Tuesday, December 29, 2009

HOTEL TALISI

Hotel Talisi

One of the best Christmas gifts Stacey and I ever received is a book about "out of the way" places to eat. It's focus is on the South. Once Stacey and I drove from Atlanta to Little Rock. We took three days to make the trip and never once got on the Interstate. We used this book, A Southern Belly, as our guide. We spent days eating our way through Alabama, Mississippi and into Arkansas.

We use this book often when making road trips. Since we regularly drive from Atlanta to Mobile, we have tried most spots in between that Southern Belly recommends. One spot is in Tallassee, Alabama. The Talisi Hotel once laid out one of the most beautiful southern buffet one has ever seen. It was full with all that makes for a great southern meal. Fried chicken, country fried steak, fried catfish, mashed taters, rice and gravy. Beans, butter, pole, green and blackeyed peas. Cornbread. Pies to die for and lot's more. Many times on our way to and from Mobile, Stacey and I would exit I-85 and drive the 15 minutes to this antique hotel for a meal. On Sundays it was always busy, so we got it to go. We could fill up a to go plate for $4.95 a pound. Then we walked around the corner to sit high up on the banks of the Tallapoosa River to enjoy our food. Good times.

Well, bad news. We stopped in last week and not just the hotel, but most of the small downtown was boarded up. The streets were blocked off so we really could not tell what had happened. Once we got home and on the computer this is what we learned.
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=11590245

http://media.al.com/birmingham-news/photo/-02fff0dfa636ecb4.JPG

So sad. So, so sad.