We drove thru the agricultural farmland of Georgia. It’s much different than the California salad bowl. We were surrounded by pecan and peach orchards, cotton fields and peanut farms. Our favorite was the majestic pecan trees. The bottom right picture is a trailer hauling cabbages.
On our first road trip across the country, 10 years ago, we were in search of the best fried chicken in the U.S. We decided the winner was at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, GA. And we ate a LOT of fried chicken on that trip! This place was famous from the movie, “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.” (If you’ve never seen the movie, I highly recommend it. One of my faves.). We’ve talked about that fried chicken for the last ten years and decided to revisit the restaurant today. Big mistake! When we last ate there it was not yet discovered. The waitress sat down with us and answered all our questions about the history of the place and the movie. It was well off the beaten path and we had the place almost to ourselves. Today, it’s a mega tourist destination. The place was packed, the fried chicken was awful, in fact I didn’t even eat mine. However, the collard greens, purple hulled peas and fried green tomatoes were pretty darn good. Sigh, I guess some things are best left to nostalgia.
After taking it slow and easy on the back roads all morning, we decided to brave the big city and visit some bean to bar chocolate makers in Atlanta.
Fighting our way thru insane city traffic, and 100 degree heat we finally located the first chocolate maker. Bust. Turns out the location was a commercial kitchen shared by ten different businesses. No one there knew anything about the chocolate maker. Onto the next one. We located the factory, but once we got there it was locked up. Peering thru the window we could see the remnants of the business. On our third try we found “Cacao” a VERY upscale, posh boutique bean to bar chocolate maker. So unlike the standard model. It was more like buying jewelry than buying chocolate. We bought 2 bars and 1 tasting sample and it was put in a chic luxury bag. It didn’t have the flavor notes that we appreciate. Time to move on.
Our final destination tonight is one of the best campsites of the trip! We booked this one about six months ago and it felt so great to pull in after 6 pm on a Friday night and get a site right on the water. We immediately jumped in and floated the night away. (Dad, this so reminds me of the camping spots we used to get right on the lake with our boat when I was a kid. Gary and I would sleep in the boat being lulled to sleep with the water lapping against the hull. Such great memories). Ned fixed me up with a rum drink while I floated. Perfect Friday evening. Can you find me in this picture?
