I had this craving today,

[tenshi816]

like a lightning bolt out of the blue, for a chili-cheese dog and onion rings from the Varsity, so much so that I was salivating just thinking about it. Hell, my cholesterol level probably rose because I was thinking about it. And I'm an entire ocean away.

Somebody, please, make the sacrifice - go eat at the Varsity for us misplaced Georgia DUers.

[unhappycamper]

1. How about a pizza from the Dogwood Cafe in Jamaica Plain, MA?

It's the best I can do.....

[tenshi816]

5. That sounds good too,

but when your body craves grease and a certain level of irritable service, you can't beat the Varsity (and I've never found a better onion ring than those served at the Varsity, crispy yet soft, sweet and with the perfect level of grease, which your body might hate but your soul will love).

Gotta say, though, I love the name "Jamaica Plain" for a place to live.

[CottonBear]

2. I'll send Mr. CottonBear to the Varsity in Athens!

He drives past it everyday on his way to and from work! :)
I could really go for a frosted orange but I must steer clear of the chili-cheese dog. Now on the other hand, I could handle the onion rings!

http://www.thevarsity.com/

Are there no chili-cheese dogs and onion rings in England? Remember that M*A*S*H episode when Hawkeye orders ribs from Chicago (?) because he has a huge and sudden craving for them? :)
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http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/The-Varsity

The Varsity is known for the cashiers shouting "What'll ya ha-ave?" and for their special terminology: Download high resolution version (1928x2444, 430 KB)The famous V sign of The Varsity restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia]]. Taken by J. Glover (AUtiger) on December 12, 2004 . ... Download high resolution version (1928x2444, 430 KB)The famous V sign of The Varsity restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia]]. Taken by J. Glover (AUtiger) on December 12, 2004 . ...

Naked Dog a plain hot dog in a bun
MK Dog a hot dog with mustard and ketchup
Regular C Dog a hot dog with chili, mustard, and ketchup
Red Dog a hot dog with ketchup only
Yellow Dog a hot dog with mustard only
Yankee Dog a Yellow Dog
Walk a Dog (or Steak) a hot dog (or hamburger) to go
Steak a hamburger with mustard, ketchup, and pickle
Chili Steak a hamburger with chili
Glorified Steak a hamburger with mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato
Mary Brown Steak (or Dog) a plain hamburger (or hot dog) without a bun
Naked Steak a plain steak
Sally Rand Steak a Naked Steak
N.I. Orange a Varsity orange without ice
F.O. Frosted Orange
Joe-ree coffee with cream
P.C. plain chocolate milk (always served with ice)
N.I.P.C. A P.C. without ice
All The Way with onions (on a hot dog, hamburger, etc)
Bag of Rags a bag of chips
Ring One order of onion rings
Strings french fries
Sideways onions on the side

[tenshi816]

3. Oh, yeah baby,

and I'll be thinking about it. (This could get real weird, dontcha think?).

I remember going to the Varsity in Atlanta with my parents when I was a kid (the one near Georgia Tech) and getting curb service. For people going inside to order food, if you didn't know exactly what you wanted, and able to rattle it off quickly chapter and verse, the person taking the order would start shouting "end of the line, get to the end of the line" and then begin to take the order of the next customer waiting. Highly stressful.

Hey CottonBear - I need to get back to you about the 4th of July thing in Colbert. I read your account of it and salute you!

[CottonBear]

6. Hi Tenshi816. I'm a little stresed now: work, home & horses.

A chili dog would send me over the edge now. Ms. Violet (Supreme Horsewoman) is gone on work to Nashville (US Gov't contract) .

Mr. Violet has a hurt foot. (My nurse and chiropractic and massage therapist friends are taking care of him) Mr. Cotton Bear will help feed 22 horses on Sat. morning)I'm leaving Athens on Friday to drive to Chattanooga to meet Ms Violet. Mr. CottonBear is going to have to take care of Cotton and the other 21 equines on Sat. (Cotton is quite naughty right now.)

I was the ONLY Protestor there. I will post my pics sson. I left about 45 leaflets on cars/trucks there. There were many Confederate flag people there along w/ 3 sheriff deputies. I was quite cautious and low key.

