For me, Auburn will always be a special place because of the number of defining, watershed moments that took place there. However, for the majority of the time, Auburn was.....dull. It seemed the epitome of social life was game day and frat parties, and neither was my scene.
Particularly dreary, Auburn had no major shindigs. There were no fairs, no music festivals, no birthday party for Aubie the mascot - nothing to blunt the tedium. When I attended the University of South Alabama (USA) in Mobile, Mardi Gras was not to be trifled with. The entire city paused and the university actually shut down for the massive street party. At Auburn, when Moon Pie season rolled around, I asked where the parade routes were. No one knew what I was talking about.
"You mean people stand in the road and get pelted by plastic coins and costume jewelry? And they scream for more!?"
*sigh
If you have to explain the concept of Mardi Gras to those around you, you're way too far north.
To be fair, one year, Andrea's mom took us to the town of Loachapoka, 11 miles down the road. This sleepy little hamlet hosts the annual Loachapoka Syrup Soppin' Festival. It's been decades since my last attendance, and I don't remember much, but I do remember some pretty good fair food and, well, a crap ton of syrup. It made at least a vague impression on me because I ask about it every time we roll through town.
So...what does one with wanderlust do if they get stir-crazy living in an overtly pastoral college town? You bloody well get the heck of Dodge every chance you get. In this, you had options.
Gulf Shores was the Mac Daddy, Holy Grail destination with its powdery white sand beaches and emerald green water. But at a 5-hour drive one way, the Redneck Riviera was reserved for long weekends or the breaks between quarters.
Atlanta was pretty hopping, and it was only 2 hours east. Underground Atlanta, dating back to the Civil War, was a complex of shops and galleries below the modern city. Elsewhere, at street level, Cafe Intermezzo had great desserts - I don't think I was able to afford much else. It was classy enough that you could go and feel a little grown up. If you were still hungry after, you slummed it at the Varsity for cheap, greasy eats.
Atlanta was a good escape, and Andrea and I had some memorable dates there. Still, it was a 4-hour round trip, and you lost an hour crossing into the Eastern time zone.
If you just had to get away from the "Loveliest Village on the Plain", the only other city of consequence in close proximity was Montgomery.
A scant 50 minutes down I-85 South, Montgomery is the state capital of Alabama. Honestly, though, the city of Montgomery is the forgotten step-child/rented mule of state capitals. It doesn't have the bustling port activity (and Mardi Gras) of Mobile or the historical steel industry and modern medical services of Birmingham, the two cities most often mistaken as the seat of government for the Heart of Dixie.
A notable draw, though, for Montgomery is it's the home of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival - recognized as one of the top 10 Shakespeare festivals in the world. Hearing the lines of the Immortal Bard spoken in a southern drawl, well, that's pretty unique.
Also present in Montgomery and absent in Auburn - more variety in that tier of dining above greasy spoon but below the break-the-bank threshold of a college kid's wallet. Auburn had a number of college-friendly, all-night diners, but if you're trying to impress a certain redhead, you occaisonally need a place with cloth napkins instead of paper.
As a matter of fact, it was at one of these establishments - Darryl's - that Andrea and I were introduced to each other on a group outing early on in our acquaintance. Fortunately, I think I checked off just enough boxes on her list that evening for her to decide I wasn't the typical college frat boy and was worth more of her scrutiny.
Unfortunately, Darryl's shuttered decades ago, so Andrea and I can't revisit it like some of our other old haunts. But latent sparks resulting from that night's group outing keep Montgomery firmly in the "OK" column of "Wayne's Opinion of Cities Visited".
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