clementine had a school project where she needed to recreate a photo of a civil rights icon. hers turned out pretty awesome! from our instagram feed!

– ryan & gub

for my birthday, we got a babysitter and tried out our first scavenger hunt from clue town books. we had a blast for sure! we started out at the republic for some cocktails before walking over to historic oakland cemetery for our adventure.

for those of you who are unfamiliar with clue town, they are these great scavenger hunt books from local kirkwood resident jay carlson. the books come with a compass, a little pencil, and lots of puzzles to solve along the way. he has released 4 books so far, including: piedmont park, oakland cemetery, downtown decatur, and the beltline eastside trail. the scavenger hunts take roughly 60-90 minutes to complete, depending on which one you go with.

for our first clue town adventure, we went with the historic oakland cemetery. the hunt took us about an hour and a half, which was longer than the 60 minute estimate. we took our time strolling through the historic atlanta site however, soaking in our rare outing away from the kids. the puzzles were challenging at times, but definitely fun and not too hard. the compass was used quite a bit as well, which added to the experience!

although we didn’t bring our kids, the oakland cemetery hunt definitely seemed kid-friendly. everything was self-contained within the cemetery walls and parking was close and free, so it would be an easy scavenger hunt to try out with the kids.

you can buy clue town books directly from jay at most atlanta festivals, or you can find them at select atlanta shops, including: the beehive, youngblood boutique, heliotrope, oakland cemetery gift shop and the high museum of art gift shop.

up next for us is piedmont park, we can’t wait! we are going to try it out with clementine and grey!

– ryan & gub

historic oakland cemetery

248 oakland avenue se
atlanta, ga 30312
404-249-5000

the republic

437 c memorial drive se
atlanta, ga 30312
404-577-3997

i saw a super old cigarette vending machine today! it was the style where you pull a lever for your smokes to come out. i can’t remember the last time i saw one of these treasures. they’ve disappeared like payphones, although for a better cause. i love how they had to stencil “no smoking” on the wall behind the dispenser!

– ryan

i turned 30, which is kind of crazy. to make the most of such a big birthday, i tried to do something fun every hour and take photos.

here’s what i got into:

last time i drove to chicago, i visited the abraham lincoln birthplace national historic park in hodgenville, kentucky. this 100-year-old memorial is actually the original lincoln memorial; the washington d.c. memorial came later. the cabin where lincoln was born is on display, as is sinking spring, the lincoln family’s water source. the park recently celebrated lincoln’s bicentennial with various events and festivities.

the memorial was really great, especially when splitting up the drive from chicago to atlanta. i am also a sucker for kitchy souveniers and had a blast at the nancy lincoln inn. i found all sorts of old timey lincoln products i could not resist buying. if you are ever looking for a fun excursion while driving through kentucky, keep your eyes out for abraham lincoln’s birthplace.

– ryan

abraham lincoln birthplace

7120 bardstown road
hodgenville, ky 42748
270-358-3137

have you ever noticed the statue at the corner of monument avenue and mcpherson avenue in east atlanta? intrigue got the better of me this morning and i pulled over to see what it was.

i found a little park with an upturned cannon marking the spot where general james b. mcpherson was killed in the battle of atlanta on july 22, 1864, exactly 146 years ago today. mcpherson was the highest ranking union officer killed during the american civil war. according to the wiki, “the spot is marked by a union cannon once placed at glenwood road and flat shoals road to protect the flank of the front line and return fire against the defensive positions built by lemuel p. grant.”

i had no idea the statue i see on the way to east atlanta village had such historical significance. i will definitely pull over more often when i see these historical markers.

check out this old photo of the monument from the atlanta history center album archives.

– ryan

mcpherson monument

corner of monument avenue & mcpherson avenue
atlanta, ga 30316