(Sorry the platform was acting up and was not allowing me to add photos)

Last night, a room full of neighbors who'd never met sat down to dinner together in Downtown Duluth.

And it worked. Again.

Tables that started quiet were loud by the time the food showed up. People who came alone left with numbers in their phone. The after-party spot filled up with folks who, three hours earlier, were strangers. I drove home grinning like an idiot.

If you were there — thank you. You made it what it was.

If you weren't, here's the good news: there's going to be a next one, and I want you to help me pick where.

We've done Lawrenceville. We've done Duluth. So tell me — where should Dinner Club go next? Suwanee? Snellville? Buford? Peachtree Corners? Your town? Hit reply with the city (and a restaurant if you've got one in mind). The city I hear the most is the one I'll start working on.

👉 Get on the list for the next Dinner Club → — you'll be the first to hear the date and the city.

Now, the next ten days. I set this one up city by city again. Find your town, or the one ten minutes away, steal a plan, go do the thing.

Let's go.

Friday, September 18 · 5:00–10:00 PM · Lawrenceville Arts Center, 125 N Clayton Street
Saturday, September 19 · 3:00–8:00 PM · Lawrenceville Lawn, 210 Luckie Street

Fifth year of downtown's Latin heritage festival. Friday is the arts side — live music, dance, and visual art inside and around the Arts Center. Saturday it moves out to the Lawn with performances, food vendors, and the kind of crowd that makes downtown feel like a real downtown.

If you've read this email for more than a month, you know I grew up on this food and this music. This one's personal. Come find me.

👉 Festival details

Friday, September 18 · Gwinnett Field, 2500 Buford Drive

The season's almost over. Friday kicks off Fan Appreciation Weekend with post-game fireworks — the Stripers' way of saying thank you before the lights go off until spring. If you've been meaning to take the kids to a game this year, this is the last call.

👉 Schedule and tickets

Saturday, September 12 · 4:00–8:00 PM
Snellville Towne Green, 2342 Oak Road

Local chefs cooking food from wherever their families came from, plus live entertainment and cultural performances on the Green. Snellville is one of the most diverse cities in the county and this is the night you can actually taste it.

Go hungry. Try the thing you can't pronounce.

👉 Event details

Friday, September 18 · 7:30–10:00 PM · FREE
Loganville Town Green, 235 Main Street

The last Groovin' on the Green of the year. Live R&B on the lawn, food vendors on site, bring a chair or a blanket, picnics welcome, beer and wine allowed. Loganville does this one right and September is the best weather it's had all summer.

👉 Concert series info

Friday, September 11 · 6:00–8:30 PM · FREE
Grayson City Park, 475 Grayson Parkway

Free hot dogs, popsicles and water. Bounce houses, obstacle courses, inflatable games, and a DJ. That's the whole thing, and for a Friday night with kids it's a perfect thing. Zero dollars, zero planning.

👉 City events page

Saturday, September 19 · 9:00 AM–7:00 PM
Sunday, September 20 · 12:00–5:00 PM
Town Center Park, 330 Town Center Avenue

This is Suwanee's biggest weekend of the year. Arts and crafts vendors, live music all day, food, and family activities across the park. Saturday is the full-day version; Sunday is the easy afternoon version if Saturday's already spoken for.

Parking fills up. Get there early or plan to walk a little.

👉 Suwanee Fest details

Saturday, September 19 · 10:00 AM–6:00 PM
Sunday, September 20 · 12:00–5:00 PM · FREE
Town Green, 5140 Town Center Boulevard

Same weekend as Suwanee Fest, and honestly, you can do both. Live music, 50+ arts and crafts vendors, festival food, and a car show. Free to walk in.

👉 Festival details

Saturday, September 12 · 7:00–10:00 PM · FREE
Town Green, 5140 Town Center Boulevard

City-run, free, on the lawn. Chairs can go out starting 8:00 AM the day of, but no saving spots with tarps and blankets — don't be that neighbor.

👉 Concert details

Friday, September 18 and Saturday, September 19 · 5:00–10:00 PM
Lanier Islands, 7000 Lanier Islands Parkway, Buford
Adults $20 · Kids $10 · Under 5 free

Balloons lit up over the lake at dusk. Family entertainment, food, and tethered balloon rides sold separately when the weather cooperates. This is the single most photogenic thing happening in Gwinnett this month, and it's the one I'd pick for a date night that isn't dinner.

👉 Tickets and details

Friday, September 11 · 7:00–10:00 PM · FREE
Braselton Town Green, 9924 Davis Street

Free live music on the town green in historic downtown Braselton. Bring chairs and a blanket. For the Hamilton Mill and Dacula side of the county, this is the closest thing to a front-porch concert you'll get.

👉 Event list

Saturday, September 19 and Sunday, September 20 · from 10:00 AM · Ticketed
Gas South Convention Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway

Duluth already got its big weekend with the 150th on Saturday (details in Quick Hits below). But the weekend after, JapanFest takes over Gas South — performances, workshops, vendors, food, and hands-on activities. It's a full-day thing and the kids will not be bored.

👉 Tickets and details

Last month I sent you to Break in Duluth. Turns out a lot of you already knew — and a lot of you told me I'd missed half the story. So here's the other half.

Lawrenceville (Cafe + Roastery) — 235 N Perry Street
Mon–Thu 7 AM–5 PM · Fri 7 AM–6 PM · Sat 8 AM–6 PM · Sun 11 AM–4 PM

This is where the coffee actually gets roasted. Bigger, modern space, plants everywhere, and you can watch the roastery from your seat Monday through Thursday. Pastries are baked fresh and gone by the time they're gone.

Duluth — 3122 Hill Street NW
Mon–Thu 7 AM–5 PM · Fri 7 AM–6 PM · Sat 8 AM–6 PM · Sun 9 AM–6 PM

A block off the Town Green, indoor and outdoor seating, and the spot for the orange lavender latte. Park once, grab coffee, walk downtown.

Same beans, same family. David and Emily Collins started this in 2018 in David's basement in Duluth. Now it's two cafés and a roastery, and it still feels like theirs.

👉 Lawrenceville · Duluth

Now your turn. What's YOUR coffee spot? The one you'd send a friend to who just moved here? Hit reply with the name and the city. I'm building a list, and the best ones are going in this section.

Everything from Tuesday's email that hasn't happened yet, in one place.

Tomorrow is September 11. Twenty-five years.

I was in high school in California, watching it happen live on a TV somebody had wheeled into the classroom, before any of us understood what we were looking at.

Most of the kids in Gwinnett right now weren't born yet. That's not a bad thing — it just means it's on us to remember for them.

So if you can, be at the memorial on Langley Drive at 10 tomorrow, or in Suwanee at 6. Bring your kids. Stand there for a few minutes. Say thank you to a firefighter or an officer if you see one.

Then go live a full week in this county. That's how we honor it.

— Gus

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