Five Things: Five Places I love to go, in no particular order—
George’s on Perkins Road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana—they make the best fried shrimp poboys, and their French fries are hot and salty just how I like them without any other seasonings but salt! They have so many other good things to eat. This is a real “hole in the wall” place under the interstate and when you step inside, it’s a little dark and seedy looking but that’s part of its charm. There are dollar bills stuck all over the ceiling, some look pretty durn old, and many have something written on them: names, dates, etc.
Half Price Books in Arlington, Texas—my brother and I love to go and shop for books. You can find incredible bargains, and sometimes there are the unexpected finds. I love browsing HPB and buying books for myself and for gifts.
Main Street Waynesville—lovely little shops, ice cream parlors, clean, neat, friendly. It’s just a wonderful little town with a wonderful Main Street. If you go, don’t forget to stop in Mast General Store so you can listen to the creaky floors! Visit the shops, eat, drink, be merry :-D. Also don’t forget that just off main street are other restaurants and shop—Sweet Onion has some good food and a nice atmosphere if you are looking for something where you can take your time to sit and eat.
Jelly Bellies in Maggie Valley--This is such a fun place. There’s trinkets, old-fashioned candy in barrels, fudge and other treats behind glass to ogle, there’s an ice cream parlor with yummy ice cream, there’s jewelry, some clothing items, gifts, and etc, plus the friendliest staff/owners you can find. While there, walk along the “strip” and visit the other shops/diners/ice cream parlors. And please, drive Soco Road Maggie Valley and visit this wonderful quaint little town that I live in. It's quiet, clean, restful, wonderful!
There are more, and these just came to mind this morning, so I’ll visit this Five Things again. What about you? Where are five of your favorite places to go?
19 comments:
Cool list, Kathryn. I share some of mine, in sort of the same order of types.
1. Hartwick Pines State Park (MI) Over ten thousand acres, mostly of rolling old growth pine forests - some of the last of the type the former covered most of the northern half of the lower peninsula. Some of the trees are over 150 feet high, and two men cannot reach around to connect hands. I swear, when the wind is right, they sing to you. And the smell...Just an otherworldly, heavenly place.
2. Zingerman's Deli, Ann Arbor, MI. Make there own wonderful breads, meats, cheeses from artisans and crofters around the world, made with love. Sandwiches you struggle to bite. Creaky wood floors, and gourmet delights on shelves to the ceiling at every turn.
3. McLean & Eakin Booksellers, Petoskey, MI. One of the quaintest downtowns I've ever seen, first off. The store is two floors of fun, with one of the largest sections of local authors/subjects I've ever seen. I could get lost in there for hours and hours, and frequently have.
4. I've already told you about Petoskey, so I'll give you another Northern Michigan gem of a town. Leland, MI, on the gorgeous Leelanau Peninsula on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Leland River. Shops on the boardwalk at Fishtown, or Bloody Mary's in a cafe overlooking the salmon ladder in Oct. and watch 'em flop up, up. Better than any TV show!
5. I'm going to give you another nature/hiking spot. Camp Hazelhurst, Harbert, MI. My stompin' grounds. Walk to the beach through ancient pines, beeches and oaks, tennis courts, winding streams in steep ravines, and our own little Prairie Club run library. This is my little slice of heaven. Don't ever think I'm gonna leave, as I'm guessing you feel about your little mountain abode, Kathryn!
Fun topic! Loved yours! Happy Friday, and cheers from SW MI!
Oh, my goodness, now I need to get me some Po-boys!!
I love going to see family, Mexico-where my brother and family live, the beach, .... oh, there's just too many.
I went to George's a few times when my daughter was at L.S.U. Great poboys! I love to go to the Florida Keys, the Virgin Islands, the Atchafalaya Basin, and New Orleans, but mostly hang out in downtown Lafayette. Have a great weekend, cher!
Your list sounds great..Any place the has food and is quaint is my cup of tea.. I think a train ride in Alaska would be cool,visit Missoula, Montana, maybe Sisters, Oregon,Canada and New England states would be fine..ps I have moved to wordpress. I am still trying to figure things out over there. lol!
Hi Kat .. that's hooked me - to add to my list of places to visit when I get back to the States ..
So many places I'd love to go back to - South Africa, I'd love to see Australia NZ .. then there's all the wonderful places here in little old UK ..
Cheers - enjoy the weekend .. Hilary
Your places sound like so much fun! And, as I try to think of my own, I realize it's a great exercise in mindfulness and gratitude to do this. So thanks for that.
Here are some of mine:
1) The Alamo Drafthouse movie theater(s) in Austin, TX. It's got that Austin weird, grunge feel. It's also got grubby, sticky floors. Long wooden tables in front of each row of seats for ordering great food & drinks. Combined with the Incredibly witty and intelligent pre-show reels that they either make or find to show, it's such an awesome.
