A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

A couple of weekends ago, Chuck (Lauren's dad) came in for a visit. 'Twas a nice weekend of showing him around town and hanging out. He got in town on Friday night and was able to stay until Sunday morning. He ate his first Krystal burger (oh yeah). They ate at Miller's on Friday night, a restaurant on the square here in town that we have been wanting to try for a while. There is a Miller's restaurant, the same Miller's that is here, in Virginia--the town U of Virginia is in (can't think of it right now) in which Dave Matthews Band basically came to be. How is that for a little trivia.

That same weekend, a friend of ours from the great state of Texas was also in town. Angela was in seeing some family that lives here. We had a great time at lunch with them; and then I went to the Carrollton game that night with them at a football stadium literally out in the middle of the country. It was pretty interesting--it was the largest crowd they have ever had at that stadium--so they had a plane flying overhead taking pictures all night. A fun night. Good to hang out with Angela and her aunt and uncle--they are all great people. Carrollton High is dominating football in the great state of Georgia. They are ranked third in the state; and they beat the team that was supposed to give them the most difficult game of the year last week, 42-0. Ought to be a fun run this season!

Last week, I went to a really cool exhibit at Emory University in Atlanta (Lauren went to it today with a friend). The exhibit is on artifacts of early Christianity. There was part of one of the Dead Sea Scrolls there (the temple scroll)--that was incredible. The world's largest, oldest menorah was there. Lots of old pieces of the first Christian churches of the Constantinople era. Some of the utensils similar to what was probably used at the Lord's Supper were there. A decomposed ankle bone with a nail from a cross in it--similar to how Jesus was probably crucified. I realize I am probably boring many of you and probably grossing the rest of you out with that last tidbit--so I will move on. But suffice it to say--it was really, really cool.

Matthew, Lindsay, and Conley came in this past weekend. They came in on Thursday morning and headed back out on Saturday evening. Thursday, they all chilled here in town. On Friday, we headed into Atlanta and messed around. Had lunch at the Flying Biscuit Cafe. Both Lindsay and I had some really creamy grits there--unlike anything I had had before. Matthew had some chicken that looked great and some good sides. Lauren had a really good breakfast. And, of course, we all had wonderful biscuits. We also went to the DeKalb Farmers Market/World Market. By far, the biggest market we have ever been to. Was really cool--huge, all sorts of food, produce, and stuff. Then, we all enjoyed hot dogs, onion rings, and orange frosties (mmm) at The Varsity--what they call the World's Largest Drive-In.

Friday night, Matt and I went to the Carrollton game and saw them drum up on the Cass Colonels.

Saturday, we messed around town, including going to the State Park here outside of town. Below is a good picture of us in the forest.

Lauren and our niece, Conley, on a bridge.

Conley and I

Saturday night, we headed into Birmingham and dropped them off at the airport. Afterwards, Lauren and I drove around B-ham for a little bit. We saw the restaurant that inspired the movie, "Fried Green Tomatoes" (Irondale Cafe):

And, this is the only Waffle House I have ever seen that is not in a Waffle House building. Looks like they used some sort of an existing structure for it.

We saw a few sites around B-ham (which, by the way, is a really cool town--lots of rolling hills and trees and cool stuff), then headed back. We ate at a famous Alabama BBQ place--Golden Rule. After eating at a few BBQ places in the southeast-we are basically sort of disappointed. We miss the beef brisket, which they do not have out here. We have eaten at a few places so far that are pretty good--Fat Matt's in Atlanta, Bilbo's in Bremen, and Shane's Rib Shack here in town--but it is a chain, so it is all over. The rest have been a bit of a disappointment.

Oh well. On the way back, we also drove by Talladega on race weekend. The race track is only a mile or two off of I-20. Talladega on a Saturday night of race weekend is a pretty rocking place. Tons of campers in these enormous fields, all waiting for the race the next day. I mean, there were a TON of people out there. Pretty crazy sight.

One other thing before I wrap this one up--I have noticed that there are not really many dirt roads (on state-maintained roads) in the southeast, well at least in Georgia, but probably other states, as well. All of the county roads are paved. Interesting. 'Til next time . . .

--be