Sophia and Liza's Most Excellent Adventure... part 3 & 4

 Saturday was Dad's roughest day.  He was worn out!  But, we were up for a tasty breakfast of eggs, grits, homemade sausage and bacon.  Aunt Verlie had it ready and the smell of that bacon woke us up before Dad did!

We picked up Aunt Sue and went out to visit my great-uncle Buck, who is Granddaddy's only living brother.  We went out to his 114 year old home, which had been restored and oh my heck, I was in heaven. He owned an antique business and the home was magnificent and filled with some of the most beautiful pieces of furniture I've ever seen.   A.MAZ.ING!  I was in awe! 

Visiting with Uncle Buck was like talking with my granddaddy, so I loved that!  I asked him to share some of his memories about his mother and father.  I asked this question of all of my greats.  It was so interesting that each and every one of them told me that they never ate a hot breakfast because my great-grandfather, Reverend Charlie Bell, would pray for so long and in such detail every morning that the food was cold before they got to eat it.  (I may have shared this from Aunt Hattie last spring.)  Also, they all said, "Daddy was a preacher, but Mama was a saint."  I heard great stories from Uncle Buck and he shared many photos, including one of my great grandfather, which I only remember meeting once when I was about three years old.  It was so awesome to see this photo.  (My cousin, Paula, actually made me a copy of this photo!)  The last time that I remember seeing Uncle Buck was at my granddaddy's funeral in 1984.   Awesome!

That afternoon, Dad was exhausted, so we spent the rest of the day at home taking a nap, visiting with Aunt Verlie and Dad and just relaxing.  We even went to bed early since we knew we had to get up early...although we didn't know just how early!

 
Sunday was our favorite day of the trip, for sure!  Dad woke us up at 5:28AM!  5:28 AM is 2:28 for Liza and 3:28 for me!  But, we were awakened to "Get ready, yall!  Let's go!"  And we were up and out the door at 6:30, heading for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Liza had never seen the Atlantic Ocean before.  So, Dad had made this a priority for our visit.   We stopped for a quick breakfast in Dillon South Carolina, where Dad was married to my mother and two of his other wives.  He had plenty of stories to tell about Dillon!  We arrived at the ocean at about 8:45 and spent the next few hours walking and driving up and down the coastline.  Dad spent our beach time sleeping in the car, but he did get out long enough to see Liza's reaction and take a few pix. 

 

The one thing that I miss about living in Florida during my teens is the ocean.  It moves me to tears everytime I am near it.  Liza knew to expect that from me.  After taking some pix, Liza and I walked down the beach, picking up seashells to bring home to the babes and talked.  This was probably my favorite talk that we had during the entire trip.  I took a ton of pix and we talked with strangers, as well, including a guy with a chocolate lab puppy, which was entertaining.  We were followed by a little bird almost the whole way and he became our friend.  It was cloudy and overcast the whole day.   (As a matter of fact, we only saw the sun for about ten minutes in our whole trip.)  Liza was amazed at how lukewarm the ocean was and loved it! 

 

After a few hours, we headed back home.  Kent's family were expecting us for an afternoon of fun and food.   BUT.  Before we could leave Aunt Verlie's, she'd made bbq ribs and the works, insisting that we have a "bite" since we wouldn't be eating for an hour at Kent's.  "Just a bite."  Ronda had killed the fatted calf.  And oh my, my, my!  She and the girls had prepared quite the meal.  Chicken and Pastry, Fried Chicken, Chicken Salad (made completely different than mine... I can't wait to make it for Doug and the kids here at home), fried okra, field peas, chowchow (which I'll be making some of that, myself, next week after I teach my Relief Society lesson this Sunday and can think about something else) and fresh lemonade.  MMMM!  

 

Liza had her first taste of a "moon pie", which was something I'd not had for fourty some years!  And today, they microwave them and make them soft and gooeier.  Liza loved every bite of every thing, except the okra.  She wasn't a big fan. 

 

This was where the laughs were bigger and the talk was louder.  Liza met the third of Kent's daughters, Nahaven, who is also a delight.   Later, I asked Liza if there was one of the girls that she related to the most.  She said, "When I met Megan, I didn't think that I could love anyone as much as her.  Then, I met Kelly and thought, wow!  She's great too!  Then I met Nahaven and she's was just as awesome.  SO, I love them all!"   Dad wasn't feeling so well that afternoon, so the girls offered to drive him back home.  (He'd offered to drive himself over earlier and we caught him staggering to his car in a dizzy spell, so we insisted that he wasn't to drive.)  The girls were gone for.ev.er. They returned quite sometime later, laughing all the louder and bearing some cotton that they'd stopped to pick along the way.  Liza had never seen cotton.  (thankfully, they didn't pick any of the four foot tall tabacco that was growing across the road!)

 

 The love and the laughter continued for hours.  Ronda and the girls were working on some crafts for a church bazaar and we all just visited about everything under the sun. 

