Stand as close as you can to your favorite band
Location: Candler Park Fall Fest
Date taken: October 13, 2012
Race a bed through the streets
Location: Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta‘s annual bed race at Atlantic Station
Date taken: October 13, 2012
If you are working on a “bucket list” or “things to do before I die” list, then I suggest going ahead and adding to it “race a bed.” Each fall, the Furniture Bank’s fundraising event gives Atlantans a chance to do something unique. Jump on a bed. Sure, that’s easy. Make a bed. You probably do that every day. But racing a bed through the streets … that’s one of those things you have to do at least once. So, sign up your team of 5 people (one rider, four racers). Come up with a theme (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Bed Thieves, Breakfast in Bed, Bed Bugs, etc.). Then put on your helmets and start running. Yes, helmets are required — beds on wheels move fast. People fall down. People fall off.
Find a perch to watch a parade
Location: Little 5 Points Halloween Festival and Parade
Date taken: October 20, 2012
The best thing about the Little 5 Points Halloween Parade is not the official parade itself — instead, the best part is the parade of dressed up people who walk up and down Moreland and Euclid Avenues. Kids and adults of all ages debut their Halloween costumes early at the Little 5 Festival. My favorite part of the day is picking a spot early in the afternoon, bringing a chair or spreading out a blanket and enjoying people watching. The parade, which features neighborhood businesses, can be entertaining as well (depending on the year). But, the residents and visitors who embrace the spirit of Halloween are the highlight of this annual event.
Go out and play
Location: Atlanta Youth Soccer Association’s Howard Field
Date taken: September 22, 2012
What’s your favorite sport to play? What sport do you want to try? I guarantee there’s a group of people in Atlanta already getting together and playing it. Indoor soccer. Outdoor soccer. Co-ed soccer. Football. Dodgeball. Softball. Handball. Basketball. Volleyball. Ice hockey. Roller hockey. There’s a website with a list of tables for air hockey. Want to play in a disc golf tournament? Atlanta has that. What about a Saturday morning playing croquet? You can do that with the Atlanta Malleteers. Want to ride around a velodrome? Just head to East Point.
Take a history tour
Location: Party with the Past at the Margaret Mitchell House & Museum
Date taken: September 26, 2012
The name Margaret Mitchell House is sort of misleading for the large brick house that sits at the corner of Peachtree Street and 10th Street. Mitchell, a native of Atlanta and author of Gone With the Wind, never owned the house or occupied all of it. Her space in the home was Apt. 1, a tiny, one-bedroom apartment located on the bottom floor and facing Crescent Ave. Mitchell, who lived there with her husband for many years, referred to the building as the “The Dump”. Despite its negative nickname, this was place where Mitchell wrote her best-selling novel. Take a tour of the house and you’ll see the restored apartment and her typewriter (shown here). But the most interesting part of the tour is learning about the author herself — her career as a reporter, her uneasiness with fame, her work to provide scholarship to Morehouse students and the story of her untimely death.
Light a candle, sing a song
Location: Leapin’ Lizards
Date taken: October 6, 2012
Growing up in Atlanta, the two most popular locations for kids’ birthday parties were Sparkles and Chuck E. Cheese. Roller skating or pizza with arcade games. My birthday parties were held at the slightly less popular location of our church gym — these parties also featured pizza, along with roller skating around the basketball court, playing basketball on skates and a little air hockey. I’m not sure if Sparkles and Chuck E. Cheese are still top destinations, but I recently discovered a whole new category of places for kids’ parties — warehouses full of inflatable play equipment. Giant inflatable slides. Inflatable bouncing things. Inflatable mazes and tunnels. It’s a pretty simple set-up with only one rule: if you want to play, make sure you bring socks.
Follow the lights
Location: Flux Night Lantern Parade in Castleberry Hill
Date taken: October 6, 2012
If “flux” can be defined as “the rate of flow of a property per unit area”, then you might say that Flux Night in Atlanta is the amount of art that can be placed in one neighborhood in one night. Venture over to the historic Castleberry Hill warehouse district on this annual night and follow the lights … or the crowd (which seems to get bigger each year). Wherever you find light and sound, you’ll probably find art. From street performers to photography exhibits to sound installations to the dancers of gloATL, you’ll find yourself wondering what’s around each street corner.
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