People have asked me about my trip into the land of Dixie and I have been meaning to write something about it but got sidetracked by a 3 hour seminar I was supposed to lead......I don't know if I lead it or not, but it is over!! Thank god!!!
My trip started with a visit to the most god awful airport I've ever had to deal with...Atlanta International ....it must be the biggest airport in terms of square feet in the world....take a train to pick up your luggage, take a train to get your rental car ...when I finally got my rental car, I had no idea who to start the damned thing and asked some stranger walking by how to do it....turns out you have to have your foot on the brake before the car will spring into action. Once in action me and the rental had to deal with rush hour Atlanta traffic which was a nightmere.....LA traffic on 2 lane roads.......UGH!! Never again, never ever will I do this!!!
I had an endless drive to my hotel, a B & B in Covington, Georgia. This beautiful place was called the "Twelve Oaks Inn" after Ashley's family's home in Gone with the Wind. (Photo 1). The town square of this little place is very picturesque and has been in several tv shows, Dukes of Hazzard, The Andy Griffith Show, and others. I ate dinner that night at the "Mystic Grill"....a place with a 1 to 2 hour waiting time to be seated but, as I was alone, I was able to sit at the bar, eat my dinner and chat with folks. This was fun and the food was good.
The next day I drove to Macon Georgia by way of Jonesboro, the home of Margaret Mitchell who wrote "Gone with the Wind" and took the "Road to Tara" tour and saw a true Confederate Soldier cemetery,Doc Halliday's home, the Fitzgerald mansion (the "model" for Tara) note that this photo is not from the front of the mansion....it was closed/being worked on but you can see the little shed-like kitchen where the "happy carefree slaves worked for their 'beloved master".....that was the Southern excuse for slavery, that slaves had a happy carefree life with everything provided for them while "wage slaves" had none of this security....yeah,, right ...but the tour was fun.
The place I stayed at in Macon was absolutely gorgeous!!! And other B&B in a stately old home but on a larger scale than "Twelve Oaks" in 1842 Inn. I went to Macon for several reasons, part of the deep south and home of the Allman brothers, and to be honest, the latter was more important than the former!! I took one day to see Madison Georgia with lots of stately ante-bellum homes but was more excited to see and stand on the very ground that Duane Allman lost his life. I also wanted to see the wall where they shot the photo for the "Fillmore East" album....I knew it was across the street from Criteria Studios off of Broadway and figured no chance in hell I'd find it.....except that Broadway in Macon is 2 blocks long and there is only one brick wall that qualified.
While in Macon I ate dinner at Johnny Kaye's Fish Shack?? Some name like that but the food was good and I had my first chance to taste hush puppies.....yuck, blah, ptui!! and cheesy grits which I quite loved and have tried to cook at home....spouse suggested adding cinnamon to my concoction and I must say it worked very well.
The next day I made an unfortunate decision to go to Roseville cemetary and find Duane Allman's grave.....little tiny, itsy bitsy roads and I thought to myself, self, you are a superb moron for driving this rental car here.....and I side-swiped an old wall and seriously dinged the passenger's side of the rental car and am still waiting to here about what I must pay in damages.
After my unfortunate visit to the cemetary, I drove 400+ miles to Biloxi to see my friend Chris Holmes....we both played mobsters and when everyone and his brother attacked me, Chris was the ONLY person to stand up for me.....since then we've gotten to know eachother, he's a Ravens fan, I'm a 49er fan and we got together for dinner at Shaggy's, a great place on the beach in Biloxi....he gave me a 49er beer cozy and we toasted eachother. This was good. I also got a full tour of Biloxi which was great fun with a great host.
The place I stayed in Biloxi was the Chateau Bleussey.When I arrived after a long drive, I discovered that there was a wedding going on and the moment I wanted to go to the manager and get the keys to my room, the bride and groom were going to make their entrance into the wedding party....WHOOPS!!! I was tired so I said screw it and barged my way through the throng and got the keys to my room....which was very nice and should have been at the cost!!!
The next day I drove to Gainsville and discovered that when driving at 90 MPH, you don't get the gas mileage you do at 70!!! So I filled up my rental car with gas that didn't seem to last very long and finally arrived at another B&B....it was ok, nothing wonderful and went out for dinner that night with my former classmates Dr. David Hetrick (newly annointed) and Nicole Daenzer and David's sweetie Kimberly...we went to a not fancy place for true southern food....I got southern fried chicken, the real deal and both the meal and the company were outstanding.
The next day I drove to Bradenton to visit cousins Sally and Bob.They have a lovely 3 bedroom condo with a special added attraction, a wood stork that hangs around until one of their neighbors feeds it bits of hotdogs...this doesn't sound like bird food to me, but then I'm not a bird so what do I know!!! I wasn't a scintillating guest as I was so tired from all of the driving I was content to just plotz. Sally and Bob were wonderful hosts who carted a half-awake yours truly up to see the sponge docks at Tarpon bay and many restaurants.
I got to spend one day with cousin Patti, Ritchie and their friends at Siesta Key....known for having the most beautiful beach in the US...white sand, etc. They had a great blue heron that stood by their neighbors door looking for handouts. I went out to dinner with them to Sam Snead's Restaurant (the former golfer), great food and an exhibit of his golf stuff...not being a golf fan, I wasn't interested.
All in all, I had a great trip and have tried to sum it up for anyone interested in it. I hope the photos attach and also, hope that my link works......
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