Piedmont Park Encore Doubleheader: Early Evening Hike + Optional free Atlanta Symphony Concert

We AOC hikers & music lovers had a blast together at similar "combo events" in the park in 2013 and 2014 and again last Thu evening, June 11th.  By popular demand we're offering another midweek AOC Piedmont Park hike + free outdoor Atlanta Symphony concert!  We intend to go ahead with the event rain or shine.  The forecast for this evening (as of 1:00 PM Thu) expects about a 30% chance of isolated showers and temperatures in the low 90s dropping into the 80s by nightfall.

IN a NUTSHELL:  Hope you can join us for this leisurely short hike through historic Piedmont Park, with a big bonus afterward! - a rare FREE outdoor ASO concert in the beautiful "Promenade" adjoining the Atlanta Botanical Garden.  We've found the perfect spot for enjoying the music (~7:30 - 9:00 PM) from the shady walkway on the hillside overlooking the stage and lawn.  It has excellent acoustics and a good view of the stage through the trees.  (No problem if you don't have an advance-reserved printed ticket for formal free seating on the lawn!)  Feel free to split from the group at any time if you like, provided you let us know you're splitting.  We can easily direct you back to our initial meetup spot.

PARKING, MEETUP SPOT & other EVENT DETAILS:  On previous midweek evenings we've had no problem finding free parallel parking along Elmwood Drive, a quiet shady residential street just east of Piedmont Park - please follow my precise Directions below if you wish to park there.  We'll gather for the hike at 6:00 PM on the sidewalk on the SW corner of Elmwood and Monroe Drive.  From there we can easily walk together into the Park in about 5 minutes.  PLEASE BE ON TIME allowing for Atlanta's insane rush-hour traffic.

On our 90-minute leisurely paced hike we'll enjoy a bit of the "wild side" of Piedmont Park and explore its lesser-known shady areas.  These may include the "Six Springs Wetlands" and some of the lovely heavily forested pathways that adjoin or pass through the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

We hope you can plan to stay with us at least part of the free ASO "Performance on the Promenade" - you're sure to enjoy it!  During the first few minutes of our hike we'll stake out our hillside concert viewing space. A volunteer or two can watch our stuff until we return in time for the concert. Note that we've added "lightweight folding Chair" to suggested items to bring.  ASO Assistant Conductor Joseph Young will lead the Orchestra in a concert of popular masterpieces under the stars featuring selections from Ravel, the smash hit musical Les Miserables, and Stravinsky's The Firebird Suite.  The "grand finale" at each of these outdoor Symphony concerts is the time-honored tradition of dancing and singing (and even burning and waving sparklers!) to Sousa's Stars & Stripes Forever.

HERE'S the FORMAL FREE TICKET LINK if you prefer trying to reserve your own formal free concert lawn ticket(s), printing it yourself - and sitting on the lawn instead of on the hill with us where we DO NOT need tickets.  It's best to order them promptly at 10AM on Fri June 12 - otherwise these will likely be quickly "sold out" as usual.  http://www.ticketmaster.com/performance-on-the-promenade-featuring-the-atlanta-georgia-06-18-2015/event/0E004EB5BF72609A?artistid=803483&majorcatid=10002&minorcatid=203

MORE about PIEDMONT PARK:  More then 125 years old, it became world famous in 1895 as the site of Atlanta's "Cotton States & International Exposition."  Volunteers from the Piedmont Park Conservancy deserve much credit for the Park's dramatic improvements and excellent maintenance in recent years. The thriving Atlanta Botanical Garden in the NW corner of the Park has also benefited the Park's popularity and reputation.  Check out http://piedmontpark.org/ for more information.  For a nice online Color Map of the 200+ acre park click the following link.  (Our AOC hillside seating spot for the concert will be where the "P" appears in the word "Promenade.")  http://piedmontpark.org/visit/Park_Map_07-11-print.pdf

DIRECTIONS to our MEETUP SPOT at CORNER of ELMWOOD DRIVE & MONROE DR, assuming you're PROCEEDING SOUTHWARD via I-75 or I-85 toward DOWNTOWN ATLANTA:  (For a zoomable map of this meetup spot and its vicinity click on the Blue & Green "LOCATION" icon near the top of this article.)
1. As you near the I-75/ I-85 interchange (which is ~2 miles north of downtown Atlanta) get into the second lane from the right side.
2. Avoid exiting onto the other Interstate, but as you pass the interchange bear right toward I-75 Exit #84 and exit there (for "17th St, 14th St and 10th St").
3.  Then bear leftward along the access road (a.k.a."Techwood Drive") for about 0.3 mile to the traffic light at 10^th Street (bypassing 17^th St and 14^th St en route).
4. Turn Left onto 10th Street and go 1.3 miles eastward to the traffic light at Monroe Drive (crossing Peachtree St, Piedmont Rd, etc. en route).
5. Turn Left onto Monroe Drive and go just 0.2 mile northward to Elmwood Drive, (The "Elmwood" street sign may be slightly blocked by trees, but note there's a traffic light 1 block ahead at "Park Drive" - the east-side entrance street into the Park.)
6. Turn LEFT onto Elmwood Drive (westward off Monroe) where in the past we've found plenty of parallel parking spaces along the street in this nice residential neighborhood. If you park on Elmwood walk back to the SW corner of Elmwood/ Monroe where we'll meet between 5:45 and 6:00 on the shady sidewalk for the hike.

LAT/LON COORDINATES of our shady "MEETUP CORNER" (GPS or Google Maps users can input this as your "Destination" to augment the above directions):  33.7847,-84.3679
The street address at this corner is 1096 Monroe Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30306

Free event, with free entrance into the Park, free Concert Viewing, and free (suggested) parallel Parking along Elmwood Drive.