vacation: atlanta, ga

If you are looking for a recipe...this post isn't for you, sorry!

This past weekend my boyfriend and I drove down to Atlanta to see two of our very good friends, Ashkan and Cindy. Atlanta reminds me of a bigger version of Charlotte that has really bad traffic, tons of great restaurants and never ending activities. It seems like every time we visit Atlanta, there is always some type of fun event going on. During our trip to Atlanta last spring, the four of us went to Baconfest at Inman Park. I was thinking the festival would have random bacon creations like bacon ice cream, chocolate covered bacon and bacon beer...ok just kidding about that last one. But I was a little disappointed when we arrived and realized it wasn't exactly the bacon food festival I had expected. Instead it was unlimited make your own BLT sandwiches, PBR and Terrapin beer and very random entertainment (wheelchair obstacle course) that turned out to be a blast!

This past weekend we decided to go to the Decatur craft beer festival after obsessively checking craigslist to find tickets. Apparently they sold all 4,000 beer fest tickets in 2 hours. Two weekends ago I went to the Charlotte Oktoberfest and was impressed with the 100+ breweries that were there and had so much fun that I couldn't wait to do it all over again. Pre beer fest we went to Highland Bakery and had a delicious brunch. I ordered the Cowboy Benedict (top left picture) which was two white cheddar quesadillas topped with two poached eggs, homemade hollandaise and a spicy corn relish served with a side of spicy corn relish. If you are in Atlanta, Highland Bakery is worth a stop... it was one of the best brunch dishes I think I've ever had.

Then came the the 5+ hours of drinking. I went in with the 'if I don't like it then I'm not drinking it' motto so I could actually attempt to try a beer from every one of the breweries without passing out on the sidewalk before the event was over. I didn't try them all but I think I managed to find every single pumpkin or Oktoberfest beer that was there plus my two favorites, Purple Haze and Sweetwater Blue. Oh and I discovered people wear pretzel/snack necklaces to beer festivals! This one guy at the beer fest (bottom left picture) took pretzel necklaces to the extreme. He had one huge pretzel necklace and then another necklace lined with slim jims, crackers and cheese. He told me that the pretzels are for 'cleansing' your palate in between beers and the slim jims, cracker and cheese are a drunk snack. And if you forgot your pretzel necklace at home like we did, you could buy a pretzel necklace at the beer fest for $2 but they sold out. Next beer fest, I think I might be wearing a pretzel necklace...