Travels in the South

Hello sweet friends.  Today we are continuing our Travels in the South series with our great friends Bill and Jean who are the parents of Shoko and Kali from Canadian Cats.

The first week we posted, we posted of their arrival and eating at a local seafood restaurant.  You can read about that here.  The second week, we posted about a fantastic restaurant we all went to called Fogo de Chao.  You can read about that here.

This week, we are going to talk about a tour that we took of a place called Stately Oaks.  Stately Oaks is a historical Antebellum home located in Jonesboro, Georgia and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It was originally constructed in 1839 by Mr. Whitmill Allen who sold his home to Robert McCord in 1858 and then moved to Tyler, Texas.

It is located in Jonesboro, Georgia.  Does that sound familiar to you?  Jonesboro is the very city where Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind had to pay the taxes on Tara. Even though Tara only existed in Margaret Mitchell’s imagination, she placed Tara in Clayton County where she had visited relatives who lived on a large plantation south of Jonesboro. Many of the stories she heard as a child are in the movie.

Now, Stately Oaks is open for tours and on this day (mom, Jean and Bill) decided to tour the home.  The down side of the tour was we could not pictures of the inside of the home which was a real bummer.  The start of the tour starts off on a CD and you listen to the history of the home while in the bottom level.  Then the tour moves you into the sitting room, the dining room and the entertainment room.  Then the tour moves to the upper levels of the home.

 There are some items to point out which is interesting to know.  Back during this time, tea was expensive and kept in a locked box with only the woman of the home having the key.  Sugar was kept in cones and was brown, not the normal white sugar we are more accustomed to today.

Also,  celery was a sign of money in the southern days.  There was actual celery jars – kind of like the one in this picture – that were put on dinner tables to show the status of wealth in the family.  Can you imagine that?  It makes you want to go out, buy some celery and put in a jar on your table doesn’t it?  Who knew this could be a sign of wealth… especially in today’s market at what $0.99 cents a bundle – LOL.

They also didn’t season meats when they cooked them.  They had little individual salt bowls at every table setting.  The mistress of the home would pass around the big cluster of salt and individuals would put some in their salt bowls to season their meats.  Brings new meaning to, “Can you pass me the salt”.

One of the things we all fell in love with was the courting candle.  I think it would be a blast to have one of these today.  Jean bought one and trust me – mom is going back to get one as well.  You see how they are made in the picture?  The father could lower or high the amount of candle that would be burned during the courtship of their daughter.  Once the candle burned to that desired place, the man that was courting the young lady had to leave for the night.  What a concept huh?  Such an easy and simple method to watch over a courtship.  Of course, mom says she would use hers to show daddy actually how much time he had to be silly for a given amount of time.  That’s my mom – snorts!

Now let’s talk about the upstairs of the home.  The day that they went on the tour it was a little hot outside so you can imagine the inside of the home.  Mom started getting the vapors downstairs and had to sit out a bit for some of the tour.  Now, once mom was feeling a bit better, she ventured up the stairs as well.

 Stairs in southern homes are steep.  You see the average woman was around 4’11” and the average man was like around 5’7″ – not very tall for the likes of these days.  And the stairs go straight up it seems with not much railing.  Can you imagine as a woman in full attire (hoop skirt, bodice squeezing the heck out of you, tiny shoes, etc.) walking up stairs?  In fact, at the top of these stairs, there was usually a chaise or chair of some sort for the women.  Because believe it or not, sometimes they would pass out from the shear heat of exhaustion.  Well, that was almost like my mom.  She made it up the stairs, started having a hard time breathing and had to rush back downstairs and out of the door before she was hit with the vapors once again in a bad way.  Don’t ask.

One thing that mom did notice upstairs in a glassed case was mourning tear jar.  When the woman of the home was going through mourning, she would collect her tears in a jar.  Once it was full, she would then close the top for her mourning.  Forever, she would have the tears of her sorrow that she cried for her loved one.

Now the kitchen of this home had been redone more modern and we didn’t get to see any of that.  But then again, the kitchen of the home back in the day really wasn’t a ‘kitchen’.  It was more of a warming room.  You see food was prepared in a ‘shack’ behind the home.  This shack would host a fireplace, a table to prepare food and you can imagine the heat from the summer or the cold from the winter creeping in through the boards of the walls.  The food was then brought into the home to the warming kitchen and stayed there until the woman of the home motioned for it to be served at the dinner table.

So much wonderful history was learned this day about the ways of the south.  Can you imagine doing some of these things and living like this today?  I hope you join us next week my friends as we continue our series of Travels in the South.

 

Shopping Around the World

My friend Fozzie and I have scheduled a group posting today of Shopping Around the World.   We thought it would be interesting to see the differences between different countries all over.Here are our prices for the following from our area – Georgia USA:

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Items to price this month:

