Burgers, Books, Teacher's Dirty Looks
TH and I haven't spent much time hanging out recently, so a few days ago he declared that his next day off, we would spend it doing anything but work. His next day off was today.
We slept until about 9:30, then we lounged around until noon. We were thinking about going to Jackson, but we didn't know what we were going to do when we got there. We decided to go to Stamp's Superburgers. Actually, it was recently renamed Cool Al's. It's a little place just on the outskirts of the 'hood that has famous food. It's not much to look at, but we'd been wanting to try it for a while. It's located next door to one of those get cash til payday places, there's a bar across the street, and maybe a liquor store and a pawn shop. You get the picture. The inside of the place is kinda funky too. The ceiling tiles are brown from getting wet, and the bathroom is unspeakably repugnant. Let's just say I washed my hands a little longer than usual. The yellowed walls are dotted with awards and news articles and reviews of their food.
It's not your typical burger joint. They have a little bit of everything on the menu, from sandwiches to tofu. They even have a vegetarian burger which has been voted the best in Jackson several years running.
I didn't want to over indulge (none of this crap is on my diet, after all), but we were there to try the famous burgers, so I ordered the small classic something or other burger and small home fries. A guy brought my basket of food out to me about ten minutes later. My initial thought was small my ass! It was the biggest burger I've ever eaten, period. TH got the large, and it was huge. The fries were awesome-- they actually cut the potatoes and season them there-- and they gave me a ton of them. I couldn't eat it all, but I came close. It was the juiciest, most delicious burger ever made. I'm glad there's not an Al's in Hattiesburg, or my diet would just have to suck it.
After we finishedcommitting gluttony eating, we went to Lemuria bookstore. I had never been in, but I'd heard that it was fabulous and that it was over rated. It might be over rated, but it was still fabulous. It is what it is-- a big ass bookstore with some kind of restaurant/coffee shop attached to it. (Didn't check that part out.) If there are Lemuria fans, it's because it lacks the corporate feel of Books a Million or Barnes and Noble. It's more comfortable. And while it's certainly not their only focus, they have tons of books about Mississippi and the South, which I enjoyed perusing through.
They also have one other key thing that those other book stores lack-- a substantial poetry section. If you go to Barnes and Noble and look at the poetry section, they've got the same stuff every time. They've got John Donne, Shakespeare, Wallace Stevens, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot-- the big ones, you know. The ones that you read in college. Other than that? Not much. At Lemuria I found two books of poems by people I had never heard of. One of them is the English chair at Millsaps College in Jackson, and I noticed that after I'd sat there and read about five poems and decided to buy it. The name of the book is Rib Cage, by Greg Miller. The other book I bought is Useless Virtues, by T. R. Hummer. I can't comment on either yet, because I've only read enough to decide to buy their books. My point is that I'll definitely go back to Lemuria just because of the poetry section.
After we returned to Hattiesburg, we lounged around some more, then we took our nightly walk. We increased our distance by about half a mile tonight. A couple of teenagers were sitting on the playground equipment at the center of the park, smoking cigarettes and talking. One time when we walked by, the girl said something rude in our general direction. Since it was unclear whether it was actually directed at us, and since I'm not in the habit of beating up (or cussing out) teenagers in the park, I didn't say anything. TH didn't hear it because he was listening to an ipod. There were half a dozen police officers nearby, standing around their cruisers and talking, so I was almost hoping she'd speak up again. I'm pretty sure they were smoking more than cigarettes.
I have a job interview tomorrow, but I stillllllll haven't heard back about the one I'm really hoping to get. I'm beginning to broaden my horizons a little, if you want to call it that, by pressuring some of the less desirable districts to interview me.
Teacher shortage? What teacher shortage?
We slept until about 9:30, then we lounged around until noon. We were thinking about going to Jackson, but we didn't know what we were going to do when we got there. We decided to go to Stamp's Superburgers. Actually, it was recently renamed Cool Al's. It's a little place just on the outskirts of the 'hood that has famous food. It's not much to look at, but we'd been wanting to try it for a while. It's located next door to one of those get cash til payday places, there's a bar across the street, and maybe a liquor store and a pawn shop. You get the picture. The inside of the place is kinda funky too. The ceiling tiles are brown from getting wet, and the bathroom is unspeakably repugnant. Let's just say I washed my hands a little longer than usual. The yellowed walls are dotted with awards and news articles and reviews of their food.
It's not your typical burger joint. They have a little bit of everything on the menu, from sandwiches to tofu. They even have a vegetarian burger which has been voted the best in Jackson several years running.
I didn't want to over indulge (none of this crap is on my diet, after all), but we were there to try the famous burgers, so I ordered the small classic something or other burger and small home fries. A guy brought my basket of food out to me about ten minutes later. My initial thought was small my ass! It was the biggest burger I've ever eaten, period. TH got the large, and it was huge. The fries were awesome-- they actually cut the potatoes and season them there-- and they gave me a ton of them. I couldn't eat it all, but I came close. It was the juiciest, most delicious burger ever made. I'm glad there's not an Al's in Hattiesburg, or my diet would just have to suck it.
After we finished
They also have one other key thing that those other book stores lack-- a substantial poetry section. If you go to Barnes and Noble and look at the poetry section, they've got the same stuff every time. They've got John Donne, Shakespeare, Wallace Stevens, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot-- the big ones, you know. The ones that you read in college. Other than that? Not much. At Lemuria I found two books of poems by people I had never heard of. One of them is the English chair at Millsaps College in Jackson, and I noticed that after I'd sat there and read about five poems and decided to buy it. The name of the book is Rib Cage, by Greg Miller. The other book I bought is Useless Virtues, by T. R. Hummer. I can't comment on either yet, because I've only read enough to decide to buy their books. My point is that I'll definitely go back to Lemuria just because of the poetry section.
After we returned to Hattiesburg, we lounged around some more, then we took our nightly walk. We increased our distance by about half a mile tonight. A couple of teenagers were sitting on the playground equipment at the center of the park, smoking cigarettes and talking. One time when we walked by, the girl said something rude in our general direction. Since it was unclear whether it was actually directed at us, and since I'm not in the habit of beating up (or cussing out) teenagers in the park, I didn't say anything. TH didn't hear it because he was listening to an ipod. There were half a dozen police officers nearby, standing around their cruisers and talking, so I was almost hoping she'd speak up again. I'm pretty sure they were smoking more than cigarettes.
I have a job interview tomorrow, but I stillllllll haven't heard back about the one I'm really hoping to get. I'm beginning to broaden my horizons a little, if you want to call it that, by pressuring some of the less desirable districts to interview me.
Teacher shortage? What teacher shortage?
If you're ever in Philadelphia and want some GREAT fried chicken, go to Peggy's. It's about a block off the courtsquare, in a building that looks like a regular house, because that's what it used to be. They have a basket that you put your money in, and you if you "eat in", you sit at one of several great big tables with everybody else. Chicken days are Tuesday and Friday's and there are various vegetables you get, along with a salad, rolls and cornbread and dessert - on chicken days, it's either banana pudding or strawberry shortcake.
It's wunnerful.
Posted by
Anonymous |
7:46 PM
There's a dive like that near Tulsa (in fact, I think they're a chain now) and our friends kept telling us they were the best burgers we'd ever eat. I was skeptical, but who am I to turn down greasy, fried beef?
My friends were so right. I sometimes dream about those burgers.
Posted by
Redneck Diva |
8:48 PM