Mainly Mita

 This was written back in late November after Spouse and I came back from a long drive from Orlando, Florida.  The drive took us through the beautiful South, the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, Kansas City and the state of Kansas.

We just got back from Florida after visiting Angelica for Thanksgiving last Friday afternoon. Thanks Angelica for being a gracious hostess and putting up with us all that time we stayed in your lovely home! We drove back home the Monday after Thanksgiving.  The long drive took all of 5 days. 

On the FIRST DAY, we went thru heavy rains in Jacksonville all the way thru Georgia.  Our first stop was Beaufort, SC where Spouse finally introduced me to his parents.  They were quiet since they’ve been buried at least 13 years. The National Cemetery in Beaufort, SC is a nice place to be buried.  National cemeteries in this country are very well maintained and planned…so pretty with the brick fence and the large shady oak trees with Spanish moss hanging from its enormous branches - so very Southern.

SECOND DAY, we went to Charleston SC for some sightseeing. We took the carriage pulled by 2 massive mules after our lunch at Big Game, formerly the famous Trawler, in the Shem Creek community of Mount Pleasant just across another river from Charleston. The tour was fun and interesting. Our guide,  Dave,  gave us a lot of tidbits about life in Charleston. His best one was about a certain ex-president who in his youth,  holed up in this 5-story hotel by the Bay with his German spy mistress back in WW2. When his influential father found out, he was given two options:  resign from the Navy or go to war.  He chose to go to war and became a war hero.  The rest is history.

The carriage tour took us to a district called South of Broad (Street) or SOB - where the rich live in their Southern mansions overlooking the bay. There were very old, stately houses and several churches. The locals call one house ”The Dolly Parton House” cause it had two impressive bay windows in the front.  Cute huh?  Oh Charleston is lovely…

That evening, we had dinner at a local place called A.W. Shucks in the French Quarter, right across from the Slave Market. We both had a seafood mix, grilled and deep-fried without the heavy breading. We’re both big on fresh seafood cause we only get frozen here in Colorado. The beer was cold and smooth, you just couldn’t ask for a more perfect dinner.

THIRD DAY, it was back on the road for us.  We drove from Charleston, SC to Mt. Vernon, IL where we stopped for the night. It was starting to snow here and boy,  is winter dreary in Illinois!  Earlier in the day, we drove through the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina which then became the Smoky Mountains of Tennesse before getting to Kentucky and Illinois. It looked like it was still late autmun in the mountains - lots of deep reds and browns in the scenery. What a beautiful drive that was! Ever wonder why they call it the Smoky Mountains? It does have this mist hanging around the mountains - not a fog…just a mist.   Ever heard of the rolling hills of Tennessee they sing of in country songs?  It was so lovely….I could almost see Nicole Kidman as a perfect Southern lady, running down them thar hills.

FOURTH DAY, we headed to St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis is known as the gateway to the West. It was grey and cold and dreary when we got there, but we were brave enough to head for the Arch and made our way to the top for a scenic view. We rode up in this little egg-like trolley which is supposed to fit 5 people. It was tight, not at all for the claustrophobic. The view from the top would’ve been great if the weather was better, but I’m glad we made the stop. The museum beneath the arch had artifacts from times gone by, when thousands of pioneers and their families made the long trek from St. Louis and further east to head out into the west. Those were times when women churned their own butter from milk they squeezed out themselves from a cow!  Those women always amazed me.  How could they leave everything they knew, all the comforts of home for the unknown?  They endured endless days just walking, walking, walking.  Where did they decide to stop when there was hardly anything between St. Louis and the Rockies back then?  They trudged on, with their strong, brave men and their little children.  This is the whole story of the American West, an amazing story I’m reminded of on long drives Spouse and I usually make.  

After our tour of the museum,  off to Kansas City, Missouri we went. By this time, we were so tired we decided to check into any hotel at about 3:30 pm and take a BB (Buhay Baboy) break. Good thing Angelica rang me on my cellphone or we would have slept till the morning. The phone rang just as we were weaving thru the traffic of Nashville, TN and told  us our newest nephew was born just the night before. Little Sami is our youngest sister Gigi’s second son. That night, we went for dinner at the world’s best restaurant - Arthur Bryant’s BBQ.Oh dear, I was not disappointed. Thank you, Calvin Trillin for writing your book, “American Fried” and introducing me to Arthur Bryant’s BBQ. It may sound strange, but I was most impressed with their fries.  It was simply the best I’ve ever had in my entire life - even the day after. Spouse suspects the only way they could do it so well was to fry it in lard.  The guy at the counter wouldn’t tell me what the secret was - he just said proudly, “It’s good, cuz I cooked ‘em!”The burnt ends sandwich I ordered was everything I wanted it to be, if a little too much. There was still enough for my dinner the next day. Spouse had the beef and ham combo sandwich. They just dump the meats on several half pieces of white “Wonder” bread - more to sop up the sauce than anything else. We also got a full slab of beef for our dinner the next day. It was still sooooo good after a few minutes in a hot oven. The smoky flavors penetrated the meat so well that even without any sauce or even salt it was very flavorful. For leftovers at this restaurant, you get brown wrapping paper and stickers right next to the cashier and wrap it yourself - no boxes here. Oh and BTW, my leftovers and the dinner for the next day? We just tossed that in the trunk of the car since temps were freezing during the night and most of the drive home!FIFTH DAY.  After a great night’s sleep at the Red Roof Inn in Kansas City, we got into our little car for the ride back home through the plains of Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado. It was a pretty day with the sun out so it made up for the “plain” plains we got for a scenery. There was still a little snow on the ground in Kansas from the weekend blizzard that closed the interstate just a week before. The snow sometimes looked exactly like boiled frosting with the peaks and valleys on a chocolate cake. Some parts looked like meringue with the brown edges and peaks where the dust got to it.Did I ever tell anyone how when you get off some little cow town in the West the first thing that hits you is the smell of cowshit? There are so many places like that in the West and on this trip it was Hays, Kansas. A sure sign you’re in a beef-producing town…yep.