Hiking through some Atlanta history

On April 1, 2026April 1, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta4 Comments

Some people shop and visit tourist attractions when they visit Atlanta but since Brett and I lived in here for many years, we’d rather spend the time outdoors. Especially when it’s cold out since we have such a short winter back home. We found 2 more new parks to walk while we were in here in December. The Dunwoody Nature Center is a small park and we walked this quickly. Even though it was close to were I worked when I lived in Atlanta I never made it here. It was pretty with a creek running through it but tiny so we found another park after this one.

Nearby Morgan Falls Overlook Park has a lot of history. It was a big park and we walked for a while. I’m sure it’s beautiful here in the fall when the leaves are starting to turn.

The Power family lived here in the 1830’s and built their log cabin here and farmed this land. The brother ran a ferry business along the Chattahoochee River (hence the name Power’s Ferry Road). In 1902 the land was deeded to the Atlanta Water and Electric Company. You can read about the Power family and more of the history of this park here.

We walked down the path along the water and the clouds were moving in.

We stumbled on this cool dam in the park. This dam was built in 1904 and still generates power today. The overlook park was opened in 2010. You can read more about the dam here.

All of the parks we visited on this trip were free to visit and park which was a bonus. So many nice places to hike when we visit.

It was drizzling the morning we were driving back to Tampa. Looking out the side window I could see the tall buildings in Buckhead.

One last look at the city as we drove through.

A new park near Atlanta

On March 30, 2026March 30, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta, Vacation2 Comments

Brett and I found a new park while we were in Atlanta in December. The Vickory Creek Park is in Roswell and the old Roswell Mill ruins are along the creek.

There are over 5 miles of hiking trails and while I’m sure it’s prettier in the summer when the leaves are on the trees I was glad we could see all around including the old textile mill in the bottom shot above.

Walking the higher trail, we could see the waterfall far down below.

We made our way to the other side and came upon parts of the old mill. Roswell Mill was built in the 1830’s and the dam and waterfall were used to power the booming textile business here. During the Civil War Union soldiers burned most of it down and the mill was rebuilt in the 1870’s.

On this side of the creek you can get much closer to the waterfall and it was loud.

Parts of the machinery still stand along the trail.

This was a fun morning and after lunch we were able to hit another cool park so more on that later.

A cold morning at Morningside Nature Preserve

On March 11, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta5 Comments

While Brett and I were in Atlanta before Christmas we had a few hours to kill before meeting up with my sister and her husband so we went back to a preserve that we had found during our trip last year. Morningside Nature Preserve is located in an older intown neighborhood and backs up to a busy street.

This creek area is known as Atlanta’s “dog beach” but it doesn’t look like much in the winter. Dogs are allowed off-leash here and in the summer it’s a busy place.

We walked after lunch and it was a balmy 38 degrees but there were shallow spots along the edge of the creek that were in the shade and still frozen as well as frost on the leaves on the ground.

The leaves weren’t as pretty as last year’s visit but we still managed to find a little bit of fall color along the trail.

I could see a hawk high up in the tree.

The sun was on the other side of the trees as we climbed back up the stairs to get to our car.

The holly bushes in the parking lot were full of red berries. It made the lot look like it was decorated for the holidays.

A cold pre-Christmas trip to Atlanta

On March 9, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta1 Comment

Brett and I headed up to Atlanta the week before Christmas week. It was going to be much colder (high of 40 and lows in the teens) than last year’s visit but we brought plenty of warm clothes. My sister and her husband came over for a night and we spent a morning at Stone Mountain Park. I had not been to the park since 2011. It was really cold so there wasn’t a lot of people here (and it was a weekday).

One of the attractions here is the carving into the mountain stone of several Confederate figures as well as the big beautiful wooded park. You can read more about the carving here. There’s a lot of controversy over the carving and the history that the park represents. There are groups that are trying to change that but it’s been a slow process. You can read about it here.

My sister and I posing on the lawn. Many years ago when I lived in Atlanta I climbed the mountain several times. There’s a winding path up one side of the mountain to walk up.

There’s a small (tourist) village in the park that was all decorated for Christmas. Even the dinosaurs were decked out in holiday scarves. Since it was a cold weekday the village was closed but it was nice to walk around in the quiet.

It’s beautiful here in the park, right outside of the city. There’s hiking trails and a big lake for swimming in the summer. After lunch nearby, Debbie and her husband were on their way back to Birmingham.

