My Southern Perspective Y'All!

My Southern Perspective

I have always loved the south and I'm not sure if that stems from loving "Gone with the Wind" or living there for two years.  In our travels this past year, we've been fortunate to spend quite a bit of time in many southern states.  This is my perspective-

I will start and end my perspective with southern hospitality.  Our experiences have led us into many conversations with southerners that we barely knew to people we got to know. The generosity, humility and kindness of the people we encountered were unmatched in any other states. They bend over backwards to make you feel welcome and  depending on what part of the south you're in, the dialects can differ.  "Hey, y'all" is a catchy phrase and with the laid back tongue, we would catch ourselves talking like the rest of them.  In a conversation with some nice southern folk, it took us a little while to figure out "diddy" was really "daddy".  Okay, that's not too bad but a conversation at a local produce stand in North Carolina went like this with two middle-aged gentlemen, friendly, bearded and in bib overalls- "Ahhsee yo dawgs are dravin yo car"-translation "I see your dogs are driving your car".  Daisy and Gracie like to sit in the front of the car while they wait for us.  "Ahhsee y'all from Calfonia-we hear thall lobral".  "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that". One of the men Perry referred to as "junior" repeated so we could try to decipher what he said and this is what we gathered "I see you're all from California. We hear they are all liberal".  We had fun with that one and kindly explained that not all the people in California are liberals.  We gladly ate the kindly offered sample of cantaloupe and purchased our boiled peanuts and ramps.

At the market stand-They eagerly await! Oh-but that face!

Southern Food

We have tried biscuits and gravy, catfish and waffles, gumbo, crawfish, fried bologna sandwiches, southern style fried chicken, cracklins (like a pork rind) and we were told to try ramps.  Ramps are a type of onion found along a river bank during a certain time of the year. They are pungent so a small amount goes a long way and they can be used in sauces, eggs, etc. like a regular onion.  We bought ramps at the local produce stand and what we didn’t use, we froze.  Another southerner suggested we try livermush. It's disgusting what the ingredients are, but Perry fried it in with eggs and I tolerated it…..not a fan!

Years ago living in Georgia, we were brave enough to try boiled peanuts.  They can be served warm or cold but Perry prefers to eat them warm.  I have to admit, I'm not much of a fan of this either because of how salty they are.  The peanuts are soft and swollen, not your typical peanut! Southerners can really cook great food and besides the delicious fried foods, many love their fish!

Because of the beautiful lakes and the gulf in the south, you can buy fresh fish almost anywhere.  From grouper to sturgeon to catfish to crappie.  In Florida, we found the best smoked fish spread (also prevalent in the south).  

Louisiana's shrimp and grits

Southern style strawberry shortcake

King Cake popular at Easter

Georgia's catfish and waffles

A southern favorite-Key Lime pie

                                                                    

                                                                                          Can't forget the southern meal at Piskah Ranch

Fishing southern style

Spending time in Lake Wateree, I learned about some fishing techniques used by local fishermen.  The more serious fishermen launch their boats before sunrise and some have what's called a "honey hole". A  broken off pine tree is tied to a cement block then sunk to the bottom of the lake.  The tree protrudes enabling the fishermen to decipher their cordoned off ideal fishing spot.  

The Southern Drives

Why "18"?

The road trips here in the south are undoubtedly some of the most beautiful!  The thick trees are everywhere with beautiful lakes down many side roads in larger and rural towns alike.  The mountain ranges aren't as grand and tall as  on the west coast but in the Appalachian and Poconos, the waterfalls, trees and wildlife are magnificent!  Some of the road signs are different such as the 18mph and the multiple directional road signs that take five minutes to decipher.  Driving through many small towns ( we love this part of our journey) , there are century old tall-steepled white churches on every street with large, old cemeteries.  We joked how there are more dead people then living in these small towns.  We also noticed in the small towns, large conservative signs in peoples yards and public places.  Many rural towns (especially in the Appalachians) have old crumbling homes.  In California, these homes might be torn down and rebuilt but here we observed many are deserted and some, sadly, people actually live in them. We've seen poverty and we've seen homes of wealth.

How confusing?

We saw a few of these in the south

Our drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway    

From the road in The Appalachians

 A southern church steeple in S.

Reaching up to southern Sky!

With some of our observations of the south noted, I will always have a special fondness for this part of the U.S.   The simplicity and kindness of the people and it's overall beauty,  is one of a kind!