What To Do If Your Cell Phone is Lost or Stolen

Not too long ago, my daughter lost her cell-phone. Like any reasonable person, she assumed that she had left it at a friend’s house, or at home or in her other purse. So she didn’t tell us for two days.

Days in which the person who found her phone racked up over $500 worth of phone calls to an island in the Caribbean.

Frantic calls to our carrier (T-Mobile) were fruitless, the policeman who accepted our report was pessimistic, and the fine print of our cellular service contract (which of course we never read) was unambiguous – we were responsible for any charges incurred up to the point at which we notified our carrier that the phone had been lost. Sorry.

Off I went to the web, and after a fair amount of searching, found nothing other than a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth by cellphone customers like ourselves, and no advice from anyone other than to just pay the bill.

Undaunted, I scoured T-Mobile’s site and finally determined that, according to our contract, we could ask that our case go to arbitration. This request had to be in writing, of course, using the proper form letters, which were to be sent to both to theT-Mobile and the AAA (American Arbitration Association), along with a check to the AAA for for our portion of the arbitration fee ($25).

I was prepared to offer the arbitrators that we would pay the actual costs to T-Mobile for putting through those calls through, which I was sure was pennies on the dollar compared to what they were asking from us. But I felt I could effectively argue that T-Mobile should not be permitted to profit from thievery.

Mr. TBTAM sent those letters right off.

About 2 weeks later, we received a letter from T-Mobile informing us that they had recieved our letter, but that we still had to pay the charges. Still not a word from the AAA…

Then one night about two weeks later, we received a phone call from T-Mobile.

In studying our calling pattern, they said, they noted that we had never made any long distance calls on that phone before the phone was lost. (Of course, they could have figured that out when all this started…) And although I am not permitted to divulge the terms of what they offered us, let’s just say we felt entirely vindicated.

And last week, the icing on then cake – The AAA sent us our $25 check back!

So why, you ask, did T-Mobile suddenly change their mind?

The letter we received from AAA the next day answered the question. You see, it turns out that the AAA charges T-Mobile a whole lot of money for their arbitration services – in our case, $975 to be exact. Since our disputed bill was less than that, it did not pay T-Mobile to go to arbitration. Of course, T-Mobile knew that all along, but kept it to themselves, all the while continuing to demand that we pay the charges. I’m sure that most folks give up and pay the darned bill out of frustration, and T-Mobile counts on that. So they continued to stonewall until you go through the necessary steps to resolve the dispute.

According to an article I read recently, 25% of cellphones are lost or stolen every year. (I can’t find the reference, but I remember the data.) That’s millions of dollars in illegal charges for cellphone companies. While it is totally within the realm of available technology for them to intercept and confirm unusual calling patterns, it is in their financial interest not to do a thing to help stem these calls, and to do everything they can to ask us to subsidize this portion of their business.

The Bottom Line

If your phone is lost, the first and most important thing you must do it to notify your carrier. Despite this, someone may have racked up illegal usage fees on your phone prior to your notification.

If this happens, you must notify the police. Then get ready to fight with your carrier.

If they that you pay the charges, don’t give in unless you have no other recourse. Read the fine print, and do everything you can do dispute the charges, including going to arbitration. Since the arbitration charges vary depending upon the amount in dispute, I can’t promise the numbers will work out as well for you as they did for us.

But I suspect that in most cases, it won’t pay for your carrier to go to arbitration and you may very well find that you do not have to pay these illegal charges.

Good luck.

What To Do If Your Cell Phone is Lost or Stolen

Not too long ago, my daughter lost her cell-phone. Like any reasonable person, she assumed that she had left it at a friend’s house, or at home or in her other purse. So she didn’t tell us for two days.

Days in which the person who found her phone racked up over $500 worth of phone calls to an island in the Caribbean.

Frantic calls to our carrier (T-Mobile) were fruitless, the policeman who accepted our report was pessimistic, and the fine print of our cellular service contract (which of course we never read) was unambiguous – we were responsible for any charges incurred up to the point at which we notified our carrier that the phone had been lost. Sorry.

Off I went to the web, and after a fair amount of searching, found nothing other than a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth by cellphone customers like ourselves, and no advice from anyone other than to just pay the bill.

Undaunted, I scoured T-Mobile’s site and finally determined that, according to our contract, we could ask that our case go to arbitration. This request had to be in writing, of course, using the proper form letters, which were to be sent to both to theT-Mobile and the AAA (American Arbitration Association), along with a check to the AAA for for our portion of the arbitration fee ($25).

