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Michael Powell and Juergen Horn are continuing their living experiment in moving to a new city every three months, and writing about them on their blog 91 Days. Currently in Savannah, Georgia, USA, they visited The Old School Diner and got a lesson in Southern hospitality.
The evening really got going when Chef Jerome came out of the kitchen to greet us. He does all the cooking, and clearly enjoys meeting the people who’ve discovered his little place. The first thing he did was give us all big bear hugs. “You’re family here”. And he meant it! He took us on a tour around the restaurant, telling us about his life and work. We saw pictures of famous people who’ve eaten there, including Ben Affleck and Michael Oher (from the Blind Side). He showed us love letters he’s written to his wife over the years (complete with drawings) and into his kitchen and its wall-to-wall deep fryers. The staff clearly love him, and were just as friendly and welcoming as their boss.
I think we spent about an hour talking to Chef Jerome, and he even walked us out onto the carpeted driveway to say goodbye. “Don’t forget now! This is your home, and you are family when you’re here!” And as I gave him a final farewell hug, I didn’t doubt it. It was an incredible night, and the Old School Diner is truly a special place.
There are more photographs of the restaurant’s eccentric decor at 91 Days. Link
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Would you be willing to put all your possessions in storage, except your laptop, a few clothes and your dog, and say adiós to the idea of having a home? That’s just what Michael Powell and Juergen Horn have done. Armed with just the internet and a spirit of adventure, they’ve become digital nomads, roaming the earth in three-month stints.
Over a long lunch and a bottle of red wine, the idea formed. They’d been making their living online for awhile, running websites like Criticker and Random Good Stuff, and promoting Juergen’s photography. Traveling is their shared passion and, as long as they had high-speed internet, they figured they could do it on a permanent basis. For three months, or about 91 days, they could fully explore a new city or country and, before they had time to get weary of it, would be off to the next spot.
Their first leg was in Oviedo, in Northern Spain and about two weeks ago they touched down in Savannah, GA. On their blog For 91 Days, Juergen and Mike document their exploration of the history, sights, culture, and the bizarre and wonderful customs of their new temporary homes.
That’s Juergen sportin’ an open container of alcohol in public. Posing near a cop, no less. Now, for most of us, this is an illegal act – but not in Savannah, Georgia. Thanks to the "To-Go Cup" – the alcoholic equivalent of the Open Carry law – you can walk around the Historic District and enjoy your favorite beer in broad daylight. No need for sipping furtively out of a brown bag. Link
First fool the humans with the cute kind of cats, and then when they’re lulled into a false sense of security, the supercats will take over the world! Here’s a story of the rise of a new breed of predator cats as pets in Britain:
The savannah, the most popular, is bred from a serval, a cheetah-like
wildcat found in Africa. It can grow three times larger than a domestic cat and can jump 7ft vertically.Another breed to have arrived in Britain is the safari, produced by mating a domestic cat with a South American Geoffroy’s Cat. There are also plans by breeders to import the caracat, descended from a caracal, a lynx-like wildcat found in the Middle East and Africa. The savannah is banned in some US states and in Australia, where there were concerns it could kill koalas. [...]
Peter Neville, an expert in pet behaviour from the Feline Advisory Bureau (FAB), said: “Cats are predators. I wouldn’t be happy with a savannah around a small child, because of their genes and their size.
I, for one, welcome our new supercat overlords. Jasper Copping of the Telegraph bravely uncovered the supercat conspiracy: Link (Photo: BNPS)
The first building in Savannah, Georgia was a “herb house” for the gardener tending the experimental botanical gardens that were going to make the city a Utopia. Instead, the city became a busy seaport. The garden house was made into a tavern catering to merchant ships’ crews and pirates.
Pirates get a bad rap. They were cut-throat, drunken maniacs, sure, but what they did have was great benefits. Compared to other sailing outfits, pirates often had better food, better pay, better sleeping arrangements (all still horrible of course) than other soldier or merchant vessels. Pirates at least had a democratic decision-making system. Comparatively luxurious, the pirate ships often had plenty of people willing to join them. Not so for your standard military or merchant ships. Sailors regularly jumped ship, and after a few days stay in a port, a ship could be shorthanded by half a dozen men. This is where the “Pirates’ House” came in. Besides beer, food and wenches, the “Pirate House” did a brisk trade in something else; they found new sailors for the ships. Rather than going to all the trouble of convincing people of what a nice life it was at sea (people knew better) they simply kidnapped them.
Curious Expeditions explains how these kidnappings (known as being “shanghaied”) were accomplished, as well as other pirate activities, and you’ll get a look at more of the fascinating history of the city of Savannah. Link
