Snow Mountain has 20 400-foot lanes for tubing, smaller tubing lanes for young children and a snow playground to build snowmen and forts. Photo: Jonathan Phillips / Special

FRIDAY
Holiday: The Atlanta Botanical Garden sparkles during Garden Lights, Holiday Nights, which continues through Jan. 5.

Holiday: More than 1 million lights fill Hampton’s Atlanta Motor Speedway in Gift of Lights, a 1.5-mile drive-through experience. The display continues through Jan. 6.

Holiday: Learn about international holiday celebrations at Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s “Winter Wonderland.” It continues through Jan. 6.

Recreation: Hit the slopes at Snow Mountain, where it’s always a winter wonderland. The annual attraction at Stone Mountain Park continues through Feb. 18.

Stage: The beloved Rankin-Bass cartoon  “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” comes to life in a puppet-tastic version from Jon Ludwig. The show continues through Jan. 6 at the Center for Puppetry Arts.

Kids, visual …

Continue reading Best bets: Jan. 1-7 »

You missed it and now it’s back. The fried chicken at the re-opened Watershed was your pick for favorite dish of 2012. Staff photo

YOUR PICKS
1. Fried chicken at Watershed on Peachtree
It seems you really missed this one while it was gone. The original Watershed in Decatur closed in 2011 but re-opened in it’s new Buckhead spot in May 2012. While chef Joe Truex has breathed new life into the restaurant by integrating his own culinary personality into the menu, the beloved fried chicken remains from Scott Peacock’s long reign in the kitchen.

2. Brisket at Grand Champion BBQ
3. Lewis Grizzard Special at Sprayberry’s Barbecue
4. Pork belly tacos at Iberian Pig
5. Oven roasted mushrooms over creamy polenta at Local Three

Goujonettes of catfish at Watershed. Photo: Becky Stein / Special

OUR PICKS
Goujonettes of catfish at Watershed on Peachtree
The goujonettes of catfish with the pepper slaw is a play on the goujonettes of sole Truex prepared at Le Cirque in the late 80’s.
These …

Continue reading Favorite dish of 2012 »

The Big Peach will drop at Underground Atlanta on New Year’s Eve after a full day of celebrations and entertainment. Photo: Jason Getz, jgetz@ajc.com

FRIDAY
Holiday: The Atlanta Botanical Garden sparkles during Garden Lights, Holiday Nights, which continues through Jan. 5. For more places to experience holiday light shows, check out this list.

Holiday: Lake Lanier Islands Resort’s Magical Nights of Lights continues 5-10 p.m. nightly through Dec. 31 in Buford.

Holiday: More than 1 million lights fill Hampton’s Atlanta Motor Speedway in Gift of Lights, a 1.5-mile drive-through experience. The display continues through Jan. 6.

Family: Synchronicity Theatre brings back its family-friendly holiday hit “A Year With Frog and Toad,” which continues through Dec. 30 at 14th Street Playhouse.

Holiday, stage: A mysterious stranger fascinates the girls in Horizon Theatre Company’s production of the musical “Madeline’s Christmas.” It runs through Dec. 31.

Holiday, festival: The …

Continue reading Best bets: Dec. 25-31 »

People wait to cross the street at Euclid and Moreland avenues in Atlanta’s Little Five Points May 31, 2012. Photo: Bita Honarvar, bhonarvar@ajc.com

YOUR PICKS
1. Little Five Points
2. Dragon*Con
3. Lenox Square
4. Piedmont Park
5. Atlantic Station

OUR PICKS
1. Little Five Points
We say, “It’s still the gathering point for all things weird and wonderful in Atlanta, but it really takes people-watching to the max with the annual Halloween parade in mid-October.”

2. Piedmont Park
3. Lenox Square
4. Centennial Olympic Park
5. The Majestic

Continue reading Best place for people-watching »