I'm Your Puppet

During Popfest, we took a much needed break from the action and headed out to Atlanta to check out the incredible CENTER FOR PUPPETRY ARTS. Our friend Leia is a PUPPETEER, so we wanted to make sure she got a chance to see the "puppet museum" before her and her band, THE AFTERNOON NAPS, returned to Ohio. Also, our friend ROSE had a plane to catch out of Atlanta that day - we thought we could cram in a visit before she flew back to Canada. Missy and I had been to CPA several times, but it is always so much fun to take folks for their first visit...it's always amazing how the museum can bring adults face-to-face with their childhood selves and remind us of what it's like to be a kid all over again...

We wandered from room to room taking in each and every little detail. Needless to say, photos can barely capture the magic of experiencing the museum in person...



















Missy gets an earful of bawdiness from MADAME:



















Leia and Rose work the controls of an ANIMATRONIC BIRD:



Things got pretty emotional once we encountered one of the actual SKEKSIS from THE DARK CRYSTAL...and the actual MUPPETS from "PIGS IN SPACE"! We marveled at the seemingly lo-fi details of the puppets that we could see from close up - like the PRESS-ON NAILS on the hands of the Skeksis, or the embellishments on the pigs' uniforms that were simply SCRAPS OF FELT, drawn on with MARKER...











Missy broke down crying at the sight of the special EMMET OTTER display within the larger JIM HENSON exhibition. She just couldn't believe that the beloved Emmet Otter (and his mother) were right before her very own eyes...







We also got to see the actual SWEDISH CHEF! and DR. TEETH!







After the museum, we stopped at the YOUNG BLOOD GALLERY & BOUTIQUE to do a bit of shopping. We also made sure to check out the whimsical HARLEQUIN & THE HARE exhibit in the back of the store...Missy was entranced by the figurines and paintings..









Jennifer introduced JOLENE, Young Blood's super cute THREE-LEGGED BLACK CAT, to Rose, Missy, and Leia. Outside the shop, Rose posed with TOFU BABY and Leia, before rushing off to catch her plane back home...





Missy, Leia, and I popped in to HIGHLAND ROW ANTIQUES a couple of doors down from Young Blood, and descended into their massive basement to dig thru all the junk and treasure...











Highland Row had a little bit of EVERYTHING...even PICKLED FROG SPECIMENS!





We found a stack of NAUGHTY CHRISTMAS CARDS that were perfectly preserved from the 1970's...























After exploring the antique shop we headed across the street to the KING OF POPS popsicle cart to treat ourselves to HANDMADE GOURMET POPSICLES...the funniest thing about King Of Pops is the huge MURAL on the side of the building advertising the tiny push cart parked between the gas pumps of a run down gas station...our friends in Atlanta have been raving about King Of Pops for some time now and we were finally able to say that they lived up to the hype.





Missy and Leia opted for the HONEYDEW & LIME ZEST, while I went with the more adventurous PINEAPPLE & JALAPENO...my popsicle was surprisingly good - sweet with a spicy aftertaste. A full day spent frolicking in Atlanta behind us, we rushed back to the car just as the rain clouds burst, and hurried back to Athens in search of more adventure...