Paula Deen's Fried Green Tomatoes

Yes, I have to say my favorite part of our meal at Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady & Sons, in Savannah, GA, was the Fried Green Tomatoes. Yum! Not that the hoe cakes, pot roast, fried chicken, butter beans, gooey butter cake, peach cobbler and all weren't delicious - but I do believe I'd be tempted to break the law for those fried tomatoes! They were served with a roasted pepper sauce and onion relish that were the perfect companions.

Crazy, but true - our whole trip to Savannah was based on that restaurant! Our 18-year-old daughter, Fallan, loves to cook - has her own fire-engine red KitchenAid mixer, stainless steel knives, 3 or 4 different rolling pins, springform pans, and much, much more, and insists on using real butter and only certain Mexican vanillas. She loves to watch the cooking shows, but most of all, loves to watch Paula Deen. She owns several of her books, subscribes to her magazine, and thinks Paula is one great cook and cool lady. Fallan started talking about going to Savannah to eat at Paula's restaurant over a year ago. So, when we asked her if she would like to take a family vacation to Savannah for her graduation gift from us, she was thrilled. Of course, she hoped that by some freak chance, she might actually meet Ms. Deen, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

I had hoped this could be even more special. Last January I emailed to see if I could get Fallan invited to the taping of Paula's show, "Paula's Party", and we would plan our trip accordingly. And, to our delight and surprise, we received an invitation! Unfortunately it was for April in New York instead of this summer in Savannah. Our dollars were too tight to do both, so we asked Fallan to choose and she insisted on the Savannah trip.

Hopefully someday Fallan will meet Paula - and who knows - maybe it will be Paula visiting Fallan's restaurant or show!

Whirlwind vacation

We packed a lot of driving miles into 6 short days! Savannah did not disappoint - what a gorgeous old southern city she is. We visited the historic district and enjoyed the beautiful squares filled with moss-draped old trees, flowers and monuments. Our daughter's wish to dine at Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady & Sons, was fulfilled. And though her hope that Paula would magically appear didn't materialize, she did buy a couple of Paula's autographed cookbooks, and a lovely coffee mug that will remind her daily of the visit. We visited nearby Tybee island where we played on the beach for a short time, bought a few souvenirs, and got a parking ticket (not the happiest of memories since we had earlier paid for parking then moved to a new area near some shops that we didn't realize required paid parking!).
Along the way we visited DeSoto Falls near Mentone, Alabama - beautiful!

We meandered through Augusta, Athens and Gainesville, GA as we headed back toward Missouri. One of our favorite stops was in Franklin, TN - where hubby got to visit the Darrell Waltrip car dealership and I happened on to some yard sales and brought home a few little treasures!

We saw a lot of beautiful scenery in our trek through Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. I daresay we won't try to pack that many miles into a week or less again - too little time to enjoy it all.