I was prepared to offer the arbitrators that we would pay the actual costs to T-Mobile for putting through those calls through, which I was sure was pennies on the dollar compared to what they were asking from us. But I felt I could effectively argue that T-Mobile should not be permitted to profit from thievery.

Mr. TBTAM sent those letters right off.

About 2 weeks later, we received a letter from T-Mobile informing us that they had recieved our letter, but that we still had to pay the charges. Still not a word from the AAA…

Then one night about two weeks later, we received a phone call from T-Mobile.

In studying our calling pattern, they said, they noted that we had never made any long distance calls on that phone before the phone was lost. (Of course, they could have figured that out when all this started…) And although I am not permitted to divulge the terms of what they offered us, let’s just say we felt entirely vindicated.

And last week, the icing on then cake – The AAA sent us our $25 check back!

So why, you ask, did T-Mobile suddenly change their mind?

The letter we received from AAA the next day answered the question. You see, it turns out that the AAA charges T-Mobile a whole lot of money for their arbitration services – in our case, $975 to be exact. Since our disputed bill was less than that, it did not pay T-Mobile to go to arbitration. Of course, T-Mobile knew that all along, but kept it to themselves, all the while continuing to demand that we pay the charges. I’m sure that most folks give up and pay the darned bill out of frustration, and T-Mobile counts on that. So they continued to stonewall until you go through the necessary steps to resolve the dispute.

According to an article I read recently, 25% of cellphones are lost or stolen every year. (I can’t find the reference, but I remember the data.) That’s millions of dollars in illegal charges for cellphone companies. While it is totally within the realm of available technology for them to intercept and confirm unusual calling patterns, it is in their financial interest not to do a thing to help stem these calls, and to do everything they can to ask us to subsidize this portion of their business.

The Bottom Line

If your phone is lost, the first and most important thing you must do it to notify your carrier. Despite this, someone may have racked up illegal usage fees on your phone prior to your notification.

If this happens, you must notify the police. Then get ready to fight with your carrier.

If they that you pay the charges, don’t give in unless you have no other recourse. Read the fine print, and do everything you can do dispute the charges, including going to arbitration. Since the arbitration charges vary depending upon the amount in dispute, I can’t promise the numbers will work out as well for you as they did for us.

But I suspect that in most cases, it won’t pay for your carrier to go to arbitration and you may very well find that you do not have to pay these illegal charges.

Good luck.

Road Trip : Part 7 – The Road Home

Our trip back was to be a bit quicker than the one out, but we were determined to make this leg of our journey an enjoyable one. So we took a more roundabout way back up to Rt 81 via rte 26, a new highway that winds high up into the mountains. It’s the new road to Asheville, NC, where we had a pleasant 2 hour stop for lunch.

Asheville, NC


Asheville is a trendy little artist’s town nestled high in the mountains. It is fueled by an amazing community of artists and a real committment to providing them venues for their work. One could spend weeks seeing all the antiques, art and crafts in the Asheveille area. Some of the art space we visited was cooperative space, meaning that the artists see their own profit, rather than feeding the bankrolls of the gallery owners.

The town’s old Woolworth store has been converted into an artist superstore. If you’re lucky, you’ll meet the artist.But if not, just find your art, pick it up, and bring it to the check out counter.

Stop at the old soda fountain for lunch while you’re there.

The Asheveille area is loaded with antique stores and markets. Studio 5 Antiques on Patton St. specializes in old typewriters, and I almost bought this one home with me to use when I write my great American novel. There’s nothing like the clicking of a typewriters keys…

There’s a bit of the retro hippe feel to Asheville, and we encountered not a few street musicians who could have been plucked off the streets of Haight Ashbury in the 70’s.

Lunch was at the Bistro 1896, a moderately-priced upscale feeling restaurant with a modern side room. Ask to sit in the enclosed tiny room at the back for a special feel to your meal. I had the pork curry which was just right.

For dessert, we had amazing cupcakes from the Sisters McMullen Cupcake Corner on Patton. I don’t have a good photo of my cupcake, but it had the best white icing I have ever had. If anyone knows where I can get their icing recipe, do let me know….

All I can say is that our visit to Asheville was much too short. This is a great place to visit, and would make a great honeymoon destination. There is lots of hiking and nature as well as a little funky city with great restaurants and a good music and arts scene. I definitely want to come back and stay for a few days or even a week there, maybe this summer.

