» February 10th, 2013
Atlanta Fried And Pied
Linda Burton posting from Atlanta, Georgia – Fried chicken! When I spotted the picture of the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet smiling down at me from the foyer walls in Mary Mac’s Tea Room, I had to ask, “What did he eat for lunch?” “Marian waited on him that day,” was the answer, “and she says he ordered fried chicken.” Turns out the Dalai Lama comes to Atlanta often; he is a Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory University; and it also turns out he isn’t a vegetarian, as many Buddhists are. He grew up in a meat-eating family but converted to vegetarianism while in India; his doctors however ordered him to eat meat on alternating days after he became weak. “Richard Gere did stick to vegetables that day,” my informer continued. “But I don’t know which ones.” Richard had plenty of choices; I counted 44 items under Fresh Vegetables and Sides on the menu, from Applesauce to Whipped Potatoes; 25 of them were starred as Vegetarian Friendly. Mary Mac’s Tea Room, dubbed Atlanta’s Dining Room, has been feeding Atlantans and world-famous visitors since Mary MacKenzie opened back in 1945. It served classic southern food back then, and that’s what it serves today; every morning somebody is back there in the kitchen shucking bushels of corn, and hand snapping the green beans. If it’s your first visit to 
Mary Mac’s, you are offered a complimentary bowl of pot likker with cracklin’ cornbread on the side; pot likker, in case you’ve never heard of it, is the juice you get when you cook up a mess of collard greens; it’s soupy and salty with just a taste of ham. If you don’t know about collard greens, and fried green tomatoes, and Red Mule grits, and sweet potato pie, well, let me fill you in. Mary Mac’s may be the oldest southern-cooking spot in town, but those items are standard fare almost anywhere you go around here, with or without a twist. » read more
» February 6th, 2013
But I Tell You What
Linda Burton posting from Atlanta, Georgia – The paint is peeling and the steps are worn. Aside from the numerous oil portraits propped on handsome brass supports, it’s rather plain inside, confusing expectations. After all, the Georgia State Capitol has a dome of shimmering gold, and sits in the middle of high-rise urban glitterati and international trade. But I tell you what, there was nothing plain about what was going on inside today. This old house was alive with people; the Georgia Assembly was hot and heavy into its 40-day session; school buses from all over the state provided a steady stream of students ready for a first-hand look at government in action; side rooms and hallways housed various-agenda groups; cables and cameras were strung all over 
the place, recording events of the day; and everywhere, cell-phone photos captured the moment. Everyone but me was wearing a badge or a bit of apparel stating purpose – I rode the elevator with Senator Gloria Butler, according to her badge, and chatted in the halls with award-winning students from Skills USA. I was greeted in the Governor’s Office by friendly staff, who invited me to sign the guest book and explained that the artwork is changed frequently 
to give exposure to as many Georgia artists as possible. Yes, the Governor’s Office, and that of the Secretary of State, are right by the front door, with glass hallway windows giving everyone who enters the building a glimpse inside. This 1889 building was constructed to highlight the democratic ideal of “transparency in government;” its upper floors are a surround-space of clear glass windows that flood the building with light; glass tiles in the rotunda floor originally allowed light to continue down to the basement area. » read more
» February 3rd, 2013
Pass And Go
Linda Burton posting from Atlanta, Georgia – Buy a pass that’s good for nine days. Go to five of Atlanta’s top seven favorite spots. You can do that with Atlanta CityPass, a “bundle” of things to do; the same thing is offered in the capital city of Boston, and in other large cities around the country such as Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. It’s nice to get the seriously discounted ticket prices, and it’s nice, if you’re a quick-stop tourist, to have suggestions that lead you to places unique to a city, like the Statue of Liberty, or the Space Needle. In Atlanta, CityPass choices include Atlanta History Center, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Georgia Aquarium, High Museum of Art, Inside CNN Tours, World of Coca-Cola, and Zoo Atlanta. I’ve been to these fabulous places on previous visits to Atlanta, and I whole-heartedly vouch for their high-interest factor, but seeing them “bundled” got me thinking about why they are so popular, how they impact the everyday lives of Atlanta residents, and who was responsible for their creation. Behind every great thing is somebody’s gem of an idea. And behind every thriving community lies the support of the people who live there, and love it. » read more
» February 1st, 2013
Roswell Roots
