Tag Archives | Jane Austen

My Pilgrimage to “Gone With the Wind” Mecca

There are three literary pilgrimages that are required of every romance loving, third wave feminist, book obsessed woman: Jane Austen’s home in Chawton, England, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s home in Prince Edward Island and Margaret Mitchell’s home in Atlanta, Georgia.

Now, I’m slightly infatuated with Gone with the Wind. I started watching the film when I was eight years old. I’ve seen it 28 times: every second of the 238 minutes. I checked the book out from the adult section of the local library when I was 10 (with my mother’s permission of course). I have a room in my home dedicated to the movie and book. It’s the Gone with the Wind room pinned with Scarlett Barbie dolls, collector plates, numbered art, and of course green velvet curtains.

Even if you don’t know Scarlett O’Hara’s first name (It’s Katie, by the way) or couldn’t care less if Rhett gives a damn or not, seeing Margaret Mitchell’s home (apartment) in Atlanta, Georgia is an absolute must see for a visit to Atlanta.

Margaret Mitchell’s Home

990 Peachtree Street

Atlanta, GA 30309-1366

Phone 404.249.7015

Web: http://www.margaretmitchellhouse.com/

In the urban sprawl of the high rise city of Atlanta, the house seems out of place. But thank goodness it’s still standing. Arsonists have tried to burn it down twice! Margaret Mitchell never liked it much either. She called her apartment, “the dump.” But preservationists have done a magnificent job of recreating the apartment.
The museum focuses on the house. Guests used to start at the visitor’s center and then shuffled to the house, but that changed a few years ago. Now guests enter the house on Crescent Ave, like Mitchell would have, and go immediately to view Mitchell’s apartment for a guided tour. You’ll see the apartment almost like it was when Mitchell lived there. Be aware, very few things in the apartment are original. However, even being the same the room where Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind is a rush for an enthusiast like me.

Next you’ll learn about Mitchell’s life, her newspaper career, philanthropy efforts and most of all her spunk. I’m embarrassed to say, I didn’t know a lot about Mitchell before I visited the museum. She was part of Atlanta’s affluent society, a serious beau died in World War I, and her mother died during the flu epidemic while Mitchell was returning from college (GWTW enthusiasts will recognize the similarities of Scarlett not being there for her mother’s death as well). Mitchell was a strong writer, and began working at the Atlanta Journal (something society women did not do). In an industry dominated by men, the petite Mitchell was one of the first female reporters to earn her way from the society columns to hard news reporting. But it was a sprained ankle that changed her life and the world. Her second husband John Marsh got tired of lugging books back and forth to the library while Mitchell was recovering and bought her typewriter and encouraged her to write a book. And Scarlett (although she was named Patsy during writing) was born.
My favorite part of the museum is the Making of a Film Legend: Gone with the Wind exhibit. The museum is full of artifacts from the movie, including Tara’s doorway from the movie set and the giant of painting of Scarlett in the blue dress that Rhett throws his drink at during the movie. There are also original costume sketches from the film. The best part of the exhibit is you can read copies of the movie script and act it out. It’s a literary pilgrim’s dream come true.

Whether you are in Atlanta for the day on a long layover, a couple of days on businesses or leisure see the site which created a worldwide sensation: The Margaret Mitchell House.

Also check out the new PBS documentary: Margaret Mitchell-American Rebel.

 

 

The Man’s Guide to Traveling with a Woman

 

5 Things Every Man Should Know About Women…While Traveling.

How do you travel with a Woman?  Not long ago we did a post relating little know secrets about how to travel with men.  We have now turned the tables and offer you hommes a few insights on how to travel with the fairer sex.  While every person has their own travel style, and we certainly don’t want to paint every woman into a box, there are a few helpful general tips, that if understood, can help couples find greater harmony on the road.  So here we go:

Keys to traveling with a Woman

Miramare Castle, Triste, Italy

It’s all about the journey, not the destination.

