Discovering Downtown.

I got to see an old friend today that's been away for the summer for an internship. She finally got back in town, and we spent a lovely afternoon shopping and eating in downtown Athens. It was incredibly hot outside today...I know yesterday was the first day of summer, but I don't think you can ever prepare yourself for the heavy, oppressive heat that the South is [unfortunately] known for. But even with the heat, there's nothing like a little girl-talk and retail therapy to brighten your day!

Our first stop today was at East-West Bistro on Broad Street. I've been wanting to try this place forever, and it did not disappoint! I had the chicken carbonara [hold the peas, please!] and it was soooo yummy. The garlic cream sauce was perfect - not too heavy, but full of flavor. And the smoked bacon...mmm, I love bacon. My lunch date, Jourdana, had the Sweet Georgia Brown - I didn't try it, but it looked delicious as well. It was an open-faced sandwich of turkey, ham, cheddar and bacon topped with tomatoes and a spinach and fontina bechamel [basically, a white sauce made with flour and milk]. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of anything - we both were starving and dug in before the thought even crossed my mind.

After lunch, we set out to shop! The first store we hit was Cillie's. This store recently got a new owner, so now it is not only filled with gently-used and new clothes, but TONS of amazing jewelry and vintage pieces. There are amazing Louis Vuitton and Chanel bags scattered about the store, as well as Gucci watches, Chanel jewelry, and vintage RayBan sunglasses. It's definitely worth checking out - the prices are great, too! I bought a watch there that was a replica of this $495 Michael Kors watch for under $20, and it's awesome!

On our way to our main destination, we poked our head into Minx, another really unique, local vintage store downtown on Clayton Street. We didn't get to stay nearly as long as we liked in there because our parking meters were running out, and we absolutely had to get to Agora! But, we promised we would make it back very soon!

Our last stop was our goal for the day - Agora! Jourdana, found a great pair of vintage leather Durango cowboy boots for only $40! It was a total steal! I know I just found this place, but I am in love with it and I really think I could shop there every day and find something I had never noticed before.

This brought our shopping to an end, and we parted ways for the day. But I wasn't done exploring downtown just yet. For my Speech Comm class, I had to visit the Lyndon House Arts Center. I've seen it before, but I had no idea what it really was. I was pleasantly surprised! The original house faces Hoyt Street, but when you go around the corner, there is an entire museum added on behind the house. There are all kinds of unique pieces located throughout the museum, as well as art studios and classrooms. But my absolute favorite part of the museum was touring the actual Lyndon House itself. It has been restored as much as possible to it's pre-1900 condition, and it's amazing! It reminded me of the houses you can tour in old cities like Charleston and Savannah. It made me realize that I neglect the fact that Athens has such amazing history that I'm sometimes not aware of just because I live here. When you do go on vacation to places like Charleston, you take full advantage of the neat, touristy things there are to do there that teach you the history of the place. But sometimes when you live in the midst of one of those places, it's very easy to overlook those things. I'm going to try and make it my mission to learn more about this city I've adopted as my home over my last year as a student living here!