Last month, we spent an afternoon down in Oxford, MS, which is a little less than an hour and a half from here. The first thing we did was look for a place to have lunch, and we decided on the Ajax Diner:
It was crowded, but there was a booth close to the door. These are the bar and the back interior as seen from our booth:
I had the catfish with fried eggplant and squash casserole:
The Husband had the BBQ pork chops, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. The Younger Son had a hamburger. We were quite happy with our food and the service was fine. The Husband decided to have dessert, and The Younger Son and I pushed on to explore the rest of the square. The Husband caught up with us before we got to Square Books:
This book store is one of the treasures of the modern world. An independent book store with a wide variety of books and specialty areas for Southern writers, especially William Faulkner, we fell in love with it. I took this photo of the stairs leading up to the landing:
They have two other shops on the square, one just for kids books and one for used books:
The Younger Son decided to stop in a cookie shop for chocolate chunk cookies for dessert, and I went to Holli's Sweet Tooth for ice cream and coffee:
We saw a statue of William Faulkner sitting on a bench at City Hall, and I couldn't resist a little chat:
I'm not a huge fan of his writing, but I didn't tell him that.
The photo at the top of the page and the two below:
are of the courthouse, which is in the center of the square. There are other things to do in Oxford, but we stuck to the square proper on this trip. I'll go back some other day and look into the Faulkner-related sites and try another restaurant.
I'm linking to the T Tuesday gathering at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's Altered Book Lover blog. Join us!
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That's a beautiful courthouse. I miss town squares. I grew up in a small town that had a town square with the courthouse in the center. Your post reminded me how much I miss that. Although the courthouse where I grew up was red brick, the buildings surrounding the square remind me of my own town.
ReplyDeleteLooks like your lunch was wonderful, even for this vegetarian. And that eggplant certainly looked delicious. The ice cream and cone made me hungry and it's not nearly time for lunch.
Book stores are as rare as typewriters these days. I am certainly intrigued by this one. It looks fantastic, and those stairs are incredible.
Loved the photo of you talking to Faulkner. I laughed that you decided not to tell him his books weren't your cup of tea.
Thanks for sharing this trip, the square which brought back so many memories for me, and your lovely meal with us for T this Tuesday.
What lovely photos from your trip. Love the one of you chatting to WF! (I can't say I like his writings, either, but don't tell....) Your food looks great, and what huge portions, I now feel hungry (or perhaps just plain greedy!) Have a happy T Day, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteFabulous photos! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHappy T-Day!
what a wonderful way to spend a day-in a lovely town with those you love, great food, great book stores, and a chat with William-I love it! Happy T day!
ReplyDeleteHi D and S, Happy T for Tuesday! I love the look of those book shops, I would be in heaven looking round those!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Cazzy x
I've read a lot of Faukner and it was thrilling to see his Oxford. And your "southern lunch", well it is that to me up here in Yankee land and it looks and sounds delicious. Hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteI've read a lot of Faukner and it was thrilling to see his Oxford. And your "southern lunch", well it is that to me up here in Yankee land and it looks and sounds delicious. Hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun day out! Independent bookstores are a rarity, for sure.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a charming day...I was drooling over the old license plates under the bar, and you definitely had me a "book store!" Love your photo on the bench too! happy T day a bit late!
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