Angola prison... and my grandfather?!

Where to begin.

Really had a special experience today visiting with a Vice President of Human Resources at a Southern Lousiana hospital. One that I won't forget.

As we started our typical small chat- I learned that she used to live in Asheville, North Carolina. I shared that I used to spend childhood summers in Asheville going to a summer camp called "The Cove Camp" at the Billy Graham Training Center. I figured that because of her age, and that she had spent time in Asheville, she would be quite familiar with Billy Graham and potentially my grandfather, Cliff Barrows who was the music director for Billy Graham's crusades for over 50 years.

Billy Graham and "Papa" to the right, probably in the 50's?

I don't typically talk about my "Papa" in meetings, but something told me that this VP of HR would be intriqued if I shared that I was his grandaughter. Perhaps it was the fact that she had told me she was a Southern Baptist Christian?!

After I told her, she excitedly told me, "Your grandfather came to Angola State Prison here in Lousiana and spoke/sang and told the prisoners that he would donate one of his organs (musical instrustments) to the prison." Apparantely it was big new in Lousiana, or at least, among the Baptists... :)

She then proceeded to teach me a bit of the history of Angola prison, and that it was once known as one of the most brutal prisons in the country.

She then shared that, in fact, she couldn't remember whether or not my grandfather had said he would donate an organ, or if he had said that he was going to have his casket made by the prison since apparantely they make wonderful wooden caskets. (At this point I'm thinking, when in the world am I going to get to my sales pitch?)

But I felt intrigued and told her that I would call my Mom to investigate which one it was- something about the organ being donated sounded terribly familiar- but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Then we somehow got on the subject of George Beverly Shea- the third original team member who was famous for singing beloved hymns at Billy Graham's crusades, most notably, "How Great Thou Art."

Papa, Billy Graham, and George Beverly Shea

She had thought that George Beverly Shea had passed away, since he was the oldest of the group. I shared that he in fact was alive and very much still kickin'. "In fact," I exclaimed, "... my Mom and I visited him in his home this past fall."

And that's when it clicked!

When we were there in his home I remember "Uncle Bev" proudly showing us his brand new organ; one which could play songs automatically. He told us that the organ was also his alarm clock, and he would set it to play this extremely loud music all throughout the house and this is what he would wake up to!

I told the VP of HR that I think in fact it was not my grandfather who came to Angola prision, but George Beverly Shea... but that I would double check with my mom and get back to her.

Sure enough, after my meeting I called my mom, told her the story, and she said that yes, in fact, it was George Beverly Shea who wanted to donate an organ to Angola prison. After we had visited with him last fall, on our way out the door, Uncle Bev had pointed to a much older organ of his (he must have had 5 organs in the house) and exclaimed that in a few weeks he would be traveling to Lousiana to give the organ to the prison.

The reason why my Mom remembered this, is because, in her typical Lydia Barrows humor, she turned to Uncle Bev and said, "You are the only living organ donor I know."

It was as if a light bulb went off and I remembered exactly the organ which now sits in Angola Prison here in Lousiana.

Next time I think I might have to go find it. ;)

"Go out to see the world. Come home for love."

I love this quote!

I first spotted it on a decorative block of wood in a cute San Diego shop earlier this summer. It has become a fitting motto for my life.

Over this past year of extensive travel I've learned that though there are so many interesting and wonderful things to see in this world, one should never expect from the world what can only be fulfilled by what we each consider "home."

To me, "home" means family. And over the past two weeks of no travel, meetings, or phone calls, I have soaked up a whole lotta love from this crazy group. In fact, I think I might have overdosed. 

Introducing... Buzz Lightyear.
Earth name= Nephew Jackson.

Buzz helps Papa cook some bacon on Sunday morning.

Introducing Miss Mailey... here she wears the little dress my Swiss nanny gave me when I was a baby!

My hero. She can eat and sleep at the same time!

Buzz gets a surprise from Daddy. A Toy Story 3 inflatable ball to roll inside of!
It took Papa and Justin hours to manually pump this ball up!



Papa rolls Jackson around (while wearing Jackson's hat).
P.S. It's snowing in South Carolina!

Aunt Betsy jumps in! (Harder than it looks).

Yay! Jackson gets big boy Toy Story underwear for Christmas!

