Forsyth Georgia is a quaint town midway between Atlanta & Macon. Every year, on the second weekend in March, the good folks of Forsyth celebrate the coming of Spring with the aptly named Forsythia festival. Artist and crafters setup around the beautiful downtown courthouse as folks from the surrounding area come out to enjoy food, fun and hopefully some good weather (this year was picture perfect!).
Pets weren’t allowed but somehow this little fella slipped in (yes, that is a pet goat)!
If you know us at all, you know that we like to seek out good food wherever we go. While Forsyth isn’t necessarily a culinary mecca (no dissin’ here, they do have a couple of nice restaurants downtown) I did stumble on an interesting eatery in the small town of Juliette, a few miles away. For anyone who remembers the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, you will recall the central role that the Whistle Stop cafe played in the film. The building had actually been a general store that was converted just for the movie. After the movie was made, the owner decided to keep the cafe and to serve up the southern favorites made famous in the movie.
Here is a basket of the famous fried green tomatoes with the obligatory mason jar of sweet tea!
Here is the pit where the “special ingredient” was added to the bone sauce (and yes, he totally deserved it!).
The rest of Juliette is an homage to the movie with numerous shops dedicated to Idgie & Ruth. If you enjoyed Fried Green Tomatoes and you enjoy good southern food, it is worth a little detour to check out this piece of cinematic history.
Update: We received an email from a customer that the original Whistlestop Cafe that was the inspiration for the book is actually the Irondale Cafe in Alabama. ”They’ve been serving up fried green tomatoes for decades, and the cafe sits right by the railroad tracks. Fannie Flagg wrote the book, and she is from Alabama.” Thanks for sharing!
