By John Cofield

When you stand at the intersection of South Lamar and University Avenue, you are at the crossroads of all Oxford is. 

The four directions take you to the town Square, the Circle at Ole Miss, William Faulkner to the south, and down University Avenue’s big hill, through the valley, and up the other side, one leaves town for the green rolling hills of the county. 

At the top of that hill stands a lady and her cafe to be recorded and remembered in Oxford’s history. 

Born in Oxford, Georgia Isaiah spent thirty years cooking for Ole Miss Chancellors J. D. Williams and Porter Fortune. When she finally retired, she still had the urge to feed her friends and neighbors and opened her own café. She had a little bee that she always put her change in, and so she decided to name it after the little bee. Isaiah’s Busy Bee Café opened for business on Christmas Eve 1971. -Amy Evans 

There was limited seating and no menu. You simply walked in and sat down and soon Georgia and Willie B brought a plate piled high with fine Southern cooking and cornbread, a large glass of iced mint tea, with top-shelf cobblers and pies.

Along with the wonderful memories of the setting and look of the cafe, Miss Georgia Isaiah, left her name on many Oxford and Ole Miss hearts with the 20 years she cooked up on Rivers Hill.