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Mountain Heart to open for Lynyrd Skynyrd
OK, look, Lynyrd Skynyrd is good for some throwback fun, I love “Sweet Home Alabama” as much as the next guy. But let’s look to the future. Let’s show up for the opening act, too. That’s Mountain Heart, the rising stars that were the featured act at Elizabeth City’s July 4 festival. These guys are hot. I love bluegrass and the intense energy all that high-powered strumming sends pulsing through my body. These guys sparked a fire that night and they’re sure to do it again. Check out this video from the boys that make up Mountain Heart. You won’t be disappointed.
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Swampland goes old school
Just in time for back to school season, Museum of the Albemarle offered kids a chance to see what school was all about during the 19th century. YOU CAN WATCH THE SWAMPLAND VIDEO HERE.
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Recipe goddess
OK, for a look at the culinary work - we’re all about food lately - of Cheryl Perry, CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO HERE and see why she’s headed over to the Food Network show, Ulitmate Recipe Cookoff 2.
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This little piggy went to market …
OK, this might be considered double blogging since fellow Daily Advance blogger Jerry Allison over on Big Bite is doing a video about “Market Impossible,” the chef challenge at our farmer’s market today, Saturday, but I had to put my two cents worth on the board.
I arrived too late to watch the frenzy as chef Andy Montero and sous chef Brandon Clark ran amok, collecting fresh ingredients for a mystery meal that apparently consisted of duck, jstuffed egg plant and some other edible treats. I was able to taste the vegetable vermicelli Andy created from local, fresh produce. It was like a drink of water on a hot day.
The dish was tasty and refreshing. Congrats to Montero and Clark for their work this morning. Next month I am told Andy Lewis, chef from Coasters, will be the one running wild in an effort to cook something in one hour, made fresh from market produce. Of course his choices will differ from Montero’s since by that time different produce will be in season.
Market coordinator Denise Richards told me that in October, the market folks are considering some sort of chef cook-off, so keep your eyes and ears open. Until then remember to eat locally grown produce. It saves on gas and supports local farmers, not to mention it’s downright healthy.
You can find a list of local produce providers on the home page here at DailyAdvance.com. Just scroll to the bottom for the link. You can also contact our local extension office for a brochure. Also, I believe I provided a link in an earlier blog entry so scroll down and see that link as well.
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Haute House
Check out this Swampland video blog about the Bayside Manor Designer House open to the public Aug. 3 through Aug. 17. It’s a fundraiser for Arts of the Albemarle.
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What’s the buzz?
Check out a bee invasion and what to do about it. To view this video blog and more go to our photos and video section.
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mmm mmm mmm
OK, another photo of a tomato, only this time look deep into the meat of this fruit and ask yourself this: Do I really enjoy store bought mators or will I go find myself a farmer’s market somewhere and buy those really fresh ones that literally fell off the vine?
Of course, you may be a gardener and have your own stash at home and, well, that’s fine. I just want you to enjoy the incredibly fresh taste of vegetables grown right here at home in Swampland, that’s all.
I just ate a carrot from the supermarket. You know, the kind that comes in a bag and is whittled down to a nub? Well, I promise you it tasted like cabbage or some variant thereof. Thing is, a lot of folks don’t realize that 90+ percent of the food you purchase in a supermarket is genetically enhanced on some level or another. And, well, if that’s what you want, Frankenfood and all that, well that’s fine. But give me a fresh bell pepper any old day.
I find that there’s just something about eating food just picked from the vine or taken from the ground that’s not only tastey, but imminently more satisfying.
Now, if you don’t know where to find said food, follow this link and you can view all the available local produce sellers in the area, online, here at DailyAdvance.com. …
http://www.dailyadvance.com/search/content/features/stories/2008/06/29/0629localproducelist.html
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Gardener’s delight
I went out to Master Gardener Duane McSmith’s place this morning to interview him for a non-gardening-related story (see our Sunday July 20 edition of Albemarle Life). I had heard about the work he’s put into Hide-N-Wood Gardens.
At 91, Mr. McSmith is still hard at it, growing some of the largest tomato plants I’ve ever seen!
The other thing that I love is his creation of handicapp accessible garden beds. My wife employed a similar design at the Project Grow teaching garden located at the Food Bank of the Albemarle and it’s impressive. But to see an entire grounds populated by these beds, full of lush, fruitful plants, well it’s down right inspiring.
Duan McSmith is a wonderful, lively conversationalist and loves visitors. His gardens and walkways are open to visitors. All one has to do is drive over to 923 Wellfield Rd. in Elizabeth City. Go down Main Street Extended, take a left on Forest Park Road, then take an immediate right on Wellfield. Hide-N-Wood Gardens is just down the road a short ways, on the left.
