Sixty Reasons

Ten for every year we’ve been together:

1. Always ready to watch Vertigo any time of day or night
2. Turned animating clay dinosaurs into a booming career
3. Finds my glasses for me
4. Brings a racquetball to roll under my foot when walking causes me pain
5. Once accidentally put a dozen eggs in the freezer.

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Athens Food and Drink, Day Four

By far, one of the best meals I had in Athens (aside from the grits that resulted from an over-the-stove cooking lesson from Mama Granberry) had to be at The Last Resort Grill. Round-the-clock busy, we had been deterred once already by an hour or so wait to get a table for just two (which led us, quite fortuitously, to Casa Mia just across the street.)

Our second attempt to hit up The Last Resort was for Sunday brunch and MG wisely decided to get us there early enough to beat the post-Church crowd, and it was a brilliant idea.  Our party of five was seated almost immediately, right next to the kitchen.  Normally, this would be my least favorite spot to sit in a restaurant, but the spectacle of meals that made their way past me on their way out to the rest of the restaurant made up for the unfavorable table.  Drifting past me with the regularity of New Year’s Rose Parade floats, the gorgeous food kept my jaw dropping for the next ninety minutes.  Having witnessed it, I firmly believe it’s next to impossible to order a bad meal from this place.

Captured in the front yard of Matthew and Amanda Granberry - Cleveland, Georgia

This is Matt and Amanda Granberry's backyard. I'm jealous. If it wasn't for the brutal humidity, I'd be insanely jealous.

Spinach Feta Grill at The Last Resort - challah toast dipped in egg batter, then grilled to perfection, topped with poached eggs, mushrooms, artichokes, feta, roasted red pepper sauce and spinach

The Last Resort Grill - 174-184 West Clayton Street, Athens, GA

No one seems to do brunch as well as Georgia. Wanna see more? Click below!

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Athens Food and Drink, Day Three

Over 1600 Waffle Houses grace this great nation of ours, mostly in the South.

Their signs, plain and tall, beckon you from the interstate.  The melody to “Prop Me Next to the Jukebox if I Die” by Joe Diffie pings off the countertops.  The Waffle House’s vibrant, laminated menus are reminders that theirs is an establishment where quick cleanups and a rarely changing food roster are keys to success. Patrons are conditioned to know what they want and how they want it before they push through the glass door.  When a stuffed truck driver vacates a booth, the employee wipe-down process is so instantaneous that the seats are still warm when a family of Sunday churchgoers claims them next.

Eat, drink, pay, get out.  That’s what the Waffle House strives for.  And the customers seem happy to comply. All except me, of course.  I was the only one in the place who, instead of scarfing down my meal the moment it arrived, began photographing it.  Our plump Waffle House waitress, Roxie, observed my actions with a mildly bemused grin before asking, “Ya’ll aren’t from these parts, are ya’?”

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Athens Food and Drink, Day Two, Part Two

Two things I will not soon forget about Athens, Georgia:

1.) The bats no one bothered to tell me about ahead of time.

2.) The downtown bars with great big wooden rocking chairs open to customers who enjoy a little soothing sway while they drink themselves half into the bag.

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Athens Food and Drink, Day Two, Part One

When you wake up in Los Angeles, you might be greeted by the L.A. Times at your doorstep, or some sushi delivery flyers, perhaps that morning’s Variety or Hollywood Reporter.  In Athens, Georgia, don’t be surprised if your west coast expectations are challenged.  The following was taped to my mirror:

Really, what else can be said?  If I had a few more days here, I might take Nature’s Harmony Farm up on their very generous offer. The photo opportunities alone would be worth it.

I took the daytime tour of downtown Athens and the University of Georgia yesterday. The mercury was hovering around 100 and despite the abundance of tree-provided shade, it was, as my friend Steve always put it, “hotter than a shit house in July.” The campus was established in 1785 and has over 30,000 students in attendance. The historic buildings and gorgeous landscaping make every turn of the eye a treat. Click on the images below for a high-res version, and then back-button to return for more:

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