Whistle Stop Cafe

"That frying pan did more than fry chicken that night" Map

From Whistle Stop Cafe

I have said that I was going to talk a little about food (among other things) on this site. But the food has to be a little more than just a cute little restaurant down the road, of which we in Atlanta have plenty. A short while back I was asked a question about my East Juliette Dam post, which I couldn’t answer until I rewatched (at least the first 15 minutes) of the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. During which I remembered that I intended to post about the restaurant about an hour and a half from Atlanta, where the film was made, but never got around to it. Until now, so I bring you the Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, Georgia.


Now the film Fried Green Tomatoes seems to be one of those Southern Chick Films (using the film term with absolutely no additional connotation), which I’ve never met a Southern Girl who doesn’t love. So if you decide to go here, you get a two for one as a guy, you make her day a special outing and you get to eat some good fried country cooking without any real questions about your eating choices. A free pass to Fried Chicken, as it were. She’ll love the story and you’ll like the food.


It’s not the restaurant that inspired the book. No, that place is a little café in Irondale, Alabama just this side of Birmingham, Alabama called the Irondale Cafe (I’ve stopped there too and its pretty good). This is the place they chose to shoot the film. You see prior to Fried Green Tomatoes, Juliette was a bit of a ghost town, with packed up and shuttered buildings which made for a good cheap place for a Hollywood set. But when they left, they left some of the film stuff intact, including the café, which some industrious locals decided to reopen in tribute to the restaurant that played such an important part in the film. The building itself was built in 1927 and was primarily used as a general store, but its new function is much more visit friendly.


We ate a big pile of Southern Fried Goodness. We had to order the Fried Green Tomatoes, and I doubt you could make the trek without doing the same. I had a plate full of Fried Chicken Livers, while the missus had a mighty fine country fried steak (I was looking at the menu and I don’t think they sell livers no more). We got them with a bunch of sides, sweet potato soufflé, mac and cheese, and fried okra (though the sides rotate). We also split some peach cobbler, which rounded out a nice traditional Georgia meal. And the setting takes one back to a much less hectic time.


The city itself has undergone a mild rejuvenation because of the Whistle Stop and the Fried Green Tomatoes movie. We stopped for a spell at a kind of opry house with some folks fiddling and strumming on the porch. They run the occasional music fest there, but check for schedules. Out back of the restaurant is the brick oven, they cooked old Frank Bennett in. Also, is the small shack that was the movie home of Smokey Lonesome. If you walk around the little town, there are some neat old buildings, a nice train track view, and across the way in an old mill factory.


So if you are out Southeast of the city, and the timing is right (due to their limited hours), you can get a special treat of good food with a nifty backdrop by visiting the Whistlestop Café in Juliette. I’m sure it’ll be easy to talk your woman into making this stop. I apologize for writing this in a tone which might imply I am a true Southerner.



Restaurant Fundamentals
Address: 443 McCracken Street, Juliette, Georgia (Monroe County)
Hours: Sun-Fri 11-4 Sat 11-8
Phone: 478.992.8886
Website: The Whistle Stop Cafe

Cultural Significance: B
Food Quality: B+
Healthiness: C
Price: A
Value: B+

Overall Rating: B+

Recommendations: You go to a place like this for “Southern Food” so check your diet at the door and stick with the southern stuff: BBQ, Fried Chicken, Country Fried Steak and, of course, the Fried Green Tomatoes and southern sides.
Significance: The location for the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes.

East Juliette Dam

The Ghost Town of East Juliette Map

From John Birch Dam

Occasionally, if you’re lucky, you stumble upon a place of great wonder and beauty without really trying. You’ve done no research, you don’t really know what your looking for, but you find it nonetheless. That happened to me the last time I went to Juliette, Georgia .



Now on a quiet day in Juliette, and most of them are, you can hear in the distance the roar of water. After loading up on Fried Green Tomatoes , we went off in search of what was making that noise, with visions of tremendous whitewater or an unknown waterfall dancing in our heads.



What we found, after crossing the Ocmulgee River on a bridge on Juliette Road into East Juliette , was a man made phenomena, but majestic nonetheless, which I found out later was called the John Birch Dam.
This dam must be over 100 feet long, though the fall can’t be more than 12 or 15 feet, and thus it creates a rush of water, an echoing of current, and an amazing sight to behold. There is even the remains of the East Juliette Gristmill on the Western shore.



Now, there were conflicting signs posted, at least one said “No Trespassing,” but another said Boat Ramp this way, and there was parking. The parking is off a dirt path of Old River Road. We learned later that this is a frequently used water access point and the fishing is supposedly terrific. There was a path that leads you right to the gristmill and brings you within a few feet of the dam’s theatrics. There’s even a concrete slab you can carefully walk out onto to get a better view (its probably 40 or 50 feet long and about a foot wide, so I do mean carefully).



