Yesterday Fabgrandpa and I went to Russell Field in Rome, Georgia to meet with the GEICO Skytypers before the Wings Over North Georgia AirShow opened to the public. The show is this weekend, October 12-October 13, 2013. The 2013 Smoke and Thunder BBQ Classic will also take place during the show. While none of this was going on while we were there, we still had a great time, and got a look at some of the things that went on the day before a big event.
Empty food concession booths will be filled up tomorrow!
We are not new to getting ready for big things. We worked for five seasons at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for the National Park Service, so we were the ones who got things ready for the world to come to the canyon every year, and that was a lot of work. We were just glad we were there to observe yesterday!
These empty bleachers will be packed tomorrow.
The best part about the event we attended was getting to meet the GEICO Skytypers, an air team that writes giant letters in the sky that can be seen for miles. The press release for them says
“The team performs a thrilling, low-altitude, precision-formation flying demonstration. The pilots fly six WWII-vintage aircraft, coming from all directions and filling the sky to provide spectators a unique viewing experience while showcasing the tactics and maneuvers utilized in training during WWII.”
Me with some of the pilots. That’s me in the red shirt, hahahaha!
While talking with the pilots, I found out that the team originated after World War II, and the original team members were pilots during the war. The team has been together for five generations, and some of the current pilots are related to the original guys.
The GEICO Skytypers van. Isn’t it gorgeous?
I interviewed Chris Orr, the pilot on the far right in the picture above. Here are a few of the questions I asked him, and his answers:
Me: How long have you been flying?
CO: I’ve been flying since 1992, when I was a Navy pilot, so 21 years.
Me: How did you get into doing air shows?
CO: A friend of mine got me into it. I started out shuttling planes from one place to another for the show, and got to be a member of the flying team three years ago.
Me: (actually Fabgrandpa asked this one) Is this a full time job for you?
CO: I am actually a commercial pilot. Flying in the air show is a part time job. Most of the pilots in the air show are commercial pilots.
Me: Has your grandmother ever seen you perform in an air show.
CO: No, unfortunately my grandmother has passed on. But, she did see me fly when I was a Navy pilot and she was very proud of me. One of my grandmothers was actually a pilot, but I don’t think she ever got her license. She loved flying!
Me: How long does it take to learn a new routine or stunt?
CO: It takes a couple of months. We practice new routines in the spring before we start doing shows.
After my interview with Chris, we went over by the planes to take some pictures.
Me with the GEICO Skytypers Team
Another photographer who was there told them to pose “like pilots pose” and here is the result:
Pilots posing!
I had a chance to talk to the Skytypers manager, Vince Giampietro.
Me and Vince Giampietro, manager for GEICO Events.
Me: How long have you been with GEICO?
VP: I’ve worked with GEICO for 28 years. I manage many other GEICO events around the country, not just the Skytypers.
Me: How many air shows the Skytypers do each year?
VP: They do 12 shows per year.
Me: What is your favorite city for doing an air show?
If you live in the West Georgia Area, you are in for a treat on October 12 and 13, 2o13. The GEICO Skytypers will be performing at the Wings Over North Georgia Air Show in Rome at the Richard B. Russell Regional Airport. The 2013 Smoke and Thunder BBQ Classic will also take place during the same weekend.
Here is the itinerary for the show:
GEICO Skytypers
2013 Wings Over North Georgia Air Show Information
• Saturday –Sunday, October 12-13 (9am-5pm) event open (11am-430pm)–Air show
• Saturday–Sunday, October 12-13 (9am-5pm) Smoke-n-Thunder BBQ Classic
• Event Venue – Richard B. Russell Regional Airport
• For more information on the air show – www.wingsovernorthgeorgia.com
• Ticket Info –http://wingsovernorthgeorgia.com/guest-information/tickets/
The GEICO Skytypers are the only flying unit in the world that performs at air shows typing messages in the sky. For more information on the GEICO Skytypers, visit geicoskytypers.com. The team can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Sewell Mill Community Farmer’s Market in Bremen, Georgia
Yesterday I went to the Sewell Mill Community Farmer’s Market in Bremen, Georgia. This farmer’s market is open every Thursday from 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Local farmers come and fill their booths with fruits, vegetables, jams, jellies, and lots of other goodies to sell.
MMMMM, green beans, peppers, squash
I did not get the name of this farmer, but he had a display of some beautiful green beans, peppers, and squash. I bought some of those green beans from him. I got a generous amount for $2.00.
