You can get yummy, southern and classic meals and fixin's at Angie's Restaurant

Angie's Restaurant on Garner Road in Garner, N.C., bills itself as a place customers can get "Southern breakfasts and lunch classics." When I first read that description at Angie's website, which was before I ever visited the place, it occurred to me as pretty vague.

But after two visits to Angie's now, I can see that Angie's has got so much going for it, and it doesn't have to say a whole lot more ... much less a whole lot at all. Period. That's because people have been coming to the quaint, cozy eatery for years. Both times I've been there since "discovering" Angie's two and a half weeks ago, I left feeling better than when I arrived.

And both times Lee Ann and I had cheerful, helpful servers who made us feel like we'd been regulars for decades, even though we were -- in common vernacular -- "newbies." Our server this week even engaged us in a conversation about her family's fanaticism with the Beatles. That exchange started when she noticed my Beatles logo hoodie that I was wearing.

Even better is that the food has been very good. Because of Lee Ann's sensitivities to dairy and artificial ingredients, we have to be careful where we spend money on the things we eat -- both when grocery shopping and when dining out.

Lee Ann has a particular fondness for liver, so when she saw that Angie's offered fried chicken liver and gizzards as a special on Wednesdays, we visited Angie's for the first time on a Wednesday. She really enjoyed the meal, so when we got the dining-out hungries again this Wednesday, we headed back there. She again ordered the liver (above), this time with black-eyed peas and hush puppies as her sides. I had an item off the breakfast menu on the first visit; the second time, I chose the Reuben sandwich and fries (below).

In the history of Angie's that I found at the eatery's website (follow the link in the lead paragraph), you'll learn that the restaurant started as Green's Garner Grill after World War II. Owner Durwood Green converted an old barn into the restaurant and kept the place going for decades not because he was making a lot of money, but because he enjoyed the interaction and camaraderie with loyal customers.

When Angie Mikus took over in 2011, one of her motivations was the same as Green's -- to relish in the interaction with patrons. So it's not surprising that not only does a large mural of the eatery bearing its original name appear on a prominent wall in the dining area (see lead-off photo), but the woman in the orange shirt facing the viewer on the left looks an awful lot like Mikus. I'm going to take a leap of faith and presume the white-haired gentleman on the right in the mural is Green.

Above and below are two views of Angie's exterior. The bench you see in both photos is one option for customers waiting for tables to open up. There is a small waiting room just inside the door as well. That's where the yellow bench (second photo below) is located. That's Garner Road on the far right in the photo below. 

Just outside the main entrance are some boxes with periodicals ... and a sign extending a nod to the savior in the Christian faith (above). There is a snowman decoration sign on the exterior (below) and at least one snowman inside a window pane indoors. 

Above: The sign promoting specials on the first day were there. 

Above and next two below are shots of the eatery's interior, including a perspective shot of the mural (above). 

Short-order seafood eatery opens near us

After a visit the the North Carolina State Farmers Market in Raleigh on Saturday (see yesterday's post), Lee Ann and I stopped at Carolina Fish Fry, a recently opened restaurant in Garner not too far from our home.

We had never stopped at this place when the restaurant operated as a Burger King, but it was evident from the space when you walked in that it had been a fast-food joint in a previous life.

I understand that Carolina Fish Fry is a modest chain in this state; the original appears to be in Wilmington (I also was able to find others in the communities of Clinton, Jacksonville and Wallace).

The restaurant, which also has drive-through service, has a menu of mostly seafood, although there are chicken and burgers available for "land-lovers." Grilled options are available for some menu items, though mostly with the more expensive platters, and they require a $1 upcharge. There is no upcharge on grilled shrimp in a sandwich.

Seafood selections consist of flounder or Alaskan whitefish fillets, shrimp, oysters and crab cakes (all available also in sandwiches), catfish, clam strips and deviled crab. There are also sides -- french fries, sweet potato fries, coleslaw, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, hush puppies, mac and cheese, rice, collards, fried okra and potato salad. Beverages are soft drinks, water or tea (sweet and unsweetened). 

After the server at the counter explained the difference between the flounder and whitefish, I elected to go with the whitefish (above). Lee Ann chose a platter of flounder and deviled crab (below). Unfortunately, the tea machines were not working, so we had a Cheer Wine (think cherry Pepsi or Coke) and water. For my sides, I chose mac and cheese, green beans and regular fries. Lee Ann picked fries, green beans and hush puppies.

