The Atlanta Traveler

I had heard a lot about the Dillard House before I went. The food is delicious, the service is great, it’s just something you have to do in the mountains – so my expectations were high. There is a long line at traditional meal times, but it moves quickly. (You can admire the view from the porch rocking chairs while you wait.) When we were seated, the server promptly came and took our drink orders. The menu on the wall outside had listed fried chicken, steak and gravy, sliced country ham and catfish. It was hard to choose but I …read more

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There you are driving along enjoying the mountain views and trying to ignore whatever the kids are doing in the backseat when the clamor becomes a little louder, “Those are sheep!” and “No they aren’t. It was goats on that roof. Dad, tell her that goats have horns.”

What? Indeed there are goats on the roof. This little place makes a great pit stop on your way north. There is specialty coffee for the adults and the kids can get a little exercise pedaling the stationary bicycle that moves a cup of goat food up to the roof.
Under that roof is …read more

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No, that’s not a brush fire over there. Smell that? It’s the smell of the South – boiled peanuts. For many who grew up here, this is truly comfort-snack food. After I-985 becomes Georgia highway 365 on the way to North Georgia, Jaemor Farms is one of the most visible stops for boiled peanuts. It has the added advantage that those along for the ride who have turned up their noses at the very idea can sample other local delicacies, among them, apple or peach fritters, made with fruit from the orchards that line the driveway. (In hot weather …read more

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While most media reported the “peak” around the 8th of November, it’s a nebulous term. You can find yourself admiring one view thinking, if just those spots would spring into color, this would be peak. Almost overnight those trees will light up in yellow, but you’ll discover that the flaming maples that completed the picture have sent all their leaves to the ground in a brown puddle.
The thing to do is JUST GO. Anytime in October or November it’s beautiful in the mountains. Fill your tank with some of our honest-to-goodness under-$1.90-a-gallon-gas and drive north.There are still brilliantly colored vistas, …read more

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I’m Linda Erbele and I’ve dusted off the backpack and shaken the moths out of the old Atlanta Traveler hoodie. I’m going to tell you about places in Atlanta (and out of the city) that you’ve never been, and maybe things you don’t know about places you have been. Our readers and I want to read your travel stories too. I’ve been a writer for the last 11 years, with stories in magazines and newspapers in Georgia as well as nationally.  I’ve lived, loved and worked in and around Atlanta since, well, since all the signs in Chamblee were in …read more

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