The Stonewall Jackson B&B

Harrisonburg is a largish town on Rte 81 in Northern Virginia. We had a reservation at the Marriot in town, but cancelled it thinking we would make it farther north. That left us looking for a room at 7 pm on a Saturday night inn a strange town. Fortunately, we passed a vacancy sign at the Stonewall Jackson B&B, and that’s where we spent the night. (Mr TBTAM negotiated us a good rate.)

What a sweet place! Our host Wayne and his son Roger were warm and attentive, and receommended a fine local Italian place for dinner. Our room was warm and comfortable, and had all the necessary emenities, including free wireless. Their motto is “A Night’s Delight and a Breakfast to Remember”, and it was. Thanks guys!

Home Again

Next morning we hit the road bright and early, and were back in Philly in time for Easter dinner with my family, then back to NYC. It was a great vacation, and we can’t wait to do it again next year!

Road Trip to Athens, Georgia: Part 6: Rachel’s Crabcakes

We were fed some amazing food this trip. Thanks to JB for a wonderful four course dinner, and to Joe and Rachel for the night of endless appetizers. I wanted to feature it all, but since these were the photos that came out best, we’re going with the crabcakes. Thanks, Rachel for sharing your secret recipe!

Rachel’s Crab Cakes

2 cups Crab
¼ cp. and 1 ½ cups Panko Japanese breadcrumbs
Handful of small diced red peppers (optional—sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I’ve also used celery, carrots, or green peppers.)
Chopped chives
1 egg beaten
2 TBSP. mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Canola oil

Flake crab in large bowl. Add peppers, 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs, some chives, a beaten egg, the mayo and salt and pepper. Mix.

Make palm sized patties (squeezing tight). Adjust binding ingredients (mayo and egg) if the mixture is not staying together.

Put 1½ cups breadcrumbs in a flat bowl. Coat both sides of each patty with crumbs, then re-squeeze the patty and recoat it in breadcrumbs.

Heat ½ inch of oil in pan. When hot enough to sizzle a breadcrumb, put patties in oil until golden brown, then flip. Drain on paper towels.

Serve on mixed greens with lemon wedges and sauce mock roasted red pepper aioli (below).

Red Pepper Aioli

Put a roasted red pepper in the food processor and puree. Add 1 cup mayo, some squeezed lemon, and salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning and consistency. Sprinkle chives on top.

Next Up: The Trip Home (via Asheville, NC)

Start Spreading the News…

Grand Rounds is a weekly compilation of posts submitted by medical bloggers across the blogosphere. If you’re blogging about healthcare, you’re a medical blogger. So pick your best post of the week and send it in to me at tbtam@rcn.com by 12noon EST, Sunday May 6.

Thanks to Nick Genes at Blogborygmi for creating and continuing to organize Grand Rounds. It’s an enormous task for him, and we thank him with all our heart..

Commercial Free Speech Trumps Physician Privacy

In yet another slam on the medical profession by the judicial system, a federal judge has declared New Hampshire’s Prescription Restraint Law unconstitutional.

The law, which was passed by unanimous vote in the NH legislature and signed into law in 2006, made it illegal to sell or licence prescription data that identifies the prescribing doctor. It did not restrict the use of prescribing information for law enforcement purposes, research purposes, educational purposes, compliance review purposes, or for any non-commercial purpose.

The law was appealed by two data-mining companies, Verispan and IMS Health, whose business is buying and selling physician prescribing information almost exclusively to pharmaceutical companies. They argued that the law restricted their constitutional right to free speech .

Free speech?

So Big Pharma has a right to receive my private information because those who sell my private information have a free speech right to share that private information? That seems ridiculous to me. But here it is, straight from the Judge’s opinion:

Here, the challenged Law restricts speech by preventing pharmaceutical companies from using prescriber-identifiable information both to identify a specific audience for their marketing efforts and to refine their marketing messages…Such laws are subject to First Amendment scrutiny because they affect both the speaker’s ability to communicate with his intended audience and the audience’s right to receive information.

What about my privacy?

Well, it seems that because I am a physician, I have little right to privacy. At least that’s what Judge Barbarado, who was the sole “Decider” on the case, says…

Health care providers cannot credibly claim that they have a reasonable expectation that their prescribing practices will remain private because prescriber-identifiable data is routinely disclosed to patients, pharmacies, insurance companies, medical review committees, and government agencies. In other words, because health care providers work in a “closely-regulated” industry, they have at best a diminished expectation of privacy with respect to their prescribing practices.