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A summer rain
The downpour was fierce Sunday night as the lightning struck and thunder roared. Only those who don’t understand the need might have cursed the inundation of wet we received as roads flooded and water rolled into gutters and storm drains.
And needed it was, and more is needed. This is a hardy land, yet even the hardiest land cannot endure forever the absence of rain.
Our neighbors in Georgia have the worst of it. Atlanta’s prized Lake Lanier is practically no more as docks and boat houses sit on dry land where they once floated.
Yes, Sunday night’s downpour was manna from heaven yet we need more, and more, and still more. Dance if you must under the stars, perhaps even say a little prayer. Whatever it takes, the soil is dry and the heavens will hopefully open up again and again to quench our dire thirst.
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Mountain Heart on the waterfront
The big act during Friday night’s July 4 event at Elizabeth City’s Waterfront Park is this up and coming contemporary bluegrass band out of Nashville, Mountain Heart. I checked out their video on YouTube and, well, Yeah!
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Critics’ Choice Award
You have to know that the best critics are the ones who are compelled to be honest. They are innately in tune with the idea that what comes out of their mouths is nothing but the god’s honest truth. We call them children.
That said, Museum of the Albemarle may well have received the best endorsement they’re going to get last Saturday when my three youngest children, ages 7, 5 and 5, took a break from the heat that was engulfing the art festival and went inside for a bathroom break. Yeah, I thought it would be short lived, just long enough to flush and grab a drink from the fountain. Could a museum really hold their attention?
Well the answer is a resounding yes. First there was the outboard motor display on the first floor. It was aptly set up with photos of boats the engines once graced and my boys were enthralled.
“Which one do you think was faster, Dad? This one or that one?”
And so it went from one old engine to the next. I have two motorheads to be sure.
But it was the main gallery that took me by surprise. I really have to hand it to designer Don Pendergraft and his staff for laying out the “Our Story” exhibit.
Think about this for a moment: When you walk in the first thing you see are Indians. Turn the corner and there are pirates, treasure chests and a cannon. Now, if you were a five-year-old boy don’t you think those things would grab you immediately?
Well, they did and they set the tone for the entire exhibit as my boys and I walked through each display, questions coming from the left of me and the right.
Now if that weren’t enough, the boys and I went looking for their mother and sister, but must’ve passed them because once we tired of searching, the boys wanted to head back to the exhibit and that’s where we found them. Now, my wife was standing in the doorway looking for us, but my daughter was intently studying the exhibits, reading information and slowly moving from one to the next, absorbing what she say.
I can’t be more thrilled about it all. It means that there are more museums on the horizon, something I enjoy. And to the folks at Museum of the Albemarle, take it what you think it’s worth, but you just got an A+ rating from several finicky, wild-eyed kids. A job well done.
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Pedal Power
OK, you might not go this fast, but if you live inside the city limits of Elizabeth City, or within a reasonable distance from work in general, you too can ride your bike to work. I’ve been doing it off and on for about two years now and everyday for about a month and I can’t get enough. And I’m expanding my distances to include chores that do not require a large storage space for hauling items. And, yeah, it’s hot out but that shouldn’t deter you because if you keep water handy, you too can do it without overheating. I’ve said it before, I would like to see lawyers and doctors (you’d think docs and health care folks would be the first to ride) don those two-wheel wonders and start peddling.
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Angels have wheels
Angels don’t have wings, in case you were wondering. Rather, they have wheels and quietly roam the nation’s highways, waiting for that perfect moment when you need them most, but least expect them.
I was driving down Interstate 40 just outside of Hickory, N.C. when it happened. A quiet running mini-van went dead.
We rolled to the shoulder about 100 feet from an off-ramp.
Breaking down on the highway while on vacation, with four kids, can be daunting. It can even be frightening. You never know whether or not the mechanic you end up with on Memorial Day, when all is closed, will take you or help you.
We walked to a nearby truck stop and I was handed the name of a mobile mechanic who makes shoulder-side calls on semi-trucks. Jerry Barrett answered the phone and listened as I explained my dilemma to him.
He gave me instructions on what to look for and told me to call him back. When I reported that I had no spark in the spark plug, the man asked for several minutes. He’d be right there.
Jerry Barrett arrived in his heavy-duty garage on wheels. He checked under the hood, explained that I had lost my timing belt, that he wouldn’t charge me for the call and he would have a friend take care of me from there.
A tow-truck arrived. On the back window was a sticker that read “Angels Among Us.” The driver said it was from a country song. I knew better.
I’m not certain what I think of all those stories of wispy, mysterious angels swooping down and saving folks from near disaster, but I can tell you that there are, indeed, angels among us.
