And That's What I Like About The South

I'm in beautiful downtown Savannah, Georgia, this morning. Yesterday afternoon, I tried in vain to eat a late lunch at The Lady and Sons (the restaurant of Food TV's Paula Deen), but people line up in the morning to put their names on a list and drift back during the day to be seated. No reservations, but really there are. Now that I know how the system works, I hope to eat there today.

My room at the Mulberry Hotel (with a small Holiday Inn sign indicating that they now own the gorgeous hotel) wasn't ready at 3PM. It wasn't ready at 4PM when I sat down in the lobby for tea. Finally, the hotel staff upgraded me to an executive room with a balcony (over the pool. Whoopee), which was almost ready.

After dumping my bags in my room, I skimmed the contents of the hotel's official leather-look binder and stumbled across this little gem in the hotel restaurant's menu:

Duck Ala Range
One half duckling marinated and served with a light citrus sauce. $18.95

For that price, I would expect at least one person involved with the kitchen staff or the office staff to know enough French not to let this hugely embarrassing error to be printed in the menu.

Oh, well. That's just another little quirk in the town where everyone and everything is about what locals refer to simply as "the book." And I'm not talking about the Bible.

A little over a decade ago, an antique dealer shot his handyman/ assistant down the street from my hotel. The novel was a huge success, and the movie was filmed here a few years later. And thus was born the new economy of Savannah: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Goods, Tours, T-Shirts, Garden Sculptures, and Insider Info into the Characters (Real People) and Locations (Houses, Streets, and Cemeteries).

Last night, as I walked back from the waterfront, a huge crowd of American flag clad Heartland-looking folks was exiting a "Support Our Troops" concert. There I was, walking in the opposite direction through this crowd of Lee Greenwood Bush lovers, in a town that bases its tourism economy on a novel. Creepy.

Despite the Bush Brigade, the absence of French knowledge, and the obsession with "the book," I like Savannah. I'm off now to find the SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) design shop and some down home cooking.

Wish me luck!



So you think you know Delilah?
Judges 16:19-- And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head.