Central Park: Something for Everyone

Central Park in Cumming, GA has something for everyone with a great social atmosphere.

Trails

We've been going to Central Park quite a lot lately now that the marathon training is in full force.   The one mile paved trail is convenient for easy days and recovery days where I run three miles or fewer. Anything more than three laps around the loop becomes mind-numbing.

The park has a few hills that are great for building leg muscles, which will help with speed in the long term. There’s an insanely steep hill on the south end of the park heading down towards the creek. Look for the lone weeping willow. The more gradual hills are towards the southeast. I’d run up and down these with my husband a few times each week for about two weeks.

Mountain Biking

I’ve gone mountain biking with my husband about four or five times here. The trails aren’t labeled very well anymore since park staff is rearranging and rehabilitating some parts of the park. Generally speaking, most of the course to the northwest of the park is green. Going southbound is gets into blue territory with a challenging patch under the trees in the southeast corner of the park. I hate this area. Repeat: hate.  It’s riddled with roots, rocks, gravel, and death-inducing pump tracks that have sharp pointy rocks at the bottom and slippery roots at the top. Real mountain bikers generally like these challenging parts, though. I just want to cry. *Sorry hubby*

Image by Kurt Picker

I’ve never touched the black trail. Myth tells me that it’s a cardio challenge up a huge mound that use to be a landfill. The mound rests in southwest overlooking water purification center. The hillsides are steep and the path is narrow in some places.

Disc Golf

The park staff recently rerouted the disc golf course. Chaos ensued. People who like the old path are still taking it, generally working in the opposite direction of those who are following the new course. Overtime, I think people will get use to the new arrangement but for now it’s a cluster-mess of flying discs.

Quite a few pro players come out to test their skills here. It’s a decent challenge, with a variety of terrain and obstacles to overcome. Most of the trails do not interfere with pedestrian access to the park, which I like. As a rookie disc golfer I like being able to practice without the fear that I’m going to knock someone’s head off.

Facilities

The onsite gym is great for exercising on rainy days. It does require a membership,  though,  which is competitively priced to other gyms.

The facilities are maintained quite well from what I’ve seen. As far as complaints go, some request more short term storage for those who simply want to walk the indoor track, take a class, or play basketball without having to leave valuables in their car or on the sidelines. The lockers are in the upstairs weight room, a short trek away. What? If you’re at the gym to exercise, why complain about walking upstairs to the locker rooms? It’s called exercise.

Atmosphere

The best part about Central Park is the active atmosphere.  There is always a decent crowd of (generally) kind and good-spirited folks.Seeing people of all ages walking, jogging, playing disc golf, soccer, football, softball,  baseball, and cheerleading is really encouraging. It makes you want to be more fit!  The people-watching also makes the repetitive runs around the track more entertaining.

If you live in Forsyth County, you should definitely check it out!

Winter preparations for spring gardening

My little plot isn't fit for winter gardening. It gets zero sun. The good news is that I can focus my free time elsewhere (maybe learning sign language, touching up my Spanish, home decor, and marathon training). 

More good news? I have time to prep the garden for next spring. I got such a late start gardening this year. It will be nice to be ahead of the game in 2014. I've compiled a list of ways to prepare your garden for spring. Hope it helps fellow beginning gardeners!

Image via terrysliceoflife blog

End of season sales The end of the warm months is the ideal time to scope out season clearances. Many stores get rid of their inventory in preparation for holiday decor. They will certainly want the old inventory gone in time for next spring's arrivals. These sales will allow you to stack on up durable goods at discount prices: gardening supplies, tools, fertilizers and mulches. Buy a few bags of fertilizers each month, spreading out the costs of starting the new garden.

Clean house Remove any plants that have reached the end of their lifeline. Removing them prevents mold, pests, diseases, viruses, and all sorts of nonsense from working their way into surrounding plants and soil. Toss old plants into the compost bin unless they've already bolted/seeded.

Ground cover While ground cover isn't necessary, it is a great soil conditioner. Many gardeners prefer alfalfa and soybeans. Both add nitrogen to the soil and their presence prevents erosion in winter rain, frosts, and melts. This is particularly helpful for raise beds that aren't reinforced with wood or plastic.

Image by Cyndy Crist

Mulch the beds If you aren't using live ground cover, consider mulching your plant beds. It's best to do this after the first frost; in theory, it keeps the ground temperature even. If the ground is frozen, it will stay frosty. You'll have fewer pests trying to burrow in it.

