9 posts tagged “atlanta”
This sign which healds back to days predating the civil-rights movement in the south is on display at the Atlanta History Center. It illustrates the ignorance that was far to common back then even by some states most revered companies.
Victor and I visited the Atlanta History Center and toured this elegant early 20th century estate dubbed the Swan House.
The Swan House is an excellent example of the Second Renaissance Revival style and represents the architectural and decorative tastes of affluent citizens in the late 1920s. The house was designed by well-known Atlanta architect Philip Trammell Schutze in 1928 and decorated by Ruby Ross Woods of New York. Swan House and its gardens are together considered Shutze's finest residential work, in which he adapted Italian and English classical styles to accommodate 20th-century living. The house is set on a rising slope and presents an Italian Mannerist facade complete with double stairs descending on either side of a cascade. Baroque inspired lawns, stone obelisks and retaining walls, and two stone fountains are other Renaissance elements found on the grounds.
The name of the house is drawn from the swan or bird motifs that found in many of the interior rooms. The interior of the house is as elaborate as the exterior and features five rooms: the entrance vestibule, the entrance hall, the library, the Morning Room and the Dining Room. Other rooms include four bedroom areas, a sitting room, a full basement and an apartment in the attic. Of the two impressive exterior facades of Swan House, the west facade facing Andrews Drive that is the rear of the house is the more impressive of the two. Symmetrical in every way, the facade has a central doorway at the top of a double winding staircase.
In 1966, the Atlanta Historical Society purchased the Swan House and most of its original furnishings, which range from 18th-century antiques to 20th-century objects. The house opened to the public in 1967.
The Swan House is located at 130 West Paces Ferry Rd. in NW Atlanta. It is owned and maintained by the Atlanta History Center. Tours are generally available daily from 11:00am (1:00pm on Sundays) until 4:00pm, although during the current renovation of the interior, these times are subject to change. Please call 404-814-4000 or visit http://www.atlhist.org to obtain the most up-to-date tour information.
This weekend Victor and I decided to mountain climbing again, seeing we've conquered Kennesaw mountain for than enough so far this year. We decided to head east to try our hands at the well worn trials that lead to the summit of the infamous Stone Mountain.
Yes, the same patch of land Dr. Martin Luther King referred to in his "I Have A Dream" speech. Forever marred by it's use by Ku Klux Klan between 1915 until the rightful land owners turn the property over to the state in 1975.
The park is known for it signature carvings of confederate generals sculpted out of the mountains granite face.
So naturally being anywhere near the site causes me to feel at unease, but this is 2008...
So up the mountain side we ventured.
The historic Winecoff Hotel. Site of the worst hotel fire in this history of the United States roughly fifty years ago on a chilly December in 1946 when over 120 persons either jumped sixteen stories to their deaths, or were overcome by smoke inhalation and burnt to death in their prospective rooms with the mass of flames shot through the center staircase of the structure. The Winecoff Hotel was considered by many to be the most prestigious hotel in Atlanta, when it originally opened on October 30, 1913 it was one of the tallest buildings in the Atlantan skyline. Early building codes didn't call for skyscrapers to include fire escapes or sprinkler systems and making matters worst at the time Atlanta's fire department truck ladders could only reach the seventh floor.
In an ironic twist to save money the original architect William Lee Stoddard used flame resistant building materials on the outermost framework of the building and advertised the hotel as "fireproof" on their marketing mailings. (Sounds like the Titanic all over again.)
Due of the high level of lives lost inside the building fire codes in our nation involved to their current state. After the fires were extinguished all that remained where the hollow shell of the super structure which where slowly rebuilt and and land donated to the Georgia Baptist Convention in 1967 to house the cities elderly and then repeatedly sold to various potential developers but ultimately the building remained shuttered and vacant for forty more years until 2006 when ground broke on a 23 million renovation and restoration project that once again turned the building into a boutique luxury hotel now called the Ellis Hotel after the side street the property resides on.
The site is often referred to as being the most haunted local in Atlanta with scores of witnesses having reported hearing bloodcurdling screams coming from within the building while standing outside the building at street level along with witnesses of apparitions in the windows of distraught patrons in classic attire panicking.
We intend to check ourselves into the old Winecoff Hotel for a weekend later this year...
Okay calling this a blizzard is more than just a overstatement, but for many living in the metropolitan area it was an exciting evening last Wednesday when all this white fluffy stuck starting falling from the heavens. In Marietta some areas reported up to a inch and a half of snowfall. For a few hours there was a real concern that the sleet falling over the downtown corridor was going to make for dangerous driving conditions might in the middle of the evening rush hour. I personally made the decision to wait out the traffic in the office building downtown until congestion cleared but I think for the most part it was a major non-event and give the kiddies the rare opportunity to play in the snow. The local news paper created an on-line gallery of reader summited photographs, I suggest you have a peek.
A few photos from my Pocket PC device.
Sunday Victor and I headed over to the recently reopened World of Coke tourist attraction in downtown Atlanta near the Georgia Aquarium. It was formerly located near the Atlanta Underground but was relocated to a safer location within the reinforced tourist safety zone that includes besides the Aquarium; CNN Center, Phillips Arena, The World Congress Center, and the Centennial Olympic Park.
An adult ticket ran us $15 apiece and basically for the price of admission we were treated to a over glorified museum of commercialism. Some parts had a mild educational aspect to them such as displays of early 19th century soda fountain cafes and a few exhibits displaying the companies early business model and how the company grow its marketing reach across the world but over all the complex is a one trick pony and serves no real use besides being a marketing troll for the Coca-Cola Company and the City of Atlanta. I'm sure you've heard about the taste sampling room where you can sample the companies beverages from around the world. It's perhaps the most talked about attraction on site, but don't let them fool you. If you believe $15 is worth a couple of sips of watered down Asian Coke then be my guest. After one visit I doubt most people will venture back unless forced by family or friends visiting from out of town.
Hello FALL, I've been waiting for you.
1. Lack of applicably employees - Let's face it working in a theme park isn't likely to ever rank highly on list of best paid & most sought after jobs list. As difficult as it can be working with the public and catering to high expectations along with the hours of standing in sheathing heat... all for $5.75 an hour. Finding talented and experienced applicants willing to work for low wages in Atlanta is a task management has always dealt with but this year in particular evidence shows SFOG management has sank to new lows to fill vacant positions by going lax on background checks and taking anyone willing to work for the establishment regardless of the quality of the applicant. The result is workforce composed of people with no interest in the performance of their job and experience park as a whole begins to unwind.
2. Too close to urbanites - Forty years ago this wouldn't be a problem. However, with the expansion of Atlanta's urban sprawl and its inherent troubles have landed at the parks front gates with reports of gang activity forcing the park to install metal detectors and voluntary personal searches.
3. Decrepit and aging rides - I wonder when was the last time SFOG management rode the Georgia Cyclone? One
of the parks original coasters has become one of the parks most hazardous rides. The wooden beast has seen better days, from it's chipping paint down to the rusty nails in the support beams. The ride does more to jerk and snatch rides into whiplash than anything... and that's just a commentary on one ride, throughout the property rides are in desperate need of TLC and a cash infusion a effort the Six Flags organization isn't known for doing.
