Virginia Highlands is a Bust

Now, on towards Mid-Town we debated where to go. We decided to find the elusive Virginia Highlands. By taking one simple turn that we had missed the first time, we were informed that we had arrived. We reprogrammed our GPS to guide us to parking, unfortunately, she tried to take us back towards Atlanta. We turned back and the normally innocuous female voice turned sinister as she instructed us to "Make an illegal U-turn when possible."

I have a new found respect for this automated female. She has some fire in her wires. Seeing how she's trying to get us into trouble, I'm a little afraid for our future. We just had a Terminator marathon and I'm slightly worried she'll become self aware. In an attempt to humanize her we have named her Reese. In memory of John Connor's heritage. I've digressed from our travels.

Anyway, excited to have actually reached this destination we looked around only to see that it had the charm of any quaint Main street anywhere. How anticlimactic. Despite that, it does have some nice boutiques and restaurants. Lots of bars.
We strolled around poking through stores and found some interesting shops. One was called The Urban Cottage, with really unique stuff you don't need but you sure as hell want! Probably the worst boutique I've seen was the one filled with workout gear and outfits. Primarily outfits. Who buys boutique price clothes you intend to sweat and get grungy in?!

For lunch we ate at Noche. A wonderful tapas bar featuring Spanish inspired cuisine. We started off with fruity shooters. Happy Boxing Day! If you ever go you have to order the Spanish Potatoes with Crushed Red Pepper Dipping Sauce. Mmmmmm! We finished our meal with chocolate cake and mousse. It was small but just the right size for lunch to finish off your meal. I highly recommend Noche, a Here to Serve Restaurant, and they also have a Vinnings location. Channeling Julia Child, Bon Appetit!

My In-Laws Rock

Enter our Christmas present, a GPS!

Now we're back to exploring Atlanta, but this time in style. One cool feature of our GPS is that it has a "Points of Interest" icon which tells you where neat places are nearby. One of the categories for these neat places are wineries. There happens to be a winery in Atlanta, so off we went. First stop, cheap gas on Atlanta Road. We were directed to take a different route than I always take. I always drive by random roads and wonder where they go. Now I can tell you where that random road, that has a corner filled with huge satellites that look like they could scan for alien life forms, will lead you. (I feel like watching Contact now)

Apparently the fastest route to the downtown Habersham Winery was sketchy back roads. We even passed the Atlanta Detention Center. At least we weren't lost though! As we were driving through the masses of shady looking vagabonds, our GPS told us "You have arrived." We looked around and could only spot the Atlanta City Police Department. As we rounded another corner we realized that it must have been in Underground Atlanta. We didn't feel like getting mugged that day so we changed our route.

Lost and Found

Since moving closer to Atlanta, my husband and I have decided that we should explore the city. Just a couple months ago we learned that exploring places you don't know can get you really, really lost. We had heard of a far away land called Virginia Highlands and decided that we should check it out. Unfortunately it was no where near where we thought it was and risked our lives driving through the sketchiest areas of Atlanta. After many educated guesses in where to turn we finally found I-75. Our relief was short lived when we hit horrendous construction traffic. We were going to eat dinner in Virginia Highlands, so as we inched along for miles we listened to our tummies serenade us.

The highlight of the night was finding an open restaurant to satiate our raging hunger. Just our luck, it was a Willy's with the most fantastico cheese dip!

Needless to say, we decided that exploring the city was a bad idea.