What next?

At least 5 other states have similar laws upcoming in their legislatures, and are watching this case closely. We will see what they do now.

I hope that the state of New Hampshire will appeal the judge’s ruling. And I would argue it from the privacy standpoint, despite what Judge Barbarado says. I would argue that I do have privacy from those who would use my prescribing data solely for marketing purposes.

Otherwise, one could argue that any data collected for regulatory purposes is free for sale to anyone for marketing purposes. And that just doesn’t seem right to me

Grand Rounds at Shrink Rap

Grand Rounds is up this week over at Shrink Rap, a tripartite blog by three psychiatrists. Head on over for the best of the medical blogosphere. They even have a podcast!

Photo: Wrapped Coast, Little Bay, Australia, 1968-69. Christo and Jeanne-ClaudeCo-ordinator: John KaldorPhoto: Harry Shunk

When Cancer Strikes Close to Home

I saw a very concerned patient last week. Her 59 year old sister had recently been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer on a routine mammogram. All of my patient’s friends were telling her she had better see her doctor right away and get additional testing because she was now at increased risk.

My patient, who is 50 years old, had a normal breast exam and a recent negative mammogram. Her sister had had a negative BRCA test. There was no other family history of breast or ovarian cancer, or any other cancers identified with known gene mutations.

My patient was shocked when I told her that her sister’s breast cancer did not increase her risk of breast cancer high enough to warrant anything other than routine screening. Her sister’s breast cancer, being post-menopausal, the only one in the family and occuring in the absence of a BRCA mutation, was almost certainly a sporadic cancer. I explained that only 10% of breast cancers are genetically-linked.

We went through my patient’s Gail Model predictions together, and I showed her that her sister’s cancer raised her 5 year breast cancer risk infinitesimally, and her lifetime risk from 9 to 15%. But the Gail and other risk assessment models do not take BRCA results into account, and her sister’s negative BRCA result pretty much nullified that increased risk based on family history. Of course there is always a tiny chance that the test was a false negative, but in the absence of any other family history and her sister’s age at diagnosis, I felt that these odds were low. Finally, even if she did have a 15% risk, that risk is not high enough to warrant routine breast MRI at this time.

We looked at her last mammogram report. I explained that I usually order routine sonograms when the radiologist reports that the breasts are of increased density that limits the sensitivity of the mammogram. But my patient’s breasts were described in the report as being “heterogeneously dense”, a very common descriptor in routine mammograms in her age group. I did not see an indication to order routine sonogram.

I gave her my mantra – Everyone who gets a cancer is part of a family, but not all cancers are familial.

She understood but remained worried. Couldn’t we do something?

So we agreed that we would add a sonogram for now. I explained that because it was not clearly indicated, her insurance would most likely decline to pay for it and she was comfortable with that. My plan was definitely not evidence-based and unquestionably a medico-legal punt, but my patient left feeling her fears had been addressed.

I made her repeat the mantra back to me. “Everyone who gets cancer is part of a family, but not every cancer is familial.” I hoped if she repeated it enough it would sink in.

But when cancer strikes so close to home, it’s hard not to worry that your home is the one with a bull’s eye on its roof.

Road Trip to Athens, Georgia : Part 5- The Athens Music Scene

Athens is known for its music scene, and is most famous for being the home of the bands REM and the B52’s. The clubs and bars of Athens are alive with new music, fueled by audiences filled with students from the University of Georgia. But if you’re hanging with my brother and his wife and their friends, you don’t need to hit the bars to get a taste of Athens music.

Megan Baer

We were privileged to listen to Rachel’s friend and fellow-Philly suburbs gal Megan Baer sing at a wine-tasting and book signing party at the Georgia Botanical Gardens. Megan has a soulful and sultry voice, and sings her own stuff, plus some really nice covers. I really like her sound, and wish her great success!

Check out Megan on her my space or head to CD Baby to hear samples from her CD Out of Place.

Betsy Frank and the Bare Knuckle Band

Betsy is yet another friend of Joe and Rachel’s. We didn’t get to hear Betsy in person, but she was featured for a full hour on It’s Friday, WUGA’s end of the week music show, while we were there. This is the kind of music you’d love to hear in a bar on a Friday night with a beer in your hand and good friends around to dance with. You can hear Betsy on her MySpace. Be prepared to get up and move!

