I’ve been just about as excited for my first issue of Garden & Gun to come as Lula has been waiting for the Twilight Movie to premiere. Maybe not as excited as Leigh Anne, but y’all, I was so happy to see this cover staring at me when I opened my mailbox a couple days ago:
I spied the magazine in a Books A Million store in Georgia and resisted the urge to just go ahead and buy it. My patience paid off.
I wasn’t sure how I would like the magazine. The Garden & Gun website shows like a swank operation. But was it all show? It touts itself as being the soul of the New South, but would it just be a dressed up redneck?
There was an Agnes Scott mention. And did you know that Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell (who played for the Allman Brothers Band before the Stones) has a “plantation” right outside of Macon, GA? We’re neighbors! Well, were. There’s a photograph of a gun turned into “art”. And did you know the only natural habitat for the Venus flytrap is in the Carolinas? There’s an article about Ted Turner’s daughter. Although I’m no fan of Ted, his daughter has the right idea about getting kids outdoors.
One of the main articles detailed the 100 best Southern foods and the restaurants that serve them. And I’ve eaten at several of the restaurants! I’m going to have to go back though for the food that made in into the top 100.
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Nu-Way Weiners in Macon, GA (I eat mine in Warner Robins)
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Hominy Grill in Charleston, SC
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McCrady’s in Charleston, SC
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The Varsity in Atlanta (only ate there as a tourist. Once an Atlantanite…Atlantian…whatever…I didn’t go back)
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Waffle House in Avondale Estates, GA (Rachel, we went here, right?)
Every magazine is going to have its best of the best, but since is the only magazine I’ve got to go on, I’m going to try to eat as many of its best as I can. There’s a restaurant listed right here in Montgomery. And, in fact, I remember passing the restaurant one Sunday afternoon as we were driving around looking for lunch. I was beginning to get the shakes I was so hungry, but for some reason Du didn’t want to stop there. We ended up at Panera. No, Panera was not on the top 100 Southern Foods list. You can see what foods are on the list and if you’re anywhere close to any. Better yet, subscribe to the magazine and we can dish about all things New South.
It is, indeed, the soul of the New South.
Not So SAHM 
I. Must. Have. This. Magazine.
Oh, but yes it IS going on my Christmas list.
Nu-Way rocks my world, too.
I have never heard of this magazine, but it cracks me up, the title of course… and I love your new pic of you in that dress!
The magazine has piqued my interest…may have to scope it out at the nearest bookstore and decide if I need it or not.
So funny…I went to the Varsity as a tourist too and now that we live here haven’t been since!
Garden and Gun. That title cracks me up.
Out where I live I think a more appropriate title might be
Pasture and …
Gun.
Yeah. Gun still works. 🙂
It’s deerhuntin’ season here, y’all. Got the orange collars on the dogs so they stay alive.
Sounds like a great magazine – nothing you’d ever find out here in California 🙂 McCrady’s is definitely one of the best restaurants in the country – the stuff he’s doing with his garden is remarkable:
http://www.chuckeats.com/2008/07/15/mccradys-charleston-sc-ingredient-fetish/
Was Blackberry Farm on the list too?
Yes! We went to the Waffle House in Avondale! It is my hometown. It is also about spittin distance from ASC. The one we went to was a tribute to the original waffle house becuase Avondale had the first waffle house. They have bought the original property and are turning that prop into a waffle house museum. They are about two city blocks apart.
How did you spend all this time at ASC and not go to the Varsity but once? It is SOSOSOSOSOOOOO greasy goodness. For our scavenger hunt during capping, we had to round up Tech boys and sing the song the Tech boys have for us ASC gals to them. There were 75 of us dressed in bad prom dresses singing that song at the top of our lungs in the middle of the Varsity. Can you say SO crazy? What’s worse is that I went to visit my brother the next day, one of his hall mates recognized me as one of the crazy girls from the Varsity. So bad. Just soso bad!
This mag is just too much for me – but I do love Agnes Scott! Are you an ASC alum??
Still gettin’ a chuckle out of that title. And glad it finally came! Magazine subscriptions kill me. take forever to come. Once they do, they fill them with re-up cards so you can continue to get it (after just getting your first issue) for the next 50 years.
I was reading this mag today while getting an oil change and tire rotation on the car. Noticed Martin’s on the list of 100 and wondered if y’all had eaten there yet. I got 3/4 of it read and enjoyed it.