4 NOV 08: I LOVE PARIS IN THE FALL
When you tell people in 2008 you're planning to visit Paris, two things probably come to mind right away. The first thing is France. The second thing is Hilton.
But for my fall vacation this year, I went to a different Paris - Paris Landing State Park, in northern Tennessee along the Kentucky border. I stayed in the city of Paris, 17 miles west of the park. But no, this Paris does NOT have a Hilton. Sadly, this southern town doesn't even have a Waffle House.
Paris, Tennessee has a population of about 10,000, which makes it a bit smaller than Eufaula. But unlike Eufaula, Paris has a daily newspaper - with the surprising name of the "Post-Intelligencer." Huh?! You steal a city name from France, then a newspaper name from Seattle?!
Click on the newspaper link, and you'll probably notice the Eiffel Tower logo. I noticed it in several locations, including the sign outside the Paris Chamber of Commerce office. It's as if they think tourists will confuse that Tennessee town with the big city in France. The lack of an elegant French restaurant should clear up that confusion....
I was all set to go inside the Paris Chamber of Commerce office, and jokingly ask where that tower was. But as I drove through town on a Sunday morning, I actually found it! The Tennessee city has a small-scale Eiffel Tower in a park, with a "no climbing" sign next to it. In France, you're welcome to climb their tower - and I think nowadays it costs about ten dollars.
(No, the French flag was NOT flying from atop Tennessee's Eiffel Tower. But at the other extreme, I didn't really notice any Confederate flags. The only real "rebel" I saw was a man standing on a street corner, with a sign demanding President Bush be impeached.)
Yet if you drive into Paris, Tennessee from the south, you're welcomed to town by a big fish. The city claims to have the "world's largest fish fry" every year. But I'm sorry to report I never found the largest fish cooker for preparing it.
Paris, Tennessee has a nice compact downtown courthouse square. I jogged there before dawn one morning, and found the city's version of Uptown Broadway only a block away. I counted a grand total of three clubs - none calling itself a "sports bar," much less offering poker games.
Paris, Tennessee offered some other nice surprises. It's a low-price pocket for gasoline, apparently now below two dollars a gallon. It has sidewalks along main streets, stretching well east of downtown. And when this town has a Kroger store while Columbus still doesn't, something is definitely wrong.
I traveled to Tennessee's Paris for a religious convention at a state park along Kentucky Lake. The main meeting hall was down the hill from an inn, which had a restaurant and smaller breakout sessions. A couple of days felt like I was back in college - except the only textbook was a Bible.
The daily commute to and from the park must have cost me some sleep. One morning I ate breakfast at the Paris Huddle House, and went to the end of the counter to pay the bill. A young woman reminded me after a moment, "Our cash register is here at the other end."
But there was still some free time to watch TV in my motel room - all 12 channels of basic cable. I could see stations from Nashville and Jackson, Tennessee as well as Paducah, Kentucky. There's nothing quite like the thrill of watching Dr. Phil on three different stations at 3:00 p.m.
(By the way, I found former WRBL news anchor Heather Jensen reporting news on Nashville TV. Or as morning host Charlie Chase said after being corrected: "FOX-17'S Heather Jensen. I forgot her first name.")
The small Swiss Villa Motel was quiet, and barely in use except for me. Maybe that's why the housekeeper was unusually vigilant. When I took the Gideon Bible in the night stand drawer to the convention for a worship service, it was replaced with another Bible! C'mon - I HAVE read that section about not stealing....
Let's wrap up our blog travelogue with some other things we noticed along the way....
+ One emcee at the church convention was a down-home Texan, who said he has cows with names like Sirloin and T-Bone. I turned to someone next to me, and noted how the steers in Pro Bull Riding never seem to have names like that.
+ I laughed at the thought of supermarkets still selling "Bunny Bread" after all these years. But then I found out from a billboard that it's the "choice of the Tennessee Titans" - which is still the only unbeaten team in pro football....
+ I traveled to Paris by exiting Interstate 24 at Clarksville, Tennessee - the home of Austin Peay State University. Dinner at McDonald's on a Sunday night in a college town is always a recipe for slow service.
+ Clarksville also had a different breed of Pizza Hut -- a "Pizza Hut Italian bistro." Aw, c'mon! To borrow from a convention speaker, that's almost like calling Taco Bell a Mexican restaurant.
+ Dalton, Georgia has a car dealership called Adventure Chevrolet. How many Bill Heard customers think that name would have been appropriate in Columbus?
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As we stay campaign-free on this Election Day, let's come back home and check some Monday headlines:
+ Phenix City's new mayor and City Council took office. I'm not sure what four-time Mayor Sonny Coulter's first goal will be - to find a new city manager, or get his office chair reset in the proper position.
+ Fort Benning confirmed a soldier has been discharged from the Army, after being accused of harassing a Jewish soldier. Well, the phrase used for the action was "administratively separated" - which sounds like what happens when an attorney leaves a major firm to open his own office.
+ Richard Hyatt's web site reported the Top Hat Café will reopen for the first time in years. But it apparently will be located on 12th Street, not Ninth -- and if KFC's chicken is a much closer walk for residents of the Booker T. Washington Apartments, this café could be in big trouble.
+ WXTX "News at Ten" offered a special report on "70 proof sweet tea." It's a tea-flavored vodka, which was approved for sale by Alabama's Alcohol Beverage Control board. And you thought that different taste came from peach nectar....
+ Instant Message to Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville: Did you watch that news conference Monday in Tennessee? Find a better offensive coordinator, or that could be you in about 11 months.
SCHEDULED WEDNESDAY: We may not have the most comprehensive local election coverage, but we'll try to have the funniest....
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