[tenshi816]

4. Damn, CottonBear, thanks for that link

to the Varsity website. I've got the audio playing in the background now (I'm hearing "what'll ya have" and "apple pie" over and over - priceless!).

In answer to your question, the only chili-cheese dogs I've found are ones I've concocted myself for my boys, but mine tend to be too healthy - when I crave the Varsity, it's not for health reasons! Also, onion rings in the UK tend to be too heavily breaded. Varsity onion rings get the balance exactly right between onion, breading and grease (lotta onion, not too much deep-fried breading covering it, and a whole boatload of grease! - bad for the circulatory system, but good for the soul!).

[CottonBear]

7. Can we ring you up when we come to the UK?

We'll come to London for a brief holiday in the next year or the next year. We have little money so it will be a really cheap and low key London holiday. You know: cheapflights , hotels and we tour on our own.

Give us a ring when ya'll visit Athens! We can see the horses and everything good that is Athens. Cheers! CB

P.S. Have some fish and chips for me!

[tenshi816]

8. Absolutely!

PM me when you get ready to fly out and I'll give you my details.

We live in West Yorkshire, so we're not close to London, but if I have enough lead time I'll definitely come down to meet you. If you have enough time and want to save money (as well as getting to see the "real" England as opposed to "ye olde tourist" England), it's worthwhile getting out of London. Our house is on the outskirts of a small town about 15 miles from Leeds and is a little slice of heaven to me.

Leeds is a lovely old city with fabulous shopping, and Ilkley, where we live is wonderful too. Ilkley has been here since the year 87 AD - the Romans built it. It's big on history as well as being a haven for hikers because the town is next to a huge moor (which we live next to). This is the view from our kitchen window:



And another from the back garden:



I look forward to showing you around!

[CottonBear]

9. How beautiful! It is a magical landscape. The colors are so wonderful.

We must save up $ for tickets. we have many bills for children and animals right now. But, we will make a way to travel soon! It may be next year before we can travel. Let us know when you are heading over here to the Athens area!

My hubby is an artist and singer and musician. We both studied art history. I'm a landscape architect. I love landscapes and gardens. Your pictures are wonderful. I've been to London but he hasn't, so we must see the British Museum, The Portrait Museum and the National Gallery before leaving the city for Yorkshire and points beyond! We want to see/experiece a moor! I get the feeling that SE US people and UK folks have much in common. After all, all my family came from N. Ireland in the early 1700s. :)

Peace. CB

[tenshi816]

10. You know what, CB, I've thought exactly the same thing

many times, that American southerners and UK people - particularly northern UK people - are very much alike. What I like about living in the north of England is that with the people, what you see is what you get. They're plain-spoken but friendly, and in my experience have a strong sense of community, just like back home. (Digressing a little bit from that, that's one of the ways I try to explain how I can love a place like Georgia so dearly even while hating the political stance so many of its citizens hold - it's because of the sense of belonging that's still there for me even after all these years away from it.)

If you want to experience a moor, have I got a moor for you! There are so many walks here, in particular one that goes from here to a nice pub in a village about 5 miles away that even allows us to bring in our border collie, Riley. After a walk like that, it's a fine feeling to sit in an old pub and have a couple of drinks.

I believe my husband would've made a good landscape architect (in fact, I used to get the feeling he wishes he had made that choice earlier in life). Me, I have a black thumb. I love beautiful gardens - and I've seen some fabulous ones here, particularly those designed by Capability Brown - but it's best for the plants if someone else besides me does the gardening because I'm useless!

We visited the National Gallery last time we were in London in early January. I was still in plaster with my broken ankle so my guys pushed me around in a wheelchair. Not the best vantage point for looking at paintings, but it was OK because I've been there many times before and this last trip was because my boys are getting old enough to appreciate it now.

We're going to London at the end of August to see Ewan McGregor in a new stage production of "Guys and Dolls" (he's playing Sky Masterson) and also plan to go to the Tate Modern while we're there. There's a new Frida Kahlo exhibition that's only at the Tate until October and I'm really keen to see it.

