Grits, Rednecks, and Squirrels ... oh my!

Amanda and I went down to Kentucky this weekend to visit my Grandparents and Aunt/Uncle/Cousins for the Thanksgiving weekend. We've made this trek once a year since we've been living in Chicago (three total treks, two at Thanksgiving and one at Christmas).

I'm by no means a city slicker but I do play one on TV, or at least I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night ... or at least I feel like one whenever I get hanging around Russellville, Kentucky, too long. Think of every stereotype of a redneck and that's what you see when you walk into the local Walmart or the local Mexican restaurant (think about that for a second, rednecks and enchiladas?) I can safely type this for two reasons: the first being that I'm safely back in Chicago, the second being that my family members are Russellville transplants.

Thursday was spent driving.
Friday was spent eating.

Saturday is where it gets interesting (at least in the theme of this blog post). Saturday morning we were in a hunt for breakfast and figured that since we're there we might as well jump in with both feet! So, we hopped into a staple restaurant that's been featured in many movies and songs, Waffle House! After a thoroughly American Heart Association approved breakfast of fried bacon, fried eggs, fried potatoes, fried toast and a waffle for me and cheesy eggs, grits, fried toast and fried bacon for Amanda we set off, clogged arteries and all, to another staple of southern living, a real live, genuine, flea market in Nashville.

At the flea market we discoved two things, one is that southerners like to smoke, the second is that they like to talk. Both of these discoveries were subsequently confirmed multiple times this trip. For some strange reason I like to keep my lungs free of tar and as such I am not very patient breathing in second hand smoke. We had to expertly maneuver around many smokers, both inside and outside of enclosed structures. Further evidence for the tobacco lifestyle included authentic Tobacco baskets for sale. As for talking, as you are aware you just can't get Amanda or me to stop talking, so we were right in our element! This was particularly highlighted when we were looking at some nice handcrafted breakfast tables and the proprietor for the selection tried to chat us up. He was friendly, from Alabama and we got talking about politics. I think we convinced him that he should move to Alaska where people and politics are like oil and water (i.e. they don't mix). If we ever make it back down one of those tables might be in order! They were nice but we couldn't justify a purchase due to not knowing the design of our future house or the timing of having two mortgages.

One last thought about the flea market: If only we had known of the abundance of flea markets when we were ordering for our Operation Gentle Hands project we could have saved money on bulk toothbrushes and socks!

After the market we made our annual pilgrimage to Jack's bbq. It's tasty, give it a shot!

Other highlights from the trip are the songs:
-Mississippi Squirrel Revival
-One with the opening lyrics of "I've got a beer in my right hand, in my left I've got my wedding band"

I think these songs sum up the experience.

See ya'll later!

p.s. If anyone from southwest Kentucky is reading this and they want to kick me out the next time I come down just look for my truck, it's the one that's jacked up, has big mud tires, mud flaps and a light bar!