by Audra H. Anders for The Aha! Connection
Yesterday was a beautiful day for a Trolley Tour so guess what? I went on a Trolley Tour. Discover Dunwoody is our city’s very own “Destination Marketing Organization” or “DMO”. Basically it is their job to introduce people to Dunwoody and bring them into our hotels and restaurants and shopping centers. One of their amazing new ideas for making this happen is their monthly “Rediscover Dunwoody Trolley Tours“.
The Discover Dunwoody website describes the tours as follows:
“Join us every second Thursday of the month for our signature tours. With three different routes each month—Perimeter Center, The Village Dunwoody, and Jett Ferry—each tour promises a fresh experience. Our program is designed for frontline hoteliers eager to deepen their local expertise. Through popularity with social media, our tours have blossomed into inclusive excursions, welcoming city council members, influencers, bloggers, realtors, and all seeking to uncover Dunwoody’s hidden treasures.”
Yesterday’s tour was “The Village Dunwoody”. Our bus was full of hoteliers from Le Meridien and Crowne Plaza. I also met several lovely Dunwoodians along for the ride. The first stop on our tour was to slide past the Austin Elementary carpool line and into the beautiful wooded shade of the Dunwoody Nature Center. We walked to the newish North Woods Pavilion where everyone learned all about the Nature Center and how you can rent the Sun Porch and/or the Pavilion or the Lower Meadow for parties and events. There’s so much more to the Dunwoody Nature Center including camps, their butterfly events, bees, trails and more!
We then headed back towards the Village with a quick detour through Dunwoody Hall (aka the Publix shopping center) where our host, Mark Galvin, highlighted Novo Cucina (amazing Italian food), The Enchanted Forest (great local gift shop), and Cinnaholic (my husband is addicted). Then we perused on through the parking lot to the adjacent shopping center and discussed several favorite local hot spots (Vintage Pizzeria, Taqueria Los Hermanos, Wasabi House and the Dunwoody Tavern).
We then made a stop at Breadwinner Cafe where we learned all about the history of this amazing bakery from the owner Geoff Melkonian. We were even treated to delicious chocolate chip cookies which were a huge hit with everyone on board. We walked around and several people left with dinner in a bag….it was so hard to resist! Oh, and I learned that the former Nancy’s (between Breadwinner and Riley Salon) is soon to be Summit Coffee.
We then traversed across Chamblee Dunwoody Road and visited Dunwoody’s most famous gas station….the Chevron with NFA Burger inside. Billy Kramer’s lovely sister hopped on board and gave everyone as many NFA Burgers as they could eat. My aunt was with me and had never had one (shame on me for not taking her before!). She ate two!!! Needless to say, my fellow passengers LOVED this stop.
Our final and possibly favorite stop of tour was The Village Dunwoody. Restaurateur, David Abes, personally greeted us at the Trolley and toured us through Bar{n}, Morty’s Meat and Supply, and Message in a Bottle. David also pointed out the new Mediterranean food truck Yoffi. We sampled delicious appetizers at Bar[n}, refreshing drinks at Morty’s and tasted their fabulous fish dip at Message. I learned something new while at Message….many Dunwoody neighborhoods have their own “bottle” near the front entrance. Neighbors are encouraged to leave messages in their neighborhood bottle.\ Much to my chagrin I couldn’t find a bottle for my Meadowlake neighborhood. I offered to purchase one for David and he very kindly insisted he will personally take care of it! Go find your neighborhood bottle next time you stop in! They are actually having a Back to School Bash and hosting the Dunwoody High Softball Cornhole Fundaiser this evening!
My aunt Tommie and I had a wonderful two hour tour and would highly recommend you reserve a spot on an upcoming trolley ride! I’m so proud of our Discover Dunwoody staff for pulling such a fun idea together and getting to see first hand how they are teaching our hoteliers to love and learn all about our wonderful city!
