Travel

Meghan Markle’s Southern Rescue Dog

An abandoned Kentucky beagle ends up among royalty. Plus: Hunt Country tours, summertime drinks, and more

The following is excerpted from Garden & Gun’s weekly Talk of the South newsletter, which highlights the best of what’s happening across the South. Sign up here to receive the newsletter in your inbox.

How ’Bout That Beagle?

meghan-markle-dog

Photo: Courtesy of Dolores Doherty/A Dog’s Dream Rescue

Meghan Markle’s beagle, Guy, just after he arrived at A Dog’s Dream Rescue.

Are you done talking about the royal wedding yet? Good, neither are we. Today’s topic: Meghan Markle’s rescue dog, Guy the beagle, who seems to have been caught on video riding in the backseat of a car alongside Her Majesty, the Queen. Even a monarch couldn’t resist that face. It turns out that Guy is a Southern dog. After being found in the woods in Kentucky, he was initially taken to a Bluegrass shelter. A Dog’s Dream Rescue, a beagle rescue organization in Canada, then brought him North, where Markle saw him at an adoption event and became smitten.

Guy has gotten the full royal treatment since he moved to the U.K., along with breathless coverage from the Fleet Street paparazzi. (“Move Over Corgis!”) It’s a dog-meets-girl, girl-meets-prince, prince-and-girl-and-dog-live-happily-ever-after fairytale we can all believe in. Or as A Dog’s Dream’s Rescue posted on its Facebook page, “How’s that for a rags to riches story from a good ole Kentucky beagle?”

Stellar Stables

The 59th Annual Hunt Country Stable Tour in and around Middleburg, Virginia, this weekend will open some of the country’s most exclusive and (tastefully) extravagant horse farms to the public. Think of it as Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, if the rich were horses and the famous were their doting owners. On the tour this year is the farm where Elizabeth Taylor and Sen. John Warner lived when they were married, the equestrian estate of the late Bunny and Paul Mellon, and multiple private stables that train world-class competition horses and riders. The weekend also includes demonstrations of polo, carriage driving, side saddle riding, horse swimming, horse training, and bassets and foxhounds—nearly anything you can do with horses and hounds.

Heroes Remembered

Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery will mark its 150th Memorial Day this weekend with a full honor wreath-laying service at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, followed by an observance program at Arlington’s Memorial Amphitheater. Both are free and open to the public. But if you can’t make it to Virginia, ceremonies will honor fallen service members at more than a hundred national cemeteries across the country this weekend. The National Memorial Day Concert will also take place Sunday on the West Front lawn of the U.S. Capitol, and will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. Eastern on PBS.

In Case You Missed It on G&G

mama dip mildred council

Photo: CHUCK LIDDY/THE NEWS & OBSERVER VIA AP

Mildred Council, known as Mama Dip, shown in 2010.

For four decades, Mildred Council served up scrumptious Southern cooking at her beloved Mama Dip’s Kitchen in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Kathleen Purvis recalls the culinary matriarch who died Sunday at 89. … Meghan Markle isn’t the only one adopting dogs. Guests at Aloft hotels across the South can visit with foster pups during their stay—and take one home as part of the innovative adoption program. … Humorist David Sedaris likes how people in the North (the North of England) say hello. … The latest episode of our Whole Hog podcast is a great one: Presidential historian and author Jon Meacham discusses U.S. presidents, the Southern literary canon, and smoking cigars in the basement.

Upcoming Events

Now through May 27
Explore Historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta through its multi-day art exhibition, Golden Hour, which examines themes of sunrise and sunset, along with the dawn and dusk of life.

May 23–27
The New Orleans Wine & Food Experience takes over dozens of the city’s best restaurants for an ode to food, drink, and all tastes NOLA. Yes, please.

May 25
Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s, the newest and rowdiest exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, opens this week and runs through February 2021. It’s vintage Waylon, Willie, and more. Turn it up and hit PLAY.

May 25–June 10
Seventeen days of music, art, dance, and theater performances span venues across Charleston, South Carolina, for the 41st Spoleto Festival. Among the highlights: Louisiana native Jon Batiste with funk-and-soul group the Dap-Kings, and tap-dance wizard Michelle Dorrance of North Carolina.

May 26
“Hamiltunes” sing-along at Mount Vernon. The Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre and performers from Northern Virginia lead a sing-along to tunes from Hamilton on, wait for it, George Washington’s front lawn.

May 26 and 27
Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, presents its Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass, featuring New York’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Hear what happens when the Upper West Side comes to Coal Country.

This Week’s Question

Last week we asked, “What’s your go-to summertime drink?” Thanks for your responses. Here are a few of them:

“Mount Gay and tonic with a squeeze of lime. Beloved by sailors the world over.”
—Mike Grow

“A mimosa made with Grand Marnier, orange juice, and Prosecco.”
—Melissa C. Williams

“As we all know, nothing tastes better than a cold beer when it’s 90-something degrees. I found it gets warm way too quickly if I get busy and forget where I put it. So I started the beer-on-ice thing about 15, 20 years ago. It works out just fine. Especially in a large Ole Miss cup.”
—Gary Allen

“At the top of my list is sweet tea! I absolutely love it and I am kind of a sweet tea snob. I don’t do restaurant sweet tea at all. … If I want a cocktail, my go-to is mango rum in some good cold orange or pineapple juice.”
—Debbie Anderson

“Equals parts lemonade, sweet tea, and Tito’s vodka … over crushed ice in a red Solo cup, of course.”
—Stephen Frohsin

“Does Corona in the bottle with lime count? It’s my fave in the summertime.”
—Lynne Price

This week’s question: What’s your favorite long-weekend destination in the South? Send your answers to newsletters@gardenandgun.com.


Sign up here to receive Talk of the South each week.