The homeless man's head rested on his backpack, his yellow prescription glasses still on his face.

To the railroad detective, who spotted the rag-tag man loitering in the tree-shaded lot by the tracks the day before, it looked like he was taking a nap.

But the man wasn't sleeping. He was dead, covered in ants. Investigators found pennies and denture adhesive in the pockets, insulin and syringes in his backpack and a MARTA card and a Six Flags Over Georgia contract employee ID in his wallet.

Fulton County Medical Examiner's case 07-0989 appeared to be open and shut: Life expectancy is not good for 63-year-old alcoholic diabetics on the street.

But the life and death of the former Atlanta city official, who worked for Mayor Andrew Young in the 1980s and was known by two other future mayors, was anything but simple.

Robert F. Sumbry apparently never recovered from a hard, notorious fall that sent him to federal prison and forever altered his life.

Sumbry's nine siblings had not heard from him in at least 15 years, a sister in Florida said. He just faded away after being released from prison.

Ex-Atlanta official dies homeless | ajc.com

Over 150 years ago, the land that is now Atlanta belonged to the Creek and Cherokee Indians. The United States was well into the War of 1812 when the first white settlement, Fort Peachtree, was established on the banks of the Chattahoochee River near the Cherokee village of Standing Peachtree. The Creek Nation ceded their lands to the State of Georgia in 1825. The Cherokees lived with their white neighbors until 1835 when the leaders of the Cherokee nation agreed to leave their lands and move west under the Treaty of New Echota. At that time, Georgia officially took possession of Cherokee lands, an act that led to the infamous Trail of Tears.

Early settlers in the Atlanta area were farmers and craftsmen from Virginia, the Carolinas and the mountains of North Georgia. They obtained their land by lottery disbursement and were, for the most part, deeply religious, hard-working, small landholders. They owned few slaves and lived in harmony with their Indian neighbors. They established churches and schools, traveled to Decatur for “store-bought” goods and marketed their cotton in Macon, 100 miles south.

They were as close to a yeoman (small farmers/craftsmen) society as possible in the ante-bellum South. A few of their pre-Civil War homes, churches, cemeteries and mills still exist in the Metropolitan Atlanta area. Atlanta’s inception was a combination of geography and necessity, spawned by the steam engine. In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build a state railroad to provide a trade route from the Georgia coast to the Midwest. The sparsely settled Georgia Piedmont was chosen as the terminal for a railroad that was to run “from some point on the Tennessee line near the Tennessee River, commencing... near Rossville... to a point on the southeastern bank of the Chattahoochee River” accessible to branch railroads. The new railroad was to be called the Western and Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia.

An experienced army engineer, Colonel Stephen Harriman Long, was selected to choose the most practical route for the new rail line. After thoroughly surveying half-a-dozen routes, Long found it necessary to choose a site eight miles south of the river where connecting ridges and Indian trails converged. He drove a stake into the red clay near what is now Five Points in Downtown Atlanta. The “zero milepost” today is marked by a plaque not far from that very spot in Underground Atlanta. The site staked out by Colonel Long proved to be perfect, the climate ideal. Atlanta is situated on the Piedmont Plateau at an elevation of 1,050 feet, yet there are no natural barriers such as mountains or large bodies of water to impede the city’s growth.

In the fourteen short years between the time Colonel Long drove his marker into the ground and the start of the Civil War, Atlanta grew like the boom towns of the West. Instead of mining, Atlanta struck gold in the rail lines.

History of Atlanta

The Western and Atlantic Railroad Zero Milepost, within the Underground Atlanta Historic District, is located under the Central Ave. viaduct, between Alabama and Wall sts. It is inside a building that currently houses the Georgia State University Security Office. To reach this site, enter the parking garage at the corner of Central Ave. and Alabama St., take the elevator to the basement, and ask for directions to the Security Office.

This marks the spot where Atlanta was founded.

Western & Atlantic Railroad Zero Milepost--Atlanta: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary

There is now a documentary on the home page of the Sopo Bike Coop.

Sopo Bicycle Co-op: Home

Weddings

We are conveniently located in 60 Broad street, Atlanta, 30303.

Our second branch opened in Virginia Highlands.

