I’m back in SoCal now, but as Ray Charles so rightly put it, I’ve still got Georgia on my mind. If you ever saw that scene in “Doc Hollywood” where Michael J. Fox’s character is sitting in LA listening to the recorded weather for Grady, Georgia, just to hear the accent, you know where I am right now (which reminds me – anyone know whatever happened to Julie Warner, the ambulance driver Fox fell for in DH? Holy Hell, she was amazing … but I digress …). I’m sure a couple of days back in the hustle and bustle and smog will work it out of me, but right now, I have a terrible sweet tea jones …

Anyway, in keeping with the whole “song of the south” theme, I bring you a little example of just what you can miss about the south. I refer, of course, to the Georgia Peach. Playing the role today will be Brittany Swann, Miss Georgia 2007 – and a fine example she is!

The irony is that the picture was shot in LA at the Wilshire Grand in downtown Los Angeles …

You’d think after spending the better part of a full day travelling, you’d sleep pretty well, wouldn’t you? And you’d be wrong …

I’m back in SoCal, and back at work, but my brains haven’t caught up yet. I travel a lot, but most of it is on the West Coast, or no further east than St. Louis. This was the first time I’d been to the other coast in quite some time, and I’m remembering just how much I don’t love those long plane rides.

Just an aside here, but if you’re going to fly in a commercial jet, for God’s sake shower first. There was this “woman” in the row in front of me who looked like this was the first time she’d been out of the house in quite some time, and had forgotten to wash this week. The cabin air is stale enough without that kind of help, lady. I was almost hoping for a decompression just to get at the bottled oxygen.

My meetings yesterday unexpectedly ended before noon, and my flight wasn’t until 9:30, so I had a little time to kill. I tramped around the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB, where they have one of the best displays of planes I’ve ever seen – everything from a B-1 and B-52 to a C-141 Starlifter, and pretty much everything in between. It’s all volunteer run, including the renovation of the planes. Impressive to say the least. I also got to stop in Macon for some awesome ribs at Fresh Air BBQ, and even made a stop at the corner of Bartlett and Hillcrest, better known as the place where guitarist Duane Allman had his fatal meeting with a truck. After a quick driving tour of Atlanta – and a frustrating experience that helped me understand why it has the second worst rush hour traffic in the country – it was off to the airport for the aforementioned flight home.

Anyway, we’re back and almost ready to get back to the grind. I have the weekend to kick back and recover, and I plan to enjoy it to the fullest …