How to Spend a Weekend in Atlanta

I made an overdue weekend visit to Atlanta last week to reunite with my friend Melissa from my hometown. It’s been three years since my last trip to visit her and I forget just how amazing Atlanta is, especially when I visit a friend who likes to do exactly what I like to do: eat lots of food, shop and workout. We usually end up walking everywhere, checking out one of the local fitness studios and eating so much good food. I was too hot to want to try the heated studio she uses for yoga this trip, but we ventured through parks and neighborhoods by foot. She lives in the hip Old Fourth Ward and we spent time in Midtown, West Midtown and Inman Park..and probably some other areas that I lost track of!

Here’s how we spent the weekend, and my recommendations:

Shop Til You Drop

Ponce City Market was just a two minute walk from my friend’s apartment in the Old Fourth Ward and it’s located inside a magnificent historic building originally occupied by Sears. Now, it’s transformed into a space that includes a giant gourmet food hall, shops like Lululemon, West Elm and Candlefish and more. Grab a burger from H&H or fuel up with a latte from Spiller Coffee and shop the large anchor stores to the small, unique shops sprinkled throughout the complex.

Krog Street Market is located in Inman Park and features southern grown restaurants and shops–a great place to shop for produce, a meal or pick up unique gifts. The first time I visited three years ago, it was pretty quiet, but this last time, it was incredibly busy and bustling with people.

Westside Provisions District offers a mix of retail, galleries and restaurants in the West Midtown neighborhood. It’s a mix of new construction and restored buildings with some incredibly cute shops like Bungalow Classic, Savannah Bee Company and Little Barn Apothecary among larger retailers like Anthropologie and Free People. Plus, they have Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream which makes this shopping area a must to visit!

Coffee!

While I was in town, I taste tested the iced lattes at several coffee shops and enjoyed every single one of them. Spiller Park Coffee was the priciest of the places I tried, but it was conveniently located inside the Ponce City Market while I was shopping. Next, I grabbed an iced latte from Revelator Coffee in West Midtown, where I loved the laidback/casual vibes and tan leather furniture. Dancing Goats has a couple locations, but I grabbed an iced latte during my long walk through Midtown and I think this one was the cheapest and just as tasty as the first two.

Good Eats

For a healthy smoothie and grain bowl, check out Upbeet. I’m not the healthiest eater since I’m so picky, but this place lets you build your own bowl, allowing me to handpick my favorite or at least tolerable veggies, plus it’s so cute inside!

If you’re a pizza lover, check out the family run pizzeria Antico Pizza. We split a lasagna pizza with sausage and ricotta cheese and it was just as delicious as my friend Melissa promised. You grab a seat at any open table you can and in the back, you can watch them make the pizzas from scratch. And with how busy this place is, they have it down to a science–we waited maybe seven minutes for our pizza before it turned up at our table.

H&F Burger–You can snag this award winning burger at Ponce City Market (or at the Atlanta Braves stadium where I tried mine!)

Check out a Sporting Event

If you have access to a car, take in an Atlanta Braves baseball game at Sun Trust Park, ten miles outside the city. Baseball games are my favorite–I love eating a hot dog or burger outside–and it’s one sport I can follow thanks to an ex-boyfriend who patiently explained the game to me long ago. This game ended with a spectacular fireworks show. I’m usually apathetic when it comes to fireworks, none impress me, but this one was amazing. Plus, it was Star Wars themed since it was May 4 and that made it all the better.

Hit the Park (and Farmers Market)

On Saturdays, Piedmont Park hosts a small farmers market, perfect to scoop up fresh veggies, delicious baked goods and iced coffees and scoot along on a nice walk through the park. We grabbed homemade scones, tasted the hottest peppers at one booth and burned our mouths–and somehow this was my favorite part of the weekend, mouth burning included.

Good Treats

As you’re probably aware, I have a big sweet tooth. I hit up Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream to indulge in my favorite flavors atop a sugar cone: Savannah Peppermint and Brown Butter Almond Brittle! We also went to Revolution Doughnuts in Inman Park and enjoyed vanilla glazed donut, the simplest option among some pretty fancy flavor combinations.