Too bad they fit Auntie JJ better than Jackson.



Hard to keep up with the Barrows' stockings.



Bobby was responsible for filling Dad's stocking, per our family tradition. Not knowing where Dad's stocking was, Bobby improvised,and literally hung Hanes socks across the mantle with Dad's goodies inside. (Please note the last Hanes sock to the far right. Bobby filled it with... Hanes socks).

Mailey loves to pull Uncle Bobby's hair.

Mom... being Mom. ;)

Bobby.... being Bobby.

Buddy/Bobby... being Buddy/Bobby  :)

Jackson loves dressing up in our coats. Here he wears Bobby's poofy vest. I love this!

For New Years, 4 generations of Barrows girls (and Buddy)  watched fireworks from our front porch in our new bath robes.

STAY TUNED... VIDEOS COMING SOON!

Fried Green Tomatoes, Y'all!

Calling all local Carolina women who happen to love Fried Green Tomatoes as much as I do:

Fannie Flagg, the author of "Fried Green Tomatoes at The Whistle Stop Cafe", is coming to the Lowcountry next week to talk about her latest book set in her hometown of Birmingham, AL. (Scroll down to see her book signing schedule).

Upon reading this in Southern Living magazine earlier today, I couldn't help but think of my adventures stumbling upon the real Whistle Stop Cafe (where the movie was filmed) during business travel to Macon, GA earlier this fall.

I was about 2.5 hours early for my meeting with nothing to do in Macon, GA. Starting to feel hungry, I figured it might make sense to go settle down in a restaurant (a rare luxury on the road), fill up my stomach and do work on my laptop for a little while.

So I used one of my phone apps to search for nearby restaurants, sorted from nearest to farthest. As I scrolled the list, the very last one, located 26.1 miles away, in a little town called Juliette, GA jumped out at me and made me squeal with excitement- it was The Whistle Stop Cafe.

I had known that The Whistle Stop Cafe was a real place. Growing up I was obsessed with the movie and in college I remember googling "Whistle Stop" and discovering that indeed, the restaurant was kept open after the filming of the movie.

Click here to read about the Cafe

Doing the math in my head, I tried to calcuate how much time I would have to drive to Whistle Stop, eat and get back to Macon without jeopardizing my meeting. Not wasting any time, within 7 seconds I put the car in reverse, and headed straight for Juliette.

I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. I pulled into the little town and marveled at the familar scenery. It took me a few minutes to recognize where the actual cafe was- what gave it away were the hanging porch celing fans I noticed from a distance. There it was- THE Whistle Stop Cafe!

Before walking in I took a good walk around- noticing the famous BBQ pit where Big George barbeque's Frank Bennett- ("Bennett's BBQ" is a favorite dish on the menu!)

I also noticed Smokey Lonesome's little cabin (original pictures are on my lost cell phone- I found these on google).

Eventually I headed inside, found myself a table, and ordered Bennett's BBQ, fried green tomatoes (of course), and sweet tea which was served in a mason jar. Though I had brought my laptop along, it just didn't feel right to pull it out and start doing work. So I just sat there, munched on my fixins and took in the scenery. The walls were filled with old antique paraphernalia which was placed there during the movie- as well as framed photographs of the cast on set.

Following my meal, I walked around a bit into some of the local stores- and stumbled upon this old antique store, with a proud owner whose nickname is "Bear"- he explained to me that the entire movie was shot within about a 3 mile radius or so. It was the perfect location for filming. He helped design a lot of the sets with the era-proper objects.

He told me to stop by the old Baptist church on the way out just up the road. The (real) church cemetary where Ruth is buried, along with Buddy Jr's arm, still hold those fake tombstones created during filming.

And the most interesting thing I learned - to this day, Juliette locals put a jar of honey on Ruth's tombstone- just as Idgie did in the movie. And to this day tourists take the jar of honey as a souvenir, which is quickly replaced by another jar.

I didn't have time to go lookin' through the cemetary for the jar of honey. I knew I had to prioritize getting to my meeting on time- I'll save it for my next trip.

Tawanda! Click here to see one of my favorite scenes from the movie.

