Readers’ favorite stories published on gardenandgun.com this year included pieces about horses that fly first class, a strong-willed sea turtle named Voldemort, iconic Southern rockers, beloved Southern authors, and a taste test only a Southerner could pass. Here are twenty of the most-viewed stories of the year:
Food and Drink
G&G’s Great Mayonnaise Taste Test
Twenty top Southern chefs participate in a blind tasting to determine the best brand—and the winner may surprise you.
Karl Worley’s Family Reserve Biscuits
Nashville’s Biscuit Love chef shares his go-to recipe.
Three Blind Refs: A Super Bowl Cocktail for Saints Fans
This drink goes down a lot easier than the egregious non-call at the Superdome did.
The Only Tomato Pie Recipe You’ll Ever Need
Birmingham chef Julie Grimes’s deep-dish version of the summertime classic.
Music
An Oral History of “Free Bird”
Including the time Johnny Van Zant yelled out a request for it at a Cher show.
Song Premiere: Gregg Allman Performing “Melissa” Live in 1974
The iconic song, recorded on his first solo tour, was reissued this year.
Ken Burns on His Eight-Year Dive into Country Music
The documentarian talked to G&G about his latest project.
Travel
The South’s Best New Bars
Two dozen recent arrivals that feel like they’ve been around forever—in a good way.
John Grisham’s Ode to Amelia Island
The formerly landlocked author is now at home in his little piece of paradise.
14 Classic Southern Weekend Escapes
Load up the car for trips to Southern getaways that have beckoned guests for generations.
Animals
Inside Air Horse One: Getting to the Kentucky Derby
A look at how some Thoroughbreds travel first class to the Kentucky Derby.
How to Save a Loggerhead
Behind the scenes of a nearly yearlong journey to nurse an injured sea turtle back home.
Four-Star Canine
A marine’s account of the best gift a dog could have given him.
Books and Authors
Remembering Two Icons of the Literary South
Dorothea Benton Frank and Anne Rivers Siddons told stirring stories of the South, and proclaimed the power of a triple name—an ode to the two authors by their friends and peers Mary Alice Monroe and Patti Callahan Henry.
Pat Conroy and Cassandra King Conroy’s Whirlwind Romance
It all started at a party in Birmingham in 1995.
Now Enrolling: The Wendell Berry Farm School
A hands-on farming and forestry program in the author’s Kentucky county—and the tuition is free.
Video
How Carla Hall Makes Biscuits
Don’t do 16-minute videos, they say. Don’t cut a thing when Carla Hall is in front of the camera, we say.
Photo Collections
The Best Kentucky Derby Hats of 2019
The fascinating fascinators of Churchill Downs.
Meet the 2019 Good Dog Winners
The top dogs in our annual contest.
100 Puppies—Need We Say More?
Some of the cutest puppers you’ll ever see.
Also see:
>> Top recipes of 2019
>> Top photos of 2019
