Daily Optimism

We've added a little something to the blog. Once you find it you, too, will feel a little more optimistic with each passing second...

Pic of the Day

Or, why I stayed ashore for four years in the Navy.

What Sighthounds Do.

Watch this. Don't forget to breathe.


HT to Steven K. in New Mexico.

Picture of the Day

(Not that there will be one every day, but I was having trouble uploading photos lately, and this was actually a test. Still can't get them loaded from Picasa).

A foggy late afternoon at Forth Yargo State Park, Winder, GA a few days before Christmas '06.

We Eat, Therefore We Are... Sated.

We're in the midst of 10 more days in the Gulf Coast area. One thing that has been reinforced to us while here, is that this is where the food lives! Mostly seafood, but we also had to try out a place that kept turning up everywhere we looked, from the Stern's Road Food book, to Chowhound.com.


Doesn 't look like much, does it? But then, barbecue, more than any other cuisine, is immune to the glitz and glamour. In barbecure, rundown is good. When was the last time you heard of food that was transcendental?

"The Brick Pit was transcendental, Food Network worthy and them some in every respect. In a classic old fashioned building, slightly rundown and the bbq aroma permeating the air. Friendly service, a banana pudding that made me gasp, and then the bbq, and the sauce. It takes cajones to put out a sign that says best bbq in Alabama on your front door like the Brick Pit does. After eating there, I believe the sign."

That was "Big Milwaukee", writing in Chowhound. The Sterns were equally effusive in their praise.

We'll now add our voices to the chorus. Ambience, sch-mambience.. it's just like it looks in the pictures. Inside, the ceilings are low, the floor uneven. The walls are covered with graffiti.. mostly praising the food. The restrooms? Don't go there. Literally. The menu is sparse: Pulled pork, ribs, chicken. We didn't try the chicken... who the hell comes down here to eat chicken? I had the ribs plate, and Margaret had the pulled pork plate. Can we say "exquisite" about a joint like this? We will. I can't quite call this the best barbecue I've ever had... but I can't remember where I had any better. This was great. Terrific beans, and cole slaw with real bite. A great lunch, capped off by "Mrs. Waits's Banana Pudding". They couldn't tell us if she's Tom's mom. See the menu here.

That was Saturday, and that was the highlight of our week in Southwest Alabama, but we do want to mention a couple of other places worth visiting... Fish Camp, on State Hwy 59 right here in Summerdale was quite good for lunch, and they apparently have a seafood buffet for dinner. Sorry, no website that I could find.

Yesterday, we went to visit the USS Alabama battleship, which sits on Mobile Bay. I spent 4 years in the Navy; yesterday was the most time I spent on a ship in my life. On the information board showing a lot of Navy slang, I would qualify as a "landlubber". I'll post some pictures on another post, especially one showing a very scary room!

Following the tour of the ship, and the attached submarine, we had a late lunch at Felix's Fish Camp and Grill. This one had it all: Ambience, and good food. We had a sampler of the gumbo, crab, and turtle soups- all very tasty; a "camp salad", consisting of greens, artichoke, and hearts of palm in a homemade Italian dressing. This was followed by a couple of Po'Boys- one fried crawfish tails, and one half-n-half shrimp and oyster. All while sitting in the upper deck bar overlooking Mobile Bay, watching the gliding pelicans.

Ah... food. Tomorrow, we move on to New Orleans. There's no quit in us.

Letting Cats Out of the Bag

This is the type of story that makes blogs so danged valuable. I read something that I think will benefit a bunch of people, and I post it here. Other people read the blog, or the original source, and they pass it on, and suddenly, something that's supposed to be "secret" becomes general knowledge. Anyone who shops on Amazon.com will love this!

A Modest Proposal.

This guy on Fox Sports dot com puts the Boise State - Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl game last Monday as only the 4th "Greatest Bowl Game of All Time". But what does he know? The game featured a great comeback from Oklahoma; an even greater comeback from Boise State, featuring ballsy calls on 4th down, a hook & ladder pass play, a halfback pass in overtime, and a "Statue of Liberty" play to win the game in overtime with a 2-point conversion. For god's sake, these two teams scored 22 points in the last 86 seconds of regulation.

That would be enough, but this one had one thing that none of the other games on the list had, regardless of position:

Watch this. (The part I'm talking about starts around 2:40; but watch the rest of the highlights, too!)

For me this was, at least, the most entertaining game I've ever seen. Much more entertaining than the Rose Bowl.