First stop on my Dixie Detours road trip was the quintessential college town of Athens, Georgia – the city which I had called home for most of the 90s during a rather scenic, circuitous and often hazy experience as an undergrad anthropology major at the University of Georgia.
Crash course in ancient tikichris history: I used to eek out a living as a touring musician. For the search engine savvy, there may still be some remnant debris from those halcyon days floating around on the internet. And much of the reason for my meandering approach to higher education and indeed life in general during my 20s was due to spending loads of time mingling with the musical set and catching live shows in this amazing little city famed for hosting more than its fair share of influential musicians and bands (REM, B52s, Vic Chestnut, Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, etc ad nauseam).
One especially ace Athens band with whom I had the pleasure of gigging all over the southeastern US back in the day was Blue Stockings, a trio of lady musicians (who really need a better online representation than this and this) known for haunting harmonies, a hot rockin’ beat and a repertoire that was equal parts punk and folk.
It had been about 15 years since I had last visited Athens. It was a fantastic feeling not just to be there after so many years, but to finally show my college town to Kemey. To be honest though, initially we had not intended to go there. But then an invitation to attend a Blue Stockings reunion show at downtown bar, Little Kings Shuffle Club, came my way and synched nicely with our flight plans as we were to arrive in nearby(ish) Atlanta airport that same evening. The show was epic (I might have even gotten up on stage for a warble down memory lane at some point), and Little Kings was a fine place for a beer and live show … and seemed to be as representative as any of the myriad fantastic bars and music venues around town.
The invite also proved an excellent excuse to check in on my journo student niece?
Is a proud uncle allowed to write a plug for his soon to be graduate niece? Hollysweat.com.
Stay
We crashed at my niece’s apartment. Come to think of it, I’ve only ever stayed at my own place or that of a friend when in Athens. I reckon there ought to be great variety of Airbnb accommodations though. And wedged between UGA’s historic North Campus and the vibrant if quaint downtown, the Holiday Inn seems like it would be a very smart option for keeping a convenient base.
Eat
The only meal I had during our overnight stay was a late Sunday breakfast at the Waffle House. Hardly Athen’s best, the “Awful Waffle” is for sure the most ubiquitous eatery in town (and across the whole frickin’ state for that matter). With the right lens, I reckon dining here makes for especially down home cultural noshing. The sausage melt with a side of hashbrowns (scattered, smothered, and covered of course) was as greasily good as I had remembered while Kemey’s waffle was carbo-licious. Our ever-replenished cups of coffee were the very soul of roadside Americana in liquid form. Our waitress, as grizzled and kindly as any who’d ever served “under the yellow sign.” To be sure, this chain of dinners is a crowd pleaser – and I’m glad I got in one meal at this legendary greasy spoon pit stop. Still, I really wished I’d had a chance to revisit old school vegetarian mecca, The Grit, to see if it was a delicious as my recollection.
Stay tuned for more highlights from my time in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida along with suggestions for planning your own southern sojourn. If y’all ain’t never been to the places mentioned in my Dixie Detours miniseries, I reckon you’re missing out.
