So apparently last summer, or late August in particular, was a major time of travel/vacation/get-out-of-Washington-DC for me. Over the course of three weeks I was only in DC for a total of three or so days. I first traveled to Atlanta, Georgia for work:
Downtown Atlanta from my hotel room at the Embassy Suites at Centennial Park (more on that later).The skyscrapers (of which I was amazed at because DC has a height limit for buildings) include some run-of-the-mill modern architecture, glass, nothing too interesting. But there is the Ferris Wheel on the edge of Centennial Park that lit up at night which was pretty cool!
My much needed exile from DC started by carpooling with my boss from work to the airport to catch a 1:30 PM flight out of National Airport. I like to endearingly describe my boss as a grumpy, 70 year-old man who likes to yell at people to get off his lawn, but deep down you know he's a teddy bear and has a heart of gold. Except my supervisor is 40 years-old, but he still seems to embody that quintessential grumpy, but lovable grandfather stereotype. So we are in the car just setting out for the airport, and I seem to break through the disillusioned veneer of his personality by asking if he was interested in cars, such as if he was looking to collect any kind of vintage or custom built cars. He immediately replied "No", at which point in normal conversation he would remain silent. But apparently this question had struck something at which he had thought about, and had more buy-in that a one-word answer. He continued to talk about how his ideal setup would be to keep a fuel efficient car, and use his money to buy a main house on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and use a "city pad" to crash when he needed to be physically present at work. His ideal future plan utilized telework fairly heavily. It made me think about my end goals, and what those might look like.
A video of my plane taking off from Washington National Airport.
I've always been, and will probably always be, enamored with flying. There's something about being in a pressurized metal tube hurling through the air at speeds humans were never naturally designed to go. It's straight magical and I can never resist taking a video out of the window or simply just marveling at one of the most unique vantage points human beings have ever created.
I arrived in Atlanta to a setting sun, and not much of a desire to see the city after a day of work and flying. I cozied up in my room after eating some dinner and watched some TV, a luxury I never need, but take full advantage of when I'm in a hotel. The next day included a lengthy visit to the Eastern Service Center and Southern Regional Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Headquarters. After conducting interviews, I was ready for a mini adventure, one that wouldn't take too long, but would also get me to a delicious meal and let me see a part of the city that I have not seen before. I looked up some vegetarian food, and I got the results for a vegetarian soul food place, rated best in Atlanta. I figured I'd give it a shot.
One entrance to Centennial Park. Three skyscrapers are in the background, with lawns and trees in the middle of the shot, and a stone pillar with a plaque for the park in the foreground. Everything is very well groomed, and some people are sitting below a tree in the distance as well as someone is playing around with a ball
A statue of Pierre de Coubertin, who was essential to reviving the Olympics in 1896. It features him walking up steps towards the five Olympic rings, all being carried by doves. Atlanta's Olympics were held in 1996, 100 years after the start of the modern Olympics, henceforth the name: Centennial Park
A water feature and cascading fountain winding through Centennial Park. There are trees and benches giving people plenty of respite from the sun, and a cool place to dip their feet in the summer.
To start my journey towards vegetarian soul food I needed to first get to my transportation options via Centennial Park. I knew that Atlanta had hosted the Olympics at some point in history, but I was a little fuzzy on the details. The park helped educate me with some plaques and information, but overall, it served as a pleasant place to walk through, and reflect in. After meandering across the lawns and through the trees and statues, I made it to the Peachtree Center MARTA station.
The Peachtree Center MARTA Station. It's unique in that they kept the walls of exposed rock from the original blasting of the tunnel. There is a small, narrow sign with the name and the colors of the lines, and that's it. The roof has narrow white slats, reminiscent of an airport terminal.
After boarding the MARTA train, I rode it a couple stops to the south, in the direction of the airport. My stop for the Soul Vegetarian South restaurant was West End. After getting off the train, I immediately realized that MARTA stations do not equal economical development like the Metro stations do here in DC. While the West End station was nice, the surrounding neighborhood was a strange mix between an old but depressed walkable suburb, and strip malls built for cars. The sidewalks were there, and it was clear based off historical signage that the neighborhood/city had tried to do some sort of historical walking trail, but the addition of the local story had little practical effect. The signs did teach me a lot of really interesting things about West End, how it was a middle class integrated neighborhood before the white flight out to the suburbs in the 1950s, and how it had a thriving black arts culture in the 70's and 80's.
