M | backyard traveler |
My love
affair with
Athens
began long
before I had
a clue what
it meant
to breakfast at Mama’s Boy or
stand between the hedges in a sea
of red and black. While my parents’
roots were firmly planted just
outside of the city’s border, our
home was Clarkesville, a blink in
the landscape of small hamlets in
the North Georgia Mountains. My
knowledge of what lay outside this
small mountain town was limited
to my parent’s family visits to their
siblings, otherwise known as the
Sunday afternoon drive.
Those drives took us into the city,
and as Highway 129 led into downtown,
mama reminisced about her
childhood church, Attica Baptist
Church, and Archies Grove where
she attended school, and across the
now busy four-lane paved road, her
small homestead she shared with
her family of 13.
From that point forward, I always
knew Athens and the University of
Georgia would hold my heart and
my future. After completing two
years at Truett-McConnell College
in Cleveland, I transferred to the
daunting campus that scared the
breath out of me. The first day on
campus, I rode the bus and asked
the 300-pound linebacker if I could
sit next to him. I soon learned
that wasn’t the way the bus system
worked, and that everything was up
for grabs. I left a streak from Park
Cafe Racer comes to play. Located
in a simple modular structure on the
Athens side of Crawford, Cafe Racer
amps up the biscuit (or as they say,
biskies) race with jalapenos and Racer
Sauce, creating new versions of the
Southern breakfast.
While in Normaltown, The Old Pal
mixes classic cocktails, adds a touch
of comfort, and invites the neighbors
to sit for a while