Southern
on location: south ❖
randy mink
Culinary Delights
Dining at High Point, an upscale restaurant in a converted stone mansion, is worth the trip to Monteagle, Tennessee.
n the South, travelers naturally expect fluffy homemade biscuits and melt-in-your-mouth cornbread, sweet potatoes and fried green tomatoes, big breaded catfish fillets, fried chicken and the best barbecue on the planet. The traditional Southern table is all about comfort food, the kind that reminds you of Sunday dinner at grandma’s house. I have to admit I like heavy foods— the more grease, butter or bacon the better. Fry up anything and, like magic, it turns into an irresistible treat. Right? But all food in the South is not fried. In fact, a new culinary scene is taking hold, one with healthy recipes, farm-totable philosophies and trend-setting chefs who are reinventing American cuisine—or at least putting new twists on old favorites. The following state-by-state smor-
I
22 April 2010
gasbord highlights regional specialties, culinary tours, cooking classes, farmers markets, food festivals and groupfriendly restaurants that will add flavor and fun to your next itinerary.
Highlands Bar and Grill is one of Birmingham’s top restaurants.
ALABAMA For ideas on places to take groups in Alabama, see the third edition of the 100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die brochure just published by the state’s tourism department. “It has by far been the most popular brochure that we have produced to date,” said tourism director Lee Sentell. From BBQ to fresh Gulf seafood, the brochure lists dozens of restaurants in small towns and downtowns across the state. Dishes include scallops at the Battle House Hotel in Mobile, fried chicken at Maggie’s Diner in Tuscaloosa, and a peanut butter and jelly pastry at the Cotton Row in Huntsville. Also on the list: Royal Red Shrimp at Old Bay Steamer and King Neptune’s on the Gulf Coast, the catfish and cheese grits at Radley’s Fountain Grill in Monroeville, baked LeisureGroupTravel.com
Tennessee Department of Tourist Development
Adventures in eating await tour groups from the mountains to the sea
4QB $JUZ
Hot Springs is famous for natural thermal spas and historic Bathhouse Row. But with the South’s newest gaming center, stunning woodland gardens, delicious dining and more – you can call us whatever you like. Visit hotsprings.org or call 1-800-922-6478 for your Group Tour Planner now.
(BNJOH $JUZ
(BSEFO $JUZ
America’s First Resort
Make the highpoint of Arkansas WKH KLJKOLJKW RI WKHLU WRXU
7UDYHO WKH 0RXQW 0DJD]LQH 6FHQLF %\ZD\ WR 0RXQW 0DJD]LQH 6WDWH 3DUN :LWK XQVXUSDVVHG YLHZV IURP DWRS WKH KLJKHVW SRLQW LQ $UNDQVDV WKLV SDUN RIIHUV \RXU WRXU JURXSV XQIRUJHWWDEOH H[SHULHQFHV *UDFLQJ WKH PRXQWDLQ·V VRXWK EOXII WKH SDUN·V UHVRUW PRXQWDLQ ORGJH LV WKH SHUIHFW HQG WR D GD\ RQ WKH URDG &DOO IRU VSHFLDO JURXS UDWHV
2QH RI $UNDQVDV·V IRXU VWDWH SDUN ORGJHV
‡ 0RXQW0DJD]LQH6WDWH3DUN FRP
LGT/10
on location: south ❖ grits at Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham, tomato salad at Hot and Hot Fish Club, L.A. Caviar at Lulu’s in Gulf Shores, fried chicken at Martin’s in Montgomery, BBQ chicken with white sauce at Big Bob Gibson’s in Decatur and orange-pineapple ice cream at Trowbridge’s in Florence. The brochure can be downloaded at alabama.travel. Festivals highlight food favorites across the state. Among the offerings: Stokin’ the Fire BBQ and Music Festival, Aug. 20-21, Birmingham; Annual Okra Festival, Aug. 28, Burkville; 5th Annual Alabama Butterbean Festival, Sept. 4, Pinson; Sweet Tater Festival, Sept. 5-6, Crane Hill; Riverfest Barbecue Cook-Off, Sept. 17-18, Decatur; National Shrimp Festival, Oct. 7-10, Gulf Shores; and 66th Annual National
Sip and savor at Chateau aux Arc Vineyards and Winery in Altus, Arkansas.
