The eleventh day of our vacation started at our timeshare resort condo…
Where I found this:
A note from the grandchild of our hearts.
Sorry… but there’s no way better way to start the day than that.
Although biscuits and gravy with home fries comes close.
We had a full day of Christmas gift shopping ahead of us and needed hearty sustenance. And in the south?
That includes the options of scrapple, fried catfish, grits or bologna and eggs.
The husband’s utterly favorite breakfast is chipped beef on toast and he rarely finds it in Maine… so when we stumbled on the Southern Pancake and Waffle House in Williamsburg?
He wanted to go every morning…. which we pretty much did from then on.
But hey, there were chickens in every window so how could we lose?
Our first stop that day was a liquor store in anticipation of our upcoming Christmas Day in North Carolina.
For future reference…. the first way to tell you’re in a liquor store in the south?
There’s a still.
Still searching for that silly wine filter, I thought we could try Merchant’s Square…. which is the shopping section of Colonial Williamsburg I couldn’t get the husband to check out the previous week.
As with all areas there, it was lovely.
Filled with interesting high end shops… like this interior design place.
Giant double diamond ring light fixture anyone…?
We happily strolled aroiund, ducking in and out of the stores with all the other desperate Holy crap it’s Christmas Eve and I don’t have a gift! shoppers.
Naturally I had to buy a souvenir tee shirt –
Truer words were ne’er spoke.
And towards late afternoon when my stomach started grumbling?
This happened.
Someone saw the husband’s Marine Corps hat, said Semper Fi, and they were off….
On a 38 minute long conversation about who was stationed where, when and with whom.
Yes. I timed it….
While he talked?
I walked.
Agreed wholeheartedly with a sign.
And explored a little more…
Of the colonial town.
And hey, if you’re going to dress up in period costume and stand on the sidewalk?
Don’t give me the stink eye when I take your picture.
Turning back around hoping the other half had finished talking…
I saw snow.
Granted it wasn’t very much, but it surprised me to see any at all.
The ice skating rink surprised me as well.
In Maine we wait for ponds to freeze over.
In Virginia they just build one… and how they keep it frozen in 60 degree temperatures is a mystery to me.
River's world..... 
I didn’t see chicken fried steak and eggs… I’m sure it was an oversight…
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Well, there was a chicken in every window. Maybe they objected…
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Ha! Occupational hazard for us veterans. I’ts pretty much required to compare all duty stations since boot camp.
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My husband once went up the road for gas. It usually takes 10 minutes. 4 hours later he came back without gas because he met someone he had been stationed with Okinawa.
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Only an amateur would put a still out in the open like that, although that reminds me of visits to the Jack Daniel’s distillery, which is in the middle of a dry county. It still makes me laugh that they could make whiskey there but couldn’t sell it.
Also it’s really cool that your husband met a fellow Marine, both for him and for you, since it gave you a chance to do some idle wandering. I’m not sure that lady in the period outfit was giving you the stink eye, though. Maybe she was really trying to figure out what magic you were performing.
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When we lived down south we visited a state fair that had a still actively making moonshine. No tasting allowed… and that was simply cruel.
As for the woman, you’re right. The poor thing probably thought I was stealing her soul.
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Ohhh man biscuits and gravy, home fries? Carbolicious if you ask me. I think chipped beef on toast is a military thing. My grandfather who was in the Army during WWII, loved the stuff and growing up he learned how to make it.
Granted, as kids me and the cousins didn’t like it much. But now as an adult, when I see it I order it and think of my Grandpa Manny every time I do. I love it, can’t get enough of it, I just have to learn how to make it, lol.
As somewhat of a southerner (Texas if you count us) I’ve tasted scrapple and all I can say is….YUCK! But that’s just me.
Ahhh you and them chickens, leave it to River to find fowl live, painted or in any other form. You do have a knack for it, I can say that for sure! 😉
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I can’t do the chipped beef… it’s too damned salty for me. When I was young it came in a little glass jar found in the meat section. My father loved it too. I’ve never tried Scrapple, and from the look of it? I never will!
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Right? Theres a reason why they call it scrapple…..it’s everything but the oink. lol
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It’s a secret on the ice rink. They could tell you but then….well you know what happens then…………….
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Ah…. guess I’m better off not knowing then.
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Smart lady.
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Great post. I love the pictures and the captions. I’d go to that place for breakfast, right now.
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It was good down home country cookin’.
Leave your calorie counter at the door!
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Calories don’t count while you’re on vacation. Your body understands that choices are limited.
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Okay, it is time for a strike/sitin/ standup and everything else!! 40 posts about churches and houses–at least 20 of hubby looking for an outhouse not to forget uncountable posts and pictures of rocks!!
WE WANT AT LEAST 3 POSTS OF RESTAURANTS, FOOD, EATING AND NOTHING BUT THAT!!
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I gave you breakfast!
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I like chipped beef on toast and I can’t tell you the last time I had it. Not the point of your post, but it’s near noon here and I’m hungry. 😋
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Like I said, you can’t find it here….. so the husband was beyond thrilled.
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You say you can’t find chipped beef on toast in Maine — have you tried the in-state southern towns of Augusta, Richmond, and South Portland?
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I’ve been to two out of three and never saw any….
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Maybe like the people, ice in the South thinks 60 degrees is freezing…
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We used to have chipped beef on toast when I was a kid. Had no idea it was something my dad probably had during the war. Hated it. I remember how my mom made it, though, for anyone who’s interested. You fry the chipped beef in a pan, then make a gravy from the drippings. There may be milk involved.
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Yes, it’s a white milk gravy. Not a difficult recipe….. but also one I’ll not be making anytime soon.
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