Passing by the bikes parked and chained along Adair Street across from Adair Park over the weekend with some out-of-towners in tow, I exclaimed, “Hey, there are those bikes I mentioned earlier!”
This got me thinking. If you were tasked with giving an “All That’s Weird and Wild Tour” of Decatur, where would you take visitors and what would you show them?
Feral cat hideouts? The Relax Inn pile o’ rubble? The solar trash compactors?
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I’d take ‘em by Winnona Park Elementary and show them all that extra space we have over there.
Outstanding. Score one for Gibbets!
Thanks for the LOL.
De nada.
Shouldn’t that be “de nalga”?
No potty language, please.
Don’t act like you don’t like it.
(I admit, while packing beer and food for camping, that I refer to the cooler as the “cula”, but that is all.)
LOL! Now who’s being nasty?!?
1. The retention pond that we somehow subdued and caged in Oakhurst village, across Oakview from Saba. It’s like a zoo exhibit without any animals.
2. Obvious one – the mural behind Johnny’s Pizza, with the Ramones, Kiss, Spiderman, etc.
3. The stone castle house in Oakhurst on Fayetteville.
castle? i need to go check this out
The uber-sustainability house on Wilton. The cement-works shop at Beautiful behind Marlay House. The Decatur Diner, once again ablaze in neon, fluorescence and incandescence. The Zin list at Cafe Lily. Ponce Court.
1. All the treehouses/forts without permits.
2. The yet-to-open Decatur Diner with just about every frigging light lit 24/7.
3. The BSP’s front door handle. What’s up with that?
4. Hank Johnson.
4. Yes! Show ‘em proof that honest Ga politicians DO exist! :0)
Uh…yeah. If that’s what gets you through the day.
I’m so confused right now
ZOMG Hank Johnson doesn’t live in REAL DECATUR, surely he lives in FAKE WANNABE DECATUR, right?
The diner sure missed an opportunity to rake in big bucks during the Book Festival and Beer Festival…what are they waiting on?
Those damned lights drive me nuts!
The kiddie park on Nelson Ferry
That is a beautiful thing.
Oh, and, that Pub next to that Pub across from that Pub that’s around the corner from that Pub.
Wait, Do you mean the one that is beside the pub?
No, no, the other Pub.
wait wait, which pub are we talking about here? what about the one over by the square?
Yes, those three Pubs–not including the one around the corner.
well who is going to go to the pub over beside that sidewalk beside the tree then?!!?
Waffle House Museum! I know it’s outside the city limits but whatevs…
The Art Shack!
So far as those bikes, my assumption is that it is just a couple of curmudgeons who don’t want park goers to park in front of their house? Anyone know any different or should I keep on thinking my negative thoughts about them?
Just one curmudgeon, named Sam.
That man is smart. I need to find some bikes.
Clever American, as my friend, Dave, used to say.
As odd as the bikes are, I think they actually help traffic in that area move smoothly (and more safely near the kiddie park). If anyone did park there it would narrow the street to a one lane road with lower visibility.
Yeah, I don’t see that. After having parked on the street for the last few weeks while one of my kids was playing rec lacrosse there, it is just obnoxious and makes one want to sqeeze their little car between the bikes.
Basides, they really just spread the one lane-ness out further along the street causing a slalom effect rather than one narrow lane. It is crazy (and a little frightening) to watch people flying over the speed humps and trying to swerve around parked cars (while on their phone).
He’s a gardener and he’s a nice guy. Probably just tired of trying to garden with minivans crowding him out. It would make more sense to put the parking on the Park side of the road so kids are exiting right onto the sidewalk.
I live on that street, and the people who fly down the street ARE a menace. If Sam had parked two cars on the street, you’d have nothing to say. So he parks a couple of bikes? So what?
He came up with a creative solution to living across the street from a park, which was obviously meant to serve the surrounding neighborhood residents.
You seriously cannot find anyplace else to park other than his house, which is directly in front of the park? There’s an entire elementary school on one side of the park, with a parking lot that is probably not very full after school hours and outside of church service times.
Can y’all please slow down when you drive on Adair? It’s a residential street, not the Indy 500.
Thank you Diane!! I don’t know why people get so worked up about those bikes! I think they are awesome. And I like them even more when others dislike them.
I’ve always thought this guy was just trying to protect his yard/garden from being trampled by people unloading kids & dogs to go to the park. I don’t think there is a sidewalk on that side so passengers step right out onto his yard.
He has a wonderful garden. He was gardening in his yard long before all the buzz about urban farming and garden to table food. He’s always been pleasant when I’ve stopped to ask him about his garden. Never experienced any curmudgeonly vibe
Diane your point about parking cars vs bikes is right on. Lots of Decaturites park on the street in front of their houses, what’s wrong with parking the bikes there ?
I’d rather maneuver around those bikes than around a couple of SUVs or Honda Odysseys .
Diane your point about parking cars vs bikes is right on. Lots of Decaturites park on the street in front of their houses, what’s wrong with parking the bikes there ?
