Day Two: Atlanta

Farewell, Louisiana. We will miss your tore up roads and your combination casino-gas stations.

This trip should be subtitled "Robin and Steve Eat Their Way Across America." We started our day at Cafe du Monde for beignets. I accompanied mine with cafe au lait, Steve with orange juice. After an uneventful drive through Mississippi, we stopped for lunch at a place in Mobile called Dew Drop Inn. This place is allegedly where Jimmy Buffett became so enamored with the cheeseburger, and it's pretty clear why. The whole was far better than the sum of its several somewhat suspect parts (two of the thinnest patties you've ever seen, a single pickle slice, yellow mustard, ketchup, and this strange, sweetish, thick chili). Pictures forthcoming when we get someplace where we feel like paying for Internet. Steve didn't have a cheeseburger, obviously, but he did have a catfish po boy that puts BiBi's to shame, accompanied by onion rings so good they actually made me like onion rings.

We spent the rest of our time in Alabama slogging our way through very heavy rain, so we didn't make it to the hometown of Harper Lee. Too bad. We got to Atlanta later than expected, partially because of the rain and partially because of the stealth time zone change. We had dinner at Mary Mac's Tea Room, a strange establishment where every room looked like an old lady's formal dining room, except the walls were covered in pictures of all the celebrities who had eaten there. The highlights were Leonard Nimoy, the Dalai Lama, and Norm from Cheers. Looking at the pictures did make me think of the lady at Ginza wanting to take Berkman's picture that one time. Sad. The food was incredible, though. I had a perfect piece of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese (casserole style, the way I like it), and dumplings. Steve had sweet potato soufflé, fried green tomatoes, potato cakes, and vegetable soup. They also brought us free cups of pot likkers, which is the cooking juices from the collard greens. You break up a piece of cornbread into it and eat it with a spoon. It was better than it sounds.

We're at the Grand Hyatt right now. Hotwire got us a room here for about 75% off the rack rate. Tomorrow we're going to the Coke Experience, then off ton the Biltmore Estate.

Billboard of the Day: I Like Big Boards and I Cannot Lie
Swamps driven over: 2
Castles seen: 1
Number of small town BBQ places stopped at that may have been serving people instead of pork: 1
Ingredients other than milk in sweet milk: Nothing. The name is a lie.