coffee and historic hiking

Monday, May 4, 2009 |

It has come again: another rapturous account of a coffee experience.  Uh...but seriously, I did have a lovely cup of joe the other day, and since it’s semi-attached to an Atlanta happening/my weekend, I’ll share.  Idido Misty Valley coffee (look halfway down this page for a very in-depth analysis of this particular type), prepared in the ‘pour over’  method (which I’ve only ever seen in movies and once in Brazil) at Park Grounds coffee shop in Inman Park/Reynoldstown.   Delicious.  Rich, almost chocolaty flavor, with a hint of blueberry.  Thankfully not over-roasted, and made by dripping the water through a filter in a coffee cup to another waiting below…very slowly.  It made for one of the best quality cups I’ve had in years.  Before you wonder, I did spoil it a couple of sips in with a bit of cream.  It had to be done.  Just too darn rich without it.  I ordered the Misty Valley on the recommendation from the barista (or is that only a Starbucks term?).  I figure they know best, anyway.  I just asked…"what do you recommend in the way of coffee?” and there it was, that gorgeous cup I’m going to stop gushing about any time now…

I was at Park Grounds on Saturday morning because that’s the customary starting point for Urban Hikes Atlanta, as organized by Eli.  Elizabeth and I decided to do the May hike.  Subject: historic Ponce de Leon (a street that runs very close to my place) and surrounds.  We walked through Freedom Park up to Highland and Ponce, and then checked out the old motor hotels, historic restaurants, listened to stories about the glory days of the Atlanta 80s punk and rave club scenes, checked out the site of City Hall East (once upon a time a Sears and Roebuck factory/distribution center), an old ballpark, and eventually ended up in Midtown at the Fox.  We then took the MARTA train back to our starting point.  The whole experience lasted about 4 hours, and was by turns informative, boring, entertaining, annoying, and thirsty.  I might have been a little cranky.

It was definitely interesting to get a walking perspective of the city, and to meet people who were very much NOT graduate students or historians, but yet had an interest in the history of the city, and in seeing it from the ground, as it were.  We had an environmental educator, a journalist and radio personality, an amateur writer, an AmeriCorps volunteer who works with refugee women, and a former club manager among the group, to name a few.  The pace was slow enough for everyone to keep up, and though I wanted to speed it up at a couple of points, it was just right to be accessible to anyone who might want to join.  The other hikes that this organization puts on look interesting as well: I’d definitely go on a cemetery or graffiti hike, for instance.  Photos by Elizabeth to follow (eventually.  And yes, they are silly).

1 comment:

Ginny Larsen said...

haha, i love it. i love it how you're the only person i know who would bother explaining how awesome a cup of coffee is.

and p.s. i've been telling people that peter is gonna be a policeman, and that you are going to be a writer. i just know it. i don't have anything against your being edumacated and all, but seriously, you're a stereotypical writer's profile:
procrastinator
avid reader
funny
has awesome siblings, and therefore, awesome experiences
pretty good with a pen

there. all the evidence you need. i don't claim to be a prophet, i just see it happening.

oh, and i'm sick. it sucks.

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