________
People park cars on the street because they have to park them somewhere, not because they are intent on forcing others to do or not do something. Parking bikes on the street, on the other hand, serves no purpose other than to prevent others from doing something they are perfectly entitled to do.
No sorry I don’t agree that people park on the street because of no other alternative. Drive around – look at houses with 1 or 2 cars parked in front – 1 or no cars parked in the driveway. Since many – I’d say most – Decatur houses have more than one car , people do this for convenience – they don’t want to have to juggle the cars every time one of the drivers wants to leave.
Are home owners expected to park all vehicles in the driveway and leave the street free for other wanting to park there?
I think this guy on Adair probably deserves the same resident parking only privileges granted to homes in other busy parking areas. The parking situation for the park is at least as busy and disruptive as the parking situation around TDS.
I’d say he’s entitled to park cars or bikes in front of his own house. If someone doesn’t like it, they can park in front of their own house in protest.
House on the corner of Commerce and Ponce (across Commerce from Dec. First Methodist) . Under construction for the last 20 years.
Beach Party morning after when everyone shows up at the crack of dawn to get free sand.
Pink fence festooned with mirrors on Oakview Road (technically outside the city limit, but barely).
1.) All the parking decks where my SUV won’t fit.
1a&b.) The fire hydrant and the concrete block those darn drivers keep hitting.
2.) All the roads in Decatur that used to be four lanes.
3.) How nice everything used to be back in the good ‘ol days of street cars, horses & buggies, and how kid friendly the area was back in the day.
4.) How we don’t have a Trader Joe’s and we don’t have a cinema in the community.
4a.) Where the Dollar General is going to go.
5.) How we don’t have a transit system that will drop you off at the front door of where you want to go. (You may have to walk a block or two)
6.) How the state DOT can’t abbreviate Clairemont, much less Clairmont.
7.) The office building that looks remarkably like a school on Scott Blvd.
8.) The RR bridge that all the 18-wheelers used to hit. you can still see the marks on the bridge.
9.) The Great Lakes Neighborhood with all the street names. That’s just brilliant.
10.) Although not Decatur, I’d show them that amazing house with the amazing yard and the amazing gate on Powell Street in Cabbage Town. That’s just amazingly odd.
re 10)
the one with all the street signs on/in the fence? or another?
That’s the one.
Really, you need just sit on the front porch and let it pass you by. Recently, I saw a) a couple wearing formal attire while riding bikes bearing “just married” signs (who kindly rang their bells at my fascinated kids); and b) a girl riding a pogo stick while walking a dog. And there used to be a man who would ride through Oakhurst on horseback in cowboy attire on weekend nights (I hope he still does, but I haven’t seen him in a while).
The horse riders were at the Oakhurst 100 year party and they apparently moved out of town.
1) The freaky blue pylons on the square and the scary happy flying kids
2) Dairy Queen
3) Pin-Ups on Ponce (you did say wild).
We’d go keep watch by the railroad tracks near Farmstead 303 at dusk, which is supposedly when the ghost of a Depression-era suicide appears in full 30’s regalia. Then we’d cruise down to The Thinking Man for a beer & a board game.
wow! i’ve never heard about the ghost before! tell me more, decaturites!
The way I heard the tale was on a “ghost walking tour” I took my sister on last year (there’s a company here in Decatur that does them). I’m a major skeptic (although I’m willing to be flexible if someone can actually show me something), but the walk was fun, and the tales very entertaining. The really good ones, though, are in Charleston– the tour guides are great, and the stories are fascinating!
I don’t get the little wiggle on 3rd Ave right across from the Oakhurst Park pavilion.
I’d take them into Best Time on the square. Weirdest retail concept ever. Perfect for when your shopping list reads: Jelly Bellies, giant cubic zirconia earrings, cheesy hat, slice.
and du rag.
Um, beg your pardon, but that’s “doo rag”. And do they actually sell them in there???
Yes, they really do sell them there! I think the package said “Du Rag” in the store. Interesting assortment of…stuff.
Wikipedia says:
do-rag, also spelled doo-rag, du-rag, durag
Cuba, “Da rag?”
I was being feceshus.
Oh, me err, duh. Perdóneme.
LOL! You win.
“feceshus”
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!
Do they still have the sign that says “Hot Dog” or did they sell it already?
I have read the comments so far and can only conclude that Decatur is frightfully “normal.”
*gasp* How DARE you, sir?
If the mass populace of decatur wasn’t about peace and love, they’d consider them to be fightin words!
I would be sure to drive a guest past the Lustron house on Drexel. Very cool. They had an entire Lustron home inside MOMA a few years ago as part of an exhibit about manufactured housing. http://www.lustronconnection.org/
I have never paid attention and i drive down drexel daily! i need to go see which one it is
It’s between Ponce and Emerson on the east side of the street. You need magnets to hang pictures in a Lustron house!
Good one. Lived in that neighborhood for 7 years and totally forgot about that cool house.
As of Monday, the “double” bike lanes on W Ponce
The guy who rides around town with the weird white futuristic motorcycle thing. All the kids on our street stop playing when that thing comes around.
The railroad crossing with no gate (technically not Decatur, but close enough).
The line to Taqueria de Sol.
The intersection of McDonough and College and the railroad crossing.
The old couple statue outside the courthouse (I do love them though)
DECATURKJ: That was “Cowboy” and his rescued horse “Cherokee”. He let me ride her in Oakhurst a few times. Cowboy is still around. I think Cherokee moved onto a larger place to run around.
I add to the list…
The back of Watershed, late in the evenings, when what seems to be hundreds of cats converge on the dumpsters. I feel like I’m watching “Cats” on broadway every time I see it.
The house on Second Avenue that decorates for EVERY holiday and I mean EVERY holiday. My favorite being Easter with the big plastic bunnies from the 1970’s.
The pond in the cemetary where the guy who walks around in his underwear goes to feed the ducks about three times a day. I did see him in plaid pants and a blazer last week, with the weather turning cold and all.
Is that Naked Santa or a different guy?
Nancy Wilkinson on Adair Street decorates for EVERY holiday. She won the Decorate Decatur grand prize for her Pirate Ship themed display, and is taking down Halloween decorations …NOT to put up Xmas, but to put up Thanksgiving!!!
Ah, thanks! When we first moved to Oakhurst in 2003, we saw Cowboy all the time in Oakhurst Village. Just one of the many things that let us know we’d picked the right place to live! I thought that was him at the 100 year anniversary party, but I wasn’t sure– glad to know he and Cherokee still seem to be doing well.
One of the coolest places to visit in Decatur is the oldest bottle opener manufacturer in the USA. It’s over in East Decatur Station
I would show them the guy that rides down our street every Saturday on a motorized bicycle. It’s an old bicycle with maybe a lawn mower motor on it. very weird.
the tunnels under Scott, Glendale, N. Decatur, & Church Street.
please elaborate?
there’s tunnels under glendale? oh where oh where? the creek bit? or something more elaborate? please do tell
The Cob House at the Oakhurst Garden.
A list isn’t complete without …
– The great old house on E. College with carousel horses on the porch
– Guitar Red, Decatur’s fabulous blues-playing ambassador and trash talker extraordinaire
Ryan Gainey’s gardens.
His garden was featured on the Garden Smart program last weekend. Does anyone know if it is okay to just show up and walk around without an invite?
Last time I walked by there, AMB, he had a small box set out for donations if you care to tour the garden.
There used to be a house on Church, near Glenlake Park, that had a little front yard replica of Stonehenge made out of cobblestones. It was awesome.
Yes, I loved Stonehenge. But I thought it was only on display for the solstice.
It always reminded me of the scene from Spinal Tap.
In danger of being crushed by a dwarf!
The attack geese in the cemetary.
Did anyone mention the whatever-it-is statues-and-things storage behind the Marley?
Also, if you go to the front of the planetarium at Agnes Scott, stand right in the middle of the solar system embedded in the cement (which is itself very cool) and face away from the planetarium, you are now in an accidentally perfect place to hear your voice echo. Known in my house as the Echolocation.
I don’t see my post. Sorry if it is a repeat. My fav thing is the lab on the square’s sign that announces paternity tests and passport photos.
Not sure if it still does, but it used to also announce syphilis tests and drug tests. I think that lab alone was a major deterrent to the gentrification of the square. But with Cakes and Ale moving in next to it, I think it will lose the battle to replicate the Five Points MARTA station atmosphere and will now only be a quaint reminder of the past as opposed to setting the tone for that area.
That sign is the best thing on the square! If you want to lobby for it to be taken down, I’d love to have it.
It makes me think of the Southwest Airlines ad campaign: Wanna get away?
I love seeing the lady who (I think) lives in the house on ASC’s property on Candler who walks the neighborhood holding her transistor radio to her ear. Fascinating.
I’d make sure to bring my guests by the courthouse at dusk just to see if the statues of the people on the park bench startle them.
I’d also walk them through the tunnel under the RR trax near Agnes Acott.
Too bad My sister’s place is gone – that bar was interesting.
ok why did i see 3 booths of people in the diner when i drove by about 530?!?!?!?
is it open finally?!?!??!
Around 9:30, it was down to one booth of 3 people. Looked like workers were meeting. Boxes still stacked in places.
I wonder if this will be a reflection of service speeds.
Customer: “I would like a club sandwich please and a glass of water.”
Staff: “Good choice, I’ll be right back in three to six weeks with your drink.”
I hope not, I’ve been to the one in marrietta these people own about half a dozen times in the past 2 yrs and never had bad food or service so i’ve got my fingers crossed for this one!
Scott: Yes, I am talking about naked Santa.
Cars on school lawns.
Gypsy Camp!!
Where in the world is the guy who is very endowed and walked around in spandex with a walking stick? The very first time I saw him, I truly thought he was an elderly woman from Africa. Several viewings later I realized my mistake. Used to be all over Decatur, Druid Hills, Poncey Highland. Haven’t seen for a couple of years.
baton bob? ive never seen him anywhere but random places on ponce in the poncey highland area
No, not Baton Bob. The appropriately named Willy Terry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O38LliskWLE