Toast With This
You may have sipped a Louisiana Hurricane, a Texas-size margarita, or a Kentucky mint julep--all flavored with a sense of place. The newest craze, though, is to drink a Mojito--think mint, moonlight, and Miami. Go ahead and sip. We won’t tell mama.
Turn Some Pages
Any required reading list for Southerners will be long enough to give you serious eye-ache. Still, there are icons. The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner) and Look Homeward, Angel (Thomas Wolfe) have both achieved lofty status. Our Southwestern staffers nominate Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry). Other books, such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou) and The Prince of Tides (Pat Conroy), depict more contemporary Southern characters. But the quirkiest modern-day must-read has to be Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (John Berendt). Controversial, yes, but it has captured imaginations around the world.
Walk Through History
There’s no denying the past--however dark--has made us what we are today. Its lessons are both poignant and sobering. Manassas National Battlefield, where two armies of brothers first clashed, and Appomattox Court House, where the cruel conflict finally ended, bookend the horrific story of Civil War. Every year motorcyclists gather in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Oklahoma to follow and commemorate the Cherokee’s tragic Trail of Tears. Everyone, though, should tour the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Its films, pictures, and artifacts eloquently convey the struggle for equality.
ARTICLE BY Jennifer Mckenzie Frazier / Photography Mark Sandlin, Ralph Anderson, Joseph De Sciose, Art Meripol, John O’Hagan, Charles Walton iv
Toast With This
Turn Some Pages
Walk Through History