Having lived in New Orleans for a few years, the music and culture have become a part of me. I listen to brass music and can cook a mean pot of Gumbo, and a bottle of Abita beer always makes me smile. Never do I miss New Orleans more than during Mardi Gras. For those who don't know, Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday" and is the day before Ash Wedesday, the first day of lent. Before giving up things for the forty days before Easter, you should do them in excess, and that is what Mardi Gras is all about: fun, dancing, silly costumes, food and drink. While I would love to spend every Mardi Gras in Louisiana, it's not always possible, but I do always try and celebrate it in whatever way I can. Even when I lived in Japan, I had a Mardi Gras party to celebrate with my friends. This year, I celebrated it with the wonderful people of Marshall, North Carolina with a parade, music, food and drink...
f you had told me a few weeks ago that some of the best music I would see in North Carolina would be in the back room at a Barber Shop, I would have looked at you a little funny. Today I'm here to tell you it's true. For over 50 years, local musicians have gathered in the back room at The Barber Shop in Drexel, North Carolina and picked some tunes, chewed the fat and created one of the most wonderful music experiences in the country.
It all started when Lawrence Anthony was getting ready to deploy for the European theater during World War II. He picked up a guitar in Washington State for just $3 and carried it with him throughout the war. The guitar rode with him in his tank as he followed General Patton into battle and he would pick it during his downtime...
I am always up to try new things, especially when it comes to food. One of the places I was most looking forward to trying as I traveled around North Carolina was the Tavern in Old Salem, which offers a traditional Moravian menu. When I finally got to that part of the state and made it to the tavern, I was not disappointed.
The Moravians are an interesting group which trace their history back to Moravia and Bohemia in what is today the Czech Republic. Their beliefs stem from the teachings of John Hus, a professor of philosophy and a rector at the University of Prague, who protested certain aspects of the Catholic Church. He would be tried as a heretic and burned at the stake in 1415. His ideas did not die with him and in 1457 in the town of Kunvald, The Moravian Church or Unitas Fratrum (Unity of Brethren) was founded. Seeing as this was 60 years before Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Catholic church in Wittenburg, the Moravians are considered one of, if not the earliest Protestant group...
When I set off on this journey, it was with a certain mental picture in my head. I hoped to find off-the-beaten-track places, meet local characters, listen to some great music and find some delicious local foods. Never would I have guessed that I could find all of those things in one place at one time, but that's exactly what happened when I walked in the door of Priddy's General Store outside of Danbury, North Carolina.
I had found Priddy's on a really great website for the North Carolina Blue Ridge Music Trail, but I didn't know what to expect as I drove down Sheppard Mill Road out of Danbury. About two miles out of town, an old white wooden store came into view. The lights were on and there were fires burning outside and I knew this must be the place. As I walked from my van through the cold winter night, the smell of something good cooking and the sounds of sweet bluegrass filled the air. It made me smile before I even walked in the door...
Okay, so I'm going to cut straight to the chase: I have never really understood why anyone would get excited about Eastern Carolina Barbecue. I mean, I get it, they cook the whole hog, but what difference does that make if the finished product isn't good. Yes, seeing a whole hog being cooked is visually appealing, but we're talking about food here - if the taste isn't there then who cares what the cooking process looks like? And that "sauce" which is vinegar with some pepper flakes floating in it? I don't know which is more unappealing, bland mushy pork or a mouthful of vinegar. I want to like Eastern Carolina Barbecue, but I've always just found it incredibly ordinary. I never really got it, and i have tried it plenty of times. So while I had high hopes for the Skylight Inn, as it is lauded as one of the places to get good Carolina barbecue, I was pretty skeptical about the whole process. It's amazing the difference one meal can make. Not only was this the best Carolina Barbecue I've ever had by far, it was some of the best barbecue period I've ever had...
It is very exciting to have entered the second state of my journey, North Carolina. North Carolina has a lot of history, some of which I know and some of which I hope to uncover for both of us in the month or so to come. It's nice to be here.
I began my journey into the Tar Heel State by visiting the tiny town of Halifax, and more specifically Halifax State Historic Site. This seemed like an appropriate place to start my travels in the state, not just geographically, but because of the history of the area. It was in Halifax, on April 12th, 1776 that the underground, non-British, Fourth Provincial Congress met and passed what became known as the Halifax Resolves. The Halifax Resolves essentially authorized North Carolina's delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to vote for independence for the colonies...
