Lexington, Georgia, the seat of Oglethorpe County in northeast Georgia, is eighty-five miles east of Atlanta and seventeen miles east of Athens. Like many small towns in Georgia, its economy was originally based on cotton and tobacco, and after the decline of these industries and The Great Depression, the town suffered from neglect over the years. The downtown district of Lexington has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977, and has been slowly but surely experiencing a revival. With a growing number of residents, local businesses, a farmers market, and monthly special events, Lexington is a fun place to spend the day and get away from the hustle and bustle of town for a bit.
While living in Athens, Lexington was one of my favorite day-trips. It’s great place to see beautiful examples of 19th century architecture like the Romanesque Revival style Oglethorpe County Courthouse; check out the latest finds at the area antique shops; you can even get some good BBQ on your way back to Athens.
via Oglethorpe Fresh
For more information on Lexington, Georgia history check out this article. For information on events in Lexington check out the Oglethorpe Fresh facebook page. Hours and location of Pig O’s BBQ Truck click here.
May 1-3 Southern creatives, businesses, brands, and blogs gathered in Jekyll Island for the first ever Southern C Summit. It felt a lot like summer camp but with excellent food and cocktails.
tscsummit team beach house
As part of the #tscsummit team, the week for us started Tuesday night with a delicious low country boil spread from Latitude 31 Raw Bar courtesy of our cabana boy Vance, aka Cheri’s husband, and a late night swag bag stuffing party.
Caroline and Natalie of Low Country Luxe
Finally!
With our bellies and swag bags stuffed we called it a night.
TSC Summit Day 1
The next day we started the day off right with some burgers, fries, and mimosas! We do it right in the South- work hard and play harder!
That afternoon was check in at the beautiful Morgan Center on Jekyll Island.
The Morgan Center was originally built in 1929 by the financier JP Morgan as JP Morgan Tennis Center where members of the elite Jekyll Island Club dressed in their whites and enjoy playing tennis indoors shielded from bad weather.
In recent years, the deteriorated tennis courts were rebuilt to serve as a conference/meeting facility. They did an incredible job! Time lapse video is courtesy of Ben Galland, a local St. Simons Island photographer.
At #tscsummit check in, our attendees were greeted by the lovely ladies of Maison de Macrons from Savannah, Georgia and given a sweet treat. They were absolutely delicious- chocolate were my fav.
Next up was Cocktails and Conversations with Southern Living editors. This was a great way to kick off the summit. Southern Living created three cocktails from their trusty test kitchen and the Jekyll Island Club provided some delicious appetizers and we all got a chance to sample and mingle for a while.
I love all things grapefruit so The Dogwood was my fav.
Loved seeing fellow C-Team member Miss Amber Ryder of For the Love of the South!
old college buds 🙂
Ran into some old friends too- Caroline of Caroline Ceramics and I attended Birmingham Southern College back in the day!
It’s always fun hangin’ with the ladies from Viola’s Market!
appetizer sampler
After some mingling I had to get my hands on some food! All of the appetizers provided by the Jekyll Island Club hit the spot.
Day 2
Day 2 of #tscsummit was full of learning sessions and networking. As a blogger, I tried to soak up as much info from the pros as possible. I found all the sessions helpful and encouraging; I look forward to implementing a lot of the strategies I learned about.
Our studious crowd
As a social media manager for The Southern C, Day 2 was nuts. Live tweeting, instagramming, note taking, phone charging, checking in attendees, errand running, luncheon set up- my feet are getting sore just thinkin’ about it. I did take breaks to indulge in all the fabulous food. It was a fantastic day- full of positive energy, fun personalities, and inspiring stories.
Lulie Wallace and Chassity Evans
Beachview Tent Rentals saved us from the monsoon rains that afternoon…we are eternally grateful!
small sampling from our delicious oceanside luncheon
Lunch was phenomenal! A huge thank you to Big T’s Coastal Provisions, Sociale Mocktails, Cathead Vodka, Halyards, Southern Soul BBQ, and High Road Craft Ice Cream!
Goo Goo Cluster Pie and coffee break!
We were thoroughly entertained by the night’s keynote speakers- Aiden Hornaday of Aiden Cares and K. Cooper Ray of Social Primer.
