City Profile // Undisclosed Atlanta

Atlanta has many hidden gems.  Great hole in the wall restaurants, serene nature hide outs, and abandoned buildings.  Explore yourself or ask your other ATL native friends what their secret spots are and you're sure to find something you didn't know existed.  One of my favorite visits so far has been an abandoned prison. (I think) it's technically Atlanta government property so (I think) it is illegal to be on the property but so is the life of an urban explorer.

It's a super interesting place.  Pretty trashed overall and covered in graffiti.  Although some of the graffiti is just tags and penis' some of it is really artful. The garbage and debris everywhere is actually intriguing. There are still old jail cots and cafeteria benches strewn about in pieces.  You can walk down the cell blocks. A lot of the cells are locked shut but have been broken into (irony).

I've visited a working prison and that feeling was kind of shock.  Coming to this abandoned prison it wasn't shock it was a more invested interest because everything about what was happening is unknown to you.  I want to say it was in use in the 90's and then there was a fire there sometime in 2014.

There isn't much else to say and i won't bore you with words any longer.  Below is a gallery of some of my favorite photos from one of my visits.  If you do seek this place out; be safe and bring a flashlight.

Breakfast of Champions // Highland Bakery

This is my all time favorite place to visit in Atlanta.  I have never been disappointed coming here.  Breakfast is the love of my life and Highland Bakery is bae. It's located in the Old Fourth Ward historic district of Atlanta and is really close to a bunch of cool stuff in the A.  My favorite menu item is shrimp and grits because they do a great job with that southern classic, adding a creamy jalepeno cheese sauce and a side of grilled foccacia.  Here is a close up of that goodness

Another menue favorite is the fried chicken benedict.  I'm not a high fan of eggs benedict cause egg yolk weirds me out as well as hollandaise sauce.  This takes the idea of eggs benedict but uses fried chicken instead canadian bacon, gravy instead of hollandaise, and a biscuit instead of an english muffin.  Yeah, it;s crazy and huge and delicious. And when they ask "grits or potatoes", I always go for grits ;)

Sometimes when I bring friends, the insist on getting "The Highland Breakfast" which is totally fine, it's the classic bacon, eggs, grits etc.  But I always tell them, "try something else", but of course my opinion goes unheeded.  To taut them, I get the cilantro corn pancakes.  It sounds crazy and weird and it kind of is but in all the best ways.  The cakes are savory, with little chunks if sweet corn in them.  They are layered with beans and eggs and avocado and salsa.  It's so unexpected and so so so good. 

The only thing that can make breakfast better is an appetizer.  And Highland has that.  It's this cinnamon bun.  OMG.  They mill their own grains here (side note: buy bread on the way out!) and this cinnamon roll tastes wholesome rather than overly sugary.  Mmmm. 

I go here multiple times every time I am in town.  If someone hasn't been before, I make it my mission to introduce them to it.  It is always a hit.