Linda Burton posting from Atlanta, Georgia – February is Black History Month. A check of city calendars across the country reveals concerts, lectures, and special events scheduled from Annapolis, Maryland to Salem, Oregon, and all points between. I’m in Atlanta now, so I decided to head for Roswell, a community 20 miles to the north, to learn about Roswell Roots, the largest and most comprehensive celebration of African American history and culture in the state of Georgia. Roswell is known for its focus on history; it is an outstanding example of what a city can do for preservation, with the now-city-owned “Trilogy” of Barrington Hall, Bulloch Hall, and Smith Plantation open to the public year-round. Barrington Hall (1842) sits on 7 acres in downtown Historic Roswell; known as one of metro Atlanta’s “Most Beautiful Homes” it offers visitors a glimpse of the only antebellum garden in the area, and numerous original outbuildings. At Smith Plantation (1845) visitors can see the original 
farmhouse and ten original outbuildings, once part of a 300-acre cotton farm. Bulloch Hall (1839) has a unique claim to fame – it was the childhood home of Martha “Mittie” Bulloch, whose wedding to Theodore Roosevelt Sr took place in the front parlor in 1853; Mittie became mother to Teddy Roosevelt (26th President, 1901-1909) and grandmother to Eleanor Roosevelt (First Lady 1933-1945). This month, however, the emphasis at Bulloch (photo right), and elsewhere in Roswell, is Roswell Roots. » read more
» January 23rd, 2013
Story Telling Time
Linda Burton posting from Montgomery, Alabama – The prettiest thing in the Alabama state capitol is the spiral staircase. At least, that’s my opinion; I had to stop the minute I entered the door and look up, in wonder. It is stunning, and mysterious. And then I noticed there are two; a pair of cantilevered spiral staircases graces the entrance hall, curving upwards for three stories in simple elegance, one of the building’s finest architectural features. This capitol was in use by 1851; the story goes the staircases were built by Horace King, a slave who was freed in 1846. Horace was 
known in Alabama, and surrounding states, for his talent as a bridge builder; because of this the Alabama legislature passed a special law exempting him from the state’s manumission laws, which required freed slaves to leave the state within a year of gaining their freedom. So Horace stayed, and after the Civil War he got into politics; serving two terms in the Alabama House of Representatives, in the building he helped design and build. The Alabama capitol is full of stories, as is true of any building of this many years. Two 
of the most famous are its use during the Civil War, as it briefly served as capitol of the Confederate States before that seat of government moved to Richmond; and its use as a destination point during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s. Today I was looking for stories; I’d heard about the murals so I headed for the second floor; I knew that much of the history of Alabama was displayed beneath the dome. Another story behind that; artist Roderick MacKenzie lived in an Alabama orphanage for a time. A freed slave and an orphan, two men whose creativity became part of the Alabama story. » read more
» January 21st, 2013
Hey, Good Lookin’
Linda Burton posting from Montgomery, Alabama – When Hank Williams moved to Montgomery in 1937 at the age of 14, Chris Katechis’ restaurant had already been open for twenty years. I’m sitting in Chris’ Place today, eating two of his famous hotdogs, beside a wall decorated in musical notes. I came in because I’d read that Hank Williams used to sit in Chris’ and write songs, and sure enough, I spotted a large poster of Hank as I came in the front door. “Do the musical notes have anything to do with Hank’s songwriting?” I asked my server, as she brought homemade onion rings stacked up cute like a tree. She went away to find out. The lady in the booth across the aisle had advised me on my order. “I worked here myself, back in the 60’s,” she told me, admitting she had no idea what was in the famous secret sauce Chris ladled over his hotdogs. “That’s why it’s called a secret,” she grinned. My server came back to tell me the musical notes on the wall were a part of the original décor, “just because Mr Chris liked 
music,” she said. Enter Gus, a third generation Katechis, who sat down in my booth and told me a little more about the restaurant, and Hank. “There was a jukebox in here, and Hank always sat in the back booth. Sometimes he’d write, and always he drank. When he’d drunk a little too much, he’d start womanizing. And when he got a little too boisterous, my grandfather would help him out the door. But Hank was a good guy.” “What songs did he write in here?” I asked, but no one had the answer to that. “Maybe Hey, Good Lookin’, whatcha got cookin’?” Gus gave me his card and invited me to come back as often as I could. » read more
» January 19th, 2013
Standing On The Promises