Pretty Darn Good Salsa
The nice guy at this booth is a retired school teacher with a backyard garden. He perfected his home made corn and black bean salsa, and calls it “Pretty Darn Good”. And it is. I bought a jar of it to use next time I make my Shrimp and Black Bean Nachos. The pint jar was $5.00.
Lots of goodies at the Hembree Lane Farm booth
It was really hard not to buy some of all the things they had to offer at the Hembree Lane Farm Booth. They had new potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, eggs, garlic, squash, cucumbers, kale, yellow wax beans, and green beans. I did buy some of the red fingerling potatoes and a fresh garlic bulb. Yum!
This sign had all the prices for the things they were selling.
I like that the farmers at this market had signs that told how much their produce was selling for. It made it possible for me to decide if I could afford to buy from them without having to continually ask how much.
Delicious Goat Cheese
The last item in my shopping bag was an assortment of delicious goat cheeses from Coles Lake Creamery. I got blueberry, strawberry, and honey spreadable goat cheeses, in a package for $8.00 It is so good spread on gluten free ginger snaps or on gluten free raisin toast.
New Potatoes With Garlic Recipe
1.5 pounds new potatoes
1 whole head of garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Wash the potatoes, slice off any spots. Dice into bite sized pieces, leaving peels on. Put the potatoes into an 8″ X 8″ glass casserole dish. Peel all the garlic cloves, slice, and sprinkle into potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste, drizzle with olive oil. Stir to mix well. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour. Serve hot.
After my shopping trip yesterday, this is my menu for dinner tonight:
New Potatoes with Garlic
Steamed Green Beans with Basil
Sliced Fresh Tomatoes
Leftover Grilled Chicken
Leftover Ham Slice
Sewell Mill Community Farmer’s Market is located at 126 Hamilton Avenue in Bremen, Georgia. If you have any questions for them, their phone number is 770-843-8021. You can also like their Facebook Page. What is your favorite thing to find at a farmer’s market?
On Saturday, I was surfing the net, looking for local farmers so that Fabgrandpa and I can start buying local foods direct from the farm. During the time that we were traveling around the country, we always looked for roadside stands, farms, produce for sale signs, every where we went. It is amazing how much better tasting fresh from the farm foods are. So, when I found the website for the 2013 Locavore Challenge, I was just so happy!
This table had pulled pork and a peach barbecue sauce. Yum!
Fabgrandpa and I drove over to Carrollton yesterday to go to the Locavore Challenge Kick Off. It was held in the Ampitheater in town, just off the square. There were lots of local farmers, cheeses makers, sausage makers and chefs from restaurants in town that buy from the local farmers.
OH MY! Locally grown watermelon, cantaloupe, blackberries, blueberries and peaches.
In addition to meeting lots of farmers, there was lots of free food! Samples of local produce, pork, bratwurst, fruit, jams & jellies, cheeses—and maybe more. All of it was sooo good! My favorite was the tomato and goat cheese salad with balsamic vinegar. To die for!
This salad was just so good!
It has been way too long since I was able to get out and just enjoy a day outside. This event was so much fun, and so tasty. We signed a pledge to try to eat 50% of our diet from locally or regionally grown foods. Let’s see how we do!
Southern Flavors Restaurant is located at 528 Main Street in Cedartown, Georgia. It is a pretty popular place with the locals, and serves lots of southern style food. The whole menu is written on a chalk board on the wall, and seems to be a constant weekly menu. You get a meat and sides, depending on what day of the week it is.
We were there later in the day, after lunch time, so there weren’t many people there. It does have a large capacity for seating though, and we have been by there on Sunday and seen their parking lot full.
As is usually the case with a restaurant like this, the portions are huge. Fabgrandpa tried the meatloaf, with two kinds of beans and cornbread. I don’t think he was able to eat it all.
Meatloaf and beans
Unfortunately, there isn’t much of anything on the menu that is gluten free. I did try the broasted chicken, which was breaded with wheat (yes, it did make me sick, but I knew what I was doing), but it tasted good. I was hoping the fried okra would be breaded with corn meal, but it wasn’t so I didn’t eat it. The mashed potatoes were good. If we come here again, I’ll order vegetables that I know don’t have gluten in them.
Fabgrandpa loved it, and said he would eat here again.