Peanut Festival, Oct. 29-Nov. 6, Dothan. ARKANSAS It’s not common knowledge, but Arkansas claims to be the largest and oldest wine and grape juice-producing state in the South, and offers fine dining opportunities as well as down-home cooking.
The Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism website has a suggested twoday itinerary to Arkansas Wine Country and Winthrop Rockefeller Institute in the Arkansas River Valley. The foodie trip starts in the Altus area with a tour and tasting at one of four wineries—Post Familie Vineyard and Winery, Wiederkehr Wine Cellars, Mount Bethel Winery and Chateau Aux Arc. Lunch features Swiss and continental cuisine at Wiederkehr’s Weinkeller Restaurant, set in a hand-dug wine cellar listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Or have lunch at one of several restaurants on Altus’ historic downtown square. The tour continues to the Arkansas Historic Wine Museum at Cowie Wine Cellars in Carbon City, just west of Paris, with overnight in a lodge room at Mount Magazine State Park. On the next day the group can take a cooking class or tour the demonstration garden at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain near Morrillton. (arkansas.com/dining/culinary-quest/vacations.aspx) The state’s tourism website also highlights unusual restaurants. Parachute Inn (870-886-5918) in Walnut Ridge, for example, occupies a restored Southwest Airlines Boeing 727, with seats reconfigured to fit tables. Dondie’s White River Princess (870-256-3311) in Des LeisureGroupTravel.com
52 weeks in the year.
52 unique group destinations. 7KLV FRXOG JHW LQWHUHVWLQJ
Looking for new group travel ideas? We’ve got 52 of ’em. The Arkansas State Parks system has something for everyone – archeology, adventure, history, mountains, rivers and lakes – even the only diamond site in the world where you can dig for diamonds and keep what you find!
Historic Mather Lodge, Petit Jean State Park
$7 3$5.6 ‡ $UNDQVDV6WDWH3DUNV FRP
on location: south ❖ Arc, built to resemble an old-time steamboat, offers a buffet with huge catfish fillets, chicken strips and shrimp. Cafe Africa (501-666-2406) at the Little Rock Zoo is housed in the renovated lion house, an all-rock building constructed in 1933 by the Works Progress Administration. FLORIDA Latin and Caribbean influences have given Florida cuisine a cosmopolitan flavor. Lapped by the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, the Sunshine State also is known for its fresh seafood and abundance of waterfront restaurants. Key lime pie is the state’s signature dessert. Ybor City, known as Tampa’s Latin Quarter, has strong Cuban, Spanish and Italian traditions that date back to its heyday as the cigar-making capital of the world. Lit by gaslight-style street lamps,
Flavors of Spain tantalize guests at Columbia Restaurant in Tampa.
Seventh Avenue and nearby streets abound with funky boutiques, restaurants and bars, and cigar shops.
Ybor City’s Columbia Restaurant claims to be the world’s largest Spanish restaurant and oldest restaurant in Florida. Occupying a city block, it began in 1905 as a small cafe run by a Cuban immigrant and is now operated by the family’s fourth and fifth generations. Hand-painted tiles decorate the exterior and 15 dining rooms. Favorite dishes include paella a la Valencia, the national dish of Spain, and arroz con pollo, a classic chicken and rice dish. Wash it down with Columbia’s own sangria or choose from one of the world’s largest collections of wine from Spain. (columbiarestaurant.com) Casual fish restaurants are a natural choice in Key West, where commercial fishing is second only to tourism as the most important industry. Key West pink shrimp, sweeter than other varieties, are best when sautéed in butter. And despite
unveiling may 2010 Our ever-changing core exhibition, Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music, is undergoing a dramatic expansion. Today’s stars, such as Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, and Sugarland, will be represented alongside
VISIT
legends connecting country music history across generations of fans.