A part of that thriving black arts culture was the establishment of Soul Vegetarian South. I couldn't figure out what religious faith the establishment was a part of, but based on what was on the TVs in the restaurant, it was a part of some faith that really believed in veganism and living out a moral life. I noticed that the programs on the TVs were religious programming, mostly educational, talking about the state of the world, how many people don't believe in love and peace, and how we must live our values through our actions in order to correct everything. Needless to say, I felt a little strange about it all. Also, if it isn't clear by now, I also was the only white person within an hour of my arrival, and I figured I'd be the only white person I'd see until I went back to the hotel. My internalized racism and prejudice is something I'm constantly working on combating, and this experience kind of served as a "Birmingham" experience for me, except in a more involved and interpersonal way. (You can read more about that here.) Needless to say, the search for the food was an extraordinary payoff, and it was probably some of the best soul food I've ever had in my life.
The plate of soul food I got from the serving line. The dish consisted of steamed kale, sweet potatoes, tofu cooked in a delicious sauce, rice and black eyed peas, and some peppers. I didn't realize that they charged based on dish, so I ended up paying like 30 bucks for the plate, but it was so good, I was glad I got to experience it all and give them the business.
After dinner I was looking around for other things to see or do, and I saw on the map that Goodwill was directly across the street. I walked over, and checked out what I could find. I eventually found a semi-intact records collection bin, but I didn't end up buying anything because most of them were missing their records and were just jackets. That was the case with The Allman Brothers Band's "Eat a Peach" vinyl jacket but just one of the two discs. While the album art is fun, I'd rather have the entire collection rather than pay for just the jacket and half the album.
Front cover of the Eat a Peach vinyl jacket. The artwork includes an old truck with a massive trailer on it, hauling a massive peach. The side of the truck says The Allman Brothers Band, and there is no title on the cover.
The inside spread of the jacket. There's so much going on in this image, some highlights include: lots of mushrooms throughout the entire image, mushroom people walking all over the place, a central river leading to a bay in the background with large mountains flanking the bay area, different creatures down at the river, and the track listing and credits in a stylized banner at the top. It's a stereotypical representation of late 60's, early 70's drug induced cartoon images.
Being in Goodwill, and walking around West End brought me back to the fact that while I may have been the only white person around for miles, that that was okay, and I was not in danger, and I was welcome in public spaces. Society and my upbringing in a white rural hegemony taught me that people of color are scary, and while they deserve to be treated with respect, equity, and equality on a macro scale, on a micro scale you can't really trust black folks, and that they hate all white people and are out to start a race war, specifically with you. Hopefully we all get how this translates to crime legislation and systemic racism, but for me I'm still working on getting rid of my own internalized racism. Going to West End really helped me confront that internalized racism. I don't have the lived experience of being black in America, my white privilege shields me from those experiences. Yet, I saw that a lot of people of color go to Goodwill, eat local food, and are a lot more personal, warm, and welcoming than I would have thought. That's a lot closer to my upbringing and lifestyle than I would have thought, and it helps me see that people of color are just people, who have the same lifestyles, needs, and wants that I've had in my life.
MARTA Train Leaving the Station
A streetscape of Downtown Atlanta at night. I was waiting on a non-existent Atlanta Streetcar to come by and take me back to the hotel, but found the different points of light to be kind of interesting. There is a building with large arches and windows on the first floor in the background, with different points of light emanating from the streetlights. The streetcar tracks stretch from the center of the image off to the left as it turns around and continues on the loop.
Coming back to Peachtree Center and going back to the hotel, I wandered around and waited for the Atlanta Streetcar that would not be coming that evening. (I had learned it was under maintenance and stopped running at 7 PM.) The next day for work we went to the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) to talk to the Air Traffic Controllers (ATC). It was pretty cool to be able to go up the third tallest air traffic control tower in the world, handling the traffic for the world's busiest airport. There was something about the colors of the tower, and the shade of blue reflected in the panes of glass 398 ft above the ground.
