter and the best burgers in the Point at the Vortex.
We always stop at Doc Chey’s Noodle house for lunch when we visit Atlanta. Brett and I use to go there when we first started dating. We’ve been married over 24 years so it’s been open a long time.
A view of Buckhead from Lenox Mall. There’s a lot more buildings since we moved.
We went to a Braves game at the new stadium with Cobb.
I climbed all the way up to the top row. Nice breeze up there but the players looked like little ants. I didn’t stay up there long. A little creepy going back down the stairs.
When I was in Atlanta in mid-August visiting friends, I spent some time at the Botanical Gardens. It’s one of my favorite places to take pictures. They were having an exhibit of “Mythical Creatures” topiaries that was really cool to see.
Above are just a few of the growing “creatures” that come to life.
Lots of fun things to see at these gardens which were full of butterflies.
Linking to Wednesday Around the World.
All taken at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens during my trip in August.
Linking to Wednesday Around the World.
Atlanta, as seen in the first episode of the tv series “Walking Dead”. Except in the scene, the roads were lined with abandoned cars that were photo-shopped into the scene. I took this the first night of our long weekend to visit friends. It was dark and cloudy and had just stopped drizzling. My husband thought I was going to look silly being the only person standing on the Jackson Street bridge taking this picture. No, there were several other people there taking pictures as well. I found out later that there are “Walking Dead” tours that take you to some of the places that scenes were filmed at. This is one of the stops.
Another Atlanta downtown scene, taken as we were leaving to head back home.
One morning while Brett was riding his bike with some friends, I took a walk around Piedmont Park. They used to have great art festivals and other events here. I’m sure they still do but it was quiet the morning I walked around the lake.
A few of the critters and an interesting mushroom or fungi around the lake. After my walk around the park, I headed over to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, more on that later.
We stopped at a shopping center to get something and this hawk was in the parking deck. At first I thought he was hurt but I think he had just finished a meal. He took off as I got closer to him but he let me get pretty close. He left behind a few scraps of his lunch.
Almost 25 years ago, Brett and I got married here in the gardens behind the Swan House. We were passing by and I made Brett stop for a few minutes.
I was feeling really nostalgic for Atlanta. I had lived here for 17 years before Brett and I moved to Tampa for work. Since his family moved to the Tampa bay area years ago, we hadn’t really spent any time here in over 3 years so we came back for a long weekend in August. We packed a lot of sight-seeing in the 2 and a half days we were here. We happened to be staying in a hotel next to this mural. The mural is on the side of the building where the old Limelight disco was back in the 70’s and 80’s. I spend many weekends there dancing with my sister and our friends back in the mid 80’s.
This bluebird was singing pretty loud on a light post.
I don’t know what this is. It flew onto the same post as the bluebird above. At first I thought it was a juvenile bluebird but that beak looks different. Any ideas? Cobb?
My first “male” goldfinch.
Wet robin with a berry in his beak.
Catbird on a chain.
House sparrows hanging out on a nest box.
Upclose with a frog.
Cool frog in one of the fountains.
Just a few critters I saw on my walk around the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The bluebird was a plus since I rarely see them in central Florida.
Check out more pictures at Our World Tuesday 
Also, check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for 
Not a tweeter or croaker but still cute. I think he thought I couldn’t see him behind that branch.
Blue jay in the winter.
Sparrows landing on the feeder at the gardens.
The feeders were busy but mostly sparrows and blue jays.
Inside one of the buildings was a tropical frog exhibit. These were all in indoor enclosures.
Blue frog posing.
This was an exotic frog inside. We did not see any of the outside frogs in the frog pond that morning. I think the air was too cold for them and they were hiding in the water until the sun came out.
Mockingbird posing on an empty rose bush.
Just a few of the animals we saw on our pre-Christmas walk around the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.
