March 2011 - Posts

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Girl on the Go

• Dolphins Take Dive into Atlanta

  It’s all about keeping the “Wows” coming. That’s what Georgia Aquarium president David Kimmel told our crowd last night at a preview of the AT&T Dolphin Tales. It’s the vision of Founder Bernie Marcus, who already wowed us big time with the opening of the world’s largest aquarium 5 ½ years ago. One that has already welcomed 13 million visitors.

  After a 25-minute pre-show projected onto giant screens above a 1.8 million gallon tank, the lights went down and the show began. The storyline has to do with the StarSpinner and his battles with the Sea Monster. StarSpinner wears two different illuminated capes and sings during the 25-minute show while dolphins swim, flip, jump unbelievable heights, and carry trainers back and forth across the tank on their backs.

  Throw in dancing fountains, wind machines, dramatic lighting, battles with some bad guys, a score recorded by a 61-piece orchestra and you get an idea of the show. The audience loved the show, while the dolphins seemed to be having a blast as well, judging by the smiles on their faces. (For a video of the making of Dolphin Tales, which included a national casting call, click here.)

  The gallery built to house Dolphin Tales, is the Aquarium’s sixth permanent one and its biggest expansion to date.

   

   

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  Posted Mar 31 2011, 09:31 AM by Jan Schroder with no comments

  Filed under: At&T Dolphin Tales, The Georgia Aquarium

• Get Your Spring On

  Get Your Spring On

  

  Everything's coming up tulips, and thousands of other bulb varieties, at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

  Not even my black lab turning into a yellow lab during the pollen-laden spring months in Atlanta can dampen my enthusiasm and raging case of spring fever. Here are just a few places to get your spring on, ATL-style.

  Atlanta Botanical Garden

  Last year the Botanical Garden planted more than 100,000 new bulbs, including 70,000 tulips, for a count of more than 200,000 blooms. Check it out at Atlanta Blooms: 200,000 Watts of Flower Power! from March 22 to May 1.

  And while you’re there, visit the second location of MetroFresh in the expanded Garden café. You’ll find soup, sandwiches and salads offered for breakfast and lunch.

  Urban Picnics, Auburn Curb Market

  The Atlanta Street Food Coalition is continuing its battle with the city to move around freely but you can be sure to find them at the Urban Picnics at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, where between 6-10 trucks park and serve up everything from Korean tacos to meatball sliders to hotdogs on a French toast bun. The first picnic was March 12 but mark your calendars for the next one, April 9. Check out other events here.

   

  Posted Mar 18 2011, 01:13 PM by Jan Schroder with no comments

  Filed under: Atlanta Botanical Garden, Urban Picnics, The Atlanta Street Food Coalition

• Local Three a Big Hit

   

  Local Three is the kind of place where you feel such a passion for the ingredients and love of all things food and drink that you find yourself scarfing down dishes you’d previously delegated to your never-eat-that list.

  At least that’s what happened to me during my first visit to Local Three, a collaboration between Muss & Turner owners Todd Mussman and Ryan Turner, and Atlanta chef Chris Hall.

  My don’t-eat list is extremely short, but pretty much headed by Brussels sprouts, to the point it’s a household joke – my husband being firmly and irrevocably in the pro-sprouts camp. But there I was serving myself multiple portions of the crispy Brussels sprouts, which were unlike any version of the dish I’d ever had.

  

  You really know you've made it in the restaurant business when you command your very own pig portrait. These were painted by East Point artist Tracy Hartley.

  Local Three just opened in December and is already drawing more crowds than a Jesus-on-a-biscuit sighting in Alabama. It’s the kind of place that doesn’t take itself too seriously, as evidenced by its motto “You can’t argue with delicious,” the three pig paintings on the wall (one for each owner), and headings on the beer menu like Drink Your Wheaties, Hip Hops Hooray and Identity Crisis.

   

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  Posted Mar 09 2011, 03:46 PM by Jan Schroder with no comments

  Filed under: Girl on the Go, Local Three, Jan Schroder, Atlanta Dining

• Infectious STOMP Returns to Fox

  It’s a good thing the roof of the Fox Theatre is so high or the energetic percussion of the production of STOMP would blow that baby right off. Lighters, brooms, trashcans, plastic bags, tubing – everything becomes an instrument in the hands of the amazing cast of STOMP. I saw the show when it came to Atlanta a few years ago, and reluctantly got my teenage son to go along with me. We both loved it. And I wonder – is it a coincidence he is now taking a steel drum class in college? STOMP started in the U.K and now has been performed in 36 countries. It continues to sell out in New York’s off-Broadway Orpheum Theater. Two new routines have been added to the current production, using tractor tire inner tubes and paint cans. This production is brought to the Fox by Theater of the Stars, now in its 58th year. If you still can’t quite picture the show, check out one of the videos at the website at www.stomponline.com. The ones with the newspapers is particularly fascinating. For the rest of the post, please click here.
  Posted Mar 01 2011, 11:09 AM by Jan Schroder with no comments

  Filed under: Theatre of the Stars, Fox Theatre, STOMP, Atlanta Theater