The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum 5@G>JH@±&JH@
UNIQUE GROUP TOUR PACKAGES AVAILABLE
Dow n tow n Na s h v i l l e , Tennessee
800-852-6437 CountryMusicHallofFame.org
Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, Inc., a section 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964.
26 April 2010
LeisureGroupTravel.com
no longer being sourced in the Keys, tender conch from the Caribbean finds its way onto menus in the form of chowder, fritters and ceviche-style salads spiked with fresh lime. Most of Florida’s stone crabs are caught in the Keys, with fresh chilled claws found on Key West menus from mid-October to mid-May. (fla-keys.com) GEORGIA Food Network star Paula Deen, the “Queen of Southern Cuisine,â€? calls Savannah home, and groups can follow in her footsteps on a trolley tour that includes a goodie bag and lunch at her brother’s restaurant on Whitmarsh Island, Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House. Old Savannah Tours’ “The Paula Deen Tourâ€? (3½ to 4 hours) tells the celebrity cook’s rags-to-riches story and visits such places as Polks Produce, often featured on Deen’s TV show; Byrd Cookie Company, a favorite of hers; and Bethesda Home for Boys, where she was married. (oldsavannahtours.com) Savannah’s most famous restaurant is Paula Deen’s The Lady & Sons, which she runs with sons Jamie and Bobby. The menu features items like chicken pot pie, shrimp and grits, and meatloaf sandwiches. The Southern buffet has fried chicken, mac and cheese, creamed corn, yams, black-eyed peas and much more, with a choice of one dessert—banana pudding, peach cobbler or gooey butter cake. (ladyandsons.com) Around the corner from Deen’s restaurant, Kitchen on the Square offers demonstration-style cooking classes taught by local chefs and caterers. According to its website, the store supplies some of the equipment used on the TV show Paula Deen’s Home Cooking and the magazine Cooking with Paula Deen. (kitchenonthesquare.com). Small groups also can learn the tricks of Southern cooking and entertaining at 700 Kitchen Cooking School at The Mansion on Forsyth Park, a luxury hostelry in Old Savannah. (mansiononforsythpark.com)
EXPERIENCE JEFFERSON
So close...and yet a world away.
You can hear the splash of paddlewheelers cruising the mighty 0LVVLVVLSSL 5LYHU-HIIHUVRQ LV WKDW FORVH (QMR\ ÀUVW FODVV VKRSSLQJ KLVWRULFDO GLVWULFWV RXWGRRU IXQ )DUPHU¡V 0DUNHWV H[FLWLQJ QLJKWOLIH DQG RXU ZRUOG UHQRZQHG IRRG -HIIHUVRQ D QHZ GLPHQVLRQ WR WKH 1HZ 2UOHDQV H[SHULHQFH
C o n v e n t i o n
&
V i s i t o r s
B u r e a u
To learn more, ask for our Group Tour Planner DVD. Call 504-731-7083 or TOLL FREE 1-877-572-7474.
on location: south ❖ KENTUCKY City Taste Tours, new on Louisville’s culinary scene, dishes up local history with stops at some of the city’s best food establishments. Lucky for the Louisville tourist, there is a lot of history in the city’s food, from the hot brown and Benedictine sandwiches to Kentucky bourbon, mint juleps and the chocolate chip-walnut Derby Pie®. The company’s “Kentucky Foods and Flavors Tour” lasts three to four hours and is aimed at those interested in a full culinary history of the city. The “City Sights and Kentucky Sweets Tour” is two-and-a-half to three hours and hits historic highlights like Churchill Downs, with stops for treats along the way. The “Brew-Ha-Ha Tour” offers a sampling of Louisville’s microbreweries. City Taste Tours will also create a custom tour or progressive dinner for groups. (citytastetours.com) On the “Duncan Hines Culinary Tour” in Bowling Green, groups learn about this native son who wrote travel books and went on to create a packaged foods brand that became a household name. To book a tour, groups only need to contact the Bowling Conven-
TV cook Paula Deen has made The Lady & Sons a Savannah landmark. 28 April 2010
Derby Pie®, made at Kern’s Kitchen, is a scrumptious Louisville tradition.