Cyndi Lauper

Well, technically, Cyndi wasn’t singing in Athens. But she was singing on Dan’s widescreen TV, and Dan lives in Athens, so I’m counting it. This performance of Cyndi singing “Carey” is one of the most incredible covers of a Joni Mitchell song I have ever heard (or seen). It won’t have the same impact if you’re not sitting on Dan’s sofa late at night after a few glasses of wine, but do click on the YouTube player below and witness this new standard.


I have to thank Dan again and again for sharing this incredibly special music video with us. Although I think next time he should move the TV out onto his new back porch so we can watch it while sitting in the hot tub. I think Cindy would like that, don’t you?

Next Up: Rachel’s Crab Cakes

Today’s Health News from TBTAM

These news stories came my way today via my list servs and friends (thanks, Susan!).

Texas Legislators vote down mandatory HPV vaccine.

In a 135-to-2 vote that appeared veto-proof, the Texas House gave final passage on Wednesday to a Senate bill that bars the state from ordering the shots until at least 2011. Even many supporters of the governor resented Mr. Perry’s proposal as an abuse of executive authority.

It was the right thing to do. The push for mandating the vaccine was coming from Big Pharma, and not the healthcare community.

BTW, Did you notice the Gardasil ad aimed at teenage girls on American Idol this week? Direct marketing to teens! I had a patient who says her daughter is wondering if she should get the vaccine because her friends “are all getting it”. Who would have predicted that a vaccine would be the new teen trend? Maybe they could combine it with a tatoo….
____________________________________________________________
New York Governor Elliot Spitzer proposes legislation to strengthen abortion rights in my home state.

Mr. Spitzer’s proposal would remove abortion from criminal statutes and make it a matter of professional and medical discretion. It would also repeal an old statute “that criminalizes, among other things, providing nonprescription contraception to minors,” according to the governor’s office..

While the proposed legislation will not change the new laws, it will create an environment in New York where doctors can feel freer to practice medicine that does not place their patient’s health in conflict with their own fear of recrimination .
_________________________________________________
We’re all on the take from Big Pharma.

Nearly 95 percent of physicians in the United States receive free food,beverages, drug samples, sports tickets or other benefits from drug company sales representatives eager to influence their prescribing habits, according to a report today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

I stopped seeing reps this past year, and haven’t missed ’em. I admit, I still take lunch when they show up to see the docs who practice down the hall. I think I’ll stop that now.

Road Trip to Athens, Georgia : Part 4 – Out and About in Athens


We spent three days in this delighful college town, home of the University of Georgia. What made it most special, of course, was that we were hanging out with Joe and his totally cool family and friends. But the town itself has lots to offer visitors, and I encourage you to add it to your list of places to visit. Rather than bore you with the details, I’ll just give you some of the highlights. And since this purports to be a food blog, I’ll start with …

Where we Ate

  • The Grit:
    My favorite place in Athens. Great vegetarian food served with a bit of attitude and lots of flavor. I love the look and feel of the place. Old bulding, lovingly revovated, very casual and hip.

    Check out this veggie stir fry. The portions are huge, the prices moderate.

    The kids love the mac and cheese.

    They even have a cookbook!

  • The Jot ’em Down
    The Jot Em Down is an old local country store that has been revived as the same plus barbecue. It’s name comes from what you do with the list of things you need from the grocery store – you jot ’em down.

    And what a coincidence – I had just jotted down “Buy deer head and new baseball cap” and there they were!

    This is genuine beef and pork barbecue, smoked out back in a steel shack, served with sides such as cole slaw and cabbage cooked in creamed soup with crumbled crackers on top. No haute cuisine here, just typical Southern food served on styrofoam platters, so roll up your sleeves and dig in!

    The pulled pork sandwich is a classic. It’s mildly spiced, so add the hot sauce.
    And there was plenty of hot sauce…

Where We Wished We Had Eaten
No time to check out Five and Ten, run by award winning chef Hugh Acheson. Definitely checking this place out next year…

Shops We Liked

  • Dynamite
    This upscaled-looking thrift shop is my kids’ favorite place to shop in Athens. Great selection, everything totally retro and now completely in. Every mannequin was dressed just like my girls.

  • Jackson Street Books
    I found some great used jazz Cd’s here, and Nats got a book. But the best part was their parking ticket crusade, mounted in protest to the new one hour parking limit in town. Bring them your parking ticket, and you’ll get the price of the fine off your purchase!.

