Atlanta – Hallelujah To The City Of King

SWEET acapella gospel sounds drift through the spring air, luring us on to the boardwalk of Irwin Street’s First Tabernacle chapel. Suddenly we are summoned by three young black men, clad in brown frock coats, demanding to know what we are up to. Just listening, it’s lovely, we say, then accept their invitation to join the congregation. It’s an entry into a piece of Atlanta’s soul.

The street food was sizzling, the bands rocking, the fancy dress outrageous

We had already made the pilgrimage to the Martin Luther King Jr Historic District, seen his birth home, the Ebenezer Baptist Church where the Kings were pastors, and his tomb with its eternal flame. Throughout our 1,600 mile Deep South road trip we had followed in the footsteps of the great champion of Civil Rights, the highlight being the National Museum in Memphis, built around the Lorraine Motel, where he was gunned down in 1968.

Now we had come full circle in Sweet Auburn, the district of Atlanta where segregated African-Americans had created their own cultural stronghold. By the 1950s Auburn Avenue had been dubbed “the richest Negro street in the world’. We’d taken the free trolleybus there 20 minutes east of Downtown, stopping off at the Curb food market, symbol of the area’s resurgence after hard times since.

First Tabernacle – a revelatory experience

All on the itinerary. The First Tabernacle is definitely not and quite unforgettable. Inside, a 100-strong black congregation is singing joyously, the men in the same uniform as our greeters, the women in brown skirts with ruffled blue silk tops and bright bows in their hair. The men’s yamulka skullcaps, the fact their Sabbath is a Saturday, a sermon that makes much of fleeing to the Promised Land and finally the presence of a rabbi and an Ark of the Covenant all confirm this is a Jewish religious ritual. How disorienting.

We have given our names and before the roof-lifting climax of the service the pastor proclaims: “We’d like to thank  Brother Neil and Sister Theresa from Todmorden, England for joining us today.” Hallelujahs ring out. We feel transfixed. Afterwards we discover more. Back in the 1890s in the search for salvation after the abandonment of slavery, a prophet called William S Gilbey created this small movement linked to Judaism with many of its observances. Amazingly it still thrives.

Along the Beltline; below, bear and beards in the Ladybird Grove 

Outside we picked up the pieces of the Saturday afternoon, which remained resolutely left field. Our next stop was the Beltline. It’s a discarded  22-mile railroad corridor circling Downtown, which is slowly being transformed into a pedestrian-friendly green space connecting 45 neighbourhoods and recreating communities via sustainable housing.

We joined the cycle dudes and the pooch walkers to explore one of its most developed sections from the fabulous Krog Street food market up towards Inman Park garden suburb,  which was hosting a huge weekend open house festival. En route we lunched and rehydrated with craft IPA at the Ladybird Grove and Mess Hall, which defines itself as ‘base camp for the urban explorer’.

Free shit haircuts just summed up the free spirit of East Atlanta

The community spirit was much in evidence when we turned off the trail and ran into a a posse of crimpers out in the street offering ‘Free Shit Haircuts’ along with free dogs and beer, too. We couldn’t resist and put our heads in their hands. Quite a snip, best haircut I’ve ever had (they were professionals raising money for a sick colleague via an art raffle). 

Up in the Park with its remarkable collection of 1880s planned housing, the street food was sizzling, the bands rocking, the fancy dress outrageous. 

We liked it so much we went back the next day to head up Euclid Avenue to Little Five Points, East Atlanta’s hip central for a vinyl mooch around Criminal Records and grab beers in the characterful Porter (check out the signature hushpuppies) and the Wrecking Bar brewpub (loved the reuben sandwich, guys) on Moreland Avenue. Alas, we had a dinner engagement, so couldn’t book into the 7 Stages Black Box Theatre for Samantha Martin’s Amazing Acro-cats on tour. Now that would have completed a truly bizarre weekend.

The Wrecking Bar; below, sliding over the beers at The Porter

It had all started less promisingly. This mega city of the South is more than daunting. It boasts the world’s busiest passenger airport, Hartsfield Jackson – almost a city in itself, but remarkably efficient as our arrival and departure point. The freeway system was altogether more hellish to negotiate as we drove in from Athens to complete our road trip.