tion & Visitors Bureau and ask for the group sales and services director, Duncan Hines (a distant relative, believe it or not). At the city’s Kentucky Museum, groups can tour the Recommended by Duncan Hines exhibit and conclude with a live cooking demonstration and lunch or just dessert. The full-scale exhibit of Duncan Hines’ kitchen contains such personal items as his stove and ice bucket, plus cabinets filled with artifacts bearing the Duncan Hines name, such as spices, cutlery, Stetson dinnerware and cookbooks. Other reminders of Hines’ legacy include his home/office built in 1940, gravesite at Fairview Cemetery and the 80-mile Duncan Hines Scenic Byway. (duncan@visitbgky.com, visitbgky.com) LOUISIANA Good food, with the emphasis on Cajun and Creole, is reason enough to travel to Louisiana, where a gumbo of flavors makes every meal an adventure. Even before culinary travel became a buzz term, people have been going to Louisiana to eat. For information on the state’s seven designated culinary trails, see the Louisiana Office of Tourism’s special website (louisianaculinarytrails.com). For each trail, there are tips on regional foods, restaurants and sightseeing, plus recipes.
To learn how to make Louisiana specialties like gumbo, jambalaya and pralines, private demonstration classes can be arranged for groups of 25 or more at the New Orleans School of Cooking, housed in an early 1800s molasses warehouse in the French Quarter. Generous samplings are included. Hands-on classes are available as well. The school’s Louisiana General Store is one of many souvenir emporiums in the Quarter that sells hot sauces, seafood seasonings, pralines and other Louisiana-made products. (nosoc.com) Two tourist attractions in New Iberia, the heart of Cajun Country, provide a peek into how food specialties are made. At Tabasco Pepper Sauce Factory and Jungle Gardens at Avery Island, tours show how the little red peppers are crushed into a paste and fermented for three years. A viewing gallery overlooks the bottling and packaging operation for the world-famous hot sauce made by generations of the McIlhenny family. Don’t miss the Tabasco Country Store, where guests can buy Tabasco logo items and sample the brand’s flavored hot sauces (like teriyaki and Worcestershire) along with Tabasco mustard, mayonnaise and various dips. Not far away, on the grounds of America’s oldest rice mill, tours starting at the Konriko Company Store spotlight the milling process. Groups can watch Conrad Rice Mill workers LeisureGroupTravel.com
Plenty of excitement
IN ONE BEAUTIFUL PLACE
COMFORT INN SOUTH FOREST BEACH 800-522-3224 843-842-6662 comforthiltonhead.com DAYS INN HILTON HEAD 843-842-4800 daysinn.com/hotel/15527 HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS HOTEL & SUITES 843-757-2002 866-757-2002 BlufftonExpress.com HOLIDAY INN OCEANFRONT 800-423-9897 843-785-5126 hihiltonhead.com
The Hilton Head and Bluffton area offers a variety of activities to please just about any group. Adventure out on the water for a dinner or dolphin cruise or explore the numerous charming marina villages with boutique shopping and water-view dining. Learn more about our Gullah culture and our vibrant arts community. Day trips within easy reach include the historic areas of Savannah, Beaufort and Charleston. Learn more at HiltonHeadIsland.org
RESORTQUEST HILTON HEAD ISLAND 800-826-1649 843-785-1181 resortquesthiltonhead.com SHELTER COVE HARBOUR & MARINA SHOPS/DINING 888-568-9555 palmettodunes.com
