Sunday, May 2, 2010

Hotlanta - Home to good food, good people, and good fun

Hey y'all,
I've made it back from the wonderful land of the South, and I have to say - it's a wonderful, amazing place down there. Well, in Atlanta, at least. We met some lovely people, had some great adventures, and got to see some really great parts of the city.


And the food. good lord. the food.


It all began at 3:45 am, en route to pick up Tressa and go to the Buffalo airport. Some odd bus ride later, we went to the little eateries there and discovered this monstrosity:



Breakfast pizza - you know, scrambled eggs and bacon on a pizza. Wacky american convenience food - also pretty darn delicious when you haven't eaten anything all day. We also visited the Anchor Bar - home to the original Buffalo wing. Not bad, but not really picture worthy.


Some hours later, we landed in the lovely city of Hotlanta, and made a sketchy cab ride journey through some interesting parts (great first impression!) to get to the Hotel. Shortly after, we arrived here:




Where we proceeded to devour (again, hungry) the specialties of the place. Deep fried peach pies (amazing), chili dogs with mustard (sounds weird, but great), really unique onion rings, and the Frosted Orange, sort of a super cold orange slurpee. Below, see me devouring my second peach pie. Recipe here. (thanks Catie!)



Followed by an epic dinner of hot dogs and onion rings.



We later found out via Mike, our shuttle driver (which was a Holiday Inn service we abused mercilessly) that Georgia Tech and Georgia State were playing at Turner Field (where the Braves play) for charity, and obviously to settle a serious ongoing rivalry. Tech proceeded to beat down State, and we saw the amazing difference between Tech students and State students. Lots of light (really, really light) beer and popcorn later, we crashed and burned at the hotel.


In the morning, our first stop was the wonderful place known as Waffle House. With our seriously massive breakfasts, Tressa got a pecan waffle, and I got biscuits and gravy. Reason #100002 why I loved the city - so good! Will have to learn to replicate.


To try biscuits and gravy yourself - check out the Pioneer Woman here and let me know how it pans out. I may try this as a future GRC post later.





Believe me when I say this was pretty much all the ohnomnoms.


Next up, we hit up CNN - and made a stop at Chick-fil-A, a southern institution, after. Fries in the south are a bit weird, but man do they know how to fry up chicken. Served with an odd thing known as "polynesian sauce" - it really hit the spot. I can't imagine how a real spot would be, compared to one in a pretty easy business park like the CNN complex.






Afterwards, we went out for a drink with our friend John, and visited his workplace. By which I mean we went to the World of Coke and learned all about that crazy drink.


Nice guy, that Mr. P.
At the end of our tour, we were able to sample all 64 products Coke sells world-wide, including some delicious (Nestea varieties) and some heinous (Beverly, an Italian apéritif which I was peer-pressured by some sugar-buzzed children to try). We also got punched in the kidneys by the 4-d ride, assuring us that the secret ingredient of Coca-Cola is bruised, candied kidneys. Below is just a small sample of what was on offer:



We also made an adventure to the Georgia Aquarium, which is certainly a lovely spot if you're in town. Lots of cool animals, and some damn scary sharks that still haunt my dreams.


That night, we made the trek to Mary's for some drinks and possibly one of the funniest things I've ever seen on a bar TV. Due to it being a Wednesday night on Georgia State & Tech finals week, it was pretty dead, so we made it back to the hotel bar for a drink, saw the Habs won (hell yeah!) and crashed pretty early. There was also a dinner in there that didn't sit too well, so consider that a negative recommend for "Fire of Brazil" - but maybe it was just a bad night.


The next day was much easier going - we started off with a trip to a good ol' southern tea room (Mary Mac's) for "meat and threes" which was actually "meat and twos" due to it being lunchtime. I had fried chicken, collard greens, and fried green tomatoes, while Tressa had chicken tenders, whipped potatoes, and spiced apples (pictured below). Possibly one of the best meals of the trip.


We then toured through the absolutely spectacular Little Five Points neighborhood, full of amazing character and shops. A stopover was made at the Vortex for a few drinks - cool biker/punk rock bar with a giant skull for an entrance. I discovered my love for Blue Moon - very tasty wheat beer you can find commonly in the states. We also hit up an American liquor store - the selection! Man, that was awesome. This all ended up in our "white-trash champagne bucket" as drinks before an epic night out.




The night began at Holy Taco in the East Atlanta Village area - worth a visit if you're in town. AMAZING Mexican food that I doubt can be topped anywhere outside of Mexico. I had three tacos: pescado frito (fried fish), carne de puerco (pulled pork), and lengua (beef tongue). All winners. We also split a shrimp and fry bread appetizer, which really hit the spot. The picture does not do these justice - they were amazing.


Finally, after a trip to Mary's again (great place, no matter how you swing), we went to Krystal with a new friend Julian, and proceeded to demolish some mini burgers and more weird fries. Not bad, but not really worth a trek either way. Definitely food to eat after you've been out for the evening.




All in all, it was an incredible journey, and a city I will never forget. I consider it probably my favorite place in the States, and would go back in a heartbeat. Much thanks to Tressa for an epic voyage, and all the wonderful people in the city for making us feel at home!

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