Friday, December 10, 2010

Playing in the Cemeteries

The cold weather over our extended Thanksgiving weekened gave us every excuse to be lazy and just relax at home with blankets and books.  Or sweaters and TV's based upon your personal inclination.  :)

But the stirrings of cabin fever on this cloudless and chilling day had me walking between the garage to look at my bike and the room where my gear was flung to all corners.  I was restless to the point of drawing undo attention to myself and risking wrath of being too energetic.  I started to quietly pull my gear on, but still drew queries and a riding buddy.

I didn't want to make it a long ride.  The day was getting a little long in the shadow.  So that darn Georgia Tag was going to be my destination.  It was probably 30 miles away directly through downtown and near that famous busiest of world airports.

It is quite interesting to see this little cemetery surrounded by the Atlanta airport.  There is a runway just south and a taxi-way just east and north.

Flat Rock Cemetery
Flat Rock Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia
Quite a few weenies on the forum had made noises about not going anywhere near this tag because driving downtown was dangerous enough with bullets whizzing by that they didn't even want to encounter that all endangering mini-van pilot.  (I probably used to be one of those weenies, but I have put on my big girl panties and grown up.  The devil's you know are much easier to exorcise then the ones you don't.)  I decided to be cantankerous and move the tag even farther in town, in ever more dangerous territory.   I do believe I am the first to put this tag "inside the perimeter". 

For you out-of-towners:

I-285 goes around Atlanta.  So all those pesky semi's that don't need to deliver to downtown can relieve congestion by going around the city.  Not that it helps at all since they are not the predominate vehicle on our roadways.  But I-285 marks a snobbish aspect of Atlanta: whether you live ITP or OTP.  It is becoming fashionable to live Inside the Perimeter as the height of culture and prestige.  And people that live Outside the Perimeter are inferior.  Supposedly...


So...back to the tag.  I decided to move the tag to the heart of downtown Atlanta Inside the Perimeter and alienate that many more people that don't dare set foot Inside the Perimeter.  I put the tag in Oakland Cemetery.  Mr. Oilburner says I am just evol.  (No, not mis-spelled.  Think about it...)



Spire
Civil War Monument, Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, GA
I almost shot myself in the foot on this decision.  The narrow, old roadways have been repaved so many times that crowning is in major evidence.  I was too scared to stop anywhere else for fear of ending upside in a gutter with my bike on top of me.  So the spire was extremely easy...and safe.  :)

We hadn't eaten lunch and were nearing the dinner hour.  So we looked around for someplace to eat.  Right across the road from the cemetery was Six Feet Under.

Cemetery_08

Adorned with great mermaids. 

Cemetery_05

Wonderful seafood.  You are correct, the onion rings are not seafood.  Get over it.  :)

Cemetery_06

And then the restroom had this awesome hand dryer...


Cemetery_07
The Dyson Airblade...dun, dunh, duuuu!
Yes, I took a picture in the bathroom.  Crudy picture as I was a little self-concious about it since this other lady wouldn't leave!!  I hear they are all the rage in Scotland.  And maybe the rest of the island.  But this is the first I have ever seen them here.  My experience ranges to the Xlerator...up in a college town Moe's in Dahlonega.

Picture taken from internet
It wasn't a terribly long day, but so many new experiences and locations.  It definitely wasn't the same ol' ride.  :)

23 comments:

  1. Good read and some great pics. Yeah, don't let the naysayers keep you at bay. Git out there!!

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  2. Ah, I remember Suicide Circle well. Congrats on making it in and out, with some good eats to boot.

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  3. THis is the first time I have seen a pcture of a haridryer in a blog!! Food looks great.....now i am off to cook myself a big feed!

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  4. Hi Jonesy! Thanks for the reinforcement. As a general rule I rarely let naysayers tell me what to do. Actually, I rarely let anyone tell me what to do... ;) Can sometimes lead to trouble. LOL. Thanks for reading and commenting! -Lori

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  5. Hi Rob, I've never heard it referenced as Suicide Circle. But it certainly is becoming just that. I still haven't felt the need to circle the entire 85 miles at one time...and hopefully don't ever plan to. It sure is a boring circle. LOL.

    Yes...dodging those bullets was hard work... ;) -Lori

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  6. Hi Roger! Get used to it. I oftentimes will present some extremely strange sights. But I do think this is only the second picture I have taken in a restroom. I'm learning and growing. HA! LOL.

    So where are the big feed pictures?!? It's getting on towards lunchtime here! -Lori

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  7. I think the Suicide Circle nickname was more common over 20 years ago. I'm betting it's no less dangerous now unless heavier traffic keeps the speeds to a crawl.

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  8. Greetings to she-who-hangs-out-in-cemeteries. Great idea. And the restaurant 'Six feet under' is even better, and believe me you are not the only person taking pictures in a restroom ;-)
    I took one in a Cactus Club Cafe close to my work which won a 'best restroom award. No kidding.

