Beach Bums!

The husband, "Barbie" and I are going to the beach on November 21!!

Our first stop will be lunch in Shelby or Gastonia for some real barbeque.  That would be 'que without tomato sauce and prepared Eastern North Carolina style.  For those of you who don't understand the conflict of Eastern vs Western North Carolina BBQ, let me help you.  It is all a matter of taste, sauces and slow cookin'.  Even though the husband and I grew up in the mountains, we want that good ol' Eastern 'que.  Contests are held yearly to find the most perfect 'que in the state.  Magazines, like Our State, http://www.ourstate.com can't publish enough articles on "where to find the best".  Even books, one of the latest tomes, THE BEST TARHEEL BARBEQUE, cannot pinpoint but can only suggest. Wedding receptions are frequently held at local barbeque eateries.  One of Clyde Edgerton's most hiliarious books, RANEY, staged the rehearsal dinner with barbeque, checkered tablecloths and hay bales.But it is more what happened than what is served in this Eastern North Carolina town. www.clydeedgerton.com

Okay, got a little off course.  We will let you know all the places we eat and rate them on the zappo scale of service.

Our first night will be in the quaint town of Southport, North Carolina and we are staying at one of the bed and breakfast inns.  http://www.loisjanes.com  Southport is a very old community and mostly revolves around fishing. If you check the link, you can discover a lot more about Southport and the role Fort Fisher played in the War of Northern Aggression.

The remainder of our vacation will be spent in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This hotel with all oceanfront rooms is located in a quiet residential area of North Myrtle.  Sister and I found it years ago when the name was Sea Island Inn.  The privacy and the sounds of the ocean keep bringing us back.  There are no rides, shops, theaters or even other hotels for some distance.  The hotel has an excellent restaurant and does not permit sloppy beach attire or jeans for dinner dining.  One night we will be dressing for dinner, just like a date!  http://www.islandvista.com

An afternoon will be spent in Murrells Inlet, about an hour from our hotel, where we are dining on oyster roasts at Nance's.  www.nancescreekfrontrestaurant.com  Proper attire here would be jeans and a large bib.  The husband introduced me to this delicacy many years ago.  Murrells Inlet is an interesting area and a salt marsh nature preserve.  www.murrellsinletsc.com/history.html

It sounds like all we are going to do on this vacation is eat.  And there is a problem with that???  We will keep you updated.  Island Vista has a beachcam so you can see the ocean and the daily weather.  More as it happens... 

Thanks, Daddy!

Below is a photo of our parents taken in 1942, soon after their wedding. As you can see, Daddy was in the Army and Mother was beautiful. From the ribbons, stripes and medals, Daddy was a Master Gunnery Sergeant, no small feat for that era. The Army was Daddy’s second branch of the military since he began his tour of duty with the Marines in 1925, at Fort Logan in Colorado. Born in 1910, that would make him around fifteen with his first enlistment but this was not unusual for boys looking for adventure at that time.

Daddy was born in Madison County,North Carolina. His family moved in early 1911 to Loveland, Colorado. Our grandfather was a bit of a nomad and the "Wild, Wild West" with promises of fortunes untold was calling to him. Times and territories were untested and I cannot imagine our grandmother with two babies and another on the way traveling to the frontier and leaving her loving family behind. The family expanded to ten children while in Colorado, with two more to arrive upon returning to North Carolina many, many years later. The work was hard, grueling and unrelenting, totally different from the mountains of North Carolina, and not much of a childhood for young ones. Grandfather was demanding and not one to be questioned.

Perhaps with this background in mind, it is easy to suppose that the military was a great escape and an adventure of a lifetime. How difficult could boot camp be after fourteen hour days harvesting sugar beets  fighting the fierce weather of the Rockies, and tolerating Grandfather? For a curious young man and his older brother, there was a world out there and they had every intention of discovering it and getting an education. And that is just what happened.

Following four years with the Marines, Daddy enlisted in the Army and would remain with the Army until his honorable discharge in 1946. Even though there were few times that military service was mentioned during our childhood, judging from photographs, letters and recommendations found about thirty years later, I think Daddy was proud of his military service. Had it not been for a broken back in Iceland of 1945, I believe the Army would have been his career. As a child of the ‘60’s, the Vietnam War was in full swing and the only real whipping I received from Daddy was over an anti-war comment, I was stupid enough to utter. After what he had seen and endured during WWII, there would be no “doves” settling in our home. This moment not only changed my attitude; later it would play an important role in my future.  No, I did not join the military but I did receive a scholarship for all my college years based on my academic record and my father's military record.  Never again did I question the militia of our country.

As an adult, there are so many questions I would like to have had answered by Daddy. But as a child, the biggest question I had was “When can we go horseback riding?” Daddy died when I was thirteen and Sister was nine so we really did miss that time of bonding. Mother was from the genteel generation that did not talk about things past and with all grandparents deceased, we would wait three decades before finding the boxes with the answers. But every November 11th, we are most proud of the bravery of our father and thankful to have known that his devotion to America was a lifelong passion.  VETERANS, thank you for all you have done to make our country a safe place to live.

