“I’d be unstoppable if procrastination didn’t take up all my time.” ~ Unknown
adventure buddies
I’ve had the best day. Had a great virtual meeting in the morning, followed by an in-person meeting, followed by a roundtable talk, and ending with an adventure 37 years in the making. The Varsity, in its original downtown Atlanta location (seen here), has been in business since 1928. Adjacent to the campus of George Tech, The Varsity was intuitively named and features chili dogs, slaw dogs, chili-cheeseburgers, and handmade onion rings. It’s also known for its Frozen Orange drink, which tastes just like an orange push-up. Some 37 years ago, give or take a year or two, when we were touring like mad, we played the South a lot, and we were often in the Atlanta area. We’d finish a gig and head north on I-75 for home. The Varsity sits conveniently beside I-75, and many times we’d stop in at 2 or 3 am for something to eat. Back then, the place was packed with teenage college students, even at that late hour, and these women, who looked like they’d been making onion rings for decades, were hand-breading them. I’d forgotten entirely about those women until I was texting with Kiya on Wednesday, when I realized I was staying at a hotel beside The Varsity. I had to go again, and this evening, my oral history posse and I —Carson Benn (Tennessee), Emma Kiser (Georgia), and Jen Bartlett —gave it a go. I was tickled to death to eat here again and honored that my friends would go with me to relive a little of my youth. I gotta say it’s a pretty different experience in daylight. There weren’t nearly as many people, for starters, and there was no smoke. Back in the 1980s, smoking was still allowed indoors. I didn’t see any people –women or men– making onion rings. Daylight or dark, I was thrilled to walk through those doors again. I’ve had a really fun, good life.
The Varsity!
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