General Observations

We moved here from Tennessee, a place known for it’s Southern hospitality. I grew up there and was very accustomed to the local sayings and actions. It was home and it was a great place to call home. I had heard things about Florida, the “snow birds”, the “blue hairs”, and of course the gators…those damned gators. So I had a predisposed idea of what type of people I would be meeting here.

To my surprise everyone I have met has been overly nice, taking Southern hospitality to a new level! Everyone has greeted me with a smile, seemed genuinely happy, and pleasant. (save for one, but that is for another post).

Here is an example that stands out:

It was a soggy Monday, rain was scattered throughout Tally. Monday is trash day where I live and I recall thinking that I was glad I remembered to take my can to the curb the night before, and I felt bad for the collectors working that day.  See I worked for a trash collector for a short time back in my home state so I knew what the job entailed. Long hours when training a newbie, riding on the back of a truck most of the day with one hand hanging on, lots of standing and vigorous moving all day. Not a profession that welcomes rain.

When I left my house that day to pick up the kids from school the garbage truck had just left my house. I knew that I would be stuck behind the truck until they made a turn, but I wasn’t concerned. When I rounded the curve and saw the truck stopped collecting trash, I slowed to a stop as well. What happened next is what took me by surprise.

The person on the back of the truck, standing in the rain on a day I am sure he just wanted to wrap up as fast as possible, looked at me and smiled. He proceeded to get down from the truck, walk to the opposing side, and directed traffic around the truck until the road was clear.

Even as hospitable and friendly as my town was, never had I seen that. This person could have went about his duties, taken up time for myself and the other drivers around for as long as he needed until all his stops were completed. He had no governing clause that made him worry or even take care of traffic, but he did it. With a smile. In the rain.

That is hospitality. Putting other people before you and making sure everyone is taken care of.

I am very glad to say that most of the people I have met down here have shown me that level of hospitality, which in turn has caused me extend that hospitality outward and unto others. Good things beget good things.

I am a believer in that what we put into this world comes back to us, and I am very happy that person made that positive impact on me, as I hope to make that kind of impact on someone else in the future.

In summary: Tally is pretty nice y’all.

Hong Kong Buffet

First thing first. When moving to a new area one must find good places to eat. While on this quest we decided that the night was right for a Chinese buffet. The whole family likes Chinese and the convenience of a buffet allows us all to get something that we want, and also allows us to sample a few different items off the menu.

The first place we saw was Hong Kong Buffet in a strip mall off Capital Circle. As soon as we walked in we saw that there was not going to be much of a selection as the buffet bar was quite small, located in the middle of the restaurant floor.

As I approached the counter I noticed a paper printed menu. I wasn’t able to find the price of the buffet, so I asked the clerk. He informed me that the prices of entree’s were on the menu, to which I returned that we were actually looking to sample more than one item there and would be more interested in the buffet price. He then let me know the cost of the buffet and the drink prices.

While speaking with him I glanced around the restaurant, trying to locate the latest health score. Where we are originally from, those scores are required by law to be posted in plain visible sight. I could not locate a health score sheet anywhere in the restaurant. While this made me feel uneasy and hesitant, we decided to give them the benefit of doubt and to try them out anyway.

We were given styrofoam cups to get our drinks, and proceeded to the drink station.

After setting our drinks down I gazed about the store trying to locate the buffet plates. After walking back up to the counter, I saw a stack of stryofoam plates tucked in at the end of the buffet bar. My first thought was perhaps they did not expect to be busy tonight as the stack was small and almost hidden. Next to the stack of plates were a couple of cups with plastic utensils.

As I wandered about the bar I noticed that the food didn’t display well. It all looked as if it had been prepared early that morning and had been left sitting. Most dishes looked dried out or withered. Nevertheless I stocked my plate up with my own personal Chinese buffet favorites and sat them at the table to eat.

Tiny bit of info on me here, I tend to eat one item in it’s entirety before moving onto the next. Call it OCD, structured eating, or just plain weird. Tonight however, I wasn’t able to get through any one item in it’s entirety. Everything I tried to eat was either too dried out, too soggy, or tasted like it had been microwaved then re-heated.

We left shortly thereafter. The entire family still hungry, with my kids barely being able to get past the looks of the food, much less the taste.

In summary, I would say that this place is not one to try out while visiting or living here in Tallahassee. This experience has not knocked us away from Chinese food however, and we will be visiting other places around town soon, so check back here and hopefully I can point you in a better direction.

 

Thank you,

Mr. ES

Protective parenting

To all the protective parents out there:
We have 2 kids, our youngest is somewhat of a klutz. If there is a way to injure himself on accident, he will find it 90% of the time. Because of that we tend to be a little over protective of both of our kids.

One day while taking a family walking trip his older brother jumped up on the 4″ curb we were walking next to and began balancing along it while walking. My youngest, 6 years old, jumped up right after and started doing the same thing, without hesitation my wife told them both to get down at that point. Citing that it was broken in places and jagged in others, and they could fall.

I thought to myself, fall? Like 4″ fall? Geez woman! How are these kids ever going to make it in this world without falling and knowing how to scrape it off and get back up? That thought led to this one: Would we let them marry?

I mean, we have been together for going on 15 years by now, and married for almost 10…that is a long time. While I have enjoyed most of it, there has been that, let’s say ≤ 5%, that has been tough on both of us. We have fallen at times, we have scraped our knees and we have hurt one another. More so than that of a fall from 4″ off the ground. More importantly is that we have picked ourselves up every single time, we have not given up on each other and we are still together and stronger for it!. So I ask, will we let them marry? Knowing the hurt and heart ache, the pain that could possibly be endured? Some people have been put through hell and put themselves through hell for the love they sought after, just to be devastated in the end. Others have one of the most blessed unions on the planet.

I veto’d her that day. Told him to jump back up there and try his hardest not to fall. She gave me what we have come to endearingly call “The Dagger Eyes”, but she let him do it anyway. That day we ended up walking 1 mile for every year he was of age. Not a bump, scrape, or complaint.

I suppose the moral is this: Be cautious, teach your children to be cautious and to look for possible threats and dangers and avoid them when they come, but at the same time teach them how to get back up and dust themselves off. More importantly, let them live! We all believe that our child is special, one of a kind, we just need to let them become what they were always meant to be.

ES

Taking it all in…

Hi there and welcome to my blog!

My family and I recently moved to Tallahassee from out of state (a little north of course, but still in the hospitable south) and after a quick search online I noticed that there was not a good guide to this area! Since we are a very adventurous and social family, we decided just to go out and find out everything for ourselves!

A little about my family: We are a family of 4 with Christian roots and beliefs.  We have two boys that attend public school in Tallahassee, 2 dogs, 1 cat, and somehow adopted a pet Anole. Well actually she adopted us, funny story.

I created this blog so that more people that come to visit or stay in Tallahassee could have a general guide to the area from another outsider’s perspective. I hope to have the opportunities and time to explore much of the area, and will write my take on each place or people as I do.

With that being said, I am NOT a professional writer. I will make grammatical errors that I ask you to either overlook or write in and let me know to fix them. I will also write my take on things which may differ from that of anyone else who goes to the same place. I like to think of myself as a fair and considerate person, but at the same time I am a consumer living in a capitalism society. Customer is always right and all that jazz.

If you enjoy my writings or find them helpful, let me know.

Thanks,

Mr. Elijah Stone