Zappo Sisters' parents

Parents of the Zappo Sisters

1942

See next post for details

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Sister's "look"

An update on Sister's wild costume... She is a Goth cheerleader with the old Gilda Radner look for her hair.  As a volunteer for a local police department in her area, Sister always helps with the Halloween booth.  The most interesting costume for this year was a family dressed as: The Addams Family, complete with Cousin It.  Too bad there were no pictures of this group.

Yummy!

http://www.sncmusic.com/album/christmas-cheers-1/

For a little "eye candy" and some interesting music, check out this site.  No, don't be afraid.  I have not gone over to the "dark side" with Leningrad Cowboys again.  Ladies, I think you will like these ten handsome men and their style of performing.  I prefer to listen rather than watch their videos.  You can thank Sister for this tip of the day.

Sister????????????

Hmmm...Sister, I think our audience might like to know the story behind the look.

Second Diplomatic mission…A Success!

Your Ambassador has returned from attending the dedication of the sculpture in Waynesville, North Carolina.   

This piece of public art has been titled, “Celebrating Folkmoot” and was commissioned by the Waynesville Public Arts Council.  For those of you who are not familiar with the word, “folkmoot”, let me enlighten you. 

Twenty-six years ago, the concept of “Folkmoot” or “a meeting of the people” was introduced to the tiny mountain town of Waynesville by Dr. Cliff Border and other interested citizens.  This was to be a hosting of international dancers by the town of Waynesville for about one week and would take place in July.  The first festival featured groups representing nine countries: England, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Turkey and some bluegrass musicians from our Appalachian area. Over the years, some 200 groups from 100 different countries have participated with a new slate of performers each year. 

As you can imagine, this was no small task to find the groups, plan the events & venues, organize lodging and to sell not only the tickets but to sell the community on this newfangled idea.  Mountain people don’t always take to change with enthusiasm but for the first event, the folks came from all over western North Carolina.  At that time, I was living in Waynesville and teaching high school.  This was beyond exciting and some of my students were asked to serve as hosts and hostesses for various groups. That meant staying with the group for the entire visit, even sleeping in the classrooms and dining with their group.  It became the opportunity of a lifetime for many mountain kids and a life-changing event for even more.  Two of my favorite students realized that they had personalities plus; began to wonder about the rest of the world and went on many excursions outside the States as they progressed through college.  One young man became so enamored with the Romanian Ballet Troupe, that he followed his true love to Romania; proposed and began the saga of waiting for Visas while continuing college.  That story has a wonderful ending with marriage, children and living in Waynesville.

Now, I am not saying that our town was backward but I taught students who had never been outside the county.  Really, in 1984!  They had never heard another language other than English and some referred to me as “a foreigner” since I had lived all over the state of North Carolina and spoke precise English.  I was an English teacher, after all.  This influx of “strangers” in their curious costumes, odd eating habits, and their love of dance managed to cross the language barrier and endear the locals to wanting Folkmoot to survive.  For many years, our international guests were housed in one of the schools…yes, cots were set up in classrooms; meals were served in the school cafeteria and school activity buses were volunteered to take the guests to their venues.  As word-of-mouth spread the news of Folkmoot, visitors began planning vacations around the July event and buses were traveling to surrounding counties to showcase the dancers.  All the volunteers were just local people who gave their time and love for our visitors.  My two favorite times with Folkmoot would have to be the International Parade on Main Street and the closing ceremony.  My all-time favorite group is hands down, the stilt walkers from France!  If this has intrigued you, please go to the website for more information.    
                                               ( http://www.folkmootusa.org/)

Anyway, back to my evening visit to Waynesville…The council had commissioned an artist, Wayne Trapp, (http://www.waynetrapp.com/) after reviewing numerous applications to design a sculpture that would say: “FOLKMOOT”.  The contest to design a flag and create a country was left up to interested individuals.  These creations, including Zapponia, were submitted to Mr. Trapp and then he worked his magic.  The link below has an excellent photo of the sculpture. http://www.townofwaynesville.org/content/view/362/363/) 

Ok.  You really can’t see the glorious flag of Zapponia since the artist incorporated all the designs submitted but some part of Zapponia is evident.  As the sun set rather quickly and the temperature dropped into the thirties, the crowd assembled for the dedication of “Celebrating Folkmoot”.  Your Ambassador was introduced as one of the designers and then several speeches later, we followed the bagpiper, a few steps, to The Gateway Club for a warmer gathering of friends and hospitality.  Wayne Trapp gave an informative presentation of his background and works he has completed, which you can see on his website.


Then it was time to head to my “sponsor’s” home for a long visit over an excellent Zinfandel.  Check out her darling cats, who were thrilled to have another human in the house for the night.  We kept her husband busy taking pictures and pouring wine.  By the way, "said" husband is almost ready to publish his first book but more on that another time.