Tip O' The Day

If you ever find yourself wandering the backroads of northern Alabama, follow my path (and the current advice of Southern Living magazine that we discovered as we paid our bill just before leaving the place) and stop by Wildflower Cafe and Country Store, built in 1867 in Mentone, Alabama, USA.

Sweet potato biscuits. Tomato pie. Spinach quiche. Strawberry crepes. Orange cinnamon tea. Organic coffee. Chess pie. Hummingbird cake. The owner in Bohemian attire. Woodstock, Southern style.

Read a free paper while we looked over the menu - The Historical News for September 2009 - like dipping your toes in DeSoto Falls, feeling an icy chill and the thrill of fast-flowing data surrounded by local sights and smells.

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A nod to Felicia at the corner grocery market - your smile and immediate service keep bringing me back for more fresh fried chicken and banana puddin'. You can take the boy out of the country but you can't take good country cookin' out of a boy's stomach.

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A nod, also, to Barbera and the unknown barista (tattoos included on more than one person, too) at Blue Willow. My wife'll let her friends know about the little girl dressup tea parties that they're giving upstairs now - I know she wishes she had a young niece to take to the cafe.

Thanks to Chris Walker and her son for the bus ride; to Lori M and Amanda for the midnight snack at Applebee's - maybe we can play with glow-in-the-dark necklaces again soon.

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Recent movies: "The Color Purple," "Brazil," and "Defending Your Life."