So its June in downtown Macon, Ga., schools out and all of the kids want to play. Even the big kids. Our friends at Ocmulgee Expeditions (www.ocmulgeeexpeditions.com) are flowing down the easy red river. Another great First Friday is planned with programming that will focus on getting down town businesses on the sidewalk. E. G. Kight is on the calendar this summer, which will continue a Rookery tradition of hosting this blues legend who recently recorded on the program “A Prairie Home Companion” with the iconic Garrison Keiler. All of the amazing volunteers on the Bragg Jam board are scrambling to keep the reputation of Macon’s best event intact.
Betsy is in the kitchen perusing recipes and sourcing fresh ingredients with Brad. Timothy has installed an employee DNA machine, so only crew members can touch the door without getting shocked. Wes and I are taking on projects at the new Rookery as soon as the previous ones are complete, and sometimes before. The floor of the bar has been entirely reconstructed this week, loosing many ghosts of benders past from the cellar of our storied establishment, and as you can tell, we’re up. We’re online for the first time and could not be more excited about the ability of this site to keep our Rookery family informed and aware of what’s going on as early and as often as possible. All of our social media runs through the site, so this is definitely the place to visit if you can’t be at the Rookery quick enough.
Adam Smith, our local rock and roll photographer and bar star (www.AdamSmithPhotography.com ) has put a lot of time into helping us capture images of this place while also preparing for the release of his book, Mornin’ Aint Come Yet, which is expected to go to press this fall. Brad and Meagan at the 11th Hour (www.11thhouronline.com) were the very first recipients of our new Rookery Gifts Cards, which is another project that took a little time to get rolling but it is now here for your convenience. Thanks so much for checking out our blog, and we’re going to try to keep this thing as active and interesting as possible, with a few jewels every now and then. And Wes and I would love to hear some feedback from y’all, so let us know what you want and we’ll try to deliver. here is a link to us.
Here’s a little recipe to get us started that Bebe, my mother, always whips up when my family is camping or on the beach. It’s real easy, goes great with Burgers and Hot Dogs, and you can store it in the cooler when you’re ready to pack up the picnic and get back into the water. The first time I remember tasting Vidalia Pork and Bean Salad, my brother and I were on the beach in Daytona, radios were playing from the window of the seemingly beached automobiles scattered across the place. It was race week in Daytona, which was a big deal to my grandfather in the early eighties, and he was showing off his new RV to some folks from out of town. He whispered to me at breakfast that there was somebody he wanted me to meet. By late morning, mother had Beau and I in a play pin with a piece of plywood over us so as to not burn our young skin. Papa removed the board over our head and said “these are my grand babies. They look like little red beets in there, don’t they, Rich. Fellas, meet the King.” That was how I met Richard Petty.
See you, soon.
Chad.
Bebe’s Vidalia Pork and Bean Salad
Ingredients list
- 3 15oz cans of Pork and Beans, preferably Van Camps beans, which are soft and sweet
- 2 Sweet Vidalia onion, chopped
- 5 oz Salad Cubes
- 1 cup Blue Plate mayonnaise (that’s the only brand Bebe uses)
- 1/2 T Black Pepper, fine ground
- Dash of salt
Directions: Place the beans into a colander and rinse until they are pink and dry. Pour the beans into a mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Then, of course, enjoy! Try it on top of your burger.