Linda Burton posting from Montgomery, Alabama – I stood on the star today. That’s the star the Sophie Bibb Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy placed on the spot where Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) stood when he was inaugurated President of the Confederate States of America on February 18, 1861. With one hand on the majestic white columns of the Alabama state capitol, I gazed down the marble steps it took me a while to climb; I looked further down the slope that’s still affectionately known as Goat Hill, because it once was pastureland for Andrew Dexter’s goats; I scanned the blocks on the street we know today as Dexter Avenue. Stand on that spot and you are standing in the pages of a history book. A block away the steeple rises above the modest red-brick church where Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968) was pastor from 1954 to 1960. It’s now known as the 
Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church; the Montgomery bus boycott was organized here December 2, 1955. A few blocks more down Dexter Avenue is the Court Square Fountain, where Rosa Parks (1913-2005) boarded a city bus and refused to give up her seat to a white man, an act of civil disobedience at the time; a history-making choice. I’m in a history book all right, but civil war and civil rights are not the whole of it. There’s more. » read more
» January 17th, 2013
To Leave A Legacy
Linda Burton posting from Montgomery, Alabama – The Spanish moss hanging in the trees is a southern give-away. Otherwise, you’d think you were wandering the fields near an English village, complete with geese on the pond and cobblestone paths and, of course, a Shakespearian theater. But you’re really in the Wynton M Blount Cultural Park in Montgomery, Alabama, location of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (ASF), the sixth largest Shakespeare festival in the world. Bringing in more than 300,000 visitors from all 50 states and over 60 countries every year, the performing arts complex in the park has been a part of the Montgomery scene since 1985, thanks to the generosity of a certain Mr and Mrs Blount. What a gift! The park itself is 250 acres of landscaped paths and ponds, trees and open space; there’s a wooden bridge with 
a stone structure atop, perfect for a sit as you watch the ducks swimming below. Montgomery’s Museum of Fine Arts is on one side of the park; meandering roads take you to the Shakespearian edge on the other side. Thatched-roof restrooms? An English garden? You’ve reached the Carolyn Blount Theater, which houses the 750-seat Festival Stage; there is a 225-seat Octagon Theater too. You’ll find Shakespeare here, and more. » read more
» January 15th, 2013
In The Land Of Cotton
Linda Burton posting from Montgomery, Alabama – It started as I was leaving Florida. Farmland, I mean. Just north of Gainesville I spotted cattle grazing; their green pastures half hidden behind oak trees hanging thick with moss; the soft morning fog creating pastoral scenes worthy of an art collector’s wall. You might think of Florida as the citrus state, but what I saw coming north on I-75 was cattle, and billboard ads for western wear. I crossed the Suwanee River; notes painted on its sign set the tune off in my head. Nothing touristy here, just homefolks, working their land. I’m headed for Alabama today, and Montgomery, but there’s a stop I want to make 
along the way. It has to do with farming, and with change. West on I-10, traffic thins and pine trees thicken; then I turn north again. Off the freeway driving slows; there’s farmland everywhere; I find myself on Cotton Street. And yes, a cotton field is to my left. The stop I want to make? The Boll Weevil Monument in Enterprise, Alabama, the only monument to an agricultural pest anywhere in the world. » read more
» January 7th, 2013
Still In Tallahassee
Linda Burton posting from Tallahassee, Florida – “This plaque is dedicated to Senator Lee Wisenborn whose valiant effort to move the Capitol to Orlando was the prime motivation for the construction of this building.” A touch of humor, and a telling dedication. The nontraditional Florida capitol is the newest in the country, a modern 22-story tower that rises 307 feet from the public entrance on the Plaza Level to the Observation Deck. It is the fourth building to serve as Florida’s capitol; officially dedicated March 31, 1978. Immediately after its opening, restoration began on the Old Capitol, which sits in front of the new “like a jewel,” with white columns, picturesque grounds, and (although they were down the day I was there) red-striped awnings over the windows. The Old Capitol is a museum today, refurbished to its 1902 appearance, but it was almost bulldozed during the controversy over how to gain space, and where to do it. Tallahassee is not centrally located in 
the state now, but it was in the beginning. The Spanish colonies of East Florida and West Florida had capitals in St Augustine and Pensacola; the establishment of Florida territory in 1822 merged the two. The first session of Florida’s Legislative Territorial Council met at Pensacola; members from St Augustine traveled fifty-nine days by water to attend. The next year they met in St Augustine; western delegates traveled around the peninsula on a twenty-eight-day trek. That’s when they agreed on a halfway point, and that was Tallahassee, an abandoned Apalachee settlement. The third session, in 1824, met in a log-cabin; the precedent was set for Tallahassee as capital city. A two-story structure replaced the cabin in 1826; the third capitol was completed by 1845. And the fourth I’m standing in today, despite the “valiant effort” of Senator Wisenborn. » read more