I really liked the white fish; I'd get it again ... certainly preferable over the flounder, which I found to lack substantive meat. The mac and cheese actually was large elbow macaroni topped with a soupy cheese, not a thick consistency cheese I usually find with mac and cheese. Still, it was good. The green beans were good, too, I thought, although Lee Ann remarked that she thought they came out of a can.

Lee Ann liked her deviled crab and thought the flounder was OK. She agreed that the whitefish was superior. We both thought the french fries were average.

As always, to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, simply click on the image. This is particularly helpful if you access the blog on a mobile device. Usually I refer readers who area interested to a full gallery of images from a shoot. The photos in this post comprise the full shoot, so there is no point to include a link for you to check out a gallery elsewhere on line. This is it. 

A look at the decor of an exterior wall (above) and a tight shot of the primary eatery sign and logo below. 
 

The full menu (above) and a large decorative lighthouse (below) in the center of the dining area. 

Above and below: More decor shots, each incorporating some amusing signage.

Above: Lee Ann captured this decor shot, making a composition that features the ordering counter on the bottom juxtaposed with the sea creature decoration above it. 

3 churches in historic downtown Garner

In the downtown area of Garner, N.C., there are two churches on Main Street just a couple blocks from the main cluster of shops, and a third church on Garner Road, which is on the opposite site of the railroad tracks from Main Street.

I found that the most interesting of these three churches is the one on Garner Road, Hayes Chapel Christian Church, pictured in the photo leading off the post. It is notable because it has a larger parcel of property than the two other churches, and because a large portion of that property is used for a church graveyard. The church is adjacent to Garner Recreational Park, the subject of yesterday's post.

The two other churches are Bible Way Holiness and Wake Grove Baptist, which I'll also feature in today's post. In the next post, I'll profile two others churches I came across on Sept. 21, and both are out in the rural area of Raleigh.

Photo geek stuff: I handled the entire shoot with my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3
Di VC PZD lens. I took three exposures of every composition to meld later in high-dynamic range (HDR) Photomatix software during post-processing. I set the camera shooting mode to aperture priority (f/8.0) and adjusted my ISO levels in dark conditions to allow for optimum shutter speeds so as not to blur images.

Hayes Chapel Christian's graveyard is an array of markers and monuments (above). It also has this distinguished tree (below) at the periphery of the property square to a portion of the graveyard. 

Monuments include an obelisk (above), a marker for a child (first below) and a grave dating to 1923 (second below). George Montague, says the epitaph on the old stone, "was faithful to every duty."   

Above: The top of Hayes Chapel Christian Church.

Above and two below: The exterior of Bible Way Holiness Church on Main Street includes a wooden ramp from the church doors, a distinguished church sign and a slightly titled cross.

Above and below: Wake Baptist is in an unfortunate position of having what little property it possesses intersected with unsightly utility lines. Normally I try to remove or minimize chromatic aberrations when I get them in my images, but I kind of liked the hues within the sky pattern in the photo below. 

Town park rounds out downtown Garner

I took pictures in today's post featuring Garner Recreational Park on the same visit I made to downtown Garner, featured in the previous post here at Photo Potpourri.

The post about downtown Garner was getting lengthy, so I figured that breaking out my shots in the park would be a good way to keep things manageable. I didn't get many shots in the park, so this will be a relatively short post. The park is across Garner Road from the downtown area. Garner Road parallels the railroad as well as Main Street, both of which I talked about in the previous post.

One pretty impressive amenity at the park are two ball diamonds, nicely maintained and manicured. That's one of them featured in the lead-off photo, a shot I took from a hill overlooking the diamond. In the first photo, you see a nice-sized concession stand and restroom area by the diamonds. The second photo below is a closeup of the adornment atop the vent on the concession stand. 

The park also has a pavilion, a gazebo, some playground equipment, paved walks and a bench or two.

As always, to view a larger, sharper image, click on the image. To see a full gallery of my shoot at Garner Recreational Park, click on the link in this sentence.

Photo geek stuff: I handled the entire shoot with my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3
Di VC PZD lens. I took three exposures of every composition to meld later in high-dynamic range (HDR) Photomatix software during post-processing. I set the camera on aperture priority and adjusted my ISO levels in dark conditions to allow for optimum shutter speeds so as not to blur images.

Above and next two below: Views of the gazebo, outside and inside. 

Above and below: The park pavilion. 

Above and next two below: Different views of the playground area. 

Above: When nature throws its version of a still life at me, I take a picture ... and consider its artistic value later. I really liked the job it did on this, which was not staged. 

Above: Providing rest for the weary. 

Garner downtown: a modest-sized business district still taking shape

I've noticed that the few suburbs I've visited outside Raleigh enough times to become familiar with have worked hard to promote their downtown commercial districts as "historic."

