Big Lunch in Georgia

I stopped in Savannah, Georgia, for one reason and one reason only: Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House.  It was an actual boarding house where Mrs. Wilkes would house and cook for people (the history is on the website www.mrswilkes.com ).  She just died in 2002, at age 95, but the house still cooks on.  There is a line around the corner to get in; I felt like I was at Gino's!  Luckily, I thought it opened at 10am and parked out front so I was in the first round to be served.  They only do lunch, Mon-Fri, which made it a good thing I just drove straight through South Carolina (originally I planned to get to GA on Saturday).

Everything is served family-style... several dishes just put out on the table to which you can just help yourself... as much as you want!  I practically rolled out of there after trying every dish: fried chicken, BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes, macaroni, cucumber salad, lima beans, green beans, baked beans, sweet potatoes, corn, rice, rolls, cornbread, cabbage, ruda- somethings, greens, tomatoes, beef stew, some sort of casserole, and then banana bread pudding for dessert (or blueberry cobbler).  Oh man.  Delicious!!! And of course it's served with sweet tea.  They really turn the tables over too- the minute the table is done and has gotten up, the help whisks everything off and re-sets it for a new party.  The tables sit about 8-10 people and have 4-6 tables per room, 2 rooms that I saw.  It was such a great way to stuff myself :) 

The town itself was quite charming, in a nostalgic way.  Old old buildings- I don't think I saw a single residence less than 3 stories high.  Everything was a large scale- floor to ceiling windows, balconies, cobblestone streets... a couple sidewalks were paved with conglomerate full of seashells!  It was a nice, quiet neighborhood- totally old fashioned.