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  9. Cool restaurant name and the food looks pretty good too. What is a "tag"? Something like a geocache or something?
    They showed off that hand dryer on one of those green product shows. I don't remember if it was for low energy consumption or no paper towels.

    Richard

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  10. Hey Rob, did they used to use it as a racetrack when it was first built? Cuz it can definitely not be used in that capacity anymore. Rush hour traffic definitely has 1/2 of it stopped large portions of the day. I avoid it. Then again, I also try to avoid the interstates. :) -Lori

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  11. Hi Keith (Circle Blue),

    Just where are you getting your onion rings from??? ;) I guess there might be some sea onions. The menu didn't clarify. LOL. -Lori

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  12. Greetings to you too, SonjaM! :)

    Oakland Cemetery is a phenomenal place with many celebrities and beautiful mausoleums to look through. There is so much history and symbology to search through. Then again, you are talking to the person that snuck into a cemetery to do a rubbing for extra credit for a history class concerning WPA and CCC projects (Depression era building projects.)

    Glad to know that I am in good company with sneaking strange pictures of strange places. So what was entailed in winning a "best restroom" award?? Inquiring minds... LOL -Lori

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  13. Hi Richard! The restaurant was very cool even without looking in the bathrooms. Need to go back when the weather is more conducive to sitting outside on the upstairs patio overlooking the cemetery.

    The motorcycle tag game is similar to the childhood tag game. Take a picture of your motorcycle in front of a "landmark". Then the game is for everyone to figure out where the landmark is and be the first to take a picture of their bike in front of it. If you are the first, then you get to be responsible to take a picture of your bike in front of a new location and give everyone else clues as to where it is. It can be fun to find areas that you never even knew existed. :) I can't seem to find one for Alaska yet...but I will keep looking. -Lori

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  14. I-285 was very similar to a racetrack; I'm sure speeds were a lot faster back then. Do you remember Pasquel Perez, the Braves pitcher nicknamed I-285 because he "got lost" on it and missed his first pitching start? Yep, probably best to avoid all those Interstates.

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  15. Lori, what can I say? I'm from the Midwest. If you batter it and fry it, it must be some sort of fish :)

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  16. Lori:

    I often take photos in washrooms but usually when no one else is around. I have a washroom photo in my latest post.

    We have those dryers too. Maybe we should compare driers from around the country. I was in a very neat washroom this weekend in Seattle. They had lots of neat historic photos displayed on the walls, but sorry . . . no photos.

    bob
    Wet Coast Scootin

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  17. Dear BeemerGirl (Lori):

    Please excuse my late posting to this blog episode....

    Your description of the cemetery surrounded by the airport reminded me of the strangest burial ground I ever saw, in Edgewater, NJ. The cemetary is surrounded on three sides by the old Alcoa aluminum can plant. For some reason, they built the factory, which is enormous, on three sides of this little cemetery... It is the damnedest thing.

    Fondest regards,
    Jack • reep • Toad
    Twisted Roads

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  18. Hey Keith, I guess there might not be as quick an access to "fresh seafood" from your area... But one thing that I have learned in "the South"...everything tastes better battered and fried. They even try to convince me that twinkies, oreos, snickers and pickles are better. But I haven't been daring enough to try those. :) Do you have any strange experiences to relate?? LOL -Lori

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  19. Hi Bob!

    Not sure if I would be shouting out the frequency of bathroom shots... I'm just sayin'... LOL. But that being said, you last one was apropos of the topic at hand. Namely, motorcycles.

    To start the discussion, down here there is usually the regularly air drier with nothing special, or efficient, about it. The rare xlerator and now the Dyson are awesome and just loads of fun to play around with. But paper rolls are still around with good frequency. I hear that parts of Scotland, Glasgow region still have those germ riddled cloth towel dispensers!! Ugh!!!

    At interesting bathrooms are always cool...until I start wondering how often the walls and artifacts are cleaned. Then my mind just gets disgusted.

    Sounds like the trip to WA wasn't too bad. -Lori

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  20. Hi Jack!

    I would think the better term is "Fashionably Late". but I am always happy to entertain your musings. You add some colorful information.

    I would be very interested in seeing that little cemetery. It also reminds me of recently learning that there are two grave markers "in" the Savannah (GA) airport runway. The family decided not to have two members moved...so there they stay. Would be interesting to see those, too. But only family and only by escort. LOL.

    Hope you are well!

    -Lori

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  21. Lori:

    I afraid that I must admit that I've tried all of those deep fried items over the years and a couple of them are really pretty good. I won't say which was an improvement but all of them were very tasty. It sort of depends on the cleanliness of the cooking oil.

    Richard

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  22. Hi Richard,

    You aren't the first person to say that to me. (Or maybe you have said it twice... LOL). But if you had to recommend an order to start sampling in, would you? The thought of a deep fried twinkie or snickers just kinda makes me urp... For now I just stick to the Funnel Cake. LOL!

    -Lori

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