The bottom offices and support facilities for the Atlanta ATCT. There is something so clean and orderly about the architectural design of the building, with it's flat panels, small windows, and the text which says "Federal Aviation Administration". It's all very orderly and clean.
A vertical shot of the Air Traffic Control Tower. The same motif from the ground offices is kept, with the simple single column in a rounded cube shape, with the top fanning out in a cylindrical shape to reveal the round cab on top with the same tint of sky blue as the bottom windows.
After the visit to the Air Traffic Control tower, we went back to the hotel a little early, so I had plenty of time to go visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Historical Site, including his childhood home, and the church where he started his preaching career. I like to read and use King's teachings in my own life, so when I learned about the historical site, I felt a little shame at the fact that I did not know or remember that King was born and grew up in Atlanta. It is also the place where Martin Luther King Jr. is buried, alongside his wife, Coretta Scott King. To get there though I needed to take the Atlanta Streetcar, and I was going to go get some empanadas first on my way over.
A picture of the inside of the Streetcar. It's modern, clean, and best of all, air conditioned. Georgia in the heat of August was not the best idea for us to travel, but thankfully all modes of transportation had the air conditioning cranked.
The Sweet Auburn Curb Market, a public food market established in 1923 with lots of local food vendors. A lot more white people here, but the prices and space were extremely accessible, with a streetcar stop right outside.
Outside of the Sweet Auburn Curb Market. The sign is original, and I learned that while people of color were allowed to vend, they were relegated to the curb outside, where the awnings were. Now, while the market is integrated, the owners choose to rename the market in the 1990's from the Sweet Auburn Market to include the word "Curb" to pay homage to the vendors of color who were forced to setup shop outside.
The Venezuelan food stand was directly inside the market, and I did not need to venture too far to find food. The marketplace was a strange integrated mix of people. It was obvious that this market was thriving because of the influx of middle-class white folks into the neighborhood, but its prices and attitude did not reflect that. The atmosphere included folks from all stretches of life. Latinx immigrants, black folks, seniors & babies strolled around the marketplace floor. The food was decently priced for a local market, and seemed to serve in place of the lack of grocery stores in the area. Sweet Auburn Curb Market not only had the history, but a continuing community legacy. You can read more about it here: https://thecurbmarket.com/
The outside of the Atlanta Streetcar. The streetcar runs from East to West across downtown Atlanta, and provides links from Centennial Park to the Peachtree Center MARTA station, and over to the King Historical Site, with stops in between.
The next stop after the Sweet Auburn Curb Market was the Martin Luther King Jr. Historical Site. Disembarking the streetcar, I found a neighborhood that... looked exactly like any neighborhood right outside the city center. The regular regional style houses that are typical of old city development.
The King family home. Dr. King lived here until he was 12, but remained in Atlanta until he graduated from Morehouse College. The house is constructed in a typical southern style with a wrap-around porch, and sandwiched between two other houses. The house to the right is the gift shop.
The visit included seeing the outside of Dr. King's childhood home, and the buildings around it, which included the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the new one, and the old one. The original church outgrew its building, and ended up building a newer, grand chapel across the road. The new church is surrounded by paths and plazas, trees, and has a wide and welcoming entrance. It is obvious that it was created and integrated into the historical site.
The new Ebenezer Baptist Church. It integrates nicely with the historical site, with it's light red brick, tan highlights, and large sanctuary towering over the site. Big open stained glass windows let light in through the front.
The old Ebenezer Baptist Church is under the purview of the National Parks Service now, and they keep it in the state that Dr. King preached in it. The sanctuary is on the second floor, and there was a recording of Dr. King's last speech looping through the speakers. The docent working greeted me at the door, and I believe that she slipped out of her official capacity as she rambled off a conspiracy of how Dr. King knew when he would be assassinated and his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech was deliberate and references this. The speech was also delivered in Memphis the day before he was assassinated.
