i visited barnsley gardens over the weekend while doing a film project with the yacht rock revue. it’s located about an hour and a half north of atlanta in adairsville, ga at the base of the blue ridge mountains. these days, barnsley gardens functions as a resort where you can stay, play golf, quail hunt, or have your wedding. there is also a historic district on the grounds where godfrey barnsley originally built his mansion and gardens featuring flowers from around the world. here you can visit the beautiful 160-year-old heirloom gardens, a museum, and the mansion ruins.

the ruins were really amazing! it felt like you were walking around in what’s left of an old european castle. there were these great vines growing all over the walls, adding to its mystique. i was envious of the event going on while i took photos, having a party in the ruins of an 1840s mansion seemed like the best thing ever. the museum had photos of the estate before it fell to ruins and if you are lucky enough to catch the curator, an oral history of the barnsley family and gardens as well.

barnsley gardens is very beautiful and has a rich history. even if you’re not looking to stay at the resort, the heirloom gardens, ruins, and museum are open to the public and definitely worth the drive for a short getaway from atlanta.

– ryan

barnsley gardens

597 barnsley gardens road
adairsville, ga 30103
770-773-7480

we just discovered a great bbq restaurant called garden produce & country store! on the front page of their website they say “welcome to your neighborhood barbeque.” we wish they were doing business in our neighborhood!

we woke up this morning and decided to go on a ‘bbq adventure!’ the only rule was we had to try a place neither of us had been to before. after doing a bit of research and reading some reviews, we decided to venture out to a tiny place in stone mountain, mostly because of the words in this review. we were not let down!

we are big fans of ‘side of the road’ and ‘hole in the wall’ style restaurants that have great food. this quaint bbq joint totally fit the bill! it can be found on an unassuming canopy road near stone mountain. you’ll know you’re there when you see a couple of red gas pumps and a few cars parked on the side of a house. garden produce was quite small, with only a few tables for seating, but featured a comfortable rustic atmosphere. diners on the patio greeted us with a cheerful, “hello,” as we approached the restaurant.

we both really enjoyed the bbq; it was well worth the drive! ryan got ribs with field peas and baked beans and i got pulled pork with squash casserole and fried okra. the meals came with a delicious slice of corn bread, a pickle and a pineapple wedge. we are pretty picky about our bbq and often don’t like the same style, but we both really loved our meals! the ribs were great, not too smoky but still flavorful, and the pulled pork was excellent as well. plus the prices were very reasonable.

there were plenty of sides to choose from and they all looked great. some of the veggies came from their huge garden, including the field peas and squash. they also offer a homemade pastrami sandwich that sounded amazing! the country store sold seasonal produce and various jarred products, including pickles, jams and relishes.

we’ll definitely be going back again soon!

– ryan & gub

garden produce & country store

567 stephenson road
stone mountain, ga 30087
770-413-0338
gardenproduce@bellsouth.net

we had a really great time being part of the kirkwood tour of homes! we met a lot of nice neighbors and got to show off our cute little house. it turns out one of our neighbors becky writes for various blogs and wrote about our house here and here!

we’ve spent the last couple of months working on house projects and doing the most thorough spring cleaning we’ve done in ages. our friend and neighbor miguel martinez took photos of our house in all its de-cluttered glory. he is a really amazing photographer who works for the mundo hispánico. he took so many great photos we decided to spread them out over a few posts.

this first post covers our front porch, family room, media room, backyard and garden.

– ryan & gub

the second part of our tour of home series features our office, bedrooms, and bathroom, which includes our vintage snow globe collection.

again, all of the photos were taken by our friend miguel martinez!

– ryan & gub

the third and final part of our tour of homes series covers our kitchen and back deck. we’ve done a lot of work on our kitchen over the last year. we tiled our kitchen floor, added a backsplash, repainted, recovered our kitchen chairs, and added new roman shades to the windows. we plan on doing posts on our renovations, so we won’t get into too many details on the upgrades right now.

again, all of the photos were taken by our friend miguel martinez!

– ryan & gub

we are very excited to be a part of the kirkwood tour of homes! our home is one of only eight houses on the tour, so we feel honored to be asked to participate. the tour is part of the 8th annual kirkwood spring fling, which is going on this weekend in historic kirkwood. the festival also features a 5k race on saturday morning and an open air artist market with a ton of vendors, good eats, and live bands. admission to the festival is free from 10am-7pm on saturday at bessie branham park. tickets for the kirkwood tour of homes can be purchased at the festival or at local kirkwood businesses.

after the festival we hope post regularly again, we’ve spent all of our free time fixing up the house.

– ryan & gub

kirkwood spring fling
2051 delano drive ne
atlanta, georgia 30317

tour of homes
saturday, may 15th, 2010
sunday, may 16th, 2010
from 12pm until 6pm

5k race
saturday, may 15th, 2010
starts at 9am

artist market
saturday, May 15th, 2010
from 10am until 7pm

we went to a really great fabric store in atlanta yesterday called whipstitch. it just opened on the west side near octane coffee. it’s billed as atlanta’s only in-town sewing lounge and offers amazing fabrics, sewing supplies, books, and all types of classes from beginner to advanced.

we’re very excited about a hip in-town fabric store with a great selection of designs you can check out in person! no more looking at small pictures on reprodepot or etsy to decide if a fabric or its color will work. plus no shipping fees!

we’ve been wanting to recover our kitchen chairs for a while but haven’t found the right fabric. the selection at whipstitch is fabulous though and it didn’t take us long to find what we were looking for.

– ryan & gub

whipstitch

1000 marietta st, suite 102
atlanta, ga 30318
404.897.1114
info@whipstitchfabrics.com

inspired by gob from arrested development, i got ryan a gift certificate to go on a segway tour of atlanta for valentines day in 2008. with the certificate expiring soon, we went ahead and booked our 10 am tour during the winter blast of 2010. we bundled ourselves up and headed out on a three hour tour…

after the initial awkwardness, the segways were pretty easy to operate and really fun! the smirk, smile or laugh on people’s faces as you whizzed by was pretty hilarious. we felt futuristic! although we wish it hadn’t been soooo cold, it was pretty fun to spend the morning exploring our own city on a weird motorized personal transporter.

– words by gub & photos by ryan

we recently discovered these beautiful old harness and shoe factory buildings in buford, ga. now known as tannery row, the buildings have been re-adapted and are currently home to many businesses and an artist colony.

– words by gub & photos by ryan

welcome to our blog!

-ryan & gub