May 2nd- Sweet Georgia Peach

Perry, GA is our second stop on our trip. In preparation for our trip I did quite a bit of research on these namesake towns, and found that Perry, GA has a tourism board! I wrote to them and they sent me a care package with a brochure and a souvenir emory board!!

The motto of the city is “Where Georgia Comes Together”, and the information they sent was very welcoming. They boast a bustling downtown, and the city is the site of both the Georgia National Fair and the annual Georgia National Rodeo.

Located in both Houston and Peach counties, Perry is the county seat of Houston County. It has a population of roughly 14,000 according to the 2010 census. Originally known as Wattsville the town was founded in 1823. It’s name was changed to Perry to honor Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. Tourism has been an important part of the economy since Hwy 41 to Florida was paved in 1920.

Large employers include the military (Robin’s AF Base is nearby), Frito Lay, Perdue and Cemex, a cement company. Sadly we missed the annual Dogwood Festival, held in April. 

Oh, fun fact, at Midnight on NYE instead of a ball drop they drop a buzzard!!

Today we drove from Madison, FL into Georgia, and ultimately Perry, GA. As I researched the various Perry communities I looked at restaurants and businesses, and I found the perfect restaurant for us to try in Perry, GA. It is called The Perfect Pear, and the proprietor is a wonderful woman named Megan Brent. When I called to make brunch reservations I was told they were closed the date we were going to be there. I knew they were a catering company and I really wanted to eat there, partially because of the name, but mostly because the menu looked fantastic, so I sent them an email asking if they had a catering event that date and if we could just purchase two meals that they were already preparing. Megan got back to me and said the reason they were closed is because she had an accident but she loved our “Perry story” and would love to prepare a picnic for us.

So first thing we did when we arrived in Perry, GA was to go to the Perfect Pear.  As we pulled up in Bessie, we noticed the downtown area was nicely redeveloped, with historic buildings housing inviting small shops. Bessie is huge so as Von parked her, and as I stepped out I saw a woman down the street smiling widely and waving. It was Megan and she quickly invited us in. The Perfect Pear is a white tablecloth lunch and Sunday brunch restaurant. Megan told us that the Chamber of Commerce encouraged her to branch out from a catering company to serving lunch/ brunch and it has worked out really well for her. She made us a beautiful southern picnic, consisting of Quiche, a wonderful salad of fresh spring greens, some of her famous pimento cheese and crackers, and two different desserts to try. The first is key lime pie, and the other is Krispy Kreme Donut bread pudding. We enjoyed our picnic at Perry’s Centennial Rotary Park in the company of beautiful large trees and many singing birds. When we were full we saved enough pimento cheese to use for a few days. The desserts we shared after dinner and will go to sleep with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads!

Megan, the wonderful owner of the Perfect Pear, Perry, a full service catering company that serves lunch and Sunday brunch.

Here is another fun fact about Perry, GA. There is a community theater company here, called the Perry Players. I had decided in planning this trip that it would be meaningful to choose nonprofit organizations along the way and support them after this past year has been so tough. I chose the Perry Players because we are a family that supports the arts, and we love live theater. After I made a donation at their website I sent them a message on Facebook explaining who we were and how we picked them for a donation. They kindly offered us tickets to a virtual performance of the “The Songs Unsung”, which are selections from their 2020/2021 season that was canceled due to Covid. On Friday night while hunkered down in our hotel in Orlando we watched the virtual performance. I love live theater, and this did not disappoint! It represented performers from not only the theater company, but also from nearby high schools whose shows had been canceled. www.perryplayers.org

Megan from the Perfect Pear had mentioned a charity that is near and dear to her heart, called the Halo Group, which offers a group home and vocational therapy so that people living with autism can improve their lives through meaningful employment. We are gladly supporting them as well. www.halogroupga.org

After our great time in Perry, Ga (which fully met and exceeded my hopes and dreams) we went on to Lane Orchards, a peach farm about a half hour drive from Perry. The drive was lovely, with orchards of pecans and peach trees. It is not quite peach season so we bought some freshly picked local strawberries. Now my California friends know that in CA a strawberry can be almost as large as an apple but totally devoid of flavor. These strawberries are small, a deep red and sometimes a little misshapen. They taste like real strawberries through and through, and we enjoyed some for dinner with pimento cheese.

We went on to our campsite in Metter, GA and got tucked in. No Perry towns or cities for the next few days, but I will report from Savannah and Charleston. Oh my, the food in the south is good.