Please come and visit us in our location. Same great taste and warm welcome.
1099 Euclid Avenue Atlanta GA 30307

Ali Baba's has opened a second location in Little 5 Points, next to Seven Stages. You must go there and eat the Lamb Gyro, or the Falafel. These guys are extremely friendly Turks, led by owner Fevzi. They make the best Gyros and Falafel in town. As soon as you walk in, they'll prove it to you before you pay a dime, as they'll often enthusiastically hand you samples when you walk through the door.

Every time I go in this place, for years at the downtown location, they asked me where I'm from, cause I could be from Turkey. I look generically foreign. I find it charming. In fact, everything about this place is charming: the food, the way they total the price of your meal in their head, the loud turkish techno, the patio, the atmosphere.

Get a Gyro, and eat it on the patio in the alley to the side. Absolutely amazing, and a great spot to relax.

Ali Baba : Best Mediterranean Food In Atlanta : THE BOMB GYROS

A new Peachtree for $1 billion
Details emerge on proposed overhaul to add streetcars, parks

By PAUL DONSKY, MARIA SAPORTA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/14/07

More than 50 years after streetcars vanished from Atlanta, a group of business and civic leaders have a $1 billion, 20-year plan to bring them back along a dramatically revitalized Peachtree Street corridor.

Unveiled Tuesday, the recommendation envisions an overhaul of the city's signature thoroughfare to include new sidewalks and bicycle lanes, improved lighting and landscaping, buried utility lines and a string of small parks and plazas, about one every quarter-mile. The plan, which is being fine-tuned, would be financed in part with new taxes on property owners along the street.

This would be so cool.

A new Peachtree for $1 billion | ajc.com

Terra Bite Lounge is an upscale voluntary payment cafe/deli.

We serve espresso, blended drinks, baked goods, sandwiches, and desserts in a hip upscale setting.

Patrons choose what to pay, and are encouraged to pay what they would elsewhere. You may use this as a convenience feature, e.g. get your daily coffee and drop in a $20 at the end of the week.

We also cheerfully serve those who cannot pay, in a non-stigmatizing customer setting, with no political or religious message, and with full-time availability.

The first space is in Kirkland, WA, on the corner of Kirkland Ave and State Street. If it works out we will open others in areas that actually need it.

Terra Bite shares profits with our baristas and will also donate profits to various charities. Those charities are strictly non-political, non-religious, and entirely non-controversial; they will be listed here on the web site.

Terra Bite is also a console game boutique, offering free XBox/PS3 gaming and games for sale. The console games offer another draw for the public, introduce a greater social aspect to the space, add some revenue, and also let us balance the service and retail aspects of the space for zoning purposes.

Terra Bite is founded by Ervin Peretz and directed by Susan Allsup.

See local press coverage here and here.

Wow. Just Wow.

Terra Bite Lounge

Running from Carmel, 150 miles south of San Francisco, to San Simeon, Big Sur's mass of tight mountains pushes brazenly against the Pacific swell. Kelp forests sway at the feet of rugged sea cliffs. Deep valleys shelter some of the southernmost redwoods. The only way through this fastness is along winding, breathtaking California Route 1.

Other helpful data:

On Foot in Big Sur Country
Big Sur Hiking Trails
Ventana Wilderness - Santa Lucia Mountains
Sierra Club - Santa Lucia Chapter
Ventana Wilderness Alliance

Also worth a stop, despite its touristy qualities, is nearby Point Lobos State Reserve.

Wow, good links. Always wanted to hole up here for a few weeks since I read the book.

Big Sur Without the Crowds

Dekalb County Government Outdoor Range

3905 North Goddard Rd.
Lithonia, GA 30038

Phone: 770-484-3046

Whoah, Dekalb County has a 200 yard rifle range. Public.

Packing.org | Gun range in Georgia | Dekalb County Government Outdoor Range

The Cherokee Gun Club is a private shooting facility located on 115 scenic acres near Gainesville, Georgia. Close enough to be convenient yet secluded enough to be relaxing.
Visitors are welcome at our membership meetings, open events and competitions. Non-members may participate & shoot at all “open” matches and competitions but may not shoot on any other ranges except as a guest of a member.

200 yard rifle range in NE Atlanta.

Cherokee Gun Club ::