Okay! Today's blog entry won't win any awards for individuality, but I'm saying something that bears repeating: Happy Five O Manuel's Tavern! I want to take a moment to reflect on the establishment that for many of us has become a home away from home. Or maybe just home. I've spent a lot of time there over the past year and a half since joining YDA, and there have been times when I've seriously considered changing my mailing address to 602 North Highland Ave.

Manuel's is the kind of place that has the feel of comfort whenever I walk in. I know the service staff by name and they know me. I can get a Strongbow on draft for $4.75 and I know the menu so well that I don't have to look at it. I'm not surprised to walk in and see President Carter and his wife Roselyn enjoying a meal. It's a great place for all types of people to get together and talk business, politics, sports, or whatever. And just when I think that nothing will change, something does and I'm thrown off my game. I noticed Sunday afternoon that a wall had been knokced out to make the non-smoking room bigger. Now the sun can come in and I can actually tell what time of day it is! Weird! It's a place that only gets better.

In short, Manuel's is an institution, one which I hold in the highest regards. I don't know what the Young Democrats of Atlanta would do without it. I guess there's nothing left to say, but: Manuel's, we wish you another fifty years of service to Atlanta!