How Lois Reitzes would spend the perfect day in Atlanta

Axios

14-07-2025

Lois Reitzes is well known around Atlanta for her decadeslong presence on WABE, the local NPR affiliate station.
Driving the news: Even though she retired last month after 45 years on air, Reitzes' signature soothing voice will still make the occasional guest appearance on WABE.
The Atlanta resident told Axios she has some author interviews she'd like to pursue in the next several months, but wants to give The City Lights Collective, the show that replaced hers, an opportunity to settle in before she pitches her ideas.
"I've been listening since Monday," said Reitzes, who now holds the title of director emeritus of Arts & Cultural Programming at WABE. "It's superb."
Zoom in: In the meantime, Reitzes will have plenty of chances to live out her perfect day in Atlanta. Here's what her ideal schedule would look like:
Wake up: First on the list is grabbing a pastry from Alon's Bakery in Morningside and taking it back to her Virginia Highland home to savor with coffee.
Reitzes and her husband Don like to read physical copies of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, New York Times and The New Yorker.
After breakfast: Reitzes would enjoy the latter half of her morning with a visit to the High Museum of Art or the Museum of Design Atlanta.
Since it's close enough, she would also check out the Center for Puppetry Arts, which she calls "one of my happy places."
Lunch: Before retiring, Reitzes said she'd normally eat at her desk. Since work is no longer a barrier, Murphy's or Shake Shack would be on the list.
"If poetry were a chocolate milkshake, it would be from Shake Shack," Reitzes told Axios. "It's not worth the splurge if it isn't really deep with chocolate and thick and great."
When she's not craving a milkshake, Reitzes and her husband also like Anis Café & Bistro, a French restaurant in Buckhead, and Sotto Sotto in Inman Park.
Dinner: Reitzes and her husband host cocktail hour at home (or enjoy the drinks at Highland Tap, one of her husband's favorite places) and then walk to nearby restaurants.
If she is with her grandchildren, the family grabs dinner (or lunch) at Casi Cielo in Sandy Springs or Storico Fresco Ristorante in Buckhead.
The bottom line: The voice that graced our public radio airwaves for four decades told Axios she hopes people, particularly Atlanta transplants, will appreciate the variety of museums, art galleries, theaters and music venues that call the city home.