My trip to Atlanta began with local beer, local Indian food, and a baby. I stayed with my friends John and Alison, and they happen to not only have great taste in take-out and craft beer, but they also share a home with the most precious child in the universe. Soooo right out of the gate — good trip.
Just like the song says, the good times kept rolling after that. I started the morning of my book signing wandering around Little Five Points and was pleasantly surprised at how nostalgic it was — because the same locals that had been around when I’d visited a decade before are still thriving. That’s extremely rare and it was wonderful to see. I camped out at Aurora Coffee for a bit to send press releases. Press release sending is generally the bane of my existence, but the monotony was broken when a stranger walked up to me and asked, “Are you the localist?”
No, really — that happened. I was super excited until I figured out it was Eric, the guy who’d gotten himself talked into interviewing me later that day at A Cappella Books. Then I was less impressed with myself, but still excited because Eric is sort of a buy-local rock star (he co-founded Record Store Day and has lots of other impressive credentials, too). We hung out for half an hour or so talking about buying local and Amazon and Apple and Starbucks and coalitions. I know it sounds boring, but I promise it wasn’t. I love a good chat about coalitions.
I visited a few other local purveyors of food and coffee (mostly coffee) — Highland Bakery, Dr. Bombay’s, etc. (check my Instagram for details), then wrapped up the day with another chat with Eric at A Cappella Books, a fantastically curated bookstore and the kind of place that makes you remember what buying local is all about. (It’s all about creativity, community, connection and art, btw.)
I’m on my way to North Carolina right now (I’m writing this blog five minutes after midnight from a very crowded train), but I’m thankful for a great time in Atlanta, and I’m honored to have met people who work hard every day for the localist cause.
It truly helps when my readers share my events, so if you live in the Carolinas or the D.C. area, please spread the word that I’ll be around this week. Find details here on my events calendar, but the short version is that I’ll be in Wilmington (Monday), Asheville (Wednesday), Arlington (Thursday) and Durham (next Wednesday) very soon, signing books and speaking about localism. Hope to see you (or, you know, your friends) there!