Two weeks ago, I was on my way back from Middle Georgia and made a stop just south of Atlanta. I found myself in the parking lot of the building you see pictured here. The Brittany Country Buffet looks to have been closed for some time. There is a Dairy Queen attached to it. Inside the Dairy Queen, awards no recent than 2003 adorn the walls to be viewed upon by very few customers, or at least on this day. In the parking lot there was what appeared to be a well, but if you looked down inside it there was nothing but a forgotten potted plant. It was beside this forgotten parking lot decoration that I enjoyed my dipped cone and gazed upon this building. I have seen this building for years, but never up close. You see, growing up, the journey down I-75 to Macon, GA was one my mom took us kids on two or three times a year to visit her side of the family. It was always a very anticipated trip for us. We loved going to see our grandmother, Ma'Ma', as well as our cousins, aunts and uncles. The only part we did not look forward to on this trip was the four hour drive down. Yes, Macon can be reached in three hours, but not the way my mom drives. As a child, I could never sleep in the car and books and games could only remain interesting for so long. This left for a lot of time gazing out the window. This particular building always caught my eye for two reasons. One was that seeing it meant we were past Atlanta and that much closer to Macon. The other reason was the bizzare roof. Perhaps this roof offers something in the way of efficiency when it comes to heating and cooling, but to me it looks like just a way sell additional roof shingles. I seem to remember it being a Western Sizzlin' or some other steakhouse. Today it is a sad shell of it's former self. Some unfinished offices sit behind crudely boarded up doors. 
Either the hotel next door was envious of the restaurant's roof or there was some correlation between it and the restaurant at one time. I am betting on the latter explantion. I thought about those trips of yesteryear and the other sights I used to take in that helped mark our progress going to Macon. They were not of the same use on the way back because we most always came back at night. There was always a little sadness knowing the trip we'd so looked forward to had concluded and we had another four hour drive ahead of us. This was in the days before cheap long distance. We would get home and my mom woudl call Ma'Ma' and let the phone ring twice to let her know we'd arrived safely home.
In the late 1980s, a familiar and much anticipated landmark was Stuckey's. Here is another business with a bizarre roof. The ones along I-75 had aqua blue roofs. Local readers may recall the shape of the roof of the Waffle House at the Ringgold/Tunnel Hill exit; it was at one time a Stuckey's. This was probably the one that got us started with the much repeated question, "Can we stop a Stuckey's?" We were usually obliged with one stop coming or going. Stuckey's was a suped up convenience mart that had all the items of a gas station, but also a toy section, magazine section and their famous pecan logs. We never bought one. Stuckey's eventually closed down their locations between Chattanooga and Macon along I-75. I seem to remember our final stop was on Christmas day of 1988. You may ask why I remember such. Well, I had gotten a Cracked Magazine with Bush and Dukakis on the cover for Christmas and bought the next issue of the Magazine at Stuckey's that day. A few years later, my mom and Ma'Ma' were taking Laura and I to Florida for a vacation and we passed a Stuckey's. We hadn't seen one in years! Laura and I were ecstatic and immediately wanted to stop. We got to on the way back home.
I swear I thought there was a Waffle House on every exit on every Georgia freeway. There are a few exceptions, but not many. There is even one exit in Macon, GA that has two Waffle Houses, one for northbound traffic and one for those heading south. Despite their prevalence, we never stopped at Waffle House unless it was to use their facilities. I never started frequenting this roadside icon until I was driving on my own, then I began going there quite often. It's been a while since I've eaten there, so maybe I will go there soon, maybe even tomorrow.
The Waffle House is there for me to enjoy 24/7 without having very far to go. There was a time that Howard Johnson's Restaurant was everywhere too. While not a prevalent as the Waffle House, these orange roofed restaurants were once found up and down I-75. I saw my grandmother there many times. Not because she was a regular customer, but because she was a manager. She worked all over Georgia managing these restaurants. Today they are but a memory. Last time I was down that way, the one that was once in Dalton was still there and still looked like a Howard Johnsons's sans the orange roof. Most of the others are gone or so altered they don't look like the once thriving eatery any longer. The one that was in East Ridge was torn down long ago. One that was in Atlanta is now a strip club and if I am not mistaken, the one is Cartersville is now a Waffle House...Today's trips to Macon, GA are not the same as those of my childhood. Even when I am not behind the wheel, I am usually distracted with a book or taking a nap. Most of the roadside landmarks that used to identify the trip's progress or lack thereof are gone. Some of those loved ones we used to be so anxious to visit are gone now too. I am patient enough now that I don't have to seek out new ones to help the time pass by. I hope you have enjoyed this stroll down my memory highway.
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