not too long ago we tried pallookaville fine foods for the first time. it’s the new corn dog joint in avondale estates from jim stacy. you may recognize jim from his get delicious! show on public broadcasting atlanta, his appearances on the tonight show, or from his corn dog wagon around atlanta.

if you’re a fan of corn dogs, you’ll love this place! you pick the meat; from beef frank, polish kielbasa, italian sausage, or all three. (there’s even a pickle option for vegetarians.) you also pick the batter; from golden cornbread, jalapeño or cheese. the corn dogs are freshly dipped & fried per order and are 100% delicious! i went with the fryinstein to sample all three meats, but will probably just go with the beef frank next time.

pallookaville also has poutine tater tots or fries (with actual cheese curds), fried pickles, boiled peanuts, handcrafted sodas, shakes (including adult shakes), egg creams, cocktails (included spiced cider options) and many other treats. to say the least, they have plenty of tasty delights to choose from.

here is the menu for a more detailed list of their delicious crafty foods. for a limited time, they have a cadbury scotch egg, which consists of a cadbury egg, funnel caked with pine street bacon, bacon whipped cream and salted caramel!!! sounds delicious!

we will definitely be heading back to pallookaville!

– ryan

pallookaville fine foods

17 north avondale road
avondale estates, ga 30002
404-500-1785

we took the kids to a recent trains, trucks and tractor event at the southeastern railway museum in duluth and had a blast! there were historic pullman and u.s. mail trains to explore (including one used by president harding), elaborate toy train sets for viewing, actual restored locomotive and two-passenger trains for riding and our favorite part of the museum, a marta bus graveyard!

the bus graveyard was awesome! they had different busses on display from the 40s through 90s. there were a few different incarnations of orange colored busses that were especially great. i wish they would go back to the vintage design! you could even explore the interiors of the different busses. the kids liked running up and down the aisles and sitting on the driver’s seat.

besides the busses, there were also big hangers with historic trains you could explore as well as a museum filled with old train sets. we also rode on both the restored locomotive and the two-passenger trains! they took you on a nice tour of the 35 acre site, although the train whistle was a little loud for the kids.

all-in-all, the southeastern railway museum was a ton of fun. we definitely plan on going back when grey is a little older!

– ryan

southeastern railway museum

3595 buford highway,
duluth, georgia 30096
404-436-1825

great panel discussion on MENTORING at The Hudgens last night.

– gub

hudgens center for the arts

6400 sugarloaf parkway #300
duluth, ga 30097
770-623-6002

we recently tried the new atlanta bbq restaurant called smoke ring in castleberry hills. i have to say it was very impressive and might give community q a run for it’s money as the best bbq inside the perimeter.

the atmosphere was great, which is a huge part of the bbq experience in my opinion. it was rustic, yet modern and clean. there was reclaimed wood everywhere, vintage chairs & bar stools, drinks in mason jars, and old chandeliers made with edison bulbs and vintage baskets. it also featured a huge open floor plan with plenty of seating, unlike fat matt’s and community q. in the middle was a very inviting gazebo-type booth, we’ll have to sit there next time. there was also outdoor seating with great views of downtown atlanta.

now on to the food. we tried the spare ribs, beef brisket and crispy brussel sprouts, which were amazing! the ribs weren’t quite as good as community q, however they were still great. they featured a dry rub and were smoky, but not too overwhelming. the sliced brisket was top notch! i even liked it more than fox bros brisket, which is saying a lot. their cajun boiled peanuts and homemade pork rinds were also very tasty and highly recommended. as far as sauce goes, they had a tangy red, sweet red, grainy mustard (made with sweetwater 420) and a white sauce, so all of your bases were covered.

another perk of smoke ring was the full liquor bar. they had a good looking selection of bourbon, draft beers, moonshine and craft cocktails, including a boiled peanut martini, which sounded interesting!

check out the full menu as well as more information on chef jordan wakefield and his goal of creating a unique georgia-style bbq.

we will definitely be heading back to smoke ring!

– ryan

smoke ring

309 nelson street sw
atlanta, ga 30313
404-228-6377

check out this scary statue at netherworld!

– ryan

there are some creepy monsters at netherworld!

– ryan

sunrise at the gates of netherworld.

– ryan

here we go again, looks like another snow & ice storm in atlanta! from our instagram feed!

– ryan & gub

we got up at the crack of dawn and headed to the yellow river game ranch on groundhog day to see if georgia’s general beauregard lee would see his shadow. they claim he is 94% accurate, and we are always up for some agritourism, so we made our way to lilburn to see what it was all about. as the sun finally started to rise, the general came out of his house and did not see his shadow, predicting an early spring!

there was a fairly big turnout for the celebration, including various members of the press and medieval times. lots of people even brought signs to cheer on beau. waffle house was also on hand providing coffee and hot cocoa during the cold, foggy morning.

afterwards we walked around the ranch to check out the other animals before heading to dunkin donuts for a little treat for the kids! oh, we also watched bill murray’s groundhog day, as per holiday tradition!

– ryan & gub

yellow river game ranch

4525 us 78
lilburn, ga 30047
770.972.6643

here are more photos from our recent snowmageddon! we thoroughly enjoyed the winter weather, hopefully it won’t be another three years before we see snow again in atlanta.

– ryan & gub