Borepatch has a pic on his blog of that Milliarium Aureum of my youth, the Big Chicken, or as snooty denizens of East Cobb could refer to it, le poulet gran.
For instance, to get to the Field Museum in Chicago, you go down Roswell Road until you get to the Big Chicken, and hang a right, then keep going a long ways... (Cobb Parkway and Lake Shore Drive are both U.S. Hwy 41.)
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Gotta love landmarks.
Around here, a certain intersection of state roads was never called, "crossroads of 150 & 107" in decades. For years it was, "You know where Everett Brown sells corn?" Then he passed away, and it became, "You know where the barn is where Everett Brown used to sell corn?". Later the barn got torn down, and then of course it was, "You know where the barn used to be where Everett Brown used to sell corn?"
Two years ago, a new farmer put up a farm stand...now it's the corner where Andre sells corn.
My nephew works for him. Good stuff.
Thus the cycle continues.
I am a denizen of East Cobb and I don't recall hearing it referred to quite that snootily. Perhaps I do not rub shoulders with the right East Cobb Snobs. It must be the guns and the cheap beer.
Reminds me of a time when I was visiting at a place near Miami and it was just on Hwy 276. I remarked to the manager that my house was 100 ft away from Hwy 276 in North Carolina, so I could take that road back home if I didn't mind stopping at a few thousand traffic lights.
That reminds me. I still have a mug for you from Borepatch. Moved it to VA and everything...
I've seen a fair bit of US-41, but not the part with the Big Chicken on it.
(The part of US-41 I remember the best bore the names "College Avenue", "Townsend Drive", and a couple of other names...all within the space of 5 miles. And within an hour, we could get to the spot where you couldn't go any further North on Highway 41.)
I never did get the chance to ride the entire length of US-41. Which would take a while, but would be fun.
I'm Charlie,
When I lived there, nobody actually called it that, either, but we also still had senses of humor. ;)
I suspect one will hear "pollo grande" more often in East Cobb.
And Mikee, do you mean geography, or like some gigantic cement cracker version of a Chinese medicine doll?
For me, if you were out near the Big Chicken, you'd gone too far. :)
I remember a giant chicken at the Pulaski, TN exit off I65. It was in front of the truck stop and besides being 12 feet tall sported a chef's hat and held a spatula under one wing. All this was next door to an establishment that rejoiced in the name The Boobie Bungalow.
I remember the first time I saw the big chicken I couldn't believe that this was the thing everyone was talking about. (Obviously not a native)
mikee, I have rather fond memories of passing by the Giant Peach.
My Wife had to explain what she was telling me 3 times. "What do you mean the Big Chicken?", was my question. Then I saw it. I felt underwhelmed, stupid, and very deaf.
Staghounds: Yes.
27+ years married, so far.
Yep. Staghounds beat me to it.
I used to drive past El Pollo Grande near the beginning (northbound, or near the end southbound) of a very long commute to a high-stress job during my Experiment in Country Living (tm).
I had recurring nightmares about El Pollo tearing loose from its KFC moorings and rampaging up and down Cobb Parkway a la Godzilla. The soundtrack was in Spanish, too.
It usually ended with the reservists at NAS Atlanta finding a few warshots for their A-model Hornets and blowing El Pollo to scrap metal.
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