Depending on what time of year you visit, you should check out the restored Globe Theatre - I say "depending on the time of year" because it's an open air theatre and theatre-goers in the middle are at the mercy of the elements. The Globe been restored to the way it was during Shakespeare's day and it's a real gem of a place. Last summer we went to see "Much Ado About Nothing" performed by an all female cast and they were so good that I completely forgot that the male parts were being played by women. The irony wasn't lost on me either, that a company of women were performing a play of Shakespeare's at the Globe Theatre, when back in Shakespeare's day women weren't allowed on the stage at all.

Last week's bombings are sure to affect tourism for a while, and it's so sad because so many of these places depend on tourist revenues to keep them open. I'm a bit unnerved myself about going down next month, but I refuse to give in and change my way of life because of terrorists.

In an earlier posting we were talking about names because of what I said about not being surprised if we discovered we were related - if I read you correctly, your family name is Crockett, so no, we're not. My maiden name was Coile, which isn't very common in the US except in the Madison/Oglethorpe/Athens area. In Madison County alone, you could probably throw a rock and hit 3 or 4 Coiles.

What are you doing up so late? Don't you ever sleep?!

[Casper]

15. Not Chicago... Toledo!

Ohio, that is. He ordered Tony Packos I order their stuff all the time. The SweetHot pickles are the best. All my friends love them - we even save the jar of juice after the pickles are gone for seasoning potato salad, tuna, etc.

[tenshi816]

18. I thought it was Klinger who did that

because he was from Toledo. Hazy memory, though, because it's been years since I've seen MASH.

I spent a few days in Toledo once with a native of the city, and had a really good time because he took me to lots of places that people just passing through as tourists or on business wouldn't know about. Can't remember any of the place names, but we ate and drank very well!

Tony Packos looks good - I'll have to check to see if they ship internationally.

[RubyDuby in GA]

11. Hi tenshi816! I'll do it today

I work in downtown Atlanta and I also have a meeting tonight a couple of blocks away from the Varsity you remember (near GA Tech). My fiance loves to eat there, so I'm pretty sure that's where we'll end up eating tonight. But I'm only doing this because you asked! I'll take one for the team. Chili dog, slaw dog and onion rings - taste good going down and then proceed to sit there like a brick in your stomach.

:hi:

[tenshi816]

12. Hey RubyDuby,

yep, you've got it right about the brick in your stomach feeling, but it's just so good going down. Kinda like it oughta be sinful somehow (which makes it a whole lot more fun).

So, I'm trying to talk CottonBear into coming to West Yorkshire (although she may have second thoughts after today's big news) - can I tempt you over here too? We're a good 16 miles or so from where the terrorists were living, out next to the moors and the Yorkshire Dales - bombers can't be bothered to come out here. Too many sheep.

Seriously, though, I'm glad the police are getting so many breaks in this case. We've been through the area in Leeds where they had the controlled explosion today so many times - it's not far from Leeds University and the area has a huge student population. I've said on another thread on DU that it would be the perfect place for terrorists to hide in plain sight, because the population is so transient. It would be easy to rent a place, stay for a while and then disappear without attracting much attention, because students do it all the time.

Wow - I somehow managed to get from the Varsity on North Ave. to terrorists in Leeds within 3 paragraphs.

[RubyDuby in GA]

13. Impressive transitioning there tenshi816!

I would simply love to come to England. My fiance has been 3 times and I cannot wait until we come over together. We're trying to work out a trip sometime next year. We when get everything arranged, I'll add in a day to head your way. I would say that I'd bring you over some chili dogs from the Varsity, but they don't look so good making the journey from the counter to the tables, so who knows what a trip across an ocean would do! :)

Oh my heavens, if Cottonbear and I could manage to be there at the same time......she's a wonderful person (met her and Mr. Cottonbear at an Atlanta DU meetup)!

[Casper]

14. I went last week

..and it was terrific, as usual. Two chili dogs, onions rings and an FO (Frozen orange). I bet all y'all wouldn't expect to hear that The Varsity is a WiFi hot spot. Don't ya love that? So you can gorge yourself on chili dogs while posting to DU!

[tenshi816]

17. Wow - 21st Century Varsity

I love it!

[RubyDuby in GA]

16. Ok, so I went last night

Woke up at around 3am and thought I was dying or having an alien baby....

The things I do for you DUers.... :P

[tenshi816]

19. LOL, thanks Ruby!

What a sacrifice! Just give your cholestrol level a chance to settle down and you'll be fine...