.... ROCKDALE COUNTY

Georgia International Horse Park. 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway, Conyers. 770-860-4190, www.georgiahorsepark.com. Home to equestrian events during the 1996 Olympics, this sprawling venue continues to draw entertainers, conventions and festivals, including the annual Conyers Cherry Blossom Festival.

Olde Town Conyers. Shopping and dining meet at the corner of Commercial and Main streets in the heart of the Rockdale County seat. Storefronts line lantern-lit streets and newly paved sidewalks. Business folks discuss the news of the day at the Sandwich Shop and Evan's Pharmacy. The Gallery and On Main are favorite dinner spots.

Historic Milstead. Just a few blocks north of Conyers are the remains of the 100-year-old town of Milstead, the former home of Callaway Mills. The mill once employed nearly all of Rockdale's residents. Although it's closed now, its water tower and charming homes remain on quiet Milstead Avenue.

Monastery of the Holy Spirit. 2625 Ga. 212, Conyers. 770-483-8705, www.trappist.net. Built in the 1940s, the monastery is home to dozens of Trappist monks who offer daily prayers with the public. The monks help support their ministry by selling bonsai trees at the gift shop on the monastery's pristine campus in south Rockdale County.

Black Shoals Park and Randy Poynter Lake, Black Shoals Road. 770-785-5922, www.rockdalecounty.org (Leisure and Community page). On a wooded bluff surrounding the county's 650-acre reservoir, Black Shoals Park is a favorite hiking and picnicking spot. Canoe rentals and fishing are available daily on Randy Poynter Lake.

... DEKALB COUNTY

DeKalb is a collection of small communities, each with its own charm. Here is a sampling of spots favored by county insiders:

Decatur Square. Ponce de Leon Avenue, Decatur. The actual square surrounds the old DeKalb Courthouse, but "the square" in local vernacular also takes in a surrounding collection of eclectic shops and restaurants. In the mood for music? Eddie's Attic helps raise the profile of folk and rock acts and was an early venue for DeKalb's own Indigo Girls.

DeKalb Farmers Market. 3000 E. Ponce De Leon Ave., Decatur. Produce from anywhere in the world can be found here. The employees hail from all parts of the globe. The prepared food is popular for eat-and-runners.

Dunwoody Nature Center. 5343 Roberts Drive, Dunwoody. The center works to preserve 22-acre Dunwoody Park, featuring wetland, woodland and streamside trails, gardens, a picnic meadow and a shaded playground. The park is open sunup to sundown seven days a week. Admission is free. The Nature Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Buford Highway. Atlanta, Chamblee, Doraville. Need a travel agency specializing in Vietnam? You can probably find it, and more, along this ethnically rich thoroughfare. Food, merchandise and services are offered in dozens of languages along the main artery of a booming population of people who came from the Americas, Asia and elsewhere.

Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve. 3787 Klondike Road, Lithonia. Arabia Mountain is DeKalb's "other" granite outcropping (Stone Mountain, of course, is more famous) and home to unusual plant and animal life. The Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve offers walking trails and educational programs. A community alliance is working to make the mountain part of a large green space area in south DeKalb.