Back from Georgia!!!

On Friday Jerry and I flew to Columbus Georgia to visit with Kyle for his 36 hour breaks. We left out of Santa Barbara, changed planes in Dallas and arrived in Atlanta. Rented a car and drove the two hours to Columbus. Just before we arrived in Columbus we stopped at Roger’s BBQ. We have heard about southern bbq and wanted to try it. I ordered the fried cat fish and jerry ordered the pork ribs (we learned that if the menu says just ribs it is pork ribs, they really don’t have the beef ribs that we are used to here) so we could share and taste each. It came with coleslaw and texas toast (which it turns out is just thick sliced white bread with melted butter all over it). Our server was Dani and she had the loveliest southern accent and was about 17 years old. I had plain tea and jerry had sweet tea, which is apparently very popular in the south. I tasted his and it is VERY sweet and kinda thick tasting. The cat fish was lovely. Crisp on the outside and the meat of the fish flaky and sweet. Not oily at all. The ribs were good, a bit fatty, but very tender and fall off the bone. The coleslaw was too gloppy for me but jerry enjoyed it. Dani came by our table and asked us "Y’all rippin up those ribs?" They really do say "Y’all"!! After she left our table we stared at each other and repeated what she had said to us. It was so funny. We stayed a the Holiday Inn Express which was really a nice one. Saturday morning we went to pick Kyle up. Took him back to the hotel where we were able to visit with him in peace instead of a restaurant somewhere. He looks so good. Very handsome in his uniform. He has earned his marksman medal. We thought he was taller but it was jsut that he is standing up straight. Proper posture makes a world of difference. So do shiny shoes! His shoes are so shiny you could put your makeup on with them. And he makes his bed, dusts, makes sure his clothes are clean. It is a remarkable change. I still see "Kyle" in there but I also see the soldier Kyle. This from the child that left two months ago for bootcamp whose room was a pig sty. I found my missing silverware and dishware in there when I cleaned it up. I swear that the boy never threw anything away and I filled several trash bags. This from the boy that NEVER made his bed. He now knows hospital corners. What a change. We are so very proud of him and his accomplishments.


Kyle in his uniform looking very very handsome.

Kyle with Jerry.
kyle and I
We went to lunch at Country’s BBQ, still on the search for that perfect BBQ. Jerry ordered the ribs with the BBQ onions and fresh peas, Kyle had the BBQ pork and beef sandwich and I had the Texas brisket with skillet squash and fresh peas. We also ordered a aside of sweet potato chips. I remember sweet potato chips as being crisp, these were oily, limp and chewy. The Texas brisket was dry and tasteless. Kyle enjoyed his sandwich but then again this was the first food that he has had outside of the base and dirt would taste good to him. He said that it was strange going out into public. I can imagine that after being in his barracks with all his buddies, going out into public with us would be very strange. What was really funny was when the meal was served jerry looked at his plate and said "this isn’t what I ordered", the young woman said "Yes sir, today’s fresh peas are butter beans" and off she went. Jerry stared at it. We both stared at it because we both were expecting to have fresh little green round peas, instead there were butter beans in a bowl. Then Kyle piped up....Oh yea, I forgot to tell you, here they call beans peas. So peas are beans, beans are like pork n beans that are in a sauce, and I have no idea what they would call those little round green things that we think of as peas. The butter beans were good but the skillet squash was inedible. It was cooked so much that it would have been baby food. Completely, well, squashed.
We took kyle over to the Comfort Inn where his buddies were staying so he could spend some off base time with them. When they all came to Columbus from Ft. Benning they immediately went to Best Buy and they all bought X boxes and games. So there are these young soldiers in a hotel room playing video games. Very funny. Went back to pick him up and he was able to spend the night in the hotel room with us. Breakfast the next morning was at IHOP which was right next door to the hotel and was Kyle’s choice. He loves the chocolate pancakes there and had a huge stack of them. I had the veggie crepes and they were really good. All fresh veggies and cooked perfectly. Back to the hotel we decided to go to the River Walk which is down town along the Chattahochee river that seperates Georgia from Alabama. Kyle chose to stay at the hotel. I realized that this is the first time in two months that he would actually be alone. He was able to go down to the business center of the hotel and check in with his friends back home via internet and to use his phone to contact them. Jerry and I drove down there, parked the car and walked all over the place. We walked along the river, read the signs that told what historic thing happened there, saw really really old houses that were beautiful. Some were built as far back as 1824. The air there is thick, it is humid and hot and we were sweating like crazy. I forgot my bottle of water that is usually attached to me. We found a Mariotte and thought that maybe they would have bottled water. Better, they had a Hollihans restaurant that had cold beer and bruscetta with foccicia bread. After cooling off and filling up we finished our walk and headed back to the hotel. The bartender at the restaurant told us about their sister restaurant the Canon Pub that makes their own beer and pizza. Kyle had wanted pizza for one of the meals and that place sounded good. Back to the hotel to be with Kyle, take photos, video etc. and then back into the car to get the pizza. While waiting for the pizza to cook we ordered fried pickles. Not only have I never had fried pickles but I have never even heard of them. They were, well, interesting. It is something that I can say that I have tried but don’t know if I would order them again. The pizza on the other hand was wonderful. We all ate in the hotel room, kyle went down stairs to do one last email to everyone at home. We had decided that we would take him to the Comfort Inn where his buddies are to ride in the taxi back to Ft. Benning but he couldn’t get ahold of them so he thought we should call a taxi to come and pick him up at our hotel. HE thought of this. This is the child that never would have thought ahead to have a back up plan. I told him I would go down stairs and ask the front desk which taxi service they usually use. Got the number and called. The man said that he was coming to pick up two soldiers at our hotel and he would be there in 10 minutes and if Kyle wanted a ride that night he had better be out there and go with them. So the goodbyes were very fast. We thought we had another ½ hour with him. Lots of hugs and kisses later he was out front with the two other soldiers waiting for the taxi. Before the Army he would have stood back, alone, waiting for the taxi but we could see him from our hotel window and he was down there with the other two, talking with them. What a change two months can make. The next morning we drove to Atlanta and took the plane to Dallas where we had a very long (5 hour) lay over. We ate at TGI Fridays at the airport which was suprisingly good. I had the Turkey Burger and sweet potato fries. Now these fries were what I was looking for. Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, seasoned just right and flavorful. Not greasy at all.
After three plane changes (plane not there, mechanical work being done on another plane, finally a plane that workes) and sitting on the tarmac ½ hour we arrived in Santa Barbara an hour later than scheduled. Arrived home at 10 pm, tired but so happy to be home. It was so good to see Kyle, even for the short time period that we saw him.

Great sign on a gate in down town Columbus.
Fried Pickles!!
Georgia is beautiful and green. So unlike California in the summer. We saw kudzu, which is like our morning glory, and wraps itself up and over everything. We ate more fried food than we have had in five years but wanted to taste everything. And we paid for eating all that grease intestinally. When we got off the plane in Santa Barbara the first thing I noticed was that the air is crisp and clean, not hot and thick. I like crisp and clean. Last night it was grilled veggies and a five grain pilaf. My body is happy.