You see, we were returning home from a vacation and we were six hours from our front door. Anyone out there on Interstate 40 could have taken us for a wad of cash and whatever was left on a credit car. But instead Jerry Barrett found us and guided us from a shoulder, to an honest garage to a hotel just down the road.
And the funny thing is, while I had a good time in the Appalachian Mountains hiking around waterfalls and the like, it was that extra day we were forced to take, in a Ramada Inn somewhere in the North Carolina Piedmont, that made a difference.
Wasting time, we found ourselves in a swimming pool. And in that pool I watched as three of my small children final grew water wings and began swimming on their own for the first time, unaided by inflatables. I watched as they began to jump into the pool without the security of my long arms waiting for them and we all laughed and played and were tired, but satisfied.
I’ve heard people say time and again that there are blessings in disguise. And while I suppose I could have looked at this whole thing as though I was out a wad of cash and space on a credit card, a roadside angel named Jerry Barrett in Hickory, N.C. made all the difference. He was interested in helping people he didn’t know, if for no other reason than he could, and that made all the difference for me, my wife and our four children as we were stranded on Interstate 40, unwittingly awaiting the arrival of an angel among us.
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Swampland Video: Historic Homes Part 3: The Kramer House, 1902
Check out Rick an Kelly Boyd’s house. Built in 1902 by a wealthy family, The Kramer House may well be the finest constructed house in Elizabeth City’s inventory of historical homes.
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Swampland Video: Historic Homes Part 2: Grice Fearing House, 1798
For our second house in this four-part video blog series celebrating National Historic Preservation Month, Swampland visited with Georgene and Vidal Falcon, owners of the Grice Fearing Bed and Breakfast Inn, a house originally erected in 1798.
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Swampland People: Carethia Brown
Ever since I began profiling people I meet for Swampland I’ve had my eye out for Carethia Brown, only I didn’t know her name until today.
Many people around Elizabeth City have seen Carethia and her eternal smile. And many of you have run afoul of her while parking illegally, or perhaps too long in one spot.
Carethia is the Elizabeth City Parking Enforcement Officer who frequents the waterfront parking areas and can be seen morning and afternoon crossing children at Sheep Harney Elementary School.
“It’s not about writing tickets,” Carethia says of her job. “It’s all about the people.”
Carethia Brown is hands down one of the friendliest people I’ve ever seen. For the three years I have been here, in Elizabeth City, Carethia has never once failed to wave at me, offer up a smile and a hello.
“I love people and I love being friendly,” says the Lexington, N.C. native.
Carethia has been on the job for 14 years, as long as she’s lived in the area. She and her husband moved here to be close to his job in Virginia. When he retired, however, they had the option of moving back to Lexington, but Carethia says she wanted to stay.
“I wanted to stay because I like it here,” she says, smiling large.
Carethia can also be seen at Mariner’s Wharf keeping tabs on the boats that come in and out as they travel the Intercoastal Waterway. Another aspect of her job that she loves because, she emphasizes, she just loves people.
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Washington Post covers River City, Daily Advance
Daily Advance political reporter Bob Montgomery had company yesterday (Tuesday) when he was covering the elections. Washington Post reporter Krissah Williams hung around and eventually blogged about the big primary election from our little ole point of view. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/05/06/afamiliardemographicstoryi.html
Krissah, I have one beef, though. We’re not a small town. We’re a micropolitan. Come on, haven’t you folks up in D.C. been keeping up with the trends?
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The Nicotine Diaries: Part 3, Stress Relief?
Smokers will tell you things like: “Hell, I need a cigarette.” The key word is need. This statement is usually preceeded by a stressful moment and somehow the notion that a cigarette can relieve stress has crept into the mind of the smoker.
When I first began smoking, as a teen, I can’t say that I understood stress they way I do now, as an adult. I can’t say that I recall actually feeling the need for a cigarette because life was beating me down or I had a particularly cruel day. No, in fact as a teenager all I was really doing by smoking was absentmindedly developing a habit that would turn into an addiction.
As an adult, and very recently, I have found myself on numerous occasions feeling out of sorts and stressed and running to have a cigarette, relishing the rush of calming nicotine that ran through my body, from head to toe, sending me into a few moments of euphoria before it wore off and I was convinced that I could join the world anew, stress free and without reservations. As I determined I would not smoke, I found myself fearful that the general anxiety that seemed to overcome me would overwhelm me and I wouldn’t have my crutch to lean on, smoking that cigarette to relive my angst.
It was a myth, I am convinced now. The funny thing about smoking and not smoking is that I am certain that I have been less stressed about things since not smoking than I was when I was smoking. I haven’t had those moments when I thought I would lose my mind so I’d best have a smoke. Why? Well, I suspect that the real sensation I was feeling was my body’s need to be fed nicotine and tar and once it received its dose, the body just thanked me by calming down and taking a sort of sigh of relief.