  I called Dad to check on him and he said, "Baby, don't wear out your welcome over there."  When we said that we had to go, they insisted, "No, let's go sit on the porch a while."  We did and then announced that we didn't want to wear out our welcome, they moved us out to the back yard to watch my cousin, Kent, who was with his little 8 year old grandson out in the back on a 15 foot high hunters tree stand, which is a chair that leans against a tree for bow hunting in the woods.  Kent was helping Garion practice with his own little compound bow.  Kent hit his deer "dummy" repeatedly, right in the heart, over and over and over, never missing.  I was cheering him on, enthusiastically, when Liza called up to him and teased, "But, can you do it from a horse?"  Which got Kent to laughing so hard, but he came back just as quickly, "No, but I can do it out a pick-up truck window."

 

I  loved that Liza was socomfortable with each person she met.  Everyone was just immediately comfortable together.  Gee, you'd think we were family!  Liza was in awe of Kent's waist long hair.  Dances with Wolves is one of our family's all-time favorite movies.  Liza noted that Kent reminded her of Wind in his Hair from the movie and described him as "just beautiful".  Inside and out, he is.

 

When we left, Liza and I both commented in the car that we didn't want to leave.  She wanted to ask, "What games do you guys play?  Let's play em!"  We were having so much fun and just couldn't get enough of them all!

Once home, Aunt Verlie and Dad were waiting for us with somenews, but that is another story for another day.  It was truly our tender mercy/miracle for the trip.  We visited with Dad and Aunt Verlie, had some leftover bbq ribs and Aunt Verlie mentioned that she'd made chicken and pastry for dinner tomorrow.  I was so sad that I'd missed watching her make it!   When I mentioned that Grannie had shown me how years ago, I'd not really captured it because I just figured Grannie would be around forever.  Aunt Verlie got right up, went to her cupboards and gave Liza and I a demonstration.  I took notes and pictures to capture it this time.  It will be our Soup Day meal very soon!  I can't wait to share it here in the west with friends and family!

Before we went to bed, we sat at the table and talked for quite some time.  Dad and I were at the ends of the kitchen table.  Aunt Verlie and Liza were at the sides.  At some point in the evening, Dad pointed out that Liza and Aunt Verlie's heads were just bobbing from one end of the table to the other as he'd tell a story, then I would, then he would, then I would.  He said that we needed to let them talk.  I finished my story.  Dad started to tell another and Liza said, "Hey!  You've talked enough!  It's our turn!"  They both teased each other constantly.   There was a minute when Liza was on the phone to Buddy in the bedroom.  I said to Dad, "She adores you, Dad."  He smiled, very comfortably and said, "I know."  That meant the world to me!  Dad knows that he's just wonderful in our eyes and that's all that matters to any of us!

 

A few other ramblings from this day:

I'm telling you, my people know how to eat!  I'm also telling you, I only gained 2.5 pounds this trip because I tried to be as careful as possible with my dietary issues.  It worked.  Sometimes.  Enough said about that.

Another story that we laughed hysterically the entire trip over was the fact that there are somany people who have  "outside" children...meaning illegitimate.  It just baffles me.  And no matter where we were or who was talking, someone always mentions that this person or that person is someone's "outside" child or has one.  While visiting, we heard story after story about this.  One much older person told us that when they were young, their mother told them that before they could date anyone, they had to tell her and their fatherwho the date's "people" were.  Because, it was a possibility that "their people was your people", meaning that they shared the same father.  We joked continually about "our people" and before we left, Liza bought a t-shirt that said, "Who'z your people?"  (I don't think that this was the meaning behind the shirt, but it made us laugh to read it.)  (By the way, I assured Liza that her daddy is her ONLY people!)

You know, Doug and I joke all the time that he's from Pioneer Stock and I'm from Woodstock.  And that's all fine.  But this time with my family brings my heart home and has opened my eyes that my roots are deep and strong.  My native American ancestry is something to be proud of.  My family is amazing.  I love them all so much!

 

One other thing that I want to remember and will cherish is the look on Liza's face when she tasted Aunt Verlie's six layer pound cake.  Liza made sounds like she'd died and gone to heaven as she tasted it the very first time.  And the second.  And every other time she had a bite.  It was her most favorite southern food!    Oh my.  Looking at the picture has me craving a piece right now!  Just a little one. ;)

Southern cooking is a personal passport to the past.
It is much more about heritage than it is about hominy.

Comments

[karen maclennan]

I don't know if my message was sent or not so I will ask again. Your peach pie looks devine. Do you cook the eagle brand milk or does it just stay thick. Also does it tend to make the crust soggy?

[JaYne]

Love hearing about this trip! I can feel the love that was shared the entire time you were there. Hope you got the recipe for that cake!

[Marilyn]

Glad you had a wonderful trip. Happy you got home safe. Can't believe someone would have the patience to make a 6-layered cake but man! Looks delicious!

[Katie]

I am loving hearing about your trip. This is so wonderful! I want some of that cake right now too:)

[Nicole]

That cake looks heavenly! Did you get any southern recipes from your family? Would love to see them on your cooking blog...

[Holly F.]

I have to admit, I'm more than a little jealous of "your people". They sound so warm and loving. I'm so glad you and Liza enjoyed your trip. (And I'm looking forward to the recipes so I can make them for "my people".)