Well, we just got back from visiting our daughter and her husband. Social Circle and Georgia are both beautiful places and more then exceeded all of of our expectations. People were very friendly with us and more then accommodating. We didn't get to go out to eat as much as I thought. Reason being my SIL just bought a new
Weber Kettle Premium, and asked for some help using it(it's his first charcoal grill). We did manage to catch a Braves game(sat over behind third base). Unfortunately they lost, but the guy who was sitting next to me was very chatty(in a friendly sort of way) and we got along well. He was a lifelong Georgia resident(I almost forgot I was with my family) because we talked so much during the entire game. We also got to go skeet shooting(somewhere), and visited a bar and ice cream parlor in Athens. My SIL brought us to what appeared to be a good BBQ joint in Atlanta(Kind of a seedy section I think). Called B's Cracklin BBQ. The food was wonderful. I had a chopped brisket sandwich, my SIL had ribs, wife and daughter both had PP. So I got to try a little of each and compare to what I've been producing. I have to say I'm very close in both taste and texture. However I'm seriously lacking when it comes to finishing sauces. This place had an amazing spicy red BBQ sauce and a peach mustard sauce that I'm going to try and replicate. We did do allot of site seeing, and I visited my first full-size Walmart(It's huge compared to what we have up my way).
I was amazed during the trip that outside of all the billboards and exits numbers matching the mile markers. Most of the landscape looked like my little VT.(minus the larger cities and populations) I have done a fair amount of travel here in the old USA, but it has mostly been by air, and into larger cities so I didn't get to see the landscape.
So what did I cook over vacation(sorry no pic's). The first night my daughter fed us some great rib-eyes that they purchased from a local butcher. These things literally melted in your mouth. I only wish I could get something even remotely close in quality around here. The next night well, since I bought my SIL a
Vortex for his new kettle - I made some chicken wings. After that my daughter requested smoked salmon, ribs, and pork shots. You know the staples.
Overall the trip was a major success - except for the twenty-hour straight shot drive which was accomplished with only three pit-stops. Another thing I couldn't get used to was driving 85 plus miles per hour and still getting passed like I was standing still. Finally some of the kids on crotch rockets swerving in between the eighteen wheelers at a high rate of speed is scary. Next time I want stop in Virginia and go visit some of the caverns. They sound interesting.
That's all for now. I'll definitely be returning next year. However I think I'll fly.
Chris
