Atlanta

I went on a very short but fun trip to Atlanta and La Grange, Georgia to visit a carpet mill. La Grange is southwest of Atlanta and used to be a center of textile production but all of that moved to parts east (China for one) and now they have Interface and Milliken carpet tiles and a Kia plant. I was visiting the Interface facilities with 3 other designers. The company owns a beautiful 'FLW'-esque house on a hillside in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, there was no one around, it was so quiet at night, most of us city folks were a little uneasy and I was woken up in the morning by a racket of birds calling (at least 10 different kinds, singing so loudly I felt like they were in my room with me). The company provides a cook to make breakfast as well as dinner our first night. The food was hearty and delicious, especially the Brunswick Stew (apparently a local specialty). On our flight over, we shared the plane with Stevie Wonder, who was so gracious after he deplaned, taking photos with just about anyone who wanted and making sure to pull his famous braids out as well. His handler was going nuts trying to keep the star moving.

Stevie Wonder!

The mill tours were fascinating, I've always loved seeing the 'behind the scenes' in factories and the like, everyone was wonderfully polite and the design center was really cool. We happened in town during a 13 year cicada season. They were not out in huge numbers so we were spared the loud racket but we did see quite a few of the red eyed buggers around the plants.

13 year Cicadas

There is one 'fancy' dining establishment in town called Carriage and Horses and it's run by a Lebanese-French man who owns a stable full of horses. From the dining room, you look out on a small pond and fields where the horses are hanging out. The food wouldn't stand up to what you'd find in LA, but it was delicious and clearly prepared with love.

Before we headed back to Atlanta, we stopped at Callaway Gardens, on property formerly owned by the family that ran most of the former textile mills as well as built the house we stayed at. They are relatives of the golf equipment family. They had a conservatory full of tropical butterflies, hot and humid, with some giants flitting around. The gardens include a golf course, pond, and walking trails.

In Atlanta, we spent a couple of hours at the Aquarium near Centennial Olympic Park. I was very impressed with this Aquarium. The displays include a river ecosystem to show local water creatures, an arctic area with giant, white Beluga whales, a deep ocean section with a shark and ray tunnel, and a tropical area with some of the most vibrantly coloured sea creatures I've ever seen. If we'd had more time, we could have participated in some special tours, such as a behind the scenes look at the tanks and research areas.

One of the large tanks at Georgia Aquarium

By the time we got back to the airport, most of us were pretty exhausted and I for one was ready to be heading home. It was a fun few days with a great group of people.

(The rest of the photos from Callaway Gardens and the Aquarium are here.)