Monthly Archives: July 2010
Family Values…
We’re staying here at the Northgate RV Travel Park here in Athens, AL. The park is owned by my uncle Dr. Ed Calvin, and managed by his son, Wes.
It’s a nice little park, mainly for transients, although he does have a few long-termers.
One of the real pluses is the fact the park is in the middle of a working farm, with about 50 sheep,
goats that are kept for their milk,
and, of course, what’s a farm without horses and cows, too.
About 12:15 pm we picked up my uncle Ed and Aunt Jan at their house near the RV park and drove about 20 miles south to Decatur, AL to meet my uncle Tom and Aunt Lenette Calvin at Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ. Their pulled pork is second to none, but their hot sauce could be a lot hotter. And the homemade coconut cream pie that Jan and I split for dessert was great!
From left to right below: my beautiful wife Jan, my uncle Dr. Ed Calvin, his wife Jan, my aunt Lenette Calvin, and my uncle Tom Calvin. My uncle Tom played pro ball for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1952 – 1955 as a halfback and kicker. He then coached Alabama high school football for 45 years, and is acknowledged as the “Winningest Coach in Alabama High School History”
Lenette Calvin is well-known in local and national gymnastics and has worked with Béla Károlyi at his training camp in Houston, TX. She presently owns a gymnastics training facility called Calvin Twisters in nearby Decatur, AL.
We had a great time and spend about 2 hours talking over old times, family and friends.
We got home a little before 4 pm and it was time for a nap.
About 5:45 pm we headed out for supper. I wanted to check out another local BBQ chain, Lawler’s BBQ.
On our way to supper, Jan shows off her new “Nana” shirt in anticipation of Baby Landon’s approaching arrival.
Lawler’s turned out to be kind of a disappointment. I had a rib and pulled pork combo plate. The thing I really didn’t like was that the ribs had been parboiled before grilling. This is done because it allows the meat to be cooked faster. You can always tell because he meat just falls off the bone and has no real texture, it’s kind of mushy. I could pick up a rib bone and shake it, and all the meat slides off. The other BBQ places I’ve had ribs recently, like Sonny’s BBQ, Famous Dave’s BBQ, Country’s BBQ,, or Jim and Nick’s BBQ all are slow-cooked from scratch on the grill, and taste much better.
Leaving Lawler’s and heading home, we stopped by Walmart for some things, and then got home a little after 7. All in all, a very nice day.
More tomorrow…
Quote of the day:
Finance is the art of passing money from hand to hand until it finally disappears.
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Old Home Week…
We left Cherokee Beach Campground a little before noon heading about 120 miles north to the Northgate RV Travel Park in Athens, AL.
The trip were pretty uneventful, except for about 15-20 miles of rough roads on I-65 north of Birmingham. We got into Athens about 2:00 pm and got set up.
About 2:30 or so, I started calling family here in Athens. My mother was from here and I have 3 uncles and their wives, with assorted nieces, nephews, and cousins living here, and we try to get together with everyone while we’re here. We’ll be here until Monday, so hopefully we’ll get to see them all.
About 4:30 pm we headed out for dinner at Catfish Cabin, a really good catfish place, what else. They probably have the best hushpuppies I’ve ever eaten, and growing up on the Gulf Coast, I’ve eaten a lot.
Getting back to the rig I talked to some more relatives about getting together, trying to work with everyone’s schedule.
More tomorrow…
Quote of the day:
I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there.