2) Wegmans Gocery Store & Cafe in Scranton, PA. Wegmans is an amazing (small but growing) chain of grocery stores in the NE part of the US... though I know there's one near my friends' house in Maryland now, so maybe they're coming south! It is a traditional grocery store and an organic grocery store all wrapped up in one. So you can buy your organic tofu and your Captain Crunch all in the same place :) They have 90 minutes of free childcare in a wonderful space for kids in diapers through age 9. AND they have a cafe with the most wonderful food. In addition to shopping there weekly for ten years, my writing group and I met in the cafe every other week for ten years as well. To top it all off, Wegmans is one of the top countries in the nation to work for - so their employees are happy and well cared for and stick around... got to know some of them pretty well :) I miss it like crazy now that we're in TX.
3) The Romantic RIversong Bed & Breakfast in Estes Park, CO. We had our honeymoon there - and our 10th anniversary as well. Their little cabins are cozy and so beautifully decorated. The food is to die for and the town of Estes Park is one of my favorite places to kick around & shop in. Rocky Mountain National Park is there, too... great hiking and breathtaking scenery.
4) My Aunt Louise's house. Because it never changes. It is neat as a pin and sweetly decorated with all of the little doo-dads she's had since I was a girl. I always feel like I'm stepping into my childhood when I visit there. And Aunt Louise is about the goodest, best kindes person in the world. Since my family moved around a lot, her house is a great "home base."
5) My mother-in-law's house near Atlanta, GA. It's the place where I feel the most relaxed and able to be myself. She welcomes us with great cooking, awesome ideas for places to go and things to do, and with open arms. She pours out her warmth and love on my children such that they are so happy there, too - and most fully themselves. I have some amazing memories over my fifteen years of marriage - there in Atlanta with my second mom.
Thanks, Kat! This was fun. As for bloggy places to visit -- your blog tops my list!
Your list convinced me that I need to head out to that part of the country again!
I love going into the mountains just to breathe fresh air and feel nearer to God.
As a child I was fortunate to visit Yellowstone National Park on my way to visit my grandparents with my family every summer for quite a few years.
Red Lodge and Bearcreek Montana. I was born in the former and my parents grew up in the later.
Savers Thrift Store in Salt Lake City is a place I have to visit every time I am visiting my sister in Utah.
I have loved "dollar stores" since they first came out. Can't resist one. :)
Great list. You've made me want to visit these places - especially Chimney Rock. I love that you're doing these lists of five.
Georges? Not to many people know about it. You're right, though. Great food!
Let's see...
1. Townsend's Cave, KY
2. Chattanooga, TN
3. Calloway Gardens in GA
4. Michigan's Upper Peninsula
5. and the hills of Montana
How's that for a start!?
My list:
1.Powell's Book Store, Portland Or.
2. Wine Country, Nape-Sonoma and Mendocino for great food, wonderful provisions, and fanstastic wine.
3. The Oregon coast, up and down the entire coast full of beautiful beaches and fanstastic trails.
4. Utah's Zion Park, the place to see the night skies.
5. Venice, Italy, a place so enchanting that I decided to use it as a setting for my new novel.
Places for a Fri visit, there is not enough verbiage space to list them all so I shall content self with a space of solitude.
I love going out to the pasture and just walk along looking at the plants, watching the water ooze up out the ground into to little rivulets, sidestepping the cacti, listening to the screech of the hawk high overhead and wander among the pools with camera in hand. I also love wandering the sand creeks looking for rocks, maybe an arrowhead or scraper. Nearby the cows are gazing at the stranger and the dogs cruising the weeds sniffing at everything.
Take the chair and set it on a bluff overlooking the countryside and sip on coffee watching the sun set or rise. The emptiness of the open spaces, let the mind wander where it may, thoughts flow with no pattern. Antelope stand nearby, warily watching the intruder.
If nothing else go to the greasy for breakfast.
Something else on a Friday.... guess I'll have to take that one under advisement.
Have a great week and thanks for the visits and comments.
Jelly Bellies in Maggie Valley sounds like an awesome place. I'd like to go to Disneyland or castle spotting in Europe somewhere.
I enjoyed your blog.
I love to go anyplace I can find some peace , quite to be alone with my thoughts and my camera. Parks, woods, open roads, fields, and around my farm.
Have a wonderful night and Happy Spring
Chimney Rock Park does look nice place to go...I love to eat a hamburgers.
I love to go some where a little island and away from the volcano.
One thing problem is I don't like Air trips very much these day.
That why I go to New Zealand every years only took me four hours.
But present of my mind I don't know about this Christmas time??
By the way I read your personal post thats so sad made me cried..
You are look so happy person and never picked you have has a sad life in your younger age.
Keep it up bright your diamond life.
Half Price Books. Now, there's a place I would like to visit myself. :-)
Greetings from London.
I want to go! To all of those places! Can we plan an all-day field trip? :)
George's said to tell you it has a poboy & fries waiting for you!!! I can't wait to visit Waynesville (and other locales) again. :)
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