One such example, Garner, is southeast of Raleigh and has a modest downtown strip on Main Street,

which parallels Garner Road not more than 50 yards to the north. In fact, the two roads are divided by an Amtrak railroad that has no stop in Garner (the nearest stop is in Raleigh). I'd done some photography previously in Garner, not far from the historic downtown. I ran posts of those shoots (the library, town hall, police station and Forest Hill shopping center) a few months ago.

With a chunk of free time to devote to photography, I spent a couple hours in downtown Garner on Sept. 21 to do my usual walk-around documentary type shoot of a community. All the shops in the main business strip -- about three blocks long -- are along the south side of Main Street, and all of their facades face the Amtrak Railroad about 50 yards to the north.

The downtown struck me as a work in progress. There are several examples of modernization and newly opened shops. And there is a nice-sized building under construction at the west end; I didn't make a point to photograph the building under construction directly, but it's possible it can be seen in the background of a photo or two in the full gallery of shots (a link to which appears later). But there are few shops boarded up and/or with windows missing. Oddly, the faded paint on the brick facade gives these shops an artsy, nostalgic feel. I hope when they hit upon a way to utilize those spaces they can preserve the cool veneer somehow. 

Sept. 21 was another day in what seemed like a prolonged streak of days we'd had around here without any real break in uncomfortable humidity. A couple times I thought about cutting short my outing, but I persevered and finished the visit with a cold craft brew at the Full Bloom Coffee and Craft (beer) shop.

Picking the photo to lead off the post was not too difficult for me, but I'm not sure the town leaders would approve. I should say that I have no idea what efforts the town is making to change the status of the boarded up windows and doors seen in this photo, which is along the Main Street shopping district. But I'm pretty artists would hail what they see in those distressed Coca-Cola and Hazel's artwork on the bricks immediately above the doors to those shops. It was one of the first things I noticed as I inventoried what I'd be trying to capture when scanned the scene upon arriving.

Other storefronts, such as the aforementioned Full Bloom (see photo below) are more structurally presentable, so I would have to say the Main Street shopping center is still a work in progress.

I spent a considerable amount of time trying to find interesting ways to integrate the town water tower into my pictures. I'm not sure the two I include in this post are the best efforts of that challenge, so be sure to check the full gallery to find others. I also explored ways to creatively represent the Amtrak railroad, the town's train depot and the sundry elements I came across as I strolled the length of the rails in front of the downtown area.

As always, to view a larger, sharper image, click on the image. To see a full gallery of my shoot in downtown Garner, click on the link in this sentence.

Photo geek stuff: I handled the entire shoot with my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3
Di VC PZD lens. I took three exposures of every composition to meld later in high-dynamic range (HDR) Photomatix software during post-processing. I set the camera on aperture priority and adjusted my ISO levels in dark conditions to allow for optimum shutter speeds so as not to blur images.

One section of the commercial district (above) that is among those reflecting recent updates. I used another store, Garner Coins (first below), to show one integration of the water tower. Another (second below) is a shot of the full tower at an intersection opening.  

Perspective (above) and closeup (below) shots of GrafiX House, a company design and logo business. A bright-colored company car parked outside the shop (second below) caught my eye. 

Above and below: Seating outside Full Bloom. 

I used light poles as left-side elements in photos of the sidewalk in front of the shops (above) and along the railroad (below). 

Above and next four below: Some more rail and rail car photos in this section of town.

Two more water tower compositions, one involved another light pole and the weathered Coca-Cola storefront paint (above), the other positioning the tower on the left of a slice of storefronts. 

Above: An unsuspecting (or simply uncaring) individual inside a barber shop in the commercial district.

Above: Garner Coins again, this time as seen from the railroad tracks where I could use some of the trees in the landscaping to frame the store sign. 

Above: A mural on the side of a shop a block away from the main stretch of stores. 

Above: A closeup of the logo for the Garner Ice House skating rink, which is on New Rand Road -- several blocks and around the corner from the main shops on Main Street. 

Above is a home across the street from the Ice House, and below a worker takes care of some work on the porch roof of a house next door to the one shown above. 

Above and below: Two shots I took at the little league fields complex along Pearl Street several blocks west of the Main Street shops. A couple of men were there doing maintenance work on the fields. 

Above: As I walked back to my car after leaving the Rotary Field little league complex, I saw this crow fly over me to perch itself on a branch and a nearby tree. Almost immediately, it began to caw repeatedly. I guess a guy toting a camera is considered a possible terrorist in Crowland ...