Washington the Magazine Nov./Dec. 2020

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 WASHINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 1

2 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

GUIDING YOU HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

There is no time more fitting to say Thank You and to wish you a Happy Holiday Season and a New Year of health, happiness, and prosperity.

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In this issue

FEATURES & DEPARTMENTS SANTA’S SECRET A FESTIVE TRADITION: 18 Meet Henry Slocumb, the man behind in the beard and Belhaven’s resident Santa Claus.

18 A RIDE TO REMEMBER 20

IN EVERY ISSUE 6 10 42 54 60 64 66 67

Publisher’s Note What's in Store What’s to Eat Word on Wine Travel & Leisure Cast a Line Why I Love Washington Advertiser Index

SANTA RIDE: Join cyclists of all ages on this fun-filled, festive parade full of Christmas spirit.

20 MERRY MEMENTOS 26

AN ORNAMENTAL HISTORY: Washington Area Historic Foundation documents Washington’s historic places, one Christmas ornament at a time.

26 FULL CIRCLE 34

A CONTINUING LEGACY: From its founders to its current owners, Pamlico Animal Hospital grows with continued quality care for pets and owners alike.

34 4 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

ON THE COVER Festively decorated golf carts led the casual Christmas parade of cyclists during the 2019 Santa Ride based out of Inner Banks Outfitters. Read more about this fun-filled event that’s open to the public on page 20. (Vail Stewart Rumley)

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 5

A NOTE FROM ASHLEY

A TRADITIONAL time of the year

T

here’s no place like home for the holidays, and both home and holidays are chock full of traditions.

In this issue of Washington The Magazine, we explore some of those local traditions, old and new.

There are few things as traditional as a Christmas visit with Santa Claus.

To the delight of children young and old, Belhaven’s Henry Slocumb has been playing the role of the Jolly Old Elf for nearly a decade. From parades to school visits, Slocumb is the man behind the beard. Pay him a visit on page 18.

Winter weather in eastern North Carolina may mean sleigh rides are out, but bike rides are a great substitute. Decorate your bike, or golf cart, and join the annual Santa Ride, a colorful parade of cyclists of all ages on a fun-filled jaunt around downtown Washington. Read about how they spread holiday cheer on page 20.

Each year for the past 25 years, the Washington Area Historic Foundation has documented the historically significant buildings of Washington in a very unique, Washington way. From a WAHF committee, a building is selected then crafted in miniature for limited-edition Christmas ornaments. Take a walk through history and the entire collection of ornaments on page 26.

Family traditions aren’t just reserved for holidays, nor even for family alone. Pamlico Animal Hospital is carrying on the traditions cemented by founder Dr. Chuck Manning, who built the practice on a family atmosphere that extends to staff, customers and patients. See how the tradition continues, and get a sneak peek inside the new Pamlico Animal Hospital, on page 34.

As we gather together for Thanksgiving and Christmas, the traditions continue with tables laden with delicious dishes that rarely make an appearance other times of the year. In this issue, we asked some of our favorite cooks to share their holiday recipes.

From recipes passed down through many generations of a single family to an eggnogmaking tradition that involved the entire neighborhood, sample these recipes on page 42. Perhaps you’ll want to add a few to your holiday table.

Though the coronavirus pandemic means the holidays may look a little different for many of us this year, we hope the most important traditions remain: time to celebrate with family and loved ones.

Happy Holidays!

Ashley Vansant, Publisher

We would love to hear what you think about Washington the Magazine. Email us at news@

Write thewashingtondailynews.com or write to P.O. Box 1788, Washington, NC 27889. Letters chosen for publication to us may be edited for length and clarity. All submissions become the property of Washington the Magazine.

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Publisher Ashley Vansant Editorial Steve Barnes Matt Debnam Vail Stewart Rumley Contributors Richard Andrews Jeff Bowen Mary Mehlich Tryon Palace Advertising Director David Singleton Marketing & Sales Kristen Smith Scott Williamson Distribution Kim Riggs Art Direction Elizabeth Reed Contact information Washington the Magazine P.O. Box 1788 Washington, NC 27889 Advertising inquiries 252-946-2144 Ext. 221 Subscriptions & change of address 252-946-2144 Washington the Magazine is published six times a year by Washington Newsmedia, LLC. Copyright 2020, Washington Newsmedia, LLC.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 7

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Washington WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY ELIZABETH REED

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All Natural Stuff the stockings with handmade soaps, (e.) $7.

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Cute & functional Coordinated your outfits with a variety of handmade, cotton masks for the winter season, (m.) $8-10. Masks are also available in children sizes. Find this variety at the Wander Co. in downtown Washington.

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Intricate beaded necklaces are a great addition to any outfit, (r.) $44. Find the perfect accessory at 501 Flaire in downtown Washington.

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BEHIND THE

beard

BELHAVEN SANTA CLAUS SHARES SECRETS OF THE SUIT STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY MATT DEBNAM

W

hat does it take to become Santa Claus? The non-exhaustive list includes a jolly demeanor, a big, bushy beard and maybe a slight gut to fill out the red and white suit. Of course, above all else, it takes a genuine love of children.

When it comes to taking on that role, Henry Slocumb is the whole package. For the past nine years, he’s been Belhaven’s Santa Claus, riding in parades and hearing the wishes of kids during holiday festivities. According to Slocumb, it just kind of came naturally to him.

“I can still fit in the Santa Claus suit, and all mine is natural,” Slocumb said. “I don’t have any padding or nothing. I just use it as it is.”

Come Dec. 23, Slocumb will be 80 years old, meeting the age requirement to play a jolly old elf. He doesn’t charge the town for his services and says he just does it for the community. He’ll continue to do so as long as he’s able and the town keeps asking him back.

As to what that entails, it’s usually a day or two of work each year — showing up to ride on a fire truck or pickup in the Christmas parade, setting up shop in Santa’s Village to hear gift requests and generally being a happy, smiling presence during the town’s festivities. Slocumb says he also will pay a visit to Pungo Christian Academy when asked, visiting with the lower grade levels and getting them excited about Christmas. That excitement is the reason he keeps coming back and putting on the red suit.

“The kids range in age, and they’re very, very smart now,” he said. “They’re a lot smarter than we used to be, and they know more. I try to cooperate with them and try to encourage them to do better. It’s all about the kids.”

Originally from Dunn, Slocumb relocated to the area decades ago to run a sewing factory in Plymouth. He started there in 1969 and worked there until his retirement in 1999. Finding a place to settle in Belhaven, he’s loved the area ever since and has carved out his own place in the community as St. Nick.

“I just do it for the local people right here,” said Slocumb. “That’s all I do. … The Santa Claus thing — I naturally have a beard and I have the hair. It’s just natural. I don’t do anything but not get a haircut. I just let it grow.”⋇ 18 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

For the past nine years, Henry Slocumb has brought smiles to the faces of Belhaven children as Santa Claus.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 19

A RIDE TO

remember

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Santa Ride spreads Christmas cheer in Washington

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STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY VAIL STEWART RUMLEY

ittle kids on bikes. Big kids on bikes. Reindeer on bikes?

Yes, it’s true. You might see just that if the Santa Ride happens to cruise past your house this holiday season.

The Santa Ride has few requirements: dress up yourself and your bike with anything and everything Christmas, meