Stacey Wallace
Columnist
Stacey is a writer for The Observer
Stacey Wallace's Latest
BY STACEY WALLACE It’s hard to believe that Mike and I are now in our fifth year of retirement after teaching for 30 years. When Covid-19 shut down our teaching careers one nine weeks early, as it did the world, retirement was quite boring.Our week...
BY STACEY WALLACE OPINION — As I’ve mentioned many times in this column, my husband Mike and I taught for 30 years in LaGrange, Georgia. For 29 of those years, I had the dubious pleasure of escorting three classes of 8th graders and 26 classes of...
Butcher Paper BBQ OPINION —As I’ve mentioned before in this column, fall is my favorite season of the year.Although spring in Alabama is beautiful, my allergies are in bloom. And summer in Alabama is brutal; it’s not fun sweating on the way to the...
Long ago on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 1968, I entered Avondale Kindergarten in my hometown of Alexander City (“Eleck” City to the locals). In those days, school began the day after Labor Day. Also, after a snack of soda crackers and milk, we went home at...
Café de Fleur BY STACEY WALLACE | PHOTOS BY MIKE WALLACE OPINION — I am a huge fan of I Love Lucy, and Lucille Ball is my favorite comedienne of all time. My love of Lucy developed when I was in kindergarten through sixth grade.After school, I...
Sam's Southern Eatery OPINION — Have you noticed that as you get older, your tolerance for certain foods changes? For example, when I was a teenager, I could eat pizza at midnight, not even burp and then sleep like a baby.However, 20 years ago, my...
One-Forty Grill OPINION — Way back in 1989 when dinosaurs roamed the planet, and I was 27 years old (but not until December), all of my female friends were married. I was not.By the time I reached my mid-30s, I started boycotting weddings unless I...
Dadeville's Grand Bakery OPINION — As I’ve mentioned before in this column, when I attended Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City (“Eleck” City to the locals), Dadeville High School was a big rival of ours.Alex City is in West Tallapoosa...
El Jefe Mexican Restaurant & Grill OPINION — What was your favorite age to be? When you’re young, you want to be older; when you’re older, you want to be younger.Well, I’m 61, and I’m happy to be my age; I have no desire to be any other age....
The Hornet's Nest OPINION — On Nov. 23, Mike and I will have lived in Lee County for nine years. These years have flown by, and we have fallen in love with our home county. In fact, if I listed everyone and everything that I loved about our home,...
The reopening of Country's Barbecue OPINION — In September of 1983, I transferred from Alexander City State Junior College to Auburn University for my junior year. Even though I was only 38.8 miles (My sweet husband Mike Googled it.) from my home...
At home with Chef Jim OPINION — As I have mentioned numerous times in this column, I love to eat, but I really dislike cooking.My attitude about cooking is: What if I spent hours cooking a meal and then dropped dead at the end of that day? I would...
Yaki Bowl OPINION — As Mike and I have entered our fifth year of retirement, how we look at the week has certainly changed. For example, when we taught at Long Cane Middle School in LaGrange, Georgia, Mondays were tough because we were coming off...
Hey Days Way back in 1983-1985, when dinosaurs roamed the planet, I was a Juco transfer at Auburn University. During this time, Auburn certainly didn’t have the number of restaurants that exist today.In my junior and senior years at the Loveliest...
Melt Auburn OPINION — Have you ever been in the wrong place at the wrong time? Boy, my husband Mike and I pulled a doozy a few weeks ago.We traveled to Willow Point Country Club in my hometown of Alexander City (“Eleck” City to the locals). There,...
On the road to Dadeville OPINION — When I was growing up in Alexander City (“Eleck” City to the locals), there was a big rivalry between our city and Dadeville; our cities were and still are, separated by the Tallapoosa River Bridge.Unfortunately,...
Alabama Fried Chicken & Fish OPINION — Last month, Mike and I went on our dream vacation: We spent two weeks in Scotland, the land of our ancestors. Mike is a Wallace (you can’t be more Scottish than that) and my sweet Mama was a McEachern; we...
Bunkers OPINION — Way back when I was 18-20 years old, I was mildly addicted to video games such as Galaga (my personal favorite), Ms. Pac Man and Dig Dug.I used to go to my bank’s drive through, where I would cash a three-to-five-dollar check....
Tiger on the Green OPINION — Do you enjoy playing golf? Now, that probably sounds like a strange introductory question for a restaurant review column; however, it will make sense in a few paragraphs.My husband Mike and I admire the physical...
OPINION — Back when I was growing up in Alexander City (“Eleck” City to the locals), there was no special, elegant restaurant at which to dine. We mainly had fast food establishments, and my friends and I frequented Hardee’s, Pizza Hut and Sonic.In...