Contact Brenda Ciapanna, Sales Manager at our Visitor & Convention Bureau. grouptour@hiltonheadisland.org, 800-523-3373 ext. 368
on location: south ❖
MISSISSIPPI How many legs does a shrimp have? On the famous Biloxi Shrimping Trip, a Gulf Coast fixture since 1955, groups learn everything they ever wanted to know about catching, cooking and eating this Southern seafood delicacy. On the 70-minute shrimping expedition in calm waters between the Biloxi shoreline and Deer Island, guests watch as the crew drops a 16-foot trawl and drags the bottom of the Mississippi Sound for shrimp and other creatures. The boat accommodates up to 49 passengers (group rates from $13 per person). Dockside, the group can enjoy a traditional shrimp boil, complete with fresh shrimp, red potatoes, corn on the cob, sausage and mushrooms—finger food at its best. The meal ($25 per person) also includes drinks, dessert and Zydeco music. From March to May, groups can substitute crawfish for shrimp and learn to suck the heads and pinch the tails like a true South Mississippian. (biloxishrimpingtrip.com) Another group culinary program in coastal Mississippi is a “Beer and Food Pairing Experience” offered by Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company, Missis30 April 2010
(i.e. shrimp and grits, hushpuppies, sweet tea), “Sweet Indulgence Stroll” (truffles, cupcakes, ice pops), “Brews Cruise” and “Market Tour and Cooking Class.” (tastecarolina.net) At the State Farmers Market in Raleigh, visitors enjoy 75 acres of indoor and outdoor specialty shops selling fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses and gift products from across the state. Farm-fresh produce from the market is found in the Southern dishes prepared at State Farmers Market Restaurant, which promises “A Little South for Grilled tuna with seafood garnish: A palateYour Mouth.” pleaser in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Later this year Harrah’s Cherosippi’s only microbrewery. Following a kee Casino & Hotel opens Paula complimentary tour of the brewery in Deen’s Kitchen, the property’s first new Kiln, groups can dine at a Gulf Coast restaurant in part of a $633-million, restaurant and sample such beers as the three-year expansion program. Serving Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale, the a la carte breakfast, lunch and dinner, only beer made with whole roasted the celebrity chef ’s full-service, 404-seat pecans; Southern Gold, made from local eatery will be reminiscent of her home honey; and Reb Ale, an American-style and kitchen in Savannah, Ga. (Deen’s pale ale. (lazymagnolia.com) restaurant at Harrah’s Tunica Casino is a buffet.) A retail shop will offer Paula NORTH CAROLINA Deen cookbooks, food items, cookware A great way for groups to explore the and logo wear. Harrah’s is located 50 flavors of Greater Raleigh is to sign up miles west of Asheville at the entrance with Taste Carolina Gourmet Food to Great Smoky Mountains National Tours. Its “Whole Hog Barbecue Tour” Park. (harrahs.com) visits five restaurants in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill that serve SOUTH CAROLINA North Carolina’s most famous food, ofFood festivals are a big deal in South fering a chance to taste various styles, Carolina. They happen throughout the from Eastern Vinegar and Western Dip year, so chances are that your group can to Southern Mustard and Texas-style. catch one. These fests draw heavily on The journey allows groups of 10-20 to local culture and produce. compare sauces and cooking processes Did you know South Carolina is secwhile chatting with chefs