When our group first started going to the Oyster Festival in Urbanna about 20 years ago, a quart of oysters was $10. Then they went to $11, then $12, and higher. Last week, I bought a quart of oysters and paid $39.95. But they were really good. When I was a child, oysters were cheap. My Uncle Sidney would go down to Morehead City and return to Raleigh with a bushel of oysters for $3 or $4. Then … [Read more...]
Variety is The Spice of Fishing Life
If you like variety, now is the time to hop aboard a charter boat and dunk some bait off Virginia’s coast. Reefs and wrecks offshore are loaded with black sea bass, triggerfish, blues, and some big flounder. Venture deeper, and tilefish are waiting in the depths for the patient angler. Captain Jake Hiles (above) reported seeing bluefin tuna busting the surface multiple times while fishing … [Read more...]
Drug Stores and Soda Fountains
There was a time in America when drug stores didn’t occupy an entire city block. They weren’t part of corporate empires. This was a time when Boomers remember the local pharmacist as a family friend and a trusted adviser on most things medical. If a youngster in the family was running a high fever, the pharmacist would often meet a distressed mom or dad after closing hours to fill an important … [Read more...]
Cajun (Not Fried) Chicken
I used to fry turkeys. I had a big pot with a basket inside, a solid base for the pot and a flame thrower that would boil the peanut oil in a matter of minutes. I would inject a turkey, lower it in the oily cauldron and it would be done in about 40 minutes. And I have to say that a Deep-Fried Turkey is better – way better – than a turkey cooked in the oven. But frying a turkey created a mess – … [Read more...]
Signs of Our Times
Buzzards on Mop Up Duty
For some unknown reason, deer like to cross Route 29 North near my house. And a good many don’t make it. Recently I saw a decent buck alongside the road, which had challenged a passing car and came in second. But his carcass wouldn’t be around long. I also saw 10 black buzzards waiting their turn at the buffet line. They were on mop up duty. If there is an uglier bird than a buzzard, I would … [Read more...]
Denver Steaks
You don’t see them often, but if you do, and if you are a meat and steak lover, buy them. Denver steaks - perhaps the best cut of steaks you’ve never heard of. Denver steak, also known as the Denver-cut or Denver chuck steak, is a relatively new addition to the world of beef cuts. It’s sourced from the chuck primal or serratus ventralis muscle, which lies beneath the shoulder blade. For this … [Read more...]
Help Protect Virginia’s Wildlife
Houston, we’ve got a problem. Actually, it’s Virginia, we’ve got a problem. We are losing our wildlife and habitat and the funds to help are drying up. For years, license fees for hunters and fishermen fully supported the Game Department, now called the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR). Those fees paid for the salaries of Biologists and Game Wardens, in addition to fund the purchase and … [Read more...]
I Speck’ So
The speckled trout bite is on fire in the lower Chesapeake and tributaries. Cool water has the fish on the move to take advantage of stranded baitfish and sluggish shrimp. Hot spots include Lynnhaven Inlet, Rudee Inlet, the Fort Monroe stretch of the James River, and the Elizabeth Rive. Puppy drum are biting alongside the trout in the same areas. Rockfish are showing up in rivers and creeks, … [Read more...]
America’s One and Only King
England has had kings on the throne for millenniums. Boomers know that America once had a king, too. But just one. Elvis Aron Pressley. Born in a modest two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935, Elvis was truly America’s King, and his throne was any stage he occupied. Elvis Pressley was undeniably the most famous person of our generation. He was the King of Rock and … [Read more...]
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