• Soup – Yummy!  Soup is fantastic in the winter and for colder days.  Dad’s favorite ‘can’ soup is Chunky’s Beef Barley.  He LOVES that stuff!  When mom can find is for a $1.00 a can – she stocks up the cabinets.  It’s great, convenient for daddy to prepare and tastes awesome.  Yep, I know it does.  I’ve licked the bowl a couple of times – snorts!
• Christmas Trees –  Why are trees so expensive?  Of course, the longer you wait until Christmas, the cheaper they are.  That makes sense, right?  We don’t have a tree here at the Hotel Thompson so I had to check with a friend on this one.  Our friends have a five foot fir.  It cost them – right after Thanksgiving – nearly $80!  Of course, if you wait until the day before Christmas – the price will be so much lower… as well the branches.  So it might look like a Charlie Brown tree then.  Snorts.
• Cold Medicine –  Mom couldn’t believe the prices on this!  Her and daddy will sometimes take DayQuil or Nyquil.  As an alternative, they will buy the store brand of these items.  Sometimes if mom is lucky, she can get a combo pack with one of each for around $8.00 – can you believe that?  And mom says what is up with Mucinex?  Have you seen the prices for that stuff?  It’s between $20-25.00 a box.  Mom has recently found a generic brand for this at Kroger for $4.00 a bottle!  What a mark up for brand name huh?
• Hot Drink –  This time of the year, there is nothing like something hot and satisfying on your tummy for warmth and to head off a bad cold.  Mom LOVES a hot toddy.  This is a rather cheap drink because you have most of the items on hand – perhaps less than $2.00 when you calculate.  Mommy said I could share her hot toddy recipe below – enjoy and let us know what you think 🙂  It *always* puts mommy in a good mood.
• Random Item of your choice.  Whiskey – Mommy tries to always keep some Jack Daniels on hand.  Her and dad are NOT big drinkers here but there is an occasion when you need this stuff. Her random item will be Jack Daniels Tennessee honey, 750 ml.  It costs around $30.00 but lasts for a while and goes GREAT with mom’s hot toddy recipe.

Mom’s Hot Toddy Recipe:

1 teaspoon of honey; 2 ounces of boiling water; 1 1/2 ounces of whiskey (your choice but JD Honey goes great with this recipe); 3 cloves; 1 cinnamon stick; 1 slice of lemon and 1 pinch of nutmeg

Combine all of the ingredients above except for the nutmeg.  Let stand for at least five minutes to combine the flavors.  Add the sprinkle of nutmeg and then let your worries go away!

Thank you my friends for Shopping Around the World – hope you had a lot of fun!

 

Shopping Around the World – REMINDER

Shopping Around the World is so much fun to see the various prices around the world!

Me and my pal Fozzie started Shopping Around the World in April.  This has become a huge hit and we all want to know if we are paying more or less than everyone else – snorts.  We are going to do it again this month on Wednesday, December 31st.

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Do a posting on your blog linked back to mine.  That way we can keep track of all of the different prices.  It should be interesting to see the differences between.  Mark your calendar so you can do a posting with us.

Items to price this month:

• Soup – It is that time of the year here in the States for soup – shivers.  What is your favorite can/container to buy and how much is it?
• Christmas Trees – Since it’s Christmas time, how much are real trees going for in your area?
• Cold Medicine – Tis the season to get sick 🙂 Mom has had to buy some for daddy lately and she couldn’t believe the price of it – OMP!  List what kind you normally keep on hand/price.
• Hot Drink – During the cold season, what do you keep on hand for something hot – whether it’s coffee, tea, hot chocolate, hot toddy, etc.  Name what you have/price
• Random Item of your choice.

Come join the fun of Shopping Around the World – mark your calendars

Wednesday, December 31st.

Thank you very much for your ideas for the monthly listing. If you have any more suggestions to be added to my on-going list, please email them to me.

 

Shopping Around the World – REMINDER

Shopping Around the World is so much fun to see the various prices around the world!

Me and my pal Fozzie started Shopping Around the World in April.  This has become a huge hit and we all want to know if we are paying more or less than everyone else – snorts.  We are going to do it again this month on Wednesday, December 31st.

.

Do a posting on your blog linked back to mine.  That way we can keep track of all of the different prices.  It should be interesting to see the differences between.  Mark your calendar so you can do a posting with us.

Items to price this month:

• Soup – It is that time of the year here in the States for soup – shivers.  What is your favorite can/container to buy and how much is it?
• Christmas Trees – Since it’s Christmas time, how much are real trees going for in your area?
• Cold Medicine – Tis the season to get sick 🙂 Mom has had to buy some for daddy lately and she couldn’t believe the price of it – OMP!  List what kind you normally keep on hand/price.
• Hot Drink – During the cold season, what do you keep on hand for something hot – whether it’s coffee, tea, hot chocolate, hot toddy, etc.  Name what you have/price
• Random Item of your choice.

Come join the fun of Shopping Around the World – mark your calendars

Wednesday, December 31st.

Thank you very much for your ideas for the monthly listing. If you have any more suggestions to be added to my on-going list, please email them to me.

 

Shopping Around the World – Mark Your Calendars

Shopping Around the World is so much fun to see the various prices around the world!

Me and my pal Fozzie started Shopping Around the World in April.  This has become a huge hit and we all want to know if we are paying more or less than everyone else – snorts.  We are going to do it again this month on Wednesday, December 31st.

.

Do a posting on your blog linked back to mine.  That way we can keep track of all of the different prices.  It should be interesting to see the differences between.  Mark your calendar so you can do a posting with us.

Items to price this month:

• Soup – It is that time of the year here in the States for soup – shivers.  What is your favorite can/container to buy and how much is it?
• Christmas Trees – Since it’s Christmas time, how much are real trees going for in your area?
• Cold Medicine – Tis the season to get sick 🙂 Mom has had to buy some for daddy lately and she couldn’t believe the price of it – OMP!  List what kind you normally keep on hand/price.
• Hot Drink – During the cold season, what do you keep on hand for something hot – whether it’s coffee, tea, hot chocolate, hot toddy, etc.  Name what you have/price
• Random Item of your choice.

Come join the fun of Shopping Around the World – mark your calendars

Wednesday, December 31st.

Thank you very much for your ideas for the monthly listing. If you have any more suggestions to be added to my on-going list, please email them to me.

 

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