A while back I spent a couple incredibly fun days tooling around Alpharetta. The first part is all about Avalon and how to spend the perfect afternoon in Avalon. Here, I’m going to fill you in on what we did the next day, as there’s so much more to Alpharetta beyond Avalon.
I’m no good without my coffee in the morning to give me that boost of caffeine. So, before doing anything, I was glad to get my caffeine fix at Mugs on Milton. While they have plenty of coffee varieties, I opted for a London fog, an Earl Grey based hybrid between tea and latte. Funny thing is I can’t stand Earl Grey tea but I love this drink and so few places make this. Oh and don’t miss out on the maple-glazed scones either.
Maple Glazed Scones at Mugs on Milton
As I said, I’m not much a morning person. Nothing really gets me out of the house early. But as part of our Alpharetta trip, we were up and rearing to go before 8 am. Our first stop after coffee was to tour a farmer’s market. Besides the selection of fruits and vegetables, there were lots of stands with specialty sauces, spice blends and sweets.
Lots of incredible heirloom goodies to be found at the Farmer’s Market
Lots of incredible heirloom goodies to be found at the Farmer’s Market
Next was breakfast at The Diner at North Point. Though I’d sampled their food at a food festival, several years ago, I’d never made it in for a meal. Put aside any notions of your average diner. In fact, “diner” is really a misnomer as this is a gorgeous restaurant with beautiful décor. We sampled wonderful pancakes and omelettes, which were incredibly filling but I can’t wait to come back and sample some other dishes. There was a group having a birthday celebration…for breakfast. I’m totally doing that this year.
Strawberry pancakes and bacon, but omelettes are quite delicious too!
You’ll definitely want to walk a bit after such a filling breakfast. Head on over to main street and browse some of the quirky, fun shops near the Farmer’s Market. One of my favorite stores we stopped in was Sis & Moon’s. They have an eclectic mix of many of the best art / décor items representing the Dirty South. Another unique shop is La Bella Maison with a large offering of unique home décor goods.
Be careful – you’ll want to buy almost everything you see at Sis and Moon’s.
Lunch at Hop Alley
Superb variety of brews and cuisine at Hop Alley
This gastropub should definitely be on your radar! Besides a lovely 4-beer sampler, the food is wonderful. Start out with the fried cheese curds. And as if fried cheese isn’t sinful enough, there’s beer cheese to dip them in of course. Don’t overlook the sliders or sriracha frog legs either. Yes, sriracha frog legs.
Fried cheese curds are a must at Hop Alley
Not only was I surprised by how much there was to see and do here, I was impressed how walkable everything was. We walked everywhere mentioned above (with the exception of the Diner at North Point). So your Saturday morning Farmer’s Market excursion could include coffee, shopping and maybe sipping on a beer or two. And cheese curds, definitely cheese curds.
Disclosure: I was invited to tour Alpharetta for a couple days by the Alpharetta Convention and Visitors Bureau. My experiences were complimentary but the opinions expressed are my own.
