It's been a pretty quiet but fun week out here in western South Carolina. I've been trying to catch up on some things, so that has taken a lot of my time, but I'm almost there. A lot of the week has been spent here in Greenville, one of my new favorite towns, but it's been great to be here. This next week will probably be my last in South Carolina.
I started the week by finishing my latest podcast. The stories are from the eastern part of the state and this one came out pretty well. It tells the story of Vanna White, from Conway, South Carolina and her rise to fame. I talk about the revolutionary war history of the state and how it led to the state flag. It may look like there's a crescent moon on the flag, but there isn't. Then I talk about Francis Marion, the legendary Swamp Fox and how is bad ankles may have saved the Patriot cause in the Revolution. Next was the story of Robert Small. Born a slave, he made a daring escape and dash to freedom during the Civil War and went on to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. We hear about the S.S. Central America and how, when it sunk off the coast of South Carolina...
"The Prettiest Town in Dixie" is a pretty big claim to make. Having traveled fairly extensively around the south in my life, I've seen some really beautiful towns. But this claim is certainly an enticing one and a bold one, so I had to go and see for myself. The town that made this claim? Tiny Cheraw, South Carolina. I got there first thing in the morning with the intention of staying maybe an hour or two, and ended up being there the better part of the day. It really is a beautiful town, steeped in history and with one of the best tourism infrastructures I've come across in a town this size anywhere. I came knowing almost nothing about Cheraw, and left charmed by it and knowing it's a place I will return to.
I am a pretty typical American mutt. While all of my ancestry that I’m familiar with comes from somewhere in Europe, there is very little that I can identify with. I knew all four of my grandparents, and all four were pretty typically American, if that can be said of anyone. Even my grandmother on my mother’s side, who was actually born in Poland and immigrated to the U.S. as a child, spoke unaccented English and served me macaroni and cheese and sandwiches on Wonder Bread. It is from her mother though, my great-grandmother on my mother’s side, that I have some understanding of my Ukrainian background.
My great-grandmother escaped to Poland from the Ukraine, while pregnant with my grandmother, during the Bolshevik Revolution. She left behind a husband and a son, both of whom were killed under Stalin’s regime. When my grandmother was 5, they got on a boat to the new world. They sailed under the Statue of Liberty on their way to Ellis Island...
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is an interesting place. It is one of the more developed beach communities on the east coast and is getting more so by the day. It's full of hotels, mini-golf courses, restaurants, shops and bars. Especially in recent years, it has grown to look like a giant submarine sandwich with housing developments sandwiched between the beach and the strip mall that highway 17 has become. You can imagine my surprise, therefor, at finding a beautiful, quiet, minimally developed spiritual center right in the middle of it all. But that is exactly what I found when I entered the Meher Spiritual Center in Briarcliffe, just south of Barefoot Landing...
During my summer breaks in college, I lived in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was a nice break from my studies and all of the other things I was involved with at school in Pennsylvania. I could sleep in, work for a few hours at a restaurant and then hang out with my friends. I have lots of good memories from my three summers in Myrtle Beach. After graduation I came down and took some time off from the real world to hang out at the beach. It was fun and I made some great friends. Through the years, I've watched Myrtle Beach turn from a medium sized beach community into The Grand Strand and seen as big chains have some in and the small, family run places have closed down. It's not what it once was, but it's still a pretty beach and a fun place to be. One of my favorite things about Myrtle Beach is some of the delightfully tacky roadside attractions to be found there. While some of these are new, many have been around as long as I can remember. I thought it would be fun to photograph some of these mini-golf courses and restaurants and bring you some of my favorites here. This was a fun project and I hope you enjoy these photos.
It's been another good week on the road out here in South Carolina. This week I've meandered through cypress swamps, wandered wild beaches and dug deep into the history of the lowcountry of South Carolina. The weather has been up and down, and I guess April showers are showing up a little early, but that has left me with some time to work on my next podcast and do some reading and writing as well.
I started the week by leaving Beaufort behind and making my way out to Walterboro. I wanted to check out...
One of the best things about this journey is being able to celebrate the holidays in different places and with different traditions. I think this aspect will only get better as summer approaches and with it will be music festivals and state, county and local fairs. I had a wonderful time at the Christmas Parade in Charleston, West Virginia, and also at the Mardi Gras Parade in tiny Marshall, North Carolina. For St. Patrick's Day this year, I found myself in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. I really enjoyed taking photos at their St. Patrick's Day Parade. I wanted to capture the fun of the day with the beautiful scenery of Charleston in the background. It was a great day in The Holy City.
In any discussion of barbecue, North Carolina likes to describe itself as the "Capital of 'Cue". And when you're talking barbecue in North Carolina, you are talking about one thing and one thing only: pork. Forget the brisket, the chicken, even ribs for that matter, it's all about the hog here in NC.
There are two different schools of thought within the state, and the topic of which is better probably depends on where you are from. In the east, purists focus on cooking the whole hog, whereas western North Carolina 'cue, often called "Lexington Style" is just the shoulder. Eastern barbecue joints also give you a liquidy pepper-vinegar sauce whereas in the west you are more likely to find what most would consider a more traditional barbecue sauce, but still heavy on the vinegar...
North Carolina has a wonderful musical tradition. From the mountain music roots in the west to the urban sounds of jazz and hip-hop in the cities, you are never far from some great music anywhere in the state. North Carolina has produced such musical legends as Earl Scruggs, Randy Travis, Charlie Daniels, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Maceo Parker and too many more to list. I got to see some wonderful live music in my time in North Carolina and visit some great venues as well. Here are a few of my favorites...
During my five weeks in North Carolina, I have had some really wonderful food. It is always great to be back in the south where food is often simple, hearty and delicious. In this post I want to highlight some of the unique, iconic and delicious meals I've had here in North Carolina.
This culinary journey began at Skylight Inn in Ayden, North Carolina. I'll start by saying that North Carolina barbecue is not my favorite. As much as I love pork, it is the beginning and the end in classic North Carolina barbecue joints. There isn't a brisket or a rack of ribs to be found. Then there's the sauce - a sweet liquid pepper-vinegar concoction in the east and the same with some ketchup in it in the west - generally it just doesn't really do it for me. I did find some decent barbecue places in North Carolina, but none even held a candle to Skylight Inn. Skylight Inn was a whole different experience...
I am always in awe of true craftspeople. In an era of mass production, anyone who has continued to work with their hands to create something both useful and beautiful is pretty awesome in my book. When I can visit somewhere where each piece was produced with love and attention to detail, I can get lost just looking around. And when you add in an historic angle to it, I'm sold. That's why I was so thrilled to visit Westmoore Pottery in Seagrove, North Carolina, a truly special place.
Most people have probably never heard of Intheoaks, the magnificent one-time home of incandescent lighting pioneer Franklin Terry and his second wife Lillian. Frank and Lillian would probably be happy about that. This wonderful 24,000 square foot home hidden, quite literally, in the oaks of Black Mountain, North Carolina was never meant to be boastful or showy, it was meant to be lived in and enjoyed. Even people in Black Mountain, the town where it is located, seemed to have no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned it. I had never heard of it myself until a friend of mine tipped me off to check it out. I'm really glad he did. Visiting Intheoaks (yes, that is how it's spelled) was truly one of the highlights of my entire month in North Carolina...
