TODAY’S CREATIVE LOVING PROFILE
URBEX : OLD FOURTH WARD/CABBAGETOWN : NEIGHBORHOOD INFO
Six hours in … Old Fourth Ward and Cabbagetown
History and grittiness in the city’s most colorful quadrant
Shabby-chic Cabbagetown, with its artists and musicians and urban pioneers, underwent a slow transformation over the years, morphing from a downtrodden mill town to a lovingly restored community — one that still retains its old-school charm. Over on Edgewood Avenue, in neighboring Old Fourth Ward, the metamorphosis has been more recent. A crop of bars and restaurants has sprung up along the seedy-but-picturesque street, making Edgewood one of the most exciting (but still sketchy) ’hoods in Atlanta.
Noon: Heritage lane
While much of Atlanta has been overrun with sprawling, glossy developments, the Old Fourth Ward hasn’t bulldozed its history. The brick buildings that line much of Edgewood were in place well before the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his first sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Spend a couple hours walking down Auburn and Edgewood Avenues and touring the King Center — reminders of the rich, progressive past that Atlanta doesn’t celebrate enough.
2 p.m.: Dynamic picnic
For lunch, stop by Dynamic Dish. The crisp, stylish restaurant has garnered well-deserved attention for offering an ever-changing menu of locally grown and seasonal food. If it’s a sunny day, grab a bowl of borscht with crème fraîche and a dandelion greens salad to go and ride your bike down to the Oakland Cemetery. If you think a picnic in a cemetery is creepy, you haven’t spent enough time in this cemetery. Oakland is a fascinating sculpture garden of mostly19th-century creations — and a great place to have lunch if you don’t mind sharing with a few friendly ghosts.
3 p.m.: Taggers’ delight
After lunch, check out one of the city’s coolest landmarks: the graffiti-art free-for-all that is the Krog Street tunnel. While you’re over there, grab a beer on the patio at 97 Estoria, across the street from the south entrance to the tunnel. From 97, head east toward the beautifully quirky Carroll Street and its Carroll Street Café, where you can sip coffee with the local bohemians.
5 p.m.: New life
As dinner hour approaches, return to Edgewood Avenue, where newcomers Noni’s, Café Circa and the Bureau offer excellent options for dinner — and a bar scene that will keep you going late into the night.