One of the things I was looking forward to the most in my travels through West Virginia was the opportunity to listen to some great Mountain Music. West Virginia music leans heavily towards bluegrass and country, with a wonderful dose of mandolin thrown in now and again. There are many other kinds of music around the state too and you can check out my favorites on my West Virginia Playlist HERE or on Spotify HERE. There are some legendary venues around the state, too and I was really happy to visit some of these. This is a quick look at some of the great and not so great spots I found in my travels.
My musical journey through The Mountain State began at The Troubadour Lounge outside of Berkeley Springs. I'm kind of sorry it did. This bar was owned by country music legend Jim McCoy until he passed away in 2016 and houses the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. I'm told it was quite the place back when Jim was running it. When I pulled in, it looked like...
Traveling around the small towns and back roads of West Virginia, occasionally I came across a big beautiful building. Of course there are many beautiful churches around, but I thought a lot of these courthouses and government buildings were really wonderful to photograph. The Cover Photo for this post is the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston. Just the name gives me the creeps, but knowing it was in use until 1994 is staggering. Same goes for the West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville which was in use until 1995. Some of these courthouses have amazing stories. The Jefferson County Courthouse in Charles Town was the site of John Brown's trial for leading a slave uprising in 1859. It was also the site of the miners' trials after the Battle of Blair Mountain. The McDowell County Courthouse in Welch was the site where...
Food is an interesting and underrated form of communication and an essential part of travel. Even if we are cooking for ourselves, regional differences can be spotted in grocery stores from place to place. Things you may have never seen or heard of are piled high and the locals are all grabbing some. Every state has its culinary specialties and must-try delicacies and ideally when you try them they will help you understand the State or region better. Hopefully they’ll be made with local ingredients and you can get a taste for what grows in the area, and there will probably be hints of where the people who make them came from as well. America is and always has been a great melting pot of flavors from around the world and our culinary traditions are ever-shifting. I encourage everyone to be bold when travelling to new places and eat as locally as you can. You know those big national chains will be mediocre at best. Even if you want fast-food, the local option it bound to be better. Use Yelp to sift through them (with a grain of salt obviously, but a 1 or 2 star place is probably that for good reason), or better yet, ask the locals. Here are seven of my favorite meals from the month I spent in West Virginia..
Leaving Spencer, West Virginia, I travel out state highway 14, make a left on Colt Ridge and then a right on Colt Run and just like that, I find myself in a different time. The road turns quickly to a one lane dirt track through the woods and leads deep into a hollow. Having spent enough time in West Virginia now, my hope is that I won’t see a massive coal or lumber truck come barreling around the corner towards me. I don’t, and soon I find myself bouncing happily down a West Virginia back country road and quickly pull up at my destination under a sign that reads “Hatfield Farms”.
Hatfield Farms is home to Devil Anse Hatfield’s Great Great-Grandson Mark Hatfield and his wife Brenda. It’s also home to their latest business ventures: Hatfield and McCoy Vineyards and The Sweeter Side of the Feud Winery and Distillery...
Southwestern West Virginia doesn’t get a lot of visitors. This is a shame because there are some really cool places to see there. But it’s a shame for them as well because jobs are scarce in the southwest since coal has dried up and the economy could use some tourist money coming in. During my time there I saw some wonderful tourism initiatives, some things I would change and some things that just left me shaking my head.
I started my tour in tiny Bramwell in Mercer County. Historically, Bramwell was the business center of the Pocahontas Coal Fields. During its heyday, Bramwell supported a population of over 4000 people. The Bank of Bramwell was the financial center for the whole region and 14 passenger trains a day pulled into the station. In the late 1800s, Bramwell was said to have the highest concentration of millionaires per capita in the country...
If you've ever heard a joke about West Virginia, West Virginians tell the same jokes about people from McDowell County. McDowell County is the poorest county in West Virginia, with a median household income below $22,500, and has the lowest life expectancy in the country for men and the second lowest for women. Opioid abuse is off the charts. This is that Appalachia.
The night before I went into McDowell County I was sitting at a bar in Bluefield in neighboring Mercer County. The gentleman I was speaking with told me they had three rules when they went into McDowell County: have a full tank of gas, make sure your car door locks worked, and bring a gun. He made very clear that he wasn't kidding...