and experts. ond only to California in peach producWalking tours of six to eight eateries in tion? June and July is peach festival Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill/ month in several locations. Outside of Carrboro cover two to three miles and McBee, McLeod Farms, a big operation focus on innovative food sourced locally with more than 100,000 peach trees, will from farm-to-table. Specialized tours feature cooking contests, tours of the include the “Southern Comforts Tour” South Carolina Peach Museum and New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau/Carl Purcell
package rice and make rice crackers. (tabasco.com, konriko.com) In Baton Rouge, Tony’s Seafood Market & Deli is not a restaurant stop, but the Gulf South’s largest seafood market does give group tours of its Louisiana Fish Fry Products plant and crawfish processing operations. You’ve probably seen the brand of jambalaya, dirty rice, hushpuppies and other mixes in grocery stores. The fast-food counter sells fried snack items like boudin (“boo-DAN”) balls—a crispy pork sausage and rice mixture. Tony’s is strictly carryout—there is nowhere to sit. (tonyseafood.com)
LeisureGroupTravel.com
6JG DGCEJ HQT CNN TGCUQPU
4GCUQP 5QWVJGTP *QURKVCNKV[ JGTG VQFC[ JGTG VQOQTTQY 4GCUQP 5QWVJGTP *QURKVCNKV[ JGTG VQFC[ JGTG VQOQTTQY +P /[TVNG $GCEJ QWT UKIPCVWTG UJQYU CPF CVVTCEVKQPU CTG CNYC[U GXQNXKPI YJKEJ JGNRU MGGR [QWT KVKPGTCTKGU HTGUJ CPF PGY #PF XCTKGV[ CNUQ CYCKVU CV GXGT[ VWTP HQT WPKSWG UJQRRKPI FKPKPI CPF GPVGTVCKPOGPV GZRGTKGPEGU $WV YJCV TGOCKPU WPEJCPIGF [GCT CË•GT [GCT KU QWT IGPWKPG UQWVJGTP JQURKVCNKV[ UGTXGF YKVJ C UOKNG +VoU C HTGG UGTXKEG CPF UWTG VQ MGGR [QWT ITQWRU EQOKPI DCEM D[ VJG DWUNQCFU
&KUEQXGT CNN VJG TGCUQPU %CNN QT ENKEM VQFC[ r /[TVNG$GCEJ)TQWRU EQO
on location: south ❖ TENNESSEE Group-friendly restaurants across the state satisfy travelers looking for the best of traditional Southern cooking, from catfish and hushpuppies to country ham and angel-soft biscuits with red-eye gravy and fried apples. The buttery cornbread is crisp, yet crumbly, warm and savory. Another tasty tradition: a fried apple or peach pie. Of course, you can’t mention Tennessee eats without mentioning barbecue, which is almost a religion in these
cornbread, collard greens, sweet potatoes and chicken-fried steak. For a true taste of Tennessee in Nashville, groups like the Loveless Cafe, which serves country ham and red-eye gravy, fried chicken and scratch biscuits with homemade preserves cooked right in the kitchen, located in a barn in its backyard. (lovelessbarn.com). In Pigeon Forge, Old Mill Restaurant dishes up the best in hearty Southern fare. House specialties include chicken and dumplings, fried catfish and pot roast and gravy, plus treats like corn fritters, corn grits, pancakes and biscuits prepared with flour and corn products next door at the historic Old Mill. (oldmillsquare.com)
S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism/Anne McQuary
peak-season roadside market shopping at its annual Peach Festival July 10. On the coast, oyster festivals hold sway during the “r” months. Traveling in South Carolina, you’ll also find celebrations that showcase grits, rice, okra, sweet potatoes, watermelons, chitlins, catfish and shrimp. And don’t forget a whole subcategory of its own – barbecue. Unlike most parts of the country, where barbecue is a verb – down there it’s a noun. It means pork smoked over an open flame and served up in myriad
Food is half the fun at October’s Loris Bog-Off Festival in Loris, S.C.
