Over the long Columbus Day weekend, I headed south to coastal Georgia to attend my (ahem) 30th high school reunion. That’s my senior portrait on the badge above (last good photo of me) and in the photo to the right, from left to right: baby me, Laura Butler Olsen (provider of photo), and Laura Gray Strickland, at our graduation (girls wore white gowns over white dresses with white shoes and boys wore red gowns over whatever). I attended Glynn Academy in Brunswick, Ga, for 10th through 12th grades (public school despite the name). The school was established in 1788, and the school’s website claims it is the second oldest high school in the State of Georgia and the fifth oldest high school in the nation! One of the still-in-use buildings on campus was originally built in 1889. And these buildings felt like it. No elevators. Not all were air conditioned. Each building had its own unique smell. Fortunately, the reunion was held off-campus.

Our first night’s event was held at Ziggy Mahoney’s, with food provided by Southern Soul Barbecue. Griffin Bufkin, one of the co-owners of this 1940s gas station turned BBQ joint, was also in my graduating class. But I think we ran in different circles, ’cause my memory of him is awfully fuzzy. Hell, my memory of EVERYTHING is awfully fuzzy. His restaurant was just across the traffic circle from my hotel, so I was tormented by the smell of smokin’ meat every time I went in and out. I was pretty excited when I saw the stacks of real hardwood where the gas pumps used to be! The catered spread was good solid barbecue. Well-barked pulled pork that needed but a touch of sauce (I chose his Habanero Peach Hot Sauce). And some awfully good collards.

Went back again on Sunday for lunch with my BFF Laura and her husband David. I stuck with pulled pork since David promised he’d let me sample the brisket. Fried okra and hushpuppies on the side, ’cause I can get french fries at home. Again — the pork was moist and well-seasoned, but I did dab a little of his sweet, tangy, mustardy Sweet Georgia Soul BBQ sauce on there. The brisket was fork tender without falling apart — served unsauced so you could still taste the dry rub (cumin? little cayenne maybe?). Their Brunswick Stew is supposed to be pretty good. I didn’t get offered any by a certain tablemate (sore subject), but you can find their recipe here. Neither Laura nor I could finish our meals — but that’s what a refrigerator is for, right (thank you Hampton Inn SSI!)? So technically I consumed Southern Soul 3 times over the weekend. No complaints from this BGE princess — good Q never gets old!

Another Golden Isles culinary destination is Grandy’s – on Cypress Mill Road in Brunswick proper. I got lost a couple of times, because NOTHING looks the same anymore, and oh about the third time I drove by Grandy’s, I hit the drive-thru for a Grandy’s Famous “Sinnamon” Roll. These are the Best Cinnamon Rolls Ever. Delicate, not-too-sweet dough that tastes of yeast, with plump raisins, a touch of pecans, and an old-fashioned icing. I ate mine in my hotel room after the leftover BBQ, and there was much internal turmoil about going out again at 9 at night to acquire another. I settled instead for picking up a half-dozen on my way out of town and bringing them home on the plane. Fortunately the JAX TSA agents don’t know Grandy’s, so they made it through security unscathed. Keith and I each ate two (at different times) and I gave a couple to my dear next-door-neighbors. And I’m wishing now I bought a dozen. And you know how I KNEW I was in the South? I had a ten minute conversation with the nice boy at the drive-thru window, and the car behind me didn’t honk once. In DC, someone mightta pulled a gun on me.

So even though I had some tasty (if a littly doughy) fried shrimp for lunch Saturday at Barbara Jean’s near the St. Simon’s Island Pier and boiled shrimp at that evening’s Low Country Boil out at Village Creek Landing, I was still itching for more seafood. So I timed things right on fly-home day to hit the Northside outpost of Seafood Express, tucked away in a strip shopping center just a couple of miles from JAX. This was a leap of faith — I found it on the Internet and decided to trust the positive reviews. I was NOT disappointed. A trio of fried seafood (shrimp, scallops, and oysters) plus fried okra and hush puppies — a very generous portion of VERY well-fried Southern Love. Bonus — the oysters were the little tiny sweet ones like what I get at the Fish House in Ruskin, FL.

My last evening, I headed to Jekyll Island for a quick beach walk (1 live sand-dollar, returned to sea; 1 dead sand-dollar, kept; no sharks’ teeth). I was leaving the island just before sunset, so was able to capture a couple of incredible shots of the amazingly beautiful Marshes of Glynn.