Where everybody knows your name. I'm a big fan of Cheers. Never really got into Frasier, but loved Cheers. I love the idea of a ragtag bunch of random losers spending all their time together and becoming a family. Its sorta like my life.
I don't have a place of my own in Laurel, but my place in Newton is, as you might have guessed, Cooks BBQ. Its actually a pretty good BBQ place and its made even better by the lack of other good places to eat in Newton. Its right beside the Piggly Wiggly (my former employer) so its easy to find!! My dad, Dave, goes there ALL THE TIME. I mean all the time. Recently, he's been a bit under the weather, so he's not been able to go and I swear their sales have gone down 35%. Its his favorite place. He goes to Hardees in the morning with all the old-timers and then hits up Cooks either for lunch or, on Lions Club or Rotary Club days, for a mid-afternoon DC. Obviously I go there a lot as well, mostly with him (he pays!) and occasionally with friends or Carol from the office. They have really yummy BBQ, great homeade chicken nuggets, fabulous banana pudding, and even boiled shrimp on the weekends. I am lobbying the owner to get a sausage and cheese plate, hopefully named after me.
Its kinda sad how often we go there-- there are a couple other people who go out there a lot-- Curtis Blackburn and the "ladies" from the horse farm (where Patrick Swayze used to frequent). But dad beats them all! We know all the people and they are always super good to us-- free banana pudding or something. They are super great people and I am glad their business is doing well. When both Mamaw and Pop died, they not only sent food to us, but they even sent flowers! Cooks is decorated with all sorts of sports stuff and we have been known to head out there for lunch on a Saturday so we can watch a game on one of the tvs (although, Newton is about to get a SPORTS BAR!! Isn't that funny! So, now we can enjoy a cold DC while watching the game at the sports bar. It was supposed to be open last football season, but we've been assured it will open before Thanksgiving!)
Here are some pictures of Cooks for those of you unlucky enough not to live within driving distance. And if you ever do some through town, go to Cooks! Tell them I sent you! Or not!
This is our booth. Its the Ole Miss booth. Heaven forbid we have to sit in the State booth, or worse, the Bama booth. Ronnie, the owner, is a big Bama fan, so we have to put up with lots of Bama bragging from all the employees. He's got them all drinking the Bama koolaid. We just ignore them and thank God we know better. One time, we ate there on a Saturday, and a couple hours later, after we were home, Dad went outside to take Parker out, and he found a Bama vanity plate on the front of his car! Apparently, while we were eating their yummy food, they were pulling a prank! Dad retaliated a few weeks later by calling one of the younger girls who works there and pretended to be the health department!
Our booth is usually open and if its not, Dad "threatens" to kick the people out, but I've not actually seen him do that yet. If its taken (by out-of-towners who don't know who were are, I am sure), we sit in the NCA Generals booth. There is even a picture of Dad, my Pop and Houston Nutt-- taken the April before Pop died-- my uncle arranged a tour of the field house, IPF, and stadium complete with a meeting with Coach Nutt for my Pop. He hadn't been up there in a long time and he had a great time seeing how much things had changed!
Also, a very recent addition (this evening) is the signed football from Coach Nutt to Pop. We "donated" it.
These are some of the other booths:
So if you come to Newton, I will take you out to Cooks. I'm trying to convince Dad to open a charge account there so maybe I can pay for your food as well!!!
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