Thomasville Treats

Maybe it was the image of a fresh strawberry meringue cake on the cover that caught my eye. I began to flip through the April 2012 issue of Southern Living magazine and found an article about a specialty cheese shop not an hour’s drive away.

The Sweet Grass Dairy Cheese Shop on Broad Street in Thomasville, GA is owned by a local couple who sell cheese made at their nearby farm. Among the favorites are a Camembert-style cheese, a semi-soft gouda and a savory blue named after one of their sons.

Yet there’s more than cheese in the shop. Just inside the door visitors are treated to a sampler table holding a bowl of golden olive oil and plate of crusty bread squares for dipping.

Along the walls are rows of jams, jellies, fine wines, crackers, spreads and cellophane bags of pecans.

Toward the back is a refrigerated display case where you’ll find a tempting variety of cheeses—some local and some imported along with different flavored salamis. You can ask for a taste.

We came to buy cheese but stayed for a lunch—a toasted sandwich with two kinds of salami, mustard, and smoky mayo on gluten-free ciabatta.

Dubbed the “Barcelona”, it is one of 5 delicious sandwiches on the lunch menu that is served with a choice of Zapps chips or mixed Geek olives. There is a selection of beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages to complement the meal.

But the real star is the charcuterie plate of 3 cheeses paired with jam or fresh pecans drizzled with wildflower honey. The garlic and chive moo paired with Emily G’s Blackberry Vanilla Jam of Love (center) tastes like cheesecake on a cracker. I finished the entire scoop and bought more to take home.

Tucked away in the back corner is a tiny restroom. It’s walls are covered with awards in various categories of artisanal cheeses from The American Cheese Society. It’s no wonder they ship these handcrafted cheeses to chefs and retailers all over Georgia and Florida.

You can visit the store weekdays from 10 am until 8 pm and 7 pm on Saturday (closed Sunday and Monday), or visit their website at www.sweetgrassdairy.com to order on line.

Going from Eeww to Aaahh in 2 Days

Ever wonder how a leaky pool gets fixed and prepped for the swim season?

Step 1: Start with a hole in the ground, filled with 21,000 gallons of lime green colored water. No it’s not a special effect--think of it as a giant Petri dish filled with algae.

Step 2: Steam off the surface. This clears off the slime and softens the vinyl liner.

Step 3: Slice then peel off the old liner. Oh … guess I wasn’t expecting that underneath.

Step 4: Resurface with a skim coat.

Step 5: Open a surprisingly small cardboard box and roll out the new liner.

Step 6: Overlay the liner onto the sandy concrete base. Think of it as a supersized tablecloth.

Step 7: Add a little water and pity the frogman who has to dive into 50-degree water to install the drain cover in the deep end.

Step 8: Make a cut out for the steps.

Step 9: Add water with a garden hose. A lot more water. Keep adding water all day and all night. Have freakish nightmares about your upcoming water bill.

Step 10: Grab a beach towel. Put on your swim fins. Wait for warm weather.

Jennings GP

The whine of an 848-cc engine began to build in the distance. Louder and longer until it reached maximum crescendo nearing the corner of turn 1. Suddenly the racing Ducati flew down the straightaway. In a moment it was gone, but the sound of the engine lingered. Then, you could hear the rider shifting gears as it headed into the next leg. You could just feel him leaning into the turn—knee to the ground, torso and leg forming a perfect “Z”; shoulders at a 45-degree angle. Then straightening up in a single smooth roll. Top speed at this track is 150+ mph.

It was a practice day, and we were the only visitors at north Florida’s motorcycles only road racing track. Jennings GP has two miles of smooth black asphalt with 14 turns, and is surrounded by chain link fencing.

We had parked on the grass between a couple of muscle pick-ups, all chrome trimmed and shiny in the bright sun. Nearby, a handful of track crew sat on the wood steps of a small outbuilding that sold tickets and tee-shirts.

The paddock held mostly Ducati motorcycles, and riders were splitting their time between track school and taking laps.

Under the bright red tents you could see racing bikes braced in stands, wheels peeking out from under electric tire warmers.

I walked over to the track itself. The sun was warm and dry grass crackled under my step. A few sharp blades poked their way through the holes in my croc shoes. Flies buzzed around a sign warning spectators to stay at least 25 feet from the fence. On race day, there would be hundreds of race fans in the crowd, but on this day I had the track to myself.

Jennings GP is open to motorcycle riders with any level of experience. Newcomer, intermediate or fast riders can get track experience and go to racing school. Even if you just want to watch others ride, visitors can join the fans and enjoy the thrill of racing up close.

How to Make Vietnamese Rice Pancakes

Ingredients

Rice flour... Coconut milk ... Salt

Directions

Depart Chicago’s O’Hare airport on a 15 hour flight to Hong Kong. Change planes then board a 2-hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City in the south of Vietnam. Once there book a day tour of the Mekong Delta

Soon you will find yourself sharing a wooden boat with a handful of newly-made friends. Sip fresh juice from a hollowed out coconut as you cross the Mekong river. This mighty river that stretches over 3,000 miles from the Tibetan plateau to the South China Sea. On the way to one of its tiny islands near the river’s mouth you will see a number of large and small cargo boats, and glide past floating fish farms.

