Paul & Diane Boykin

Everyone thinks of Athens GA as the home of the University of Georgia. Of course, it is (home of about 33,000 bulldawgs this fall) but most people aren't aware of the other educational opportunities that we have in Athens. The students at the Oconee campus of Gainesville College and Piedmont College, not to mention Athens Technical College are from the local area, but Athens is a draw for a number of students from throughout Georgia. Many of them begin their college careers at Gainesville and then transfer to the University.

Gainesville College had to cap their enrollment as they are limited by space in Watkinsville in spite of the current construction project. They have grown from 218 students in 2000 to about 2100 this year.

Piedmont College, whose main campus is in Demorest, GA, grew from 422 in 2000 to about 700 at the Athens campus this year. Piedmont purchased the old Prince Avenue Baptist School campus last year in order to have more space.

We also have a brance of the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing here in Athens which has an enrollment of about 160 students this year.

On Sunday, September 21, we attended a "soft opening" for some friends, Glenn & Debra Townsend's new Dickey's Barbecue restaurant. Wow, were we impressed!! This is some of the best 'cue you'll ever eat! We tried the pulled pork, brisket and sampled one of the ribs. Smoked brisket is unusual around here and it was ever so tender. Along with this they have a choice of sides and a roll. Paul & I tried the smoked beans and slaw (I loved the slaw and I'm really picky about slaw) and the beans were delicious. One thing that impressed Paul was that they had all the extra sauce that you wanted kept hot.

For dessert, we tried the free soft serve ice cream.

Dickey's offers Sandwiches, Barbecue Brisket, Polish Sausage, Pulled Pork, Pork Ribs, Smoked Turkey and Chicken Breast.

Sides are Cole Slaw, Potato Salad, Caesar Salad, Barbecue Beans, Mac & Cheese, Baked Potato CAsserole, Baked Potato and Waffle Fries.

There are several other items available, including Pecan Pie for dessert!

You can also purchase by the pound, have your food delivered or pick up meals. Please call for details!

Dickey's started in 1941 in Dallas TX as a family business starated by Travis Dickey, Sr. Above is his philosophy of barbecue. Long story very short, it became so popular that it eventually became franchised and now there are hundreds of restaurants all over the country. I read an article recently on best airport food, and Dickey's was mentioned as the best food in the Dallas Airport.

Dickey's has a friendly staff to wait on you. The way it works is that you place your order at the counter, then a friendly person will bring it to you in less than 10 minutes at your table.

Our friends Glenn & Debra Townsend are both local Athenians and have lived in Oconee County for many years. Glenn is recently retired from the Oconee County school system where he was an assistant principal at OCHS. They are really excited about their new venture, and from what we experienced yesterday, it will be a huge success. They will be officially open to the public on Tuesday, September 23, 2008. You gotta try it! If you do, you'll be a regular!

Dickey's is located in the Publix shopping center at Butler's crossroads in Oconee County.

The address is:

2131 Hog Mountain Rd.

Watkinsville, GA and their phone number is 706-705-1326.

(Photo courtesy of Kyra Edrington)

This morning I pulled up the market reports for Oconee County from the Athens MLS, comparing sales for January 1 through September 10, 2007 and the same period for 2008 and thought I'd share it with you.

South Oconee

Units Sold 2007 42

Units Sold 2008 40

Sales Volume 2007 $14,197,150

Sales Volume 2008 $12,143,302

Difference of -14.47%

Watkinsville Area

Units Sold 2007 222

Units Sold 2008 147

Sales Volume 2007 $74,861,236

Sales Volume 2008 $50,120,061

Difference of -33.05%

West Oconee

Units Sold 2007 118

Units Sold 2008 94

Sales Volume 2007 $32,714,496

Sales Volume 2008 $24,857,879

Difference of -20,02%

Total Oconee County

2007 Units 382

2008 Units 281

2007 Sales Volume $121,772,882

2008 Sales Volume $87,121,242

Difference of -28.46%

Several weeks ago I posted about our hummingbirds. Since then, we've had swarms of them like bees!

In the last two weeks they have eaten nearly 10 pounds of sugar made into nectar (1 part sugar to 4 parts water). They're going through over a quart of nectar each day. We've had a lot of fun watching them but are beginning to feel a bit like slaves to the little critters!

On Friday I took our visitine out-of-town friend to the First Friday on Main in Watkinsville to see what was going on. Although there weren't as many people downtown as I have seen in the past, probably due to the fact that there were several high school football games Friday night.

However, there were a lot of events for children, including 2 trains, arts and craft activities, a rock climbing wall, moonwalk and other activities.

Additionally, there was a booth promoting Grace's Birthday Party coming up at Ashford Manor on September 21 from 3:00 to 6:00 PM. For more information about Gracie's party, go to WWW.gracesbirthday.com.

It was a bit disappointing that only a few of the shops were open this month. Maybe next time.

Anyway, we had a good time on a pleasant Friday evening.