Southern Supper
Viola’s Market created the gorgeous arrangements for the Southern Supper that night. I’m a sucker for succulents.
I enjoyed relaxing in 24e Design’s luxe lounge.
My social media partner in crime for the event- Emily Taylor.
Day 3
After an info filled morning with biz guru Ryan Dohrn, the #tscsummit team headed for a wrap up lunch and a big ole nap!
tscsummit team
I’m so thankful to be a part of this unique group of people and for this crazy experience! Can’t wait ’til #tscsummit Athens on August 1 and #tscsummit Nashville on October 17! Hope to see y’all there!
For more about The Southern C- check out the social network and get in on the convo! To learn more about The Southern C Summit click here.
The South is known for its BBQ…and naturally, different cities and towns are well known for certain types of this smoked delicacy. Danielsville, GA is home to one of our favorite BBQ restaurants- Zeb’s Bar-B-Que, and some say the best brunswick stew in Georgia. Spring and summer scream BBQ weather to me, so we decided to kick off our “staycation” spring break with a visit to Danielsville, Georgia to “pig out.”
As we made our way into Danielsville, we stumbled upon Cherry’s, a new take-out bbq stand just inside the city limits.
Danielsville, GA
We opted to get a small brunswick stew and small pulled pork sandwich to share, and see how it stacked up to our favorite from Zeb’s BBQ down the road. It was pretty good. They gave us a lot for the money; I spent little more than $5 and got 8oz of stew, 2 pieces of sunbeam, bag of chips, and small pork sandwich. The standout was the pork sandwich- really good vinegar based sauce that packed a big punch.
We headed down the road to our next stop and ran across this local antique shop. They had just closed, but I will be going back to check them out!
It looks like a gas station/general store from the early twentieth century turned antique store. From the looks of their porch and yard, the inside has got to be chock full of vintage finds. A must visit next time I’m in Danielsville.
How awesome is this sign? This place has been around a while- at least since the 1960s if not longer. One of the best barbeque places I’ve ever been to and with over 4,000 “likes” on Facebook, you know they’re doing something right. Zeb’s is a small, family owned business, with grandmothers, mothers, and daughters holding down the fort. The interior is my favorite part of Zeb’s: communal style tables, with centerpiece of sunbeam bread, hot sauce, paper towels, and other condiments, and walls are lined with racing posters and other memorabilia. Doesn’t get much more Southern than this place.
centerpiece
Zeb's menu
Hard to say what Zeb’s is known for BBQ wise, most people say the pulled pork or the brunswick stew…doesn’t really matter because it’s all awesome.
I love Zeb’s retro, homey vibe when you walk in the front door- like you just stepped into your slightly zany, great aunt’s kitchen, circa 1975. It could be the yellowish glow of the interior lighting, its location inside a cottage turned restaurant, or the motherly staff always greeting you with a big “how y’all doin?,” making sure you have all the sauce you need (you can never have enough of theirs), or maybe it’s just tasty barbecue. Probably all of the above. Whatever it is- it works. And you know what They say- If it ain’t broke…
A true neighborhood/local hangout, whenever you come to Zeb’s, especially on a Friday night, it’s always packed with people hangin’ out, gossiping, and piggin’ out. Ryan introduced me to Zeb’s several years ago, and we love going whenever we can get outta town. A cup of brunswick stew or pulled pork sandwich is the perfect end to a long day on the Broad River (near Danielsville).
After a short stay in Athens, we headed west to Omaha, Georgia to stay at Heatherly’s family’s farm. We did some hiking, fishing, shooting, and eating…everything one would expect to do in Southwest Georgia.
After Omaha, we headed east on a leisurely pace in order to find some tasty bbq to tide us over until St. Simons. Passing through Shellman, Georgia we lucked out and found Oliver’s Country BBQ and Steakhouse; it was awesome.
pulled pork sandwich, slaw, and brunswick stew
pulled pork sandwich, field peas, and fries
They had an enormous menu with seafood, steaks, smoked pork, brisket, chicken, ribs, homemade sides and desserts. Being some of the youngest customers they’d seen in a while and obvious out of towners, we got lots of attention..even a visit from Oliver himself.
Em's on the road 