The Trip Home: the Friends

First of all, as I speak, our outside thermometer here in The Netherlands has been sitting on 40 F all day. So as I think back to a couple of weeks ago, during our time in Atlanta, I wonder how it's possible we were then in short-sleeved shirts!

Meet Peggy, half of "the friends," who once was my boss in assisted-living. I knew her when she was dating Bob, the other half, and had the good fortune to attend their wedding. Once she retired from her executive directing, with me retiring shortly thereafter, we kept in touch ever since. They both were in on my own "story" from the very beginning, met Astrid before my kids did, and have simply "been there" for us. So it's always a no-brainer for us to get together when we're back in Atlanta.

Because Amy and Dennis were both working from home between those two weekends in October (last post), it worked out perfectly to spend M0nday-Friday with Bob and Peggy south of the city.

When you have a husband and wife team (like Amy and Dennis, I might add!) who enjoy cooking and eating as much as they do, you can understand why much of our time together was centered around wonderful meals, most of which we were able to eat out on the balcony. It's not that Astrid and I mind cooking. We both can do it and we both love to eat. But sometimes we'd much rather be the dishwashers, so this was a win-win situation for us. Notice the low-country boil in the bottom right-hand corner above. Another first for Astrid.

Did I tell you that Bob and Peggy both are recently retired? I'm their senior by a bit and Astrid is the baby, but basically we're all the same age...waiting for Astrid to join sweet retirement as soon as she's able. During the week she was Bob's sidekick on morning walks (that lovely water image above is hers!), farmers-market shopping, and odd jobs around the house...while I helped Peggy out in the kitchen or yard. Did I tell you Astrid is also a sharp-shooter (oh yes, remember the Fair from last post!)? On her first shot here, she almost got a bull's eye. The things we learn about each other in real life, right!

Midweek, between this, that and the other, we spent a day visiting two special places nearby: Whistle Stop Café and the Jarrell Plantation. Astrid and I had just watched Fried Green Tomatoes a couple weeks before our trip and Peggy had also already seen it. But Bob hadn't. So the day before we went, we found a rental and prepared ourselves for the treat of seeing the location in real life.

1. Whistle Stop, Juliette, GA

What Whistle Stop is most known for, of course, is its Whistle Stop Café, à la the movie. The unincorporated community of Juliette, GA is the sweet little setting that has capitalized on making it a tourist attraction for all us gluttons who love such things. I had been there years ago but thoroughly enjoyed going back to see it again, this time with Astrid and friends.

The main street includes the train depot, Ruth & Idgie's Place, the burial plot for Buddy's arm, and lots of gift stores.


But the main attraction, of course, is the actual Whistle Stop Café that was used in the movie. Juliette, GA, was nearly deserted when it was scouted out for the movie's location. "The building chosen to be the Whistle Stop Café was formerly an antiques and hardware store. It was redesigned as a cafe, with a horse-shoe shaped counter to allow for optimal camera angles. After the release of the film, Juliette saw an influx of tourists and, with John Avnet's encouragement, locals opened The Whistle Stop Café, recreated to mirror the film set."


Our main goal of the day was, of course, to eat lunch at Whistle Stop Café, which we all gladly did. Well, 'gladly' I use loosely since you're talking about southern cooking and fried foods. But once in a blue moon doesn't hurt anyone, so we just did it.

Oh yes, besides the obligatory serving of fried green tomatoes (DUH!) we all had Mr. Bennett's BBQ! You'd have to know the story to get the importance of that, so enough said. Peggy and I had sweet-potato fries and we all had iced tea in Mason jars. So fun.

Once our tummies were full to overflowing, we drove across the train tracks to the nearby park where the dam in the movie is. Couldn't get a good view for a picture but enjoyed the setting nonetheless.



That was Whistle Stop. A mere 10 miles away was our next stop, the Jarrell Plantation.

2. Jarrell Plantation, Juliette, GA



The historical museum and state park of Jarrell Plantation started out as a cotton farm before the Civil War, when its first permanent structure was built in 1847. Besides cotton, it also provided food crops and grazing for livestock...and eventually became a mill complex that included a steam-driven sawmill, cotton gin, gristmill, shingle mill, and planer.

Look at how huge the main house is (top-right corner), surrounded by myriad other outbuildings...plus a sugar cane press, syrup evaporator, workshop and barn.

But more than anything else, I was amazed by the spaciousness of the property between buildings. I could picture the kids (and the slaves!) having a heyday walking/running/climbing up and down the hilly terrain. Cozy and shady trees. Lots of wonderful walkways. And we were there on a gorgeous, sunny day.

While unable to enter most of the buildings, we were able to peek in and take pictures, seeing what things were like a century ago....

...and getting up close and personal with all the equipment used to make such a huge complex funtional. Talk about old-timey.

To hit both birds, Whistle Stop and Jarrell Plantation, with one stone in one day was absolutely perfect and very doable. I recommend it to anyone (Vagabonde?) who is interested. We'll never forget it.

For those of you wondering if poor Astrid was overwhelmed by this trip back to Atlanta, she would surely tell you she was in her glory, eating everything up. We both are gluttons for this kind of energy and excitement, thriving on it.

In fact, we just spent this past Saturday and Sunday in Münster, Germany, visiting a blogger friend...another post for another day. Miles to go before I finish all those pictures, trust me. Also, big things are happening for both of us (a new job for Astrid starting December 1, and, as of this week, I am stopping my school course and venturing into a new area for Dutch-learning). But that, too, will wait till my next post.

For now, here's the end of our great trip back to Atlanta, seeing family and friends. It couldn't have been a better trip, as far as we are both concerned!