The old Ebenezer Baptist Church preserved as it was back when Dr. King started preaching. The outside is made of brick, and the stain glass windows opening to the sanctuary are one level up (equal to the third floor) because the sanctuary is actually on the second floor. This seems to be a trend with Baptist churches I've been too, Calvary Baptist Church in Chinatown in DC also has a second story sanctuary.
The sanctuary of the old Ebenezer Baptist Church. There are triangular cutouts in the ceiling for skylights, and the ceiling itself has a unique circular molding, and tons of weird geometric angles because of the skylights. But everything is still symmetrical, and balanced! The rise for the preacher is small, something you could easily climb up.
I went into the sanctuary and sat for a bit and listened to the entirety of the "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, and took in what it might have felt like to hear Dr. King preach.
The final Atlanta location I was headed to was Piedmont Park. I had heard from friends that this was Atlanta's version of Central Park, and that its designs were started by the same architect: Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. I took the Streetcar back to Peachtree Center, and then MARTA up to the Midtown Station. I took a bus that runs the west side length of the park northward to the main entrance, where I got to see the Peace Monument, which was created in 1911 by the Old Guard of the Gate City Guard.
The Peace Monument in Piedmont Park. The sculpture depicts an angel staying the hand of a Confederate soldier as he holds a rifle. In her other hand, the angel holds an olive branch. (Description Courtesy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Link) I happened upon it after it had been vandalized by anti-white supremacist protesters after the events in Charlottesville, VA.
The Peace Monument was originally dreamed as a reconciliation gesture as a (late) response to the Civil War, or at least that's what the history books (and websites) say. I don't know nearly enough about Atlanta's history to talk more about this, and writing about it reminds me that we as a country still have a long way to go to right the wrongs we've committed in the past, as well as those we still push in the present.
The view from the terrace of a building with a view of the Clara Meer Dock and Lake Clara Meer. It's a beautiful day, and I absolutely loved walking around the lake and the park as the sun was setting.
Lake Clara Meer. The sky is it's definitive blue, with puffy white clouds drifting across. All of this is reflected in the lake, the clouds in the lake with slight ripple lines because of the wind stirring the water.
Yup. The famous Muscovy Duck, with it's hamburger face, and calls that sound like it's having trouble breathing. Lake Clara Meer had a decent population of these guys, and as I was sitting on one of the docks some came up to say hi... And beg for food.
Skyline View- A patio that extends off the edge of Lake Clara Meer, with a view of Midtown Atlanta in the distance. The unique Gothic architecture of the skyscrapers. (Mixed with some Modern ones too). The image is a little hazy because it was a warm summer day.
Another view of Midtown Atlanta from the trail surrounding Lake Clara Meer. The Clara Meer Gazebo can bee seen across the lake. The same reflection stays with the lake, and the image is surrounded by green plants, trees, and overall nature.
I hiked across Piedmont Park to the other side to maybe hike, but at least to see, the famous East Beltline Trail. This is a trail system that Atlanta is working on to surround the entire commercial district, and has been a driver for economic growth in and around the trail itself. The system is not complete, but it has been featured in many planning circles.
Of course, no account of Atlanta would be complete with more MARTA pictures. This is the Midtown MARTA station. I went for a cup of coffee and pastries after I caught the bus back from Piedmont Park, and then took the Gold Line back down to Peachtree Center, and walked back to my hotel in Centennial Park. The station features local artwork that includes a sun shape, lots of brightly colored shapes to the right of the sun. Of course there's the famous middle divider between the two tracks. It's very narrow, on two poles, and has the name of the station on it.
All in all, I really enjoyed my travels to and around Atlanta. I made the most, and tried to see parts of the city I've heard of, and those I have never heard of. I feel as though people don't give MARTA a chance, and that white flight hit Atlanta very hard, and shaped people's perceptions of it to this day. The city is large enough that I feel like if I lived along a MARTA line, I'd enjoy the city, climate, and culture. The next day we drove back to the Airport, and flew back to DC, and I passed through National Airport, and was glad to be home.
The main terminal of National Airport, with its signature exposed domes, gold coloring, and wide windows on the tarmac.
No comments:
Post a Comment