Southern hospitality is a phrase used in American English to describe the generalization that residents of the Southern United States are particularly warm and welcoming to visitors to their homes, or to the South in general....and last weekend, i had a taste of that and bucket loads of that !!
Rodney Jacobs, my Manager where I work lives in a 25 acre property which is actually in the middle of nowhere. yupp. its woods everywhere and plonk in the center is the house.
He had been talking about his fishing trips and all the hunting and generally about the things he keeps doing. I just mentioned that I need to see his house. and guess what, there came up the plan to meet at his place for dinner. he asked if i was ok with that plan..hell ya...what better job do i even have on a saturday in a lazy town.
So I picked up a bottle of white wine and drove down to his place which is 18 miles away from where I live. pulled into the mudpath which is his driveway only to get jolted by a speeding go kart.WTF. It was Rodney with his characteristic smile who just did his levels best to scare me. Then he sped along and took me to his home.
now his house is something everybody will like. a complete resort of sorts. calm, silent,serene, no noisy neighbours, no traffic noise. cool climes. swimming pool to dip in, pool table, gym etc.
phew..when i'm still soaking all this , Rodney suggests we tour his property. I thought we'd be walking in the thick woods but no..hes got other plans. go kart !!
this machine (made by Maxxam) is monstrous I tell you. very very torquey. those tyres will grab anything like a leech. awesome grip. that roll cage ensures no branches come and hit you in the face. We then blasted across the woods. and then, after the tour is over with, its time to see more of the go karts capabilities. we go across the highway to a mud road and thats where it shows different colors. Rodney goes drifting in it and powersliding et all. it was just awesome and I could not have gotten enough of it.
after all this adrenaline rush, we went back to his home and picked up his truck with his boat tagging along and went to a creek where we would get the boat into the creek and then into the river.The flint river. The river looked rather dirty but i was told it is muddy coz of the rains.
The boat was a Grumman fishing boat with a 50hp Mercury marine engine. Now, down here, they take fishing very seriously. after a car and a truck , boat is the next valid important investment of these southerners. Various types of boats are available depending on the purpose of usage. this was a fishing boat whose purpose is to just cruise around the river/lake and get perched up in some corner from where one would fish. does that mean this is slow? no way..this is quite fast too.fast enough to be lethal. lethal coz this boat cannot handle the big waves that get generated as 'wake' caused by other boats.
the other types of commonly bought boats are the water skiing boats which are rather fast and have wider hulls to handle wake and cut thru them coz skiing needs speed.
yet another type is called pontoons. these are not hull based design. they have two huge air filled long tube on which a flat body is attached. this is made for a relaxing cruise around the lake/river. it usually has a big sofa and a bed for sun bathing too. its a lounge mobile of sorts. seen people make a barbeque while on a pontoon.
The ways of having fun.
enough of digressing. by now, we had got our boat into the creek (which is more like a cross road) which leads into the river. I was taken aback by the vast number of people who drive up in their RV (campers) along with boats, park alongside the river on timeshare properties and just lounge around. its their fave activity. we then reach the river. interestingly, these guys don't use the river haphazardly. they use all their road manners on rivers too. LHD. yupp. they ride along on the right side of the river with oncoming boats to the left. I like that kinda sense and sensibility. River is where all the action is. this is where i see all kinds of people water skiing, jet skiing or lounging around on pontoons. some people even dock on the side and go swimming and diving. all this in a river which has alligators. wow. the 2nd last creation of GOD that I'd like to avoid at all costs. snakes take the 1st place.
The ways of having fun.
enough of digressing. by now, we had got our boat into the creek (which is more like a cross road) which leads into the river. I was taken aback by the vast number of people who drive up in their RV (campers) along with boats, park alongside the river on timeshare properties and just lounge around. its their fave activity. we then reach the river. interestingly, these guys don't use the river haphazardly. they use all their road manners on rivers too. LHD. yupp. they ride along on the right side of the river with oncoming boats to the left. I like that kinda sense and sensibility. River is where all the action is. this is where i see all kinds of people water skiing, jet skiing or lounging around on pontoons. some people even dock on the side and go swimming and diving. all this in a river which has alligators. wow. the 2nd last creation of GOD that I'd like to avoid at all costs. snakes take the 1st place.
this river feeds into a lake called lake Blackshear and we rode the boat till the lake and turned around at the marina. the marina is like a big parking lot of sorts for boats. there is a small man made beach of sorts out there, a club a resort etc to hang around. We then turned around to get back to the creek where we started out from. passed by many such creeks. now this creeks also serve for stopovers for people to buy stuff for fishing and stuff for fishermen..mostly beer and fuel. Returned to home base and in time to start cooking.Rodney made fish fry and french fries and coleslaw. after a sumptuous dinner with wine,we went around and toured his touring bus.it is a fantastic ride to have. it is perfect to go holidaying in with place for 6 people.its got a refridgerator, microwave, 2 Audio video setups (for the front and rear lounges), dining tables,shower , toilets and a place for six people to sleep and closets, Rodney pops a surprise. takes me to the truck we've been riding in and opens to rear door. HOLY QUAKERMOLY !! there were a dozen guns in the back !! all types of them. pistols to rifles to shot guns...
phew. that sight was something else. but then, thats not the whole deal. we went target shooting !! He lives in the woods and has no neighbours to worry about. Him and I started shooting at a Target. I got to fire from all the guns he had and boy was it fun. It is really not that bad to focus on a target. i did not hit the bulls eye but i got close. all that from a novice. the best of them all was the 12 gauge shot gun. the target board would not serve the purpose. he had a spare plastic hood of a lawnmower. set that up and he fired once. half the hood gone. then it was my turn. to my surprise, i blew it to pieces. man..i could not believe it. guess what, i think i'm hooked onto it. I may go back for more shooting soon. I'll have to buy ammunition though. after it got dark, went back home for desserts and then after chatting around for a lil while longer, ended my day.got back home.phew what a day.
see picture slideshow below
