Where's Gordo ?

So, I start my blog on my southern experiences and I get an e-mail from a friend who says “hey Gordon, your not in the South, your in Florida” I think many of my family and friends think of Florida in terms of Disney world, when I tell everyone I live in Florida, the next thing out of their mouth is “Nice, so how far are you from Disney World?” I explain that I am in the Tallahassee area, 4 hours drive from Orlando. But a million years in time. Tallahassee is a very southern minded city it borders two other southern states-Georgia and Alabama. So just how much am I in the South?..Check this out



Modern definition The states in dark red are almost always included in modern day definitions of the South, while those in medium red are usually included. Some sources classify Maryland and Missouri as Southern, with Delaware only rarely grouped within the region. West Virginia is often considered Southern, because it was once part of Virginia. From my personal experience, I think you can color the Florida panhandle dark red.

Central Florida downward seems more northern like, has a big city feel. It could be because of all the Yankees who did the snowbird thing and stayed.

What looks more southern to you, Tallahassee’s famous canopy roads:



Or this?




Miami skyline. People in the panhandle in Florida do talk about Miami as if it were in another country. Such a vast change in culture and mood. It’s kind of funny, I do look forward to a trip to Miami or Orlando to get my big city fix every now and then but always look forward to coming “home” to our little slice of heaven here in gods country. So, yes I live down south nowadays. I don't hear much of-"you can't get there from heeya" But how about this one: He looks like he's been rode hard and put up wet

Jurassic Bugs

It happens every time I mow the lawn here, I don’t know what it is, I only see a blur but as I am sweating and halfway through my lawn mowing venture, I hear it. It sounds like a low flying plane only with a deeper pitch. It flies right by my ears and I can feel the “wing breeze” and see the blur of some sort of giant bug strafing my head from heck knows where to scare the bejesuz out of me. My reactions are slower these days, so when I duck my head, this large flying beast is already long gone. I will find out one day what this thing is and study up on it so to be prepared for battle the next time.

Florida bugs are huge! And to me, very different from any bugs that I have seen. Just looking at my screen door at night when I have the porch light on, you can see the many different type of strange and weird looking creatures. When I look at my screen at night, I automatically can see and hear that scene from the movie Star Wars, you know the one where all the aliens are at the bar for a drink..this one..

this one !

that’s what it looks and sounds like!

We don’t have simple cockroaches down here, we call them Palmetto bugs..with gigantic engines and a wing span that would make any northern bird blush. Look here!





I don’t remember these things in Boston? I think they need a mini runway to get airborne!


You want to talk spiders? Growing up on the east coast I remember being afraid of those long legged spiders we called daddy long legs. Well, I can proudly say that I fear them no more! I have this to contend with down here:




(From the spider bites web page) The Banana Spider is known to hide among bananas shipped to the US and is really called the Brazilian Wandering Spider. These spiders are aggressive and very venomous and not intimidated by size (can attack people when threatened).

The odd part about the Banana Spider is that studies indicate only 33% of the spider bites actually contain any significant amount of venom, but those that are injected with venom could be in serious danger!
If you are bitten by a Brazilian Wandering spider (Phoneutria spp.), you should seek immediate emergency treatment as the venom could possibly be life threatening. The Phoneutria not only has a potent neurotoxin, but is said to have one of the most excruciatingly painful spider bites of all spiders due to its high concentration of serotonin.
Despite the Banana Spider’s reputation as the world’s deadliest spider, there are multiple studies that dispute the ability for the spider to actually kill a human and one study suggested that a little over 2% of these spider bites (mostly in children) were serious enough to require antivenom.
On the other hand, there are other studies suggesting that the Banana Spider is indeed the most toxic spider in the world based upon toxicology studies. One of the most notable and thorough studies is presented in the book “Venomous Animals and their Venoms Vol. III” by Wolfgang Bucheral and Eleanor Buckley. This study has some shocking findings that clearly demonstrate how lethal the Brazilian Wandering spider can actually be.
There is an antidote for the bite of a Banana Spider and was discovered by Carlos Chagas from Brazil.
If you see a spider hiding in a cluster of Bananas, you should move right along and possibly inform the store manager that is may be a Banana Spider!

