Southern hospitality has a true representative in the people of Atlanta. From our very first experience (getting lost), we were treated kindly by all we met. A fire fighter returning from a fire said "Wow, how did you get here?" when we told him where we wanted to go and then explained what streets and what turns we needed. When that didn't work completely, we flagged down one of Atlanta's finest - police this time - and he not only gave us specific directions, but he said "Now, you'll want to turn left onto Peachtree. Turn left! Even if it says not to (several streets in Atlanta do not allow left turns), do it anyway. And if you get stopped by a police officer, tell them that Officer Somers (and he gave us his badge number) said it was OK." And then he proceeded to give us his cell phone number in case we got lost again!
In addition, several folks in white uniforms walk up and down the downtown streets and, if you look a little confused, will say "May I help you?" And then give directions to the restaurant or hotel or MARTA (their subway & bus line). And down in the MARTA station, another color uniform says "where do you want to go? Will you go again tomorrow?" And shows us how to use the coin-operated ticket machine and then how to use the ticket to get through the gates. And finally, even the guy on the street: a valet parking employee (well, he was wearing a uniform so it seemed OK to ask) was happy to point out that we were going the wrong way to get back to our hotel from the subway. All in all, very pleasant people.
Atlanta is also very lovely. Today we visited its Botanical Gardens in Piedmont Park. Not overly large but well represented in the flora collection. A Japanese garden, complete with contemplative shelter, to relax and chant "om" (I don't know, is that Japanese?) A rose garden that unfortunately in the drought was not doing too well- so the garden gave us little lessons on how to conserve water and stil have a garden. And the indoor conservatory with its tropical desert from Madagascar, trees and frogs from Costa Rica, orchids from Asia, and the mountain tropics (a cool and wet respite from the 90 degree heat outside).
From there, with its natural beauty, we went on to the High Art Museum, a complex of three buildings with three floors of fine art. The current display is "The Louvre Atlanta", a collection of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and mid-East sculptures from as long ago as 4200 BC and the more recent first millenium AD. In addition, a floor of American folk (self-taught) art and another on 18th-19th century American and European art. Other floors presented other eras and styles, but time would not allow us the pleasure. I'm supposed to be attending a conference, remember?
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Did you see Howard Finster's work in the High Museum? He was a primitive folk artist from my hometown, Summerville, Georgia. Unusually, he was was an itinerant Baptist preacher and general repairman who got the call to paint. He is notable, among many things, for painting Coca-Cola bottles (not the bottles themselves, but representations of the bottles whith his commentaries).
Oh, and you seem surprised at Southern hospitality. Have you learned nothing from me?
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