ways, and there are competitions yearround to decide who’s best. For details on special events and agritourism, see the state’s culinary website, savorsouthcarolina.com. Food fans await the June grand opening of the new South Carolina State Farmers Market, southeast of Columbia. Three times larger than the previous venue, the visitor-friendly market will feature retail and wholesale vendors, a farmers’ shed, amphitheater, 150-seat exhibition kitchen, specialty food shops, an RV park and restaurants. (scstatefarmersmarket.com) 32 April 2010
parts. Cooked low and slow, it satisfies the soul and sets off arguments. Do you prefer it sweet or hot? Wet or dry? A vinegar, mustard or tomato sauce? Pork or beef? The month-long Memphis in May International Festival has the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, but all year groups can enjoy BBQ ribs and sandwiches at Memphis favorites like The Rendezvous, Corky’s, Interstate and Neely’s. BBQ spaghetti, a Memphis specialty, started at Interstate. Memphis also is known for home cookin’ and rich, buttery soul food—think platters of
VIRGINIA For a true taste of Virginia history, get thee to an 18th century tavern. Colonial Williamsburg offers several choices for group lunches and dinners, from Christiana Campbell’s, where George Washington dined, to the simpler Shields Tavern. Groups can feast on fried chicken and roast turkey, fresh seafood and Brunswick stew. Peanut soup, seafood chowders and sherry-spiced sweet potatoes are other palate-pleasers. Dessert might be peanut or rum cream pie, or perhaps syllabub, a wine-laced cream whipped to a froth, seasoned with lemon zest and garnished with berries. (colonialwilliamsburg.com) Michie Tavern Dining Room, a group favorite for lunch in Charlottesville, is not far from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. A rustic setting and servers in period attire enhance the ambience. The buffet features colonial fried chicken, black-eye peas, stewed tomatoes, biscuits, cornbread and a variety of hot and cold dishes. Tours of the oldest part of the tavern (1784) include games and entertainment. (michietavern.com) The historic seaport of Smithfield, LeisureGroupTravel.com
on location: south ❖ in the Hampton Roads region, is home of world-famous Smithfield ham. The town’s motto: “Hams, History and Hospitality.” Visit the charming main street and shop before heading to Smithfield Station Waterfront Inn for fresh crab cakes made with Virginia ham, of course. Stop at the original Genuine Smithfield Ham Shoppe and buy a pig
collectible, stock up on Virginia peanuts or ship home a ham from the “Ham Capital of the World.” (smithfieldhams.com, smithfield-virginia.com) WEST VIRGINIA In the New River Gorge area of Southern West Virginia, Gourmet on the Gorge is a new one- or two-day of-
fering for groups from JMCatering. The one-day event ($174 per person) features a cooking class and brunch, a onewoman play about Julia Child, a tour of the New River Gorge Bridge and a jetboat ride on the river, plus food and wine tasting at several Fayetteville restaurants. The two-day event ($219) also includes a cooking class and meal with a Greenbrier-trained chef at Tamarack: The Best of West Virginia in Beckley, along with a tour of Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. (gourmetonthegorge.com). Tamarack, a favorite with travelers looking for Appalachian crafts and entertainment, offers many special cooking events. Its Taste of West Virginia Food Court is managed by The Greenbrier, the classic White Sulphur Springs resort renowned for fine dining. West Virginia-made jams and jellies, salad dressings and mustards, and locally raised trout and catfish are incorporated into daily menus. Breakfast specialties include buttermilk biscuits, fried green tomatoes and cheesy stone-ground grits. (tamarackwv.com) The Greenbrier’s newest restaurant is Prime 44 West, a steakhouse that honors basketball legend and West Virginia native Jerry West. With rich burgundy walls, soft suede textures and rich brown leathers, it showcases over 100 pieces of West’s memorabilia. (greenbrier.com) For information on Southern cuisine, Southern chefs and Southern recipes, log on to the Travel South USA website—http://flavours.travelsouth usa.com.
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE Leisure Group Travel has prepared an online chart listing new tour attractions and major art exhibitions debuting in the months ahead in each Southern state. For a look at what’s on the Southern horizon, log on to LeisureGroup Travel.com and scroll down to “Online Exclusives” on the home page. 34 April 2010
LeisureGroupTravel.com
American Mountain Theater
Historic Bramwell
Smokey’s on the Gorge
Where W here w will iil ll ou our ur c country ountry r roads oads ttake ake y you? ou? Let Let the the W West est Virginia Virginia Group Group Travel Travel Association Association sshow how yyou ou tthe he w way. ayy.. Call Call 800-336-7009 800-336-7009 o orr vvisit isit w wvgta.wordpress.com vgta a.wordpress.com.