The Stuffed Scholar's Travelogue: Day Two

The puddle jumper from Athens to Memphis yesterday was so small, my (two) fellow passengers and I were asked at check-in how much we weigh. Unfortunately, that number will be higher for me on the return trip.

This morning, the first of the sixteenth annual Southern Foodways Alliance symposium, first-time attendees enjoyed spicy bloodies garnished with . . . wait for it . . . Tabasco-brined bacon. Blair Hobbs' and John T. Edge's house was not hard to miss—we just looked for the Bloody Mary banner proudly waving outside. I sweated it out with restaurant designers, chefs, writers, and chowhounds before heading to the Lyric Theater for a full day of food talk.

Pat Allen is an acquisitions editor at the University of Georgia Press.