There are big, less threatening bugs as well, take the large milkweed bug here



Not so threatening but still big! Large Milkweed Bugs - Oncopeltus fasciatus
These bugs can sometimes be found by the hundreds on a single milkweed plant. Adults and all levels of instars can be mixed together. The adults, being flying insects, can be quite a sight when airborne - the top of their abdomen is really brilliant orange and shows up nicely when the wings are in use. For a bug Leary guy, they still can be intimidating


I could go on, but I will stop here before I get to talking about the not so big but pesky little fire ants, that’s another entry.
Even with all these large pesky creatures about, I love the south, the people and it’s bugs. well, bugs - not so much!

True Grits

From Wikipedia: Grits is a food of Native American origin that is common in the Southern United States; it mainly consists of coarsely ground corn.

Grits is similar to other thick maize-based porridges from around the world, such as polenta. It also resembles farina, a thinner porridge. The word leads back to the traditional Northern European grit gruels. Grits can be served hot or cold and as a base for a multitude of dishes from breakfast to dessert, depending on the additives. Additives can include salt and butter, meats (especially shrimp on the east or Gulf Coast), cheese, and rarely, (but in nouvelle Southern cuisine) vegetables. It is also common for people from above the Mason-Dixon Line to have brown sugar, nuts, raisins and even coconut shavings with their grits.

Grits can also be fried. The boiled grits are left to cool in a pan or mold. The resulting block of firm, cooled grits are cut with a knife or wire, and the slices are fried in a fat such as vegetable oil, butter, or bacon grease.

Hominy grits is grits made from nixtamalized corn, or hominy. It is sometimes called sofkee or sofkey from the Creek word.[1][2] (end)

So........when I first asked for a bowl of grits here in the south, I asked the waitress to be sure to include milk and sugar..she said "include what!?" "you must be from up north" she continued. Quaker oats porridge came to mind when I placed my order. Come to find out, I can have grits with butter or cheese (cheese?) Before tasting them, I always thought of grits to be a hard "gritty" food and tasteless. Heck I had no clue what a grit was prior to my southern life, as a kid I heard the word grit and could only think of one thing: John Wayne!



I loved this man,what a great American!


I now have come to enjoy a bowl of grits with my breakfast. I still probably eat them with a northern flare as I don't have it with cheese or butter but ask for it plain and I top it off with a bit of artificial sugar-yes the pink package. Some tell me that is sacrilegious, but I do enjoy them that way. I do remember, as a kid eating porridge at the kitchen table before school and staring at the box and wondering is this Ben Franklin or a look alike?



I am now in search of the best grits in North Florida...can you help locate?? I will even try them with cheese or butter if you can point me in the right direction.

~Gordon

So it's called worm gruntin'

You have not lived until you have experienced the worm gruntin' festival held annually in Sopchoppy Florida. When I first heard about this festival I had mental images of locals on stage with a microphone grunting like a worm, (does a worm grunt?) not unlike the pig calling contests I have seen on the news. Far from it! First off, My wife had to tell me it's worm gruntin' honey, NOT worm grunting! Worm gruntin' is the art of earth worming - using tools with names such as ropping iron, wooden stob, gallon can and croaker sack. you use these tools to create a vibration by moving back and forth the rooping iron across the wooden stob - the vibration moves the little fellas from under the soil to topside for easy pickings to be used for bait.

At the festival, I found the worm gruntin' master-Gary Revell. His family has been doing this for many, many years. Gary owns a bait shop in Sopchoppy and was very excited to show me his "catch" from his recent gruntin' activities.



Gary is a very happy man and loves what he does with a passion:



I appreciated that more than anything else at the festival, how passionate Gary was to his trade and how he enjoyed telling us what he does and how he enjoys doing it. It's a family tradition. The closest thing I ever came to doing something like this up east was to dig for hours in my backyard when I was a kid and could only find those darn Rolly Polly bugs that curled up into a ball when you touched them. The bottom line of the festival was just as much about the people than the worms,good people celebrating an old art....love it!!

Down South

I created this blog to catalog my ventures and wanderings down south. I have been to so many fascinating places and met so many nice and interesting people I thought it would be a great idea to share and keep an on line diary so to speak. Growing up in the inner city of Boston, I was brought up and taught about things in the "east coast spin" the south was a million miles from home. living down south for a number of years now (Crawfordville, Florida-Wakulla County!) has me learning the "southern spin" I love it and now call it home. I hope you enjoy the blog entries...feel free to comment :)

~Gordon