A month ago, I was sent to Atlanta for a work conference. With no plans except a list of recommendations from my Facebook friends, I hopped on the Marta and set out for Inman Park.
Inman park was planned by Joel Hurt in the late 1880s, and the suburb was connected to the city by Atlanta’s first electric streetcar. Hurt named the neighborhood for his friend and business partner, Samuel M. Inman. The neighborhood was created as a segregated community.
Inman Park was mentioned in the 1896 Atlanta constitution as a suburb “high up above the city, where the purest breezes and the brightest sunshine drove away the germs of disease, and where nature had lavished her best gifts.”
I wandered through this hipstoric neighborhood, passed the pretty houses with swings on their wrap-around porches, and stopped into Julianna’s Creperie for a sweet treat.
Julianna’s specializes in Hungarian crepes called palacsinta, and they use local, fresh ingredients for both sweet and savory crepes. The crepe recipes have been passed down for generations, and the fillings are typical of what you’d find in rural Hungarian kitchens or cafes. I tried the cinnamon baked apple (sans whipped cream) which was perfect in every way.
I strolled by Krog Street Market. Krog Street Market is a hip and trendy marketplace with unique food counters located in an old Atlanta Stove Works factory building from the late 1880s. The building was also once home to Tyler Perry Studios, and the space was used to make 16 movies, 14 stage plays, and 5 TV programs.
Down the street from Krog Street Market, I turned right after the adorable Jake’s Ice Cream Shop, founded by Jake Rothschild as a second location to his successful shop in the Historic Old Fourth Ward. The shop was lovingly built in the skeleton of an old refrigeration and air conditioning repair place (which was also a warehouse, an art gallery, and an underground rave space).
I continued around the corner from Jake’s and stumbled into Atlanta Beltline Bicycle. The warehouse was packed with bicycles from floor to ceiling, and a friendly boxer pup was curled up in the corner.
The Frenchman behind the desk checked me in and wheeled over single-speed, back-pedal-brake cruiser, and I rolled out the back door right onto the Atlanta Beltline Bike Path.
The Atlanta Beltline is a 22-mile cycling and walking path built along a historic railroad corridor. The path circles downtown Atlanta and connects many of the city’s most important neighborhoods. The project began as a senior thesis for Georgia Tech architect major Ryan Gravel in 1999, and the first trail opened in 2008.
I pedaled around the Historic Old Fourth Ward of Atlanta on the Beltline on my way to Piedmont Park, stopping every few feet to read about and photograph the crazy-cool urban art installations. Lining the Beltline is a constantly-evolving art exhibit featuring sculptures and other installations by local visual artists. (Learn More)
I particularly loved this sculpture called A 24/7 Timestar Lives by Charlie Smith (see below), placed on the pathway so that the sun casts shadows on the ground, creating a reflection place for citizens of Atlanta.
I continued on the Beltline and caught my first glimpse of Ponce City Market, a massive brick structure looks almost like an old train depot but once housed the Sears Roebuck + Co. retail store and offices in the 1920s. Read about my adventures at Ponce City Market HERE.
Suggestions for more hipstorical places in Atlanta? Email me and help me build my archives!