Song of the South

Go Dawgs!

Mrs. Linda's tailgate

   This weekend Hace and I were able to travel to Memphis to see some of his family and our college friends and go down to Oxford, Mississippi for the Georgia - Ole Miss game. I must say, it was so good to be back in the South! For once I wasn't noticed for having a funny accent and being obsessed with College-football. Random people would talk to me and befriend me just for wearing red and black.  It was also so good to see great college friends and reunite with people we have such fond memories with. I wanted to high-light the weekend and give some funny re-cap of things that I noticed now about the South after living outside of it for a little while.
     First-off, if you have never experienced game-day in the grove at Ole Miss, it's a must! Talk about tailgating at its finest. My friend Brittany and I just spent some time walking around to find the most extravagant (and impressive) tailgates. Now for a little back-story, I have always been fascinated with tail-gating and game-day traditions of different college towns, I even wrote a research paper about it in college (strange, I know) so I have a great appreciation for things like this.  Some of my favorite and classic Ole Miss tailgate scenes were candelabras on the table, chandeliers hanging from the tent, food on silver platters, and last but not least, bloody Mary's from a drink dispenser. (It was an early game after all.) 
     With the early kick-off there wasn't much time to tailgate before the game but that didn't slow anyone down from getting the party started after the game. It made no difference that Ole Miss lost a game that wasn't really even close, they still threw a great after-party.  We primarily tail-gated with Hace's extended family but after the game we also looked for someone with a TV to catch some of the other SEC games on. That's when we stumbled across Mrs. Linda's tailgate.
     Now Mrs. Linda had quite the spread of food and decor (see picture below) and claimed Southern Living came by to photo her tailgate once. Not only was it aesthetically pleasing, she was also your classic Southern lady, so hospitable, bringing us food, making us take chairs in front of the TV, and slamming Bud Lites. Like I said, classic Southern Lady. But all-in-all it was an awesome weekend topped off by dinner at Proud Larry's on the quaint and beautiful square in Oxford and Sunday lunch at BB Kings in Memphis where they have awesome BBQ and live blues. Last but certainly not least, we went to "that hotel where they have cocktails and trained ducks" (Matt Wood) known to most as the Peabody.