  • Used Records/CD Store
    I have no idea what this place is called, but we had a great time there. The vinyl records are organized by decade, so if you are my age, you can head straight to the 70’s and 80’s and buy back all the albums you sold at your yard sale when you coverted to CD’s..


Other Things We Did

  • Georgia Botanical Gardens
    Still a work in progress, so it’s small. But all the plants are native. The hiking and jogging trails are apparently well used…

  • Watson Mill Bridge State Park
    About a half hour outside of Athens, this was an idyllic place to spend a spring afternoon sitting on the big flat rocks in the river and watercoloring with the kids. In addition to beautiful views, the park has horseback riding, camping and hiking trails. Here’s the original and my water color.

And for some real art, we went to…

  • Georgia Museum of Art

Small, making it just the place to bring kids for a quick dose of art. They were having an exhibit of wearable and fabric art by Mariska Karasz, a mid-centruy designer and artist. Concurrently, the students at the University of Georgia were having their own exhibition on campus of works inspired by Karasz. It was such a treat to see both these wonderful exhibits!

Next up: Athens Music

Abortion and Breast Cancer – Once Again, There is No Link

Once again, a well-done study, this time a prospective cohort study from the Nurse’s Health Study, has failed to reveal a link between abortion and breast cancer. The findings were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine this week.

This study joins the ranks of a myriad of other well-done studies showing the same thing. To top it off, a large workshop convened at the National Cancer Institute in 2003 found no causal link between abortion and breast cancer.

And yet, if you were to google “abortion and breast cancer” or “breast cancer and abortion”, almost every result in the first 10 pages of the search results are links to non-medical sites stating that there is a causal link between abortion and breast cancer. The only exception is the NCI’s fact sheet on the topic, and occasional news articles about the “controversy”, which give equal voice to the facts and those who would distort the data for political reasons.

This is where the web’s power breaks down as far as I’m concerned. Those who know how to can manipulate the web so that a search for real medical data becomes akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

Here are just two links to information on this topic from reputable medical organizations:

National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet on Breast Cancer Risks

American Cancer Society Information on Breast Cancer Risks

and a good article by CNN:

Harvard Study Latest to Discount Abortion -Breast Cancer Link

I challenge those of you who value scientific opinion and review over politics to blog about this topic and to provide your readers a link to one of the above information sites on your blog. Let’s give these sites the hits they deserve and get them their well-deserved place on a google search.

Women deserve nothing less.

Road Trip to Athens, Georgia: Part 3 – The Blue Ridge Parkway

The hardest part about planning this trip was realizing that we did not have enough time to do the entire Blue Ridge Parkway. This national highway treasure stretches almost 500 miles from the Shenandoah National Park all the way to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. Hiking trails, fishing, and camping abound along the way, and the views can be spectacular.

We chose to travel a middle section from just outside Roanoke to Fancy Gap, NC. The views in this section are not as rugged as those I remembered along the Skyline Drive portion of the Parkway, but there was plenty of beauty and a few bits of local color.

We stopped for lunch just off the Parkway in a town called Meadows of Dan. We were wondering who Dan was, but we had it wrong. Apparently, years ago, the founders settled the area near the Dan River, and noting the low uniform height of the trees, which at that time were reseeding after a forest fire, coined the town’s name.

We ate at the Poor Farmer’s Market, a produce stand, gift and sandwich shop in this tiny town.

There was a bit of a line at the sandwich counter, so we had time to eavesdrop on the locals sitting in the rows of big wooden rockers there. I learnt me how to pour “ceement” to hold down a persnickety fence post, and watched with amusement as Karen behind the counter ordered one of the men up out of his rocker to make some more fresh coffee, which he grudgingly did.

We had sandwiches, chips, milk and soda. (No bottled water here, dear.) All very good, thank you. Not as good were the fried pies we had for dessert at Becky’s Fried Pies, a sweet little pastry shop next door. I suspect that these pastries, which are made from homemade dough and store bought fillings, are well-loved by the locals, but they were a bit too greasy for us.

Meadows of Dan is part of the Crooked Road, Virgina’s Heritage Music Trail celebrating and preserving the history of gospel, bluegrass and mountain music of this area. Too bad we couldn’t stay around for the Square dancing…

and too bad we somehow missed Mabry’s Mill, a working grist mill and one of the most photographed spots along the Blue Ridge…

Billy Humphries, Forest Resource Consultants, Inc. www.forestryimages.org

but we were on a roll to Fancy Gap and back to the highway.

