Blackberry Smoke

Booktopia 2012 in Oxford, Mississippi

That's a mint julep on Faulkner's lawn. Yes, THAT FAULKNER. Did you know he was once fired from the post office? FOR SO MANY REASONS, some of which being: he would close up shop early to play golf, go fishing, or have a round of poker in the back room. But my favorite: He would throw the mail away of the people he wasn't keen on. If he would have been around on that balmy Friday night in Oxford, the bourbon would have been on me.

The balcony of City Grocery in downtown Oxford. This place has superb Southern food, but the most exciting thing to me is that John Currence, a contributing editor of Garden & Gun is the chef. I really (uber)wanted to meet him on this trip, but I never mustered the courage to ask between ordering his fried chicken and paying the bill. Because what would I even say that wouldn't make me sound like a food/ G&G/ All Things Southern GROUPIE--and that's what I am right? :)

This is one of my favorite Southern authors, Susan Gregg Gilmore, walking up the path toward Rowan Oak. She admitted on this trip that she has to work as a bartender at a barbecue place in Chattanooga in addition to writing her books. Does that make me like her even more  and respect her as a writer? You bet it does. (Click to enlarge. That's her in the pink mini-skirt.)

We all brought a wrapped book for an exchange--I wonder what book Faulkner would have given. And I wonder what he would have wrapped it in.

Southern catering and pink hydrangeas...sigh.

Square Books, the second floor. I wish I could just live up there. Be an alive-ghost, haunting the book store and re-shelving mislaid volumes. Or I could just work there like a normal person. Either way.

Sunset on Faulkner's front porch. Do I need to say anything other than that?

Just down the block from our hotel was this little place where we could get a decent cup of coffee.

Downtown Oxford.

Big Bad Breakfast--an Oxford Landmark. Our last stop on our last day.

Chattanooga Aquarium

Aretha Frankenstein's in Chattanooga: Pancakes and Beer

Good Dog in Chattanooga

You Belong Among the Wild Flowers...

Peach Custard Pie at the Hil

I recently spent the day at a workshop with stellar photographer Tom England at Serenbe Photography Center. Most of the workshops they have there are on held on the weekends, which just happens to coincide with the brunches at the Hil restaurant next door. Both of these were definitely worth the drive from my Woodstock!

Twain's in Decatur, GA -- The Dainty Saint

The Dainty Saint: an iced, summery concoction of imported St. Germain and vodka.

I spent my birthday alone under Twain's wisteria arbor while the boys played pool inside.

Not that I'm complaining.

There's a thin line between alone and lonely, and it's hard to feel the latter when you're sipping French liqueur {made of fresh elderflowers picked in the Alps} on a balmy evening, watching Decatur, Georgia, start to come to life.

My precocious little son suggests Twain's whenever we venture out of the suburbs and head south toward the city, and usually, if time permits, we oblige him. I'm never without a book or some nice stationery and fountain pens, so I just while away the time and let them do their boy stuff.

Dean's Store--The Woodstock Visitor's Center

There's a place you can go in my town's historic district to find out about all its going's on, both the official tidbits and those that are "off the record." In what was once the bus station and the first place you could buy Coke in Woodstock, Dean's Store is perfectly preserved and stuck in time to reflect its beginnings.

There are plenty of local brochures and magazines to help you navigate your time and way, but the best information can be found behind the counter while either Kyle Bennett or Juanita Hughes is on duty. They won't steer you wrong.

Dean's Store handed out American flags to a teary-eyed crowd along the funeral route of a fallen Woodstock soldier.

A group called "the boys" has been meeting at Dean's Store in the morning for years.

Old relics from a different time. This phone always reminds me of the phone scene in It's a Wonderful Life.

Enamored of.

Kyle always has cold bottles of Coke for visitors after a downtown Woodstock tour.