Day 24: Southern Cooking

We said goodbye to Stuart this morning and also to Dirty, though via telephone. Today is Dirty's birthday (Happy Birthday John!) and he and Stuart are taking a road trip of their own down south to do some RVing. They like to stay in Gay Campgrounds, which I had no idea even existed. I always thought of trailer parks as being very closed minded places, but apparently our homosexual brethren are reclaiming that mantle, buying up campgrounds and turning them into havens for rainbow covered nomads. I love my country.

We pulled out of their neighborhood and started the hunt for gasoline. It wasn't very hard, but for every 4 gas stations we passed, only one of them had any. The long lines told the full story and I was reminded of what doomed Jimmy Carter back in the 70s. Justine and I are headed into uncharted waters here. Do we continue on our trip knowing that we might run out of gas and miss planned destinations like Memphis to play it safe, or do we fill up on bravery and risk being stuck someplace, missing a whole lot more than just Tennessee. For now, we're taking the risk. Wish us luck.

Our destination today was Birmingham, Alabama and more specifically, the home of Lois Whitten, Neil's (Justine's father) oldest friend. We mostly took the freeways through the South as Birmingham was 6 hours away, but we managed to get in a few food related stops.

We crossed the border into South Carolina and pulled into the visitor's center looking for places selling the official snack of South Carolina: Boiled Peanuts.

I had had these edamame like beans once before when I was a junior in college and went with a Boston based theater company down to the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina for a week. I still remember them to this day and was on a mission to get them again and to share them with Justine. Find them we did, though only after a few tries. Also for sale were many varieties of orchard fruit and the products that one derives from them.

They also sold fireworks like these "Four Fathers"

We stopped in Atlanta for lunch at world famous Fat Matt's BBQ and then drove through Alabama to Lois' house getting there right before dinner time. I love eating my way through the South. I wonder If we'll get to do something else though while we're here.

Day 24: Southern Cooking

Atlanta, United States