My father recently returned from a trip to his hometown of Columbus, Georgia. He landed at PDX last night with presents in tow. He gave my mother a teddy bear dressed in a baby-doll t-shirt that plays "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." My sister and I received various strange food items, including....

Regional pronunciation: "baaah-uld pee-nuuuhts." They're soaked in brine, still shelled and, from what I've been told, have the texture of slugs. I haven't broken out a can opener on this southern delicacy just yet. I think I'll save the peanuts for a situation when I can freak out as many Northwesterners as possible.

Coincidentally, a colleague spent a few days touring North Carolina. He put together a Flickr gallery of his travels, which include a trip to the birthplace of Dizzy Gillespie and a military base complete with a faux-Iraqi village. Should you have a look? Yes, yes you should. Especially if you're killing time on your company's dime.

Labels: south, the