After lunch Brett and I went out looking for some new parks to walk around for the afternoon. We found an old one that we had never been to. Just off a busy road in Atlanta, the Blue Heron Nature Preserve was a small pretty park with Nancy Creek running through it.

We were working our way towards downtown to try a new pizza place but still had an hour to kill so we found another “new to us” park on the way. The Reservoir Overlook at the Bellwood Quarry was a small park but we were able to walk around for a while and got a view of downtown right before sunset.

We spent 4 days hiking around in the cold weather so more to come.

Our last few days in Atlanta

On March 5, 2025April 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta8 Comments

Lullwater Preserve sits in the middle of Emery University in Atlanta. We had been there in 2010 with Brett’s family for a walk and finally made it back when we were there this past December. The preserve has a small lake and a river that runs through it. There are hidden entrances and it’s a quiet place to walk although I’m sure it’s busy on the weekends with students hanging out on the big lawn.

We followed the trail along the water and found the dam that spills water down the river. The old powerhouse tower, built in the 20’s, still stands. It provided electricity to the mansion that still stands on the property. The 1926 mansion was build for Waltor Candler, the son of the Coca Cola founder. Since 1963 the house has been occupied by the Emery University president and his family.

Looking down on the water as we crossed the suspension bridge.

There wasn’t a lot of color here in the trees although I did find a few orange ones. It looked more like winter here than the other parks we had walked at earlier on our visit.

As we were leaving the dark clouds moved in and it really felt like winter.

The next day my sister and her husband drove over from Birmingham and we did a little shopping and had lunch at the famous Atlanta Fish Market. We had planned to do a little outdoor sightseeing but it drizzled most of the day and was cold.

It was foggy when we left Atlanta early on Monday morning. It was a quick fun trip to enjoy a little colder weather than we have in central Florida but I was ready to get home and not have to bundle up in heavy layers to go for a walk.

Two parks in Atlanta

On February 24, 2025March 7, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta3 Comments

While Brett and I were in Atlanta in December we spent an early morning at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The Gardens are attached to Piedmont Park and since we were there we decided to walk around the lake at the Park before leaving. I spent a lot of time in this park in the late 80’s through the 90’s. Art festivals, concerts, the Dogwood festival and just hanging out were many of the reasons to spend time here. It was beautiful the morning we were there. The weather was mild and many of the trees were still changing colors even though it was mid-December.

There’s usually a lot of ducks here but we also saw 2 Canadian geese swimming close to the edge.

The Midtown skyline and trees were reflecting on the lake.

Admiring the beautiful leaves as we walked around the lake.

We crossed the soccer fields to get back to our car at the Gardens.

More orange trees as we drove around the area.

We had an hour to kill before an early dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. I found a new (to us) small park to explore. Morningside Nature Preserve is an intown small park in between homes and a busy Cheshire Bridge Road. It starts off climbing down a lot of stairs through woods, then walking along a long boardwalk.

The trail then runs along South Fork Peachtree Creek. This park is popular on the weekends during the summer with dogs and their owners since this is an off leash park. The river was low when we were there but had record flooding when Hurricane Helene came through. We could see how high the water rose by the trash hanging high in the trees. It also changed the landscape of the river. The area along the water didn’t look nice since the trees were all damaged and stripped. It was still a nice quick walk and we did see one deer (which is strange to see in a heavily populated area of the city).

We walked over 20,000 steps this day so the next day we slept in and had lunch with friends before another walk that afternoon.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Winter in the Gardens

On February 17, 2025March 7, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta6 Comments

More from the Atlanta Botanical Gardens during our trip to Atlanta in December. Those white lawn ornaments light up at night. We didn’t go for the holiday night lights since we had dinner plans with friends and it was going to be 30 degrees when the sun went down. It was still fun to see the Christmas decorations during the day.

Even in winter there was a lot of color in the gardens although the orchids were inside the heated orchid house.

Roots hanging from the ceiling were interesting to walk under.

It was a chilly morning but nice to be out.

Waterfalls were everywhere including the one next to the earth goddess topiary. In June her hair was beautiful with lots of colors blooming on it but now it was just dead leaves (but still cool).