The Ellis Hotel, stylish boutique hotel with a vivid history; below, the Centennial Olympic Park 

Downtown didn’t improve our mood on first impression, lightened only by stumbling upon wine happy hour in the foyer of our beautiful boutique hotel, the century-old Ellis (in a previous existence as the Winecoff, it was the site in 1946 of America’s worst hotel fires – 119 died). 

The Ellis is very central, ideal for the major tourist attractions (the Atlanta City Pass saves you big time on them – see below), many of which are clustered around the Olympic Centennial Park. We were just happy to get a feel for the fabric of the uncompromising city.

The Publick is a great beer bar; we drank while Dylan, below, played next door in The Fox (phone photo!)

That first night we headed north up Peachtree Street (confusingly there are 32 variants of Peachtree thoroughfares in town) through Midtown, aiming for a terrific craft beer bar called The Publick. It was heaving with an excited crowd on our arrival as a Bob Dylan concert was about to get underway in the glorious Alhambra-style Fox Theatre. 

We hadn’t known he was playing, it was sold out, alas, but it felt of a piece with our whole trip. Like the spectre of Dr King, Dylan had always been along with us – we just missed his gig at the Memphis Orpheum and our Nashville highlight was a Country Music Hall of Fame exhibition charting his influence. Dylan’s ’Never Ending Tour’ somehow mirrored our own mini-version.

Much fun was had a few years ago when the croaky troubadour was asked to voice a satnav – “turn left for Desolation Row’’ or “revisit Highway 61’’ etcetera. It was good to see at the end of our road in today’s Atlanta, epicentre of US hip-hop, that Dylan still felt relevant. As his contemporaries The Grateful Dead famously sang: “What a long strange trip it's been.”

The King tomb; below, his birth home and the Ebenezer Church

WHAT TO SEE IN ATLANTA – THE LOWDOWN

Essential gear is The Atlanta City Pass, which allows you 43 per cent off admission to five of Atlanta’s must-see attractions – details below.  CityPASS ticket booklets are valid for nine days beginning with the first day of use – adults $73.25, children (3-12) $59.35.

Georgia Aquarium Deepo Pass Dive into this aquatic experience and discover graceful beluga whales, spectacular whale sharks, playful penguins and aquatic animals from around the globe.

Inside CNN Atlanta Studio  Tour This 55-minute guided walking tour of CNN Worldwide offers behind-the-scenes views of the worldwide news broadcaster.

World of Coca-Cola  Explore a multi-sensory 4-D theater, an extraordinary 1880s soda fountain and the smallest bottling line in the world.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History or College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-Fil-A Fan Experience  Fernbank brings the world's largest dinosaurs to life and explores global cultures through hands-on exhibits, while at the football attraction visitors can test their skills in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl Skill Zone, a 45-yard replica field, then explore the Game Day Theater and Hall of Fame .

Meil Tan, ther Zoo's most famous panda, who was born there

Zoo Atlanta or Center for Civil and Human Rights Located in historic Grant Park, the  Zoo features more than 200 species of animals, including the US’s largest gorilla habitat, plus giant pandas, including Mei Lan, born there after a 35 hour labour, while the Center for Civil and Human Rights’ cutting-edge technology and interactive exhibits make it an inspirational cultural attraction.

Alternatively visit Buckland This swanky, futuristic northern suburb is one of there most affluent in the USA, with fine Civil War related museums, upmarket shopping and restaurants. It’s easily reached We were overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the place but dined handsomely in St Cecilia, a glamorous, Italian-influenced place set up by celeb chef-owner Ford Fry (up on Peachtree Road naturally).

Buckhead skyline; below, chic St Cecilia and an octopus dish speciality

Gone With The Wind The Battle of Atlanta was fought around Inman Park. It features in Gone With The Wind. For fans of the novel and film the first port of call, though, has to be the Margaret Mitchell House, which is centrally located (up on Peachtree Street naturally). This redbrick building features the apartment where Mitchell wrote the book during the 1920s. Take the half hour guided tour.

Check out the first five sections of Neil Sowerby’s Deep South Road Trip: New Orleans, Cajun Country, Natchez Trace Parkway, Nashville and Athens, Georgia.