Clarksdale, Mississippi

Birthplace of the Blues Clarksdale, Mississippi, is a small town with a huge place in American music history. W.C. Handy lived here. So did Son House and Muddy Waters, Junior Parker and Ike Turner.  Sam Cooke was born here. Bessie Smith died here.   And here, so the legend goes, Robert Johnson sold his soul to… Continue reading Clarksdale, Mississippi

Sweet Breakfasts

Six Sinfully Sweet Southern Breakfasts[1]One day I will list out the plethora of self-imposed dietary restrictions I have to live with. She’s lucky she’s cute. I like to eat my dessert first thing in the morning. This may be a hereditary trait — I have fond memories of my maternal grandparents starting their day with… Continue reading Sweet Breakfasts

Orr Park, Alabama

Woodcarvings Bring a Touch of Magic to an Alabama Park No, you aren’t seeing things. There really are faces peering out at you from the trees in Orr Park. More than 50 of them. Back in 1993, a storm swept through the pretty park in the little town of Montevallo, Alabama, causing irreparable damage to… Continue reading Orr Park, Alabama

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The Big Chicken

A Landmark Most Fowl This month marks our 10-year anniversary as Atlantans. Yet somehow, it was only a few weeks ago that we finally got around to making a pilgrimage to one of the metro area’s iconic landmarks: The Big Chicken.  A Georgia Tech architectural student designed the 56-foot fowl, which first greeted the sunrise… Continue reading The Big Chicken

Delta Flight Museum

Get the Plane Facts about Aviation History at this Atlanta Institution Atlanta’s most famous brand, Coca-Cola, has a splashy downtown museum that averages nearly a million visitors each year. It soaks up so much attention that many people never realize that Atlanta’s second-most-famous brand, Delta, also has a museum. The Delta Flight Museum sits in… Continue reading Delta Flight Museum

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Old Greene County Gaol

Go Directly to ‘Gaol’ There have been two hangings in the Old Greene County Gaol, but just one death. In November of 1873, when the sheriff sent convicted murderer George Copeland crashing through the trap door, the rope broke, and Copeland plunged to the floor. So what did the sheriff do? He hauled the poor… Continue reading Old Greene County Gaol

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Buckhead Cows

Deja Moo Do these cows look familiar? If you’ve been reading this blog for a while now, they should. They’re the spitting image of the Conyers Cow Tower cows. But these cows are in Buckhead—not the Atlanta neighborhood with the fancy restaurants and office buildings that wants to secede from Atlanta, but the little town… Continue reading Buckhead Cows

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Wild Florida

Where the Buffalo (& Lots of Other Animals) Roam You really don’t know just how a big a buffalo is—or how ugly an emu is—until one tries to stick his nose through your car window. We got the chance to get up close and personal with buffalo, emu, and other exotic creatures last year at… Continue reading Wild Florida

Claxton, Georgia

The Fruitcake Capital of the World Welcome to Claxton, Georgia—home to 2,600 people and 4 million pounds of fruitcake. Is it fate or coincidence that The Fruitcake Capital of the World is just 35 minutes from Santa Claus, Georgia? I don’t know. But when I discovered their proximity while researching our trip to Santa Claus… Continue reading Claxton, Georgia

Santa Claus, Georgia

A Holly, Jolly Little Town Last weekend, we went to visit Santa Claus. Not the man. The town. One of them anyway. There are actually three towns in the U.S. named Santa Claus: one in Indiana (that one’s the biggie), one in Arizona (that one’s now uninhabited), and one in our home state of Georgia.… Continue reading Santa Claus, Georgia