Can't go to the beach? Make it come to you | Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

"Tonight I'm gonna be/Driving down Highway 431/With the windows down."

OK, when the The Silos sang that song, it was Highway 441, but close enough. And my version's what I'll be doing Friday night, as I point Leroy — my high-mileage ’97 Saturn — toward Pensacola, for a trip to see my family.

And while not everyone can (a) hit the FloraBama Lounge, (b) eat at McGuire's Irish Pub, and (c) soak up some serious beach rays this weekend, you can approximate the same sequence here in town. Is it the same? Nah, but what else are you gonna do?

Get your music fix with Gary Puckett's concert at the Phenix City Amphitheater at 8 p.m. on Saturday, where, for $10, you can hear his baritone voice soar through classics like "Woman, Woman," and "Young Girl" (I'll take that kind of crooning over Michael Bulbe or Harry Connick Jr. any day). Grab a bite at the Cannon Brewpub, which has dollar bills and mugs lining the walls, just like McGuire's has had for decades. Then head up to Callaway Gardens to lay out on the beach — of Robin Lake.