Fannie Flagg's Book Signing Schedule

Charlotte, NC -> Joseph-Beth Booksellers, November 29th  7 pm

Charleston, SC -> Barnes & Noble, December 2nd @ 7 pm

Pawleys Island, SC -> Litchfield Books, December 3rd @ 2 pm

After seeing that Fannie was going to be in Litchfield, I quickly checked my calendar to see where my business travels would have me on Friday, December 3rd. Though I was kinda sad to see that I wouldn't be anywhere nearby, I got a kick out of the fact that on this day, I will be in Valdosta, GA, where the fictional story takes place! How fitting.

Fun in... Iowa?!

Had myself a heck of a time traveling in the midwest this past week. At first, I was less than thrilled to have scheduled meetings in Iowa, however my midwest meetings also allowed me the chance to see my wonderful Aunt and Uncle (love you guys!) in Chicago, plus their two GINORMOUS dogs.

Meet Beauregard and Beatrice (the dogs) .

Anyhow, turns out my hospital visit in Iowa was one of the most memorable I've ever had. From the valet volunteers, to the gift shop folks and the cafeteria workers, everyone was so very kind and hospitable to me.

The gift shop, without a doubt was the best I've ever been in. I bought the cutest little booties for my precious neice Mailey. (Mom, if you're reading this, don't tell Bonnie!)

Also found some darling cards... loved this one... Girls, do you ever feel this way?

And the background music playing in the gift shop was this beautiful solo piano by Iowan Jim McDonough. I'm a sucker for the piano, and I had such a sweet time listening to his CD, "Home for Christmas" driving back to the airport in Des Moines from Fort Dodge- If you're looking for some holiday tunes, do give this a peek (and listen to the samples): http://www.pianofavorites.com/

Finally, all my goodies were packaged in this oh so cute hospital gift bag:

I headed back to Des Moines and had some extra time before my flight... so that could only mean one thing.... airport gift shopping!

Found some funny shirts: "Not everything is flat in Iowa." ;)

As well as this mug that looks like a cow utter.

As my Mom so cleverly put it, "Utterly adorable!" (How does she come up with this stuff).

And finally, I couldn't leave Iowa without.....

"Romeos" of the Road.... I'm not interested.

Inevitably, solo female travelers get hit on...

...Whether by random people in the airport, in the hotel lobby, in the elevator, and my personal favorite, going through security. <- the absolute worst. Seriously. Just scan my suitcase and leave me the hell alone!

Actually I take that back. The worst is when you are seated on the airplane by the Romeo. Last night I was on a flight to Birmingham and I took my seat by a man probably in his late 30's. He struck up small talk with me as a I settled into my seat (by the window of course). I was tired. I had worked at the office all day. I didn't feel like talking.

"Hi, how are you?" Romeo asked. "I'm good, thanks," I said as I clicked my seatbelt and shuffled through the pocket of the seat in front of me to find the latest edition of Sky Mall magazine to give the impression that I was very busy.

But my cues didn't work (one word responses, looking down at the magazine, fake note-taking, etc). Romeo proceeded to play "20 questions" with me until I decided to plant my face against the window to hint to this guy that I simply wasn't interested in talking or getting to know him. (Another reason why the window seat can come in handy).

I managed to ignore him to the point that once up in the air, he didn't ask me any further questions until we landed in Birmingham.

As we were pulling up to our gate, my face still planted to the window, he starts talking to me again: "You know, since you're staying in Birmingham, you should really try Nicki's West cafeteria downtown."

"Thanks for the recommendation- I'll have to try it sometime," I replied, and then glued my face back to window.

Romeo continued, "So... how long are you staying in Birmingham?"

Knowing perfectly well that this wasn't exactly a question he would have asked the 90 year old lady sitting three rows up, I turned to him, looked him straight in the eye and said, "No offense- but it's none of your business."

Suffice it to say he stopped asking me questions after that.

Window... or Aisle?

I am a window-seat convert. Few reasons why:

1. You get to look out the window. Well, DUH you might think, but this is actually far more interesting than looking at the back of the head of whomever is sitting diagnolly in front of you.

2. Awesome views. And I am convinced that seeing the sunset is good for your soul.

3. Perspective on life.... "rising above" the clouds, etc.

4. A place to rest your head since you didn't get any sleep the night before because the stupid hotel air conditioning unit was making wierd noises all night.

So what are you? A window or an aisle person? And WHY? Would love to know your thoughts.