The weather here is so incredible right now. It has been since Thursday afternoon. Those who know such things say it's going to hit 80 tomorrow, first time in 2009. Good-bye, winter!

It was a really good weekend.

Finally weather and ambition cooperated and I was able to take a short trip around downtown on Friday to take some pictures. My time was a little short so I concentrated on a couple of areas and got a few interesting shots. I only took a couple of rolls of film and here are the best of them (in my opinion). I took a few with my little digital point and shoot, but I haven't put them online anywhere yet.






I got some hockey tickets while I was there

Yep, Centennial Olympic Park is still there

They recently installed a monument to Andrew Young, former mayor of Atlanta and UN ambassador

Almost a year ago, a tornado came through downtown Atlanta. This building, the Peachtree Westin hotel, was hit hard. They will be replacing every window in the building, not just the missing ones.

There's still a great view from the top, though.

I hate the reflection in this one, but had to put it up anyway

This is the inside of another downtown hotel, the Marriot Marquis. It's pretty much amazing.

They kind of look like ribs, don't they?

There's a good view from the top here, too.

Yesterday I went on a hiking expedition to Tallulah Gorge State Park. I've been there before but haven't been able to get down to the floor of the gorge, because you need a permit and they only have a certain number of them to hand out on any given day. I never understood why until I got one yesterday and did the hike, which is more of a scramble over boulders and crossing of rivers. Wow. It was incredible. I have a bunch of pictures which I will share this week, but they will not do it justice. It was spiritual to sit on the rocks next to the second set of waterfalls and look down the gorge into South Carolina. It's a pristine valley and you would think you were a thousand miles from anywhere instead of two hours from Atlanta. More on that to come, possibly tomorrow.

EDIT: I just realized how horrible the quality is on some of the electronic versions of these pictures (the one of Andrew Young, for example). The printed photos don't look that grainy. Looks like Wolf Camera's service is sinking to a new low. I'll have to see how the hiking shots come out.