Next stop: Athens, Ga.

Road Trip to Athens, Georgia – Part 2 The Road to Roanoke

My goal for this trip was to avoid fast food and dumb hotels. Road food was okay, so long as it was truly local, but no chains. The hotel could be part of a chain, but had to have some individuality to it, and could not have those dumb hangers or the lights and TV bolted down, or serve little white powdered donuts for continental breakfast in the lobby. Was I asking too much?

We started our trip in Philadelphia, having spent two days there with Mr TBTAM’s family for Passover. Thus, time for our first road meal came as we were heading west on the Pa turnpike toward Rte 81 south. The junction of these two routes is Carlisle, Pa, and that was where we decided to stop for lunch.

Carlisle, Pa

Carlisle is home to Dickenson College, and like all of the cities we encoutered on this trip, clearly in a revival fed mostly by the arts community. We found antique shops and galleries and had quite a choice of places to eat, finally settling on La Luz, a gallery-coffee shop-cafe. A group of students and their teacher sat nearby on sofas and chairs holding a Spanish reading class, and folks everywhere were using their laptops and taking advantage of the free WiFi. Though nothing terribly special, the food was just fine, and we had salads and soups.

Afterwards, we stopped in at The Carlisle Arts Learning Center, a huge, light-filled community studio, to see their latest student exhibit. The potter’s wheels were inviting, and we would have loved to have stayed and taken a pottery class, but we had places to go and things to do…

So it was back to the road, feeling like we’d not only avoided the road food, but found a funky little town to stop at again next year. Did I mention that this trip south is becoming our annual spring pilgrimage?

Route 81

For those making a similar pilgrimage, the big question is – Rte 81 (and the trucks) or the Skyline Drive-BlueRidge Parkway? We opted for 81 for the north part of our trip, hoping to take advantage of the earlier spring farther down south for the Parkway.

Despite our choice, Rte 81 was a picturesque way to go. We passed trucks filled with chickens and horses, and I was heartened by the many thousands of cows we saw along the way, cows that were grazing on green grass and not being fed processed dead animal, antibiotic-laden feed.
Roanoke, Va.

We spent the night in another up and coming funky little town, Roanoke, Virginia, where I had scored a great web deal at the landmark Hotel Roanoke.

This Tudor-style giant hotel, which looks pretty much like it used to up there, sits high up on a hill, linked right to the downtown by a covered footbridge. The hotel was everything we wanted, except that the outdoor pool was still closed for the season. Don’t you love the lobby?

Downtown Roanoke is a wonderful mix of the old and new and has a great small town feel. Our girls wanted us to move there. In fact, we met quite a few ex-New Yorkers who have settled there, drawn to the growing arts scene, low cost of living and great old buildings. A new art museum is going up next to the train tracks, testimony to the permanence of the transition.

We had a great dinner at Tong’s Thai, located on Salem Street in a wonderful old building. My Thai beef slad was perfect. It was a quiet night, so the owner hung out at our table and chatted, and brought us samples of curries and appetizers on the house. He had come to Roanoke from Thiland via Queens, so we had lots to talk about.

After dinner, we wandered around a bit, though most of the stores were closed. We did stumble upon a local theater that was having a reception following the opening of a play, so we crashed the party for a while evesdropping on the locals, snarfing up some free drinks, and even getting a free baseball cap!

Next we found a painting class going on at the nearby gallery, and the owner invited us in to observe the class and check out the gallery even though it was past closing time. Turns out she was from (where else) New York!

Then it was back to our room in time to catch “24” (Thanks, Linda, we are all addicted)

An early start next day led us downtown for breakfast at Ernie’s, a real local’s place serving typical southern breakfasts on paper plates with lots of grease. Don’t look for great food here, just good Southern atmosphere (and great accents).

Roanoke has a daily downtown farmer’s market, which was just getting started for the day…

and I picked up some fresh herb plants to bring to Joe for his garden.

There were lots of cute shops selling clothes we girls loved…

a Food Court in the old City Market Building, once home to meatcutter’s stalls.

Not expecting to enjoy Roanoke as much as we did, we were disappointed to have had such a short stay. But we needed to move on, so we left Roanoke mid-morning, vowing to return again next year for a longer stay.

Next up: The Blue Ridge Parkway