I wouldn’t call this a hike, but it was a fun adventure. I would say it was hard exercise, but its not for the weak of body. But it was a beautiful spot in Georgia that I am pretty sure is almost always overlooked. Next time you are over Juliette way, take 30 minutes to enjoy the old grist mill and this fantastic panoramic water show.

High Falls State Park

The Land of the Roasted Scalp Map

From High Falls St...

It seems to me that I spend most of my time to the North of the City of Atlanta. There are good reasons for it: I live in the Northeast Section of town so its closer, the North contains Georgia‘s share of the Appalachian Mountains, and I could go on. But the rest of the State has its charm, so I apologize for neglecting the Southeast.



A few weeks back (actually on the weekend of the great Atlanta Tornado), I had a Saturday off and a real need to get out into the outdoors. But rain and awful weather precluded my day in the Northern Mountains. So my little group went Southeast, out of the rain, and into a real gem of a State Park near Jackson, Georgia, known as High Falls State Park.



Situated only about 50 miles Southeast of Atlanta on I-75 (Just about an hour a few miles off exit 65) stands this great park with nearly everything I normally look for in one of my excursions. A little physical activity: the three trails here can keep you busy for about 4 miles. A little majestic natural beauty: the Towaliga River is probably the prettiest river I had never heard of before and it has a terrific waterfall. A little history: the park contains the remnants of the once prosperous city of High Falls. The park was a most pleasant surprise on a day when we were scrambling for a workable alternate option for our day.



The high point of the day is the High Falls waterfall (listed here). Just across the street (High Falls Road) from the park center is a 100 foot falls of the churning Towaliga river crossing a series of granite outcrops creating a dramatic and clearly picturesque natural delight. You can view the falls both from the right side (the short Falls trail at about .5 mile) or the left side (part of the longer nature trail at a little over two miles). I suggest you do the left side first as the nature trail can be followed a longer distance along the Towaliga River. Towaliga is a corruption of the Indian word “Ti-Laggi” which I am told means roasted scalp. The riverside portion of the trail is serene and worth the effort also. The trails I would rate as pretty easy, except for the climb up along the falls, which is a moderate climb that you must do twice (once on the right, once on the left).



If you like falling water, there additionally is a 35 foot high, 600 foot wide man-made dam on the park office side of the road that trail that is pretty in its own right. It was built in 1890 from granite taken right from the river below. This dam brought power to the former city of High Falls, which brings us to the History of the Area.



Originally, it was Creek Indian territory and, according to legend, the sight of a great massacre sometime in the early 1800’s. Hence the bloody moniker. In the late 1800’s, it was settled as Unionville (the name was changed to High Falls). At High Falls peak (c. 1890), it was home to a grist mill, a shoe factory, a sawmill, a broom and mop factory, a power plant, a blacksmith shop, two separate furniture plants, a sawmill, and a blacksmith shop. All that remains is meager ruins of the grist mill, the power plant, and a portion of the Old Alabama Bridge. The bridge was one of the first roads in central and western Georgia (built in 1902). The grist mill ceased use in 1958, so I was surprised as to how little of it was left, but it was torn down by man, not by entropy. The Power Plant (built c. 1890), which was closed in 1960 is in much better shape and serves as the centerpiece of the Historic Trail. It is partially fenced off to preserve its status, but its clear by graffiti that the fence can be breached. It is amazing how a building left unattended just 50 years can fall to such disarray. But because it has been vacated such a relatively short time, it still remains a dramatic edifice hovering over a portion of the Towaliga River.



Additionally, the park has several amenities that a typical family would like in a recreation area. A swimming pool, campsites, even boat rental (Attention my friend at Used Hardcovers, they also have pedal boat rental at $5 hour on the High Falls Lake). The Fishing is purported to be fantastic. This is a real gem of a park not too far from the town we call home. I went there as a fall back option, I want to be clear that this park can truly be a destination in itself in its own right.



We capped our day off by dining in nearby Juliette at the Whistlestop Cafe, movie home of Fried Green Tomatoes. The Jarrell Plantation is also nearby.



Trail Essentials
Approximate Time: 1.5-2.5 hours
Approximate Distance: 3-4 miles
Trail Surface: Compact Soil, Stairs in places, Rocks
Features: Cascades, Riverside Walk, River Views, Waterfalls, Dam, Shoals, Historical Ruins
Overall Rating: B
Scenic Quality: B+
Athleticism: B-
Solitude: B
Value: B
Parking: $3 day use
Hours of Operation: Open Year Round, Sunlight Hours
Facilities: At park office
Maps: Available at Park Office
County: Monroe