Beautiful tall trees throughout the gardens. This was our walk before lunch and we had a crazy packed afternoon so more to come on our trip.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Seeing red on a road trip

On February 12, 2025March 7, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta7 Comments

Brett and I decided to take a road trip up to Atlanta in December to see friends, eat at our favorite restaurants and get a taste of some cold weather. We went the 2nd week because we didn’t want to be on the road too close to Christmas and deal with holiday traffic. I was thinking it would be too late to see any fall colors but as we got into Georgia I could see lots of yellow and orange.

On our first day there we bundled up and went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens (one of my favorite spots to visit when we are there). It was cold when we first arrived but warmed up pretty quickly. There was so much red and orange. I was glad I wasn’t going to miss fall leaves (even though it was December).

The Alice in Wonderland topiary statues that we had seen during our trip in June were still there but they didn’t have any ivy on them so it was a little weird. You can see my post on them in bloom here.

The bright yellow Chihuly glass sculpture really stood out against the fall leaves.

Most of the taller trees had already lost their leaves but the shorter ones were in full color. I was expecting a drab and dreary trip like the ones we had when we would go back for Christmas years ago but the color was still around. We spent a lot of time hiking around town so more on that later.

Downtown Atlanta

On October 3, 2024October 3, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta7 Comments

On our last day in Atlanta in June we walked a few blocks to the Marta station and rode the train downtown to walk around in the morning. I always forget about the long high escalader ride up at the Peachtree Station. It’s not so bad going up but a little creepy going down. Years ago this station was probably much busier with people heading downtown to work but this Friday morning there was hardly anyone around.

We headed a few blocks away to Centennial Park, formally know as Olympic Park (the summer Olympics were here in 1996).

We had not been down here since 2012 and it mostly looks the same except for the ferris wheel.

We walked through the CNN center and it was deserted. It was around 9:30 and there should have been more people here for a Friday. There’s a small food court and a hotel attached as well. I’m sure CNN doesn’t do their tours anymore.

Above is a church that was built in 1911. It became the House of Blues concert hall for the 1996 Olympics and at some point it changed names to the Tabernacle.

The Hard Rock Cafe opened right before the Olympics and is still open.

Some of the artwork on the way back to our condo.

Heading back to Tampa the next morning.

Being down at the park reminded me of when the Olympics were in Atlanta. My sister and I went down to the Olympic village several nights and above are some of the pictures I had taken. There were free concerts on the main stage and Olympic athletes would come out and talk including Mary Lou Retton (pictured above) who won the gold in gymnastics in 1984. It was the place to be and was packed every night until the bombing happened close to the end of the Olympics. We were there that night in that spot but had left a half hour earlier. You can read about it here. There was no social media or cell phones back then and I didn’t learn about it until turning on the news the next morning while getting ready for work.

Hiking and history outside of Atlanta

On September 26, 2024November 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta9 Comments

While Brett and I were in Atlanta in early June for vacation we wanted to get out of the city and find somewhere to have a quick hike that wasn’t hours from town. There are so many great places in the north Georgia mountains that we had been to while we lived here but we found a place closer to where we were staying. Forty minutes away was Autry Mills Nature Preserve. We got there right when they opened and headed for the back trail.

We had never been here before and it was fun to explore a new place. There was a creek running along the trail.

The woods were pretty thick here.

We didn’t see a lot of wildlife and no birds but we got a peek at a lone deer.

I was able to get a video of her walking towards us but she stopped as she got closer and started feeding again. We left her in peace and continued on the trail.

Part of the nature preserve has become a Heritage Village with several historic buildings from nearby being moved into the preserve. The above visitor center was original to the property and was built in 1860 and was a tenant house for the farm that was here. The Summerour family originally lived here with 900 acres in the 1840’s (eventually acquiring over 2,100 acres of land).

The green store was built in the 1920’s and operated through the 40’s. It was located nearby and moved here to the preserve. It wasn’t opened the day we were there but I was able to peek in the window.

The Warsaw church was built in the 1870’s and was named after the part of town. We were able to walk through here. The pews have name plates with the founding fathers on them.

Another tenant house, this was one of the original Summerour family homes that was build in the early 1800’s and was relocated to the farm in the 1990. Pictures are taken through the window.

The formal Summerour home was build in the late 1880’s. Pictures were taken through the window.

Little critters on the flowers in the garden.

This was a fun morning of hiking and discovering a new place in our old hometown. I would like to get back here, hopefully in the fall when the leaves are changing. After all of this walking we were hungry and found a nearby BBQ joint before heading back to Atlanta and doing some intown sight seeing.