Ginny’s Southern Tour 2013 – Day Three
Waking up in Florence, South Carolina, we wanted to get another good southern breakfast in before hitting the road. We decided on Shoney’s, an icon of the south. We went through the known routine of finding a table and browsing the menu. Laura and Cailey decided to go with the beautiful spread that Shoney’s calls the buffet. Only, when we were filling our plates, we found something that wasn’t so known and that they had never seen before. Fatback.
Fatback is just what it sounds like; the cut of meat or fat from the back of a pig. It is salty, and can be hard. It may be an acquired taste and something we have never seen in Wisconsin, but seemingly popular in the south.
After breakfast, we were on our way to North Carolina where we found the town of Dunn and it’s visitor’s center.
Sharon, the Visitor’s Center director was so knowledgeable about the area, things to do, and had a lot of really cool things to teach us about the south. We also met her friend, Patsy, the mayor of the neighboring town, Erwin, North Carolina. Sharon showed us their cotton plant, how it grows, and even gave us a sample of picked cotton.
Sharon also told us stories about growing up on a tobacco (or ‘Backer’ as she taught us) farm and how she worked in her grandfather’s drying barns. She had a bundle of tobacco in the office and surprisingly, it is pretty fragrant.
We had dinner at the Meadow Village Restaurant, where you certainly wouldn’t ever walk away hungry. The buffet spread was really something to write home about and we will never forget about the entire bar of cakes and desserts. And, of course, they had fatback.
Thank you Sharon and Patsy for taking the time to talk to us in Dunn and help us learn more about the south. It was really great to meet you. Go Camels!
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Categories: Southern Tour 2013