Southern Flavor, 528 Main Street, Cedartown, Georgia 30125 770-748-4802
Fabgrandpa and I have driven past this restaurant several times in our travels around Haralson County, but never stopped in until last week. With a name like Phat Phil’s we had no idea what to expect, but it turned out to be pretty good country type food.
The inside is very clean
The inside of the restaurant is very clean, and had plenty of places to sit. We chose a booth, and started looking at the menu. There is also a chalkboard on the wall that lists daily specials.
Daily Specials are posted on a chalk board
Fabgrandpa ordered the country fried steak and gravy. I had fried catfish, which is NOT gluten free but I was prepared to suffer the consequences. The catfish was fried just right, and came with two sides. I had green beans and sweet potato casserole.
Fabgrandpa’s country fried steak
The meal was pretty good, and the prices were not that bad. We both ate dinner for about $22.00. We will probably eat there again if we are on that side of town again. Phat Phil’s is located 8901 Hwy 113 in Temple, Georgia 30179. It may also be called Draketown by some. If you’d like to call ahead to check out the menu or get driving directions, their phone number is 770-562-0604.
You know how it is, you have very good intentions, and make a list, and create a goal, and try to get started on the plan, and then, BAM! life happens. It certainly has happened that way around here. I had planned a month of posting, both personal posts and sponsored posts and stuff y’all might like to read about. I had even started a couple of drafts, which I don’t really like to do, because when you start a draft, it sits there accusing you of being a sloth every time you sign in to your blog. Sooooooo. Now that my lovely daughter has come home from the hospital, and we have driven so much it seems like we went to Washington state and back, I was getting ready to sit down and start writing again.
Then, guess what? We needed to buy a new vehicle. Because I can not get in and out of the truck without help, I have not been able to go anywhere by myself since I got out of the hospital in May of 2012. Think about your own life, and how it would feel to not be able to just jump in the car and run to the store when you needed something. I was going a little bit crazy. For that and a few other reasons, we decided it was time to ditch the truck and get a snazzy car.
We knew we wanted to keep our payment under $200. Knowing that, we went to the Coosa Valley Credit Union and talked to them about getting a loan. From there, we figured we should look for a nice used car no more than $12,000. I began looking online at used cars on every new and used car dealer website in the west Georgia area. I mean, why drive all day and use up that expensive diesel fuel when we could eliminate several places without going anywhere? I found five vehicles that fit our budget and looked pretty good in the pictures online.
The next day, we went to the closest place where one of the cars I found was located. When we got there the car looked really good, but it was several hundred dollars out of our price range. They wouldn’t budge one bit on the price, so we walked. Or drove. To the next lot we went. The car at that lot was in the price range, but it didn’t look quite as good in person as it did online. Off we went again.
Fabgrandpa and EJ from Stan’s Auto Sales
Stan’s Auto Sales in Dallas Georgia is about 35 miles from our house. They are located in a residential area, and if we had not had our GPS lady telling us where to go, we would have never found him. But, the car we were looking for was at that lot.
Me and the new car!
Today we are the proud owners of a 2010 Chevrolet Impala. We got it for $9,950, which is a very good deal. We were able to get a payment of $167 a month, so it fits our budget with money left over.
I LOVE this new to us car!
If you live in the west Georgia or surrounding area, and are in the market for a clean used car, you should check out Stan’s Used Cars in Dallas. EJ is very easy to work with, and will help you find the right car for you. He said they keep their inventory of cars priced at $12,000 or less. They had plenty of beautiful used autos when we were there to pick ours up.
The other day when we were lost driving home from the in-laws, we found a good little Mexican restaurant in Chatsworth, Georgia. The outside was typical strip mall storefront, but the food inside was quite delicious.
Fabgrandpa’s Combo Plate
Fabgrandpa’s combo plate included a taco, a burrito, and a chile relleno. He thoroughly enjoyed the entire meal. My choice for lunch was the shrimp nacho appetizer. It was just enough to eat, and those shrimps were grilled to perfection!
These nachos were pretty as well as tasty!
Each weekday Monday through Thursday has a special feature on the menu. Monday is Taco day with 99 cent tacos and beer.
The specials menu
If you ever find yourself in Chatsworth at lunch time, I highly recommend this restaurant. The prices are affordable and the food is pretty good. They are located at 500 South 3rd Avenue in Chatsworth, Georgia. Call ahead at 706-695-0937 to make sure they are still open.
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