Men, for whatever reason have a “let’s get there attitude” when traveling and doing other things. As women, we tend to focus a little more on the path.  Men: build in a little extra time into your schedules.  Be flexible. Here’s an example from our recent trip to Venice which turned into another 1000 fights. We were driving from Triste, Italy to Venice.  We were looking through tourist books and spotted an amazing castle cradling the bay outside of Triste.  It wasn’t in our plan.  Mike had an Excel spreadsheet that kept a strict schedule with everything we were to see that day and the castle wasn’t on the list. He didn’t even know about the castle. Of course Mike was like, “Gotta get on the road, got to see Venice, got to obey the spreadsheet.” After a fight that resulted in zero pictures of Mike and I together at the castle (in fact, Mike wouldn’t even take pictures of me-our friends were the photographers), we went to the castle.  We ended up seeing one of the most incredible sites of our entire trip.  Mike admitted he was wrong three weeks after the trip, and I have a few pictures of a fairy tale castle in Italy. Guys take the hint.  Be flexible.  Slow down a little and enjoy the ride!

 

Cleanliness is next to Godess-ness

I don’t know how many times I have said…for men…the world is your urinal.  Traveling, as we have in third world countries, the facilities are not always ideal.  No problem.  But there is a clear and bright line between rustic and disgusting.  Third world or first world, some truck stops are dens of disgusting.  Men take this little hint, when the facilities are sub par,  DON’T ARGUE.   Try saying things like…”Let’s find another place” or “There is a hotel just down the road, lets go over there.” My hero!   One option we highly recommend is skipping the hotel and renting a vacation apartment instead.”

 

man-taking-photoPictures are the best souvenir

Its all about the social media and the Christmas card.  Deep down, women are vain.  We really are.  Men could care less how their outfit looks or if their makeup is smudged.  OK maybe most men don’t care about their make up.  For us frau-lines, we truly want our vacation pics to look really good.  Why do we take vacation pics?  To show them off to all our friends on Facebook!   Our photo shoots might take a little long.  Guys, take it from me, you want us to look hot for these pics, it will make all of your old girl friends # jealous!

 

The whole flowers thing

This is likely the hardest concept for men to understand.  Women like cute things.  Cute things can come in the shape of purring cats, daffodils, teacups and cutie-bug kids.  We are going to take pictures of them, we are going to cuddle them, we may put an entire tour on hold to take pictures of a bunny.  I can’t tell you how many pictures we have of the dafodills in front of Jane Austen’s house!  They were incredible!  Guys, this is really going to test your patience.  Take a deep breath.  Count to 10.  Trust me, if you make a big deal about this, you will be removed from our “cute” list.  This will not bode well for you later.  Girls can I have an “amen?!”

 

Dinner in Venice ItalyA little more talk and a little less action

Women need to talk.  We need to communicate.  We need to discuss.  Guys: a couple of different options for you.  Some of you are talkers as well, so no problem.  Some of you are good listeners, no problem.  If you are neither or your name is Mike, a few ideas for you.  Let your spouse known that you need some time to talk. You finally have some time together, and for women it’s all about communication. If you don’t know what to talk about, we suggest “The Book of If: Questions for the Games of Life and Love” by Evelyn McFarlane and James Saywell.  On a four hour drive through Croatia, we found out a lot about each other. Like, “If you could fire someone from work, who would it be,” or “If you could relive one romantic date from high school just as it was, which would it be.”  Some answers we had to plead the “fifth.” But overall, it’s a great way to get a conversation going.

If communicating together isn’t your thing, join friends you meet on the tourist trail for drinks before/after/during dinner. Meeting fellow travelers is one of the most dynamic experiences that can create lifelong friendships and maybe a few Facebook friend requests!

Gentlemen, these are a few little hints for keeping us gals happy whilst on the road.  Every women is different, but take these ideas into consideration and know your travel partner.

Gals, did we miss anything?  If you could tell you guy just one thing that would make life a little easier out there, what would you tell him?