Continue composting The composting process slows down in the cool winter months but it will continue nonetheless. Keep adding to your compost heap or bin and turn the compost every four to six week. In late winter, blend your compost into the soil so that it will acclimate. Without this settling time, an unbalanced compost may continue to breakdown around your young plants and seeds, which can cause more harm than good.

Add garden buddies Don't forget to add earthworms and ground beetles to help micro processes continue in your garden. Don't worry about them freezing. That's rare here in the southeast and when it does get nippy they just burrow down further into the soil.

Image via todayshomeowner.com

Sterilize your pots and containers This is new to me. Remove old plants from your containers, empty the soil, and clean them with warm sudsy water. This way, they don’t carry old diseases to your new transplants or seeds.

Tool preparation Take a few days during the cold months to sharpen your tools and repair any equipment. Do as much as you can indoors, of course. By investing a little time here and there, you will be in tip-top shape for spring without much effort.

Dia de los Muertos at Bone Garden Cantina

Unfortunately, I have to recant my glowing review of Bone Garden. I Googled their number and then called to ask about reservations for four. The woman hung up on me.

I went to the website and read that they don't accept reservations, only call ahead for parties of 8 or more. This info isn't available on their Google listing, which is what I used. Even still, the hostess hung up on me like I was supposed to know. She could've just told me the policy instead of being an ass. 

That little even conjured up every other rude thing that a server has done during our past visits to Bone Garden. There were quite a few, actually, including a server who insisted that I ordered a beef taco when I didn't. I understand English and Spanish. I wouldn't have ordered a meat that I don't eat. the list continues...

 I guess that's the drawback to edgy restaurants. Some staff mistake their coolness *rolling eyes* as an excuse to be rude to their patrons. Oddly, patrons keep them in business. Asi es...

My husband and I threw a house party for Dia de los Muertos last year. We weren't prepared for it this year (didn't even think about it until Halloween) so we opted to head out for the night.

Bone Garden, a locally owned Mexican restaurant in Atlanta, has parties each year. We love the place so it was our first pick. It gets packed early so my husband had the good mind to schedule our double date for 5pm.

We started off with chips a guacamole (always a good call) and a round of drinks. My husband took advantage of the special, a mini jarrito that is filled with samples of tequila throughout the night. It's a good way to try new tequilas without committing to an entire shot of something that might rip the lining from your throat. The rest of us had cocktails.

Sad news: my absolute favorite drink, Pancho Villa, was taken off the menu, disowned and discarded! That's because few people understand the glory of tequila's smokey cousin, Mezcal. Think of it this way: tequila is a party girl in a miniskirt that talks too much. She's fun for a while but, ha'mercy, you'll need a break. Mezcal is that chick's sexier older sister. She's got a hint of mystery, an air of refinement. You'll want to party with her all night and well into the next day. It's that good.

But since most folks like cheap dates my favorite Mezcal cocktail was taken off of the menu. They replaced it with a margarita that has mezcal in it but it's just not the same. I thought that was the start of a bad night. Fortunately, I was wrong.

The food was stellar as always. It's an a la carte menu, giving guests the opportunity to sample and savor a variety of options without ending with a heafty tab. Between the four of us we had: a pollo barbacoa quesadilla, carne adobo taco, barbacoa de chivo (goat) taco, lemon shrimp empanadas,chicken machucada empanada, spicy chicarron sope, almojo de ajo sope, a burrito (don't remember which)...probably some other stuff...ending with mexican hot chocolate and churros, and rice pudding. There was not a single complaint at the table. All of the food was spectacular.

The atmosphere alone is worth the trip. On a daily basis, there is Day of the Dead artwork everywhere. And I think it's a requirement that the wait staff have at least five visible tattoos. Just seeing them walk around can be pretty entertaining if you're into body art. In honor of the celebration, they amped up the Dia de los Muertos decorations and the servers painted their faces. It was creep-tastic! About midway through the night, three ladies in sexy red costumes danced on top of the bar. It was mild enough for general audiences but it still added to the party atmosphere.

Oh, and we got a sugar skull that we named Paco! He's currently on our mantel. I don't have the heart to eat him...though my husband took a bite out of the back of his head. Poor little guy.

Next time you're searching for Dia de los Muertos plans--or just fresh Mexican food in Atlanta--keep Bone Garden in mind.

Or not, if you're determined to get good service. Geesh I hate when good restaurants don't live up to their reputations!

Apps and Gadgets that help me train for the marathon. Got any suggestions?

http://ericajarrell.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/apps-and-gadgets-for-training/