Silver Travel Book Club

October 2023 – Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café

We’ll explore a different destination for each Book Club, and a lucky Silver Travel Book Club reader can win a free copy of that month’s book.

Please note: this prize draw is now closed.


This month the Silver Travel Book Club – proudly sponsored by Alabama Tourism
is reading Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg.

Set in Alabama, it weaves together the past and the present through the blossoming friendship between Evelyn Couch, a middle-aged housewife, and Ninny Threadgoode, an elderly woman who lives in a nursing home. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café is a mouth-watering tale of love, laughter and mystery. It will lift your spirits and above all it’ll remind you of the secret to life: friends.


Alabama

A land of history, culture and scenery, Alabama’s antebellum mansions and Civil Rights conflicts exist alongside oak trees draped in Spanish moss, sun-drenched beaches and the music of America.

The state’s music heritage includes legendary artists, Mardi Gras bands, and the song “Sweet Home Alabama.”

Martin Luther King, Jr, Rosa Parks, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Helen Keller, Harper Lee and Hank Williams lived and made history in Alabama.

Alabama’s top museums include some of the largest in the world dedicated to space travel and vintage motorcycles. These join the impressive list of historical civil rights museums.

With 32 miles of coastal beaches, beautiful mountains, the longest urban Whitewater rafting course in the world, and Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ambassadors of the Environment program, Alabama surrounds you with outdoor experiences.

Located in the heart of the deep south, Alabama is a short connecting flight or easy drive from key southern cities of Atlanta, New Orleans, Nashville or Memphis.

To find out more, call our Silver Travel Advisors on 0800 412 5678.


How to win a copy of
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg


Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café is all about friendship. Comment below to tell us about a holiday you’ve taken with friends and what made it special.


A winner will be chosen at random in early November 2023.
The competition closes on 31 October 2023.

Read more about all our Silver Travel Book Club reads.

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48 Responses

  1. In 1993 whilst on holiday in Luxor, Egypt we met a couple and promised to keep in touch as you inevitably do. This led to so many successive holidays together, it’s hard pick out one, although Gambia was memorable for Abraham’s taxi, sunburnt legs from golfing and fish head curry.

  2. We went to Jersey by boat, with two good friends. I was very seasick and Dave looked after me! Malcolm my husband and Gill slept through.

  3. Went to Japan in April to see the cherry
    blossoms.
    Visited five Japanese cities.
    What made it special was my travelling
    Companions.
    We all went to school together in the 1960s and 1970s and are still friends today.
    There are 10 of us in total.
    Amazing, once in a lifetime trip 😍

  4. I had a wonderful break with friends in Aberystwyth, West Wales, 5 years ago. We had met at university there in 1973 and it was my first return visit! It was a real trip down Memory Lane. We walked up the street where we shared a house for 2 years and discovered that the house was being renovated. The builder let us go in to explore it.
    We none of us had cars back in the day and didn’t stray far from the town. This time we explored further afield.

  5. Many years ago I went on a road trip to Southern Ireland and was blown away by the beauty and the people.

  6. I guess “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe” is the. closest I’ll ever get to Alabama. Love the sound of the cuisine and I can dream can’t I?

  7. Many years ago to celebrate my 40th birthday,my partner and I travelled with another couple and walked the length of the ItalianCinque Terre in one day.It was fun,memorable being in such lovely company and of course the views all the way were stunning.
    Sadly my friends husband has recently died and then my own husband passed away shortly after.
    We have been sad and totally bereft beyond words.To lose the love of one’s life is totally overwhelming,all consuming with grief…words cannot express the dreadful sense of loss….but little by little we can begin to find some peace remembering the good times…of which our Cinque Terre experience was just one during our many happy years of travelling the world together.

  8. When our kids were little my best friend and I used to take our families for a long weekend at Center parcs in November. The kids loved the pools, rapids, slides and what they called the “pushy bubbles”. There was something really special about swimming through the plastic strips into the outdoor pool when there was frost or snow on the ground. Such happy days. They are all grown up now with children of their own so our grandchildren now enjoy the delights of the “pushy bubbles” etc.

  9. Love travel books both factual and fiction. Reading is so good for my mental health as i suffer from anxiety. This prize looks great.

  10. We’re just about to take a road trip with friends to celebrate us becoming ‘Seniors’!
    Looking forward to lots of laughter, food and sightseeing – just what frineds are for.

  11. A trip to the peak District with my daughters and Bruno our Labrador,great walks and cosy pub lunches

  12. I went on a skiing holiday with friends in a chalet in Austria and Santa arrived on skis.

  13. Cruise down the Rhine , we had met a couple in Vietnam a few years ago and have got on since but did a Rhine cruise with them . The good food and and relaxed atmosphere just seemed to make the holiday so much nicer when you can share special moments be in having a German beer in Baden Baden to enjoying a concert with champagne , just seemed to be amplified with close friends

  14. I have never been to the USA and have probably left it too late as I am approaching my 80th birthday. However I have just returned from a wonderful holiday with eleven ladies. We went on a Marella cruise on Explorer 11 to Croatia, Montenegro, Italy, Slovenia and ending back in Dubrovnic. I didn’t know two of the ladies at the start of the holiday but we were all good friends by the time we returned. They came all the way from new Zealand to stay with their cousins and were terrific company. We enjoyed many days ashore exploring the ports , the shops and markets. Every evening we dined on a table for twelve bypassing the queue of fellow passengers and soon became known as The Golden Girls!
    We are now looking to book another cruise in 2024 but will be making one change – only two to a cabin, rather than three as we all found it much too cramped, especially when we were getting ready to go out every night!

  15. I visited Mississippi and we managed to take a day out to visit Birmingham Alabama. The civil rights museum there dealt with the issues in a way that was very enlightening and gave me plenty to ponder on.

  16. My first. Holiday going abroad without my parents was to go with my school friend Charlotte it was our first year of doing our nurse training in. London. We went to. Corfu and the most amazing time blue skies sea. Did and idyllic boat trips the summmer of 1976.

  17. I and hubby went to a Rock Tribute weekend- got dressed up and loved every minute!

  18. We visited Scotland twice with friends, it was fun driving there together and exploring the countryside. Better with five!

  19. I went to Venice with girlfriends for my 40th birthday for a long weekend. I felt like a filmstar travelling from the airport to our fabulous hotel by private water taxi ..what an entrance.. and we had a great weekend .

  20. We met some new friends in our favourite holiday resort, a village in Rhodes, over 30 years ago. We have remained friends and visit each other back in the UK regularly.
    One day, back on the beach in our favourite spot, we suddenly heard familiar voices. Our friends had secretly booked to join us!
    Another year, my sister decided to get married in the village. We went slightly out of season so that everyone could book up and come. Sixty eight people made their arrangements and our family and friends took over the village for her wonderful wedding.

  21. Had a lovely weekend in Waterloo, Belgium. Toured the battlefield and campaign sites. Soaked up the incredible history and enjoyed a nice stay in a local hotel with amazing breakfasts.

  22. Meeting up with friends after such a long period due to Covid and illnesses meant so much to me, despite talking to friends on the phone every day there was nothing like that first hug after such a long period apart. I met up with 3 friends at a Warners holiday, it felt safe and we didn’t need to leave the hotel to enjoy both activities and entertainment, life really is special.

  23. Omg didn’t know there was a book,first watched the film years ago with my late mum on a flight to Cyprus best film we ever saw bet the book is fantastic

  24. Some years ago my brother was working in Germany, and through him we made some very good friends. Although we don’t see each other very often, we visit each other regularly, and every so often we take a holiday together. Our last trip was a very jolly canal journey on the Monmouth and Brecon Canal when we took full advantage of all the canalside pubs to demonstrate the excellence of British beer!

  25. A special friends holiday with my ward nurse colleagues to Brighton. Which was just laughter from catching the train my wonderful friend Dawn who entertained the whole carriage with a rendition of Rindercella( Cinderella) to fun and laughter at the fair lots of photos and all put together on dvd to music for us all to keep. As several of these dear friends are no longer with us the rest still have wonderful memories to treasure.

  26. Fond memories of a stay at Fort William We hired two chalets near to Bev Nevis Friends came with us on our recommendation as we had stayed here previously The scenery wss stunning nd the air so fresh We did lots of walking and felt good for it including tackling Ben Nevis by its safe path route At night we slept like logs as we were so tired with all the activity Something we treasure in our thoughts!

  27. Had a very special trip to Brisbane & cruise round NZ with my sister just before she sadly passed away.

  28. We went to Yarmouth with friends for a Sea Songs and Shanty festival and had the most amazing time. Obviously the company was good but the people were friendly and the food was superb. Although it wasn’t that far away from where we live it felt as though we were in another world.

  29. The best holiday I ever had was a road trip in the USA with a group of friends, stopping at the out of the way places and actively avoiding the tourist trails. We discovered some amazing places like Lone Pine where everything shut at 9pm, but it gave us some marvellous opportunities like being taken to the Menonmenee reservation, and seeing the real America

  30. I went to Greece sailing and diving. The scenery was fantastic, the waters crystal clear, the food to die for and we all felt relaxed and amazing.

  31. A trip back to Ireland with dad and my great neices – dad showed introduced us to ” living of the land ” how to plough fields milk cows and collect fresh eggs on the family farm
    Priceless

  32. We had a lovely 2 centre holiday in Cyprus with my parents, my sister and all our children. It was so lovely to be together in such a beautiful place.

  33. A tour of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, each country so very different but fascinating. Being the only one of the group to dare the tunnels in pitch black in Vietnam, crawling on hands and knees and finding dead ends twice before finding the escape only to find the group waiting at another spot made the whole experience very special indeed. I felt for every single person who had to endure the conditions for such a long time.

  34. I went on a long weekend to Benidorm to celebrate a friend’s 70th birthday- definitely an eye opener destination especially around what is called “The Strip”. However the old town is lovely and with enjoyed eating at the tapas restaurants there.

  35. In a life before family I holidayed a few times with my dearest friend – some wonderful. We had one dreadful trip though where a flight got cancelled, we were held overnight, flew out the following morning but had missed the boat to our Greek island… In total it took us 33 hours to get there from Manchester?!? And when we arrived our room was at the end of a dingy corridor – it looked like a converted broom cupboard…
    But being together in the glorious sunshine with food & wine – we still made the most of it – and memories were made that we laugh about now!

  36. In about 1968 while on a memorable camping holiday in Snowdonia with my Ranger and Rover friends I managed to injure my ankle part way down Snowdon and the Rovers took it in turns to carry me down – two of them at a time linked hands to form a chair. Luckily for them I was much lighter in those days.

  37. Took some very good friends on trip around Northern Ireland, as they had always wanted to visit, but were afraid to do so!
    We had an absolutely brilliant time, and in their own words, they were, ‘completely blown away’, by its beauty, people, food entertainment and ‘craic’.

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