Here and there you might see youngsters dive to the river bottom to pull up handfuls of mud, loaded thick and high onto a nearby sampan. It will be sold as fertilizer at a nearby market.

On landing, cross a small bridge to begin your walking tour of the island. Along a footpath cut into the jungle, birds chirp and monkeys shriek and growl. Something moves in the brush at your feet. Keep moving!

A weathered brick building in the clearing houses a small group of local artisans. In the corner steam rises from a charcoal oven covered by a metal pan. The scent of cooking sugar and coconut fills the air.The guide will ask if anyone would like to learn how to make pancakes. This is your big chance!

See one, do one …

She sits in front of a bamboo table ringed with drying cakes. In the center is a bowl of thick, milky liquid which is scooped out with a metal ladle.

Deftly, she gives a quick demonstration of how this local delicacy is made. Now it’s your turn.

Carefully pour a generous portion of white goo onto the hot purple mat and give it a quick swirl. Cover with a bamboo hat for a few minutes. Then carefully wedge a long spatula under the steamed, delicate opaque disc.

Quickly, lift it off hot surface without the letting the sides stick.Ease it onto the bamboo table for final cooling. Tear off a small piece to nibble. It tastes a little sweet with a hint of coconut.

Your mentor smiles encouragement. Cameras snap and a few chuckles arise from the small gathering.

Success! You’ve made a local staple, and a great memory.

Drivin' on Daytona Beach

You can smell the salty air long before this famous Florida beach appears on the horizon. And what makes this beach so special is that it’s one of the few places where you can actually drive ON the sand.

For a mere $5, you can drive past fire pit rings, brightly painted ice cream trucks or beachcombers snoozing under a striped umbrella. Here and there a kite tugs a child along the sand, so be sure to observe the 10 mph speed limit.

Drivers can relive a dream that began in the early 1900’s when the hard packed sand of the local beach became the Daytona Beach Road Course. This is where land speed records were set back in the 1920s and 1930s. In later years fans would celebrate the names of Red Byron, Marshall Teague and Lee Petty.

The last beach race was held on the sand in 1958--a year before the first Daytona 500 was held at the new Daytona International Speedway in 1959.

This is also where NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), the internationally popular sport, got it’s start.

NASCAR headquarters is still located in Daytona Beach. There are track tours and a museum at the Speedway for race fans to enjoy.

Daytona beach is open to vehicles from sunrise to sunset Nov. 1 through April 30, and from 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. the rest of the year.

Munching at The Marietta Diner

The parking lot is filled with cars at all times of the day or night. Shiny chrome doors flap open to admit hungry diners while letting out small clusters of happy faces. Step inside this big shiny building and you will become one of over 2,000 visitors a day ready to eat at this famous roadside restaurant just northwest of Atlanta, Georgia in the city of Marietta. While it may be local, the diner’s heritage goes back to its Greek owner and his New York City roots.

Here, the scent of freshly made desserts mingle with the aroma of crisp fried bacon and the tang of pickles, homemade soups and oversized tuna salad-on-rye sandwiches. You can almost hear the sizzle of burgers as the staff brings out the heavily laden serving trays. Have a taste for spanakopita at midnight? They’ll carve out a generous piece for you from one of the more than 30 trays a chef prepares fresh each day.

Wine? In a diner? Yes, and beer too, which complement any of the nearly 500 items on the menu. As you leaf through the pages of the menu, you’ll find long lists of tasty entrees, appetizers, soups and specialty fare. The food is all-American but includes a number of ethnic Greek, Italian and Spanish dishes. Portions are oversize and all of it is delicious. There’s even a bakery, and a take out section. But most of the patrons linger over large plates of breakfast or lunch in the unexpected charm of the classic dining room décor featuring dark wood, sparkling mirrors and art deco fixtures.

I should have taken more pictures, but I was too busy eating.

The Marietta Diner is located at 306 Cobb Parkway South in Marietta, Georgia. If you go, bring a big appetite, and you won’t leave hungry.

Fitzgerald GA Architectural Tour

It used to be a turpentine forest before the Union soldiers came. And the road into town is still lined with pine forest interspersed with cotton fields.

The history of the town dates back to 1895 when P.H. Fitzgerald, a newspaper editor from Indianapolis and former drummer boy in the Union army, bought land in southeast Georgia to establish a “colony” for aging Union veterans of the Civil War. Why relocate? After the War Indiana farmland was stricken with blizzards and drought and nothing would grow in the dust. In the new town of Fitzgerald, men who once fought each other on the battlefield now worked to build a city where North and South reunited.

What remains today is a charming historic district where visitors can see the beautifully kept homes built by the settlers dating from that era. You can drive or take a walking tour of the area using a downloadable guide.

Harris House - Queen Ann style, built c. 1905

Phillip Jay House - Unusual house that has only three masonry Doric columns, built c. 1905

Dorminy-Massee B&B, built c. 1915

Glover House with Victorian turret, c. 1900

Blue and Gray Museum with Civil War artifacts

If you go, don’t miss the Wild Chicken Festival in March that celebrates locally grown, colorful Burmese chickens.