End of Summer Break

This last week of summer break was actually mostly work. Monday night, a colleague and I visited Sweetwater Brewing here in Atlanta for dinner and beer.

It is a big facility.

I played cribbage on Tuesday evening with the usual group. The rest of the week I came home for supper and mostly read a book or knitted until it was time for bed. I know I won't get many evenings like that this academic year. On Friday, nine people from my division gathered to play board games for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I got to try out my new copy of Bouba/Kiki that showed up this week. They played three times, so they must have liked it. We also played DiceCapades, which was a silly party game, and Taboo, which was fun.

The First Year Seminar classes met on Friday, during Orientation, so I got to meet the students in my section. My classroom is on the second floor of Hearst and I think it's quite cute. That building was built in 1915. The wooden floors creak, the walls have decades of bad paint on them. Real double-hung windows, and an irregular shape, with not quite enough space for 20 people.

The classroom I get to use for FYS.

On Saturday morning I decided to take my recycling to CHaRM (the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials) in Decatur. I made an appointment online over breakfast and then loaded up the car. It was very well organized, and they take just about anything, but they are only open two days a week. It was a gray, drizzly morning. After that chore, I detoured to Decatur city center to see the Dekalb County Courthouse. Since I've been collecting photos of county courthouses, I thought I should hurry up and visit my own county. Plus, last fall a new statue of John Lewis was installed. The modern courthouse is next door and it is concrete and glass. This historic building now houses the historical society and there is a museum. I need to go again when it is open.

That's the historic courthouse in the back. Statue of John Lewis in front.

Sunday I went to a pastry shop in Johns Creek because I had a coupon for a free sample plate. The shop is called Rose Valley Sweets and they specialize in Persian pastry and beverages. The treats were great and so was the Persian Rose Flower tea.

Dubai chocolate parfait, pistachio baklava, pistachio cake, and chocolate cream puff.

Next I went to Buford to try a couple of breweries that turned out to occupy the same block downtown. First was Elixir, on Main Street, with a view of the ubiquitous railroad tracks. It was a nice taproom with thick wood tables and lots of open space and the owner (I think) was behind the bar. I had three samples before deciding on a sour that tasted like green apple.

The second stop in Buford, just around the corner, was Meander. That taproom was a little smaller but the fermentation tanks were sharing the room. There was a corner with some overstuffed chairs and a sofa where I sat to drink their brown ale.

Both breweries are on the Gwinnett brew tour so I was pleased to get two more check-ins and two more stickers for the collection. Tomorrow the semester starts!