Macking at Mary Mac’s

I have never been to the “south” before. I have read lots of books and seen lots of movies set in the south and have always been intrigued by fried green tomatoes, mint juleps, long afternoons on the porch, iced tea and southern hospitality.

I did indeed get to try fried green tomatoes. Very yummy! A bit salty, a bit crunchy and heck it’s fried, how can you go wrong?!

Mint juleps… sounds like some pale, frosty drink with mint leaves – very refreshing. I was thinking that it would be something like a mojito. It’s not. It’s Wild Turkey on ice with a mint leaf in it. Gross!

Long afternoons on the porch – didn’t get any of these but I did see a restaurant that had an outside patio on a veranda with rocking chairs for the customers! I did see some Georgian type houses with porches. The heat was incredible and the humidity made me feel limp so I think the long afternoon on the porch would be a great idea if one lived in Georgia. Perhaps the humidity would drive one to actually want to consume the Mint Julep.

Iced Tea. I mainly drank water but at Mary Mac’s, my favorite SOUTHERN restaurant, they say that iced tea is the wine of the south. I am regretting that I didn’t drink a glass of iced tea just for the sake of doing so.

Southern hospitality. Ahhhhhh, it is not a myth, the people of the south were amazing. When I went to Toronto and Chicago I was shocked at how unfriendly people were. You smile at people and they stare at you like you are crazy. One lady in the subway in Chicago actually yelled at me because I looked at her for 2 seconds as we passed each other in the corridor. In Atlanta everyone is friendly. Well, almost everyone. We arrived at the hotel and a very nice bellhop helped us to our room and brought us ice. The next day a lovely woman at the concierge desk helped us find a grocery store. When we were lost a wonderful woman walked with us to our destination. People went out of their way to help us out. Those lovely dreamy accents just added to the experience! I felt very safe at the time – we walked everywhere, took the subway and felt comfortable. I was later told however that Atlanta is not actually a good city to walk around in. Although everything looked lovely and picturesque, there was something underlying it all that made me uncomfortable. There was a real division of wealth among the races there. I felt very uncomfortable about the fact that those “serving” us in various capacities were of one race while those managing those who served us were of another. Had I had a Caucasian bellhop or seen a Caucasian busboy/girl I might have felt more comfortable. There was just something very disconcerting about having someone trying to serve me at every turn…

As part of the southern experience, we wanted to have a real “southern” meal. Our taxi driver recommended Mary Mac’s
and life will never be the same. Mary Mac’s is called a tea shop but it is really a laid back, homestyle restaurant. The food is prepared fresh and by the end of the day they have often run out of most items. You can have your meal served family style off of big platters or choose your entrees separately. When it’s your first time to Mary Mac’s they bring you a complimentary serving of Pot Likker. I have no idea still what that is but it was like a small serving of broth with some greens in it with a mini cornbread muffin. I liked it, some of my fellow diners didn’t. I don’t think I liked it enough to order it but it was okay. On the menu: fried chicken (real fried chicken), BBQ ribs, catfish, shrimp, chicken and dumplings etc. You get to choose your sides separately and the choices I remember included: fried green tomatoes, okra, collard greens, crackling cornbread, grits, black eyed peas, and macaroni and cheese. I had blackened catfish with fried green tomatoes and macaroni and cheese. Definitely not one of my healthier meals but when in the south, do as the southerners do. I ate healthy for all of my other meals so I felt good about letting go that one time. The food was amazing! I really wanted to have peach cobbler for dessert but they were out.

Atlanta was a beautiful city – lots of trees everywhere, beautiful old buildings and houses as well as amazing modern architecture as well. Overall, despite a few glitches/surprises/realizations, I really enjoyed myself. But its good to be home 