#timelineinthesouth Atlanta is for the hip
Day 1 Atlanta, Georgia
We, Scott and I, arrived in Georgia early in the morning which meant, finding a brunch spot and getting that first taste of this mythical region of the United States. If you are by chance unfamiliar with Scott or myself, I am black, dark skinned, he is white, the palest of shades. And together in Atlanta we entered Home grown to meet with a friend and have a try of highly recommended Southern breakfast.
We remarked on how hip and young the cultured staff of the restaurant appeared, but not with any concern that their overt coolness would affect the taste of the food. In fact, we were pretty excited for the concept of the restaurant and all signs pointed to a fun time ahead. The place was packed, the smell was convincing, and the plated food we watched walk by us as we waited for our name to be called seemed exactly what we came to ‘the South’ to eat.
Then we were sat, we ordered, and we conquered. And, there was time to take some pictures, b-roll, and dialogue. We decided - Atlanta is hip, Atlanta is diverse, Atlanta is gentrified. I’m sure I am not the first to say, write, or witness this. And I won’t go on about it much here, but Atlanta felt like the city to be in, the city to know and to love and maybe even hate a little.
Soon after we needed to try what this city had to offer in coffee, and we headed over to Octane. And supposedly this was the one that was truest to its originally glory before the company got sold to Revelator, whom I am to understand is bringing craft coffee to the entire south. Octane was witness to our reflections on history with our sweet friend. And in the south this means, that undercover past where there are clear signs of a divided America, but few bring light to the devastation, confusion, and pain that was experienced or left behind. And I’m not just talking about the Civil Rights movement, I’m going even further back and talking about the Civil War and the Abolition of Slavery.
However, day 1 didn’t end with any revelations really. We got to talk about family in the south as well. Then we had to leave our friend to go pick up my mother from the airport. She would be joining us for a few days to see for herself a place she had yet to venture to. Our next stop was a small country town an hour west of Savannah. Before we would take our big southern journey we needed a little leisure time in a port city!