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The other day I had lunch with a friend at one of Augusta’s newest restaurants, Blue Horse Bistro and Jazz Club. Located in the historic D. Timm’s building, with the iconic Blue Horse, the restaurant offers fine dining and jazz in the evenings and a great lunch menu.

Rebekah had cabbage soup and crab cakes. Both were delicious and perfect lunch portions. The crab cakes were a little spicy, but just enough to make the dish really good.

I had the herb-marinated grilled chicken sandwich. The remoulade that came with it had a touch of ginger, which was really nice with the chicken. Their sides included two of my favorites, creamed spinach and sweet potato fries, and I had a hard time choosing. I’m always on the hunt for good sweet potato fries so I figured I would give theirs a shot and I wasn’t disappointed. Most places don’t use enough salt, which makes them so bland, but Blue Horse used sea salt and the result was really good.

Even more impressive, our lunch only took 45 minutes, perfect for a business lunch and even better for a day packed with site-seeing in Augusta. Blue Horse is located just down the street from the Augusta Museum of History and one block away from the Boyhood Home of Woodrow Wilson, so it is a great lunch stop between the two attractions.

For more information check out their Facebook page.

Blue Horse Bistro and Jazz Club
302 Sixth St
Augusta, GA, 30901
(706) 955-9875

Monday – Thursday: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Friday 11 a.m. – 2 a.m.
Saturday 4 p.m. – 2 a.m.
Closed Sunday

I always struggle with what to get my mom for her birthday, but this year her visit to Augusta coincided with the perfect gift.  My mom is a big fan of music from days past, so I surprised her with tickets for us to see Tony Howard’s Motown Review.

The show was held at the Imperial Theatre, and we were fortunate enough to have seats in the lower first balcony.  We had a fantastic view of the whole stage and were able to see every bit of the action.  The theatre was packed, and there was plenty of clapping and dancing.

The show started out with a few Stevie Wonder songs and then went into a Marvin Gaye tribute.  That performer was fantastic.   So was the tribute to Aretha Franklin that followed it.  Man, she could sing!  I loved her performance of “Respect.”

By far the best part of the night was the finale, The Motown Review, which featured songs from The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Four Tops, among others.  Mom’s favorite song is “My Girl” by The Temptations, and she wasn’t disappointed.

We had a great time at the show, and it is definitely something I would see again.  I love the Imperial Theatre, such a fantastic historic venue and they host a lot of great performances.  To see which shows they have coming up, visit www.imperialtheatre.com.

(Both images courtesy of Jeff Hines)

It was a foggy October morning in Augusta, Georgia when we decided to take the kids on their first Petersburg Boat Tour along the Augusta Canal. They loved it!

Jake loves the water – although at 1½ years old everything that is water is “boat.” And William the 3 ½ year old got to be the Captain. The tour guide gave plenty of history that was lost on my two kids, but I enjoyed the stories. The boys were entertained with wildlife we saw – birds and turtles. But of course we kept an eye out for alligators.

There are several different types of tours besides the one hour tour we took – like moonlight tour and a music tour. I know groups have even rented the boats for family reunions and office outings. For more info on the boat tours, history and museum visit the Augusta Canal’s website. Because I know I am missing all sorts of important stuff.

But I have to say our tour was just long enough and the photo of Captain William will last forever!

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to see Willie Nelson live in Augusta. I’ve seen him several times before, but my husband hadn’t so I decided to take him.  We had dinner downtown at the Mellow Mushroom and went to Stillwater Taproom for a few drinks before the concert.  The show was at the Bell Auditorium and you can see from this picture that there really isn’t a bad seat in the house.

The entire place was packed and everyone was excited about the show.  Willie’s son Lukas opened up for him and he was pretty good!  His voice sounds a little bit like Willie, but he plays the electric guitar and his music definitely has its own sound.  Once Lukas was done with his set, we waited patiently for Willie to start.

Willie came out on stage to cheers and shouts and everyone was anxious to hear him.  He played a great set of his classics, like “Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys”, “Crazy”, and “Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain”.  Of course, he also had to play “Georgia On My Mind”, another one of my favorites.  Almost the entire crowd sang along with Willie on this one.

It was a great treat for a legend like Willie Nelson and his family band to play in Augusta.  He proved that no matter what your age, you can still have a good time!

Who could have ever imagined that a New Yorker would fall in love with Bluegrass music?! Well, I did. Last Friday, after enjoying some great pizza and cider in good company with dear friends at the Pizza Joint,  I went to the Imperial Theatre (for the first time…I’m ashamed to say, since my children go at least twice a year) to see one of the Southern Soul and Song Concert Series, sponsored by the Morris Museum of Art. The Kenny and Amanda Smith Band opened for Blue Highway.

Both bands were bluegrass genre, but both had a very unique style. I must say that I was a bit apprehensive to go see a bluegrass band-not to my liking at all; but a few of my friends convinced me to go. I’m very glad that I went, I loved it! I was not only fascinated by the vocals and the soulful attitude that the bands had, but also by the instruments and the wonderful sounds that they made. Never thought that so many different types of string instruments all put together can produce such sweet, fun and folkloric music. I had a great time and became an instant fan. I hear that another concert not to miss is Marty Stewart and his Fabulous Superlatives, coming in March at the Imperial Theatre…Hey, if this is country music, I say why not! Just being in the Imperial and part of a great Augusta experience is worth broadening my horizons!