Now, I still get stressed and there are times that I think about smoking, but my desire to not smoke is currently greater than my desire to smoke. And those moments that are stressful, well, they’re just not so stressful that I have to go pay $4 for a pack of smokes and a whole lot of regret. I suppose you could say that I don’t have to smoke no matter what today.
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Swampland Video: Historic Homes Part 1: Charles Harney House, 1853
May is National Historic Preservation Month. Here in Swampland, we’re dripping in history, especially in Elizabeth City where we have several historic districts. This month Swampland will feature four videos of four different homes, highlighting one room in each home. Please go to our photo/video tab to see the first installment, the Charles-Harney House. Our second installment, the Grice-Fearing House, can be found above.
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The Nicotine Diaries: Part 2, The Cool Factor
The idea that smoking cigarettes is cool comes from, perhaps, film. There are a lot of arguments to made here and convincingly, the history of cigarettes and film as a partnership is well known.
In Hollywood’s golden era stars were encouraged to smoke because it gave them something to do with their hands while they acted a scene. Icons like Humphrey Bogart — he died of lung cancer in his 50s — made smoking look as though it was a natural, almost necessary act. Betty Davis famously blew smoke in her films, creating a sultry, vixon-like image with her cigarettes.
Yet Kirk Douglas famously talks about his first and last cigarette while filming a scene for the picture “The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers.” Douglas reports that he was encouraged to smoke in the scene and when he attempted, he ran to vomit.
Looking back on my experience as a teenager, lighting up that first cigarette, contemplating just why I lit up in the first place, I suppose peer pressure combined with a desire to look cool played into what would become a delusional belief that a cigarette could indeed contribute to one’s cool factor.
In recent years, months and days leading up to that day one week ago when I put them down, I would look around and see people smoking. I would see men and women with cigarettes dangling from their mouths or pinched between their fingers and think it looked awkward, silly and perhaps stupid. Then I would turn and look at the cigarette in my hand and become, at once, self conscious about the whole, awkward holding it, looking for a way to smoke it without looking as silly as the others I had just observed — no luck there.
As I don’t smoke one day at a time, I find myself desiring a cigarette at various moments, for various reasons. One reason might be stress but another, oddly enough, is that I find myself, for just a moment, missing that extension of myself that, in an odd way, kept me company.
But looking cool, well, that’s just not something cigarettes could ever do for me, I’m convinced.
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Swampland People: Jenny Eaton
Meet Jenny Eaton …
Jenny Eaton is a lady I run into now and again, especially if I’m stopping over at Port Discover. Jenny is the manager of the facility, a hands-on science center for kids, in case you didn’t know.
I met Jenny a few years ago when I came to work at The Daily Advance. She’s the wife of former crime beat reporter Chris Whipple. But since Chris left for greener pastures, I happen upon Jenny when I’m taking the kids to the center or just walking by the Main Street storefront. And that’s really what this whole Swampland People thing is about, the people I happen to meet.
I love running into Jenny because she’s great to talk with and have rambling conversations about whatever happens to be on my mind — I confess I am the rambler here. She’s a theater professional from Southern California and I grew up in Los Angeles, son to two actors who tried to make a living on the So. Cal. Stage.
Jenny, who performed once upon a time, made a living working as a stage manager for regional theater companies. Since moving to North Carolina, though, she’s been a dedicated mom to three boys and now is the smiling face at Port Discover.
Like a lot of folks, Jenny decided to volunteer her time at Port Discover early on, only she had the chance to make it a full time job.
“Working here let’s me be part of something that helps the area grow,” says Jenny. “We’re serving a really good population here.”
Jenny says she loves the kids she works with at Port Discover and has learned to know most of them by name.
“It’s fun. It’s really fun,” she says of Port Discover.
Jenny also says working there has allowed her to get to know a lot of people she otherwise might not have met. It’s a perk to a job she says she really loves.
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Yes, Tomatos home grown can’t be Beat and they are starting to ripen and are ready to eat. I got my first one or two a day before the 4th. Fried up the bacon, with the lettuce and had me a meal. Yum, Yum!!!! Now That is what I’m talking about!!
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Couldn’t agree with you more!!Hopefully we will be Blessed with some more, maybe not so much so quick, just a “Cooling Off Shower” that last for awhile, that gives the grounds a good soaking, it also helped with the fires and hopefully
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It was a”Great Time Had By All” Here something to think abou this $th July weekend & every day. I am the flag of the United States of America. My name is Old Glory. I fly atop the world’s tallest buildings. I stand watch in America’s
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Yes,pedal power may be the up and coming thing and we can thank The Congress of Our USA. The OPEC minister may look you in the eye and say, ‘We are at war with you infidels and have been since the embargo in the 1970s. You are so arrogant you
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