Johnnie Maccracken's

07/13/2026

Friends of Johnnie MacCracken’s Celtic Firehouse Pub,

There’s a word from the Welsh heart of the Celtic world that has no perfect match in English: hiraeth. It speaks of that deep, soulful longing for home — a home that may live more in memory, in ancestral stories, or in the shape of certain hills than in any single place we can point to.

In the old traditions this feeling runs through poetry and song and clings to the land itself, especially in the thin places where the veil between worlds grows soft and the hills and stones seem to remember every story ever told upon them.

Tonight the fire is silent here at the Firehouse, and I’ve been sitting with that word and the quiet pull it brings. We keep a living hearth, and several old wood bars — a place where the old stories and the new ones meet, where the longing and the welcome sit side by side.

If you’ve ever felt that tug — for the old country, for a family table long gone, for the Marietta or the Ireland or the childhood that still lives inside you you’re in good company. Pull up a stool. The stories are still being written around this fire.

What thin place or memory is calling to you these days? The comments are open if the spirit moves you.

Sláinte to you all. May the road to home feel a little less long tonight.

— Mr. Willis & the Firehouse crew

07/12/2026

Guinness!

These are a new addition to our Beer Garden.

07/12/2026

Georgia Medical Cannabis Card – Straight Talk

A lot of folks have been asking about the changes coming with h**p products and what the legal options actually are.

Starting November 2026, most of the delta-8 gummies, vapes, and other intoxicating h**p items sold in shops and gas stations will no longer be legal. That’s the big shift happening.

The real legal route in Georgia is the Medical Cannabis Patient Registry Card (what used to be called the Low THC Oil Card). This one is issued by the Georgia Department of Public Health.
With the card you can legally buy medical cannabis products (oils, tinctures, vaporizers, etc.) from licensed dispensaries — up to 12,000 mg per purchase now.

Quick facts:

• You need a qualifying condition and a Georgia doctor who’s registered with the program.
• The doctor certifies you, you pay a $30 fee, and the state mails you the card (valid for 5 years).
• More conditions qualify now than before, and vaporized products are allowed for adults 21+.

If you or someone you know is thinking about going the legal route instead of the stuff that’s getting banned, this is the path.

I put together a quick visual of what the card looks like with local details so people can see the format.

07/12/2026

07/12/2026

Life In Cobb County Detention After An Illegal Lane Change Violation:

07/12/2026

Something important for bars and shops here in Georgia.

Starting November 12, 2026, the rules on a lot of h**p-derived products are changing. The old 2018 Farm Bill setup that let delta-8 gummies, vapes, drinks, and similar items be sold widely is being shut down.

The new definition uses total THC instead of just delta-9, and it puts a very low cap on what counts as legal h**p. Most of those intoxicating products will no longer be legal to sell or carry. Georgia has already passed a law that lines up with the federal change, so it applies here too.

If a bar or shop has built part of your business around these products, you’ve got roughly four months to adjust. Inventory, suppliers, and what you can offer customers are all going to shift. The pure industrial h**p side (fiber, grain, low-THC CBD) is getting some clearer rules and may even see some help, but the “fun” products many places have been selling are on their way out.

As a bar owner, I know how fast the ground can move under this business. The smart play is to start planning now instead of waiting until the deadline hits.

Anybody else seeing this already affecting local shops or suppliers?

Note: These laws a vague so things could change or misinterpreted.

07/12/2026

Sunday

I'm making a chuck steak stew in the same way you would do a short rib.

On this go round I'm doing some Asian (Korean) fusion adding soy, mirin, brown sugar to the pot. Instead of throwing the beef trimmings away I am make a gravy which will be puréed and strained for the final dish.

Chef Ann Kim from Garden & Gun at The Battery advises for a more luxurious restaurant-style finish: Strain the sauce through a sieve, then whisk in 1–2 tbsp. butter to create a glossy glaze for the meat.

To make this interesting I'm serving this with colcannon. It’s a traditional Irish dish through and through. The name comes from the Irish Gaelic cál ceannann, which roughly means “white-headed cabbage.”

Note:

Chef Ann Kim serves as Executive Chef at the Garden & Gun Club at the Battery Atlanta, where she brings her Korean-American heritage to Southern tables. Drawing inspiration from her mother’s home cooking, she trained at culinary school in Oregon before moving to Atlanta in 2017; her menu highlights include the club’s signature Korean Braised Short Ribs, often paired with Southern classics like grits and collards. A Chopped champion with a passion for global flavors, Chef Kim creates dishes that feel both rooted and inventive. Even though Garden & Gun is widely admired for its storytelling and celebration of Southern culture, its club venues and the talented chefs behind them are sometimes overlooked in national awards circuits like the James Beard Foundation, which tend to spotlight independent restaurants.

07/11/2026

It’s pretty stupid to claim that taverns aren’t for politics or religion when two of America’s founding giants—Vice President Aaron Burr and former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton—openly feuded at the historic Bogardus Tavern (now the Beekman Arms & Delamater Inn) in Rhinebeck, New York.

“On this day in 1804, Aaron Burr fatally shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Every time someone tells you this is the least civil time in American politics, remind them that the Vice President of the United States once shot and killed the former Secretary of the Treasury.”
History shows the real fire has always been in the taverns, churches, and public squares. Some things never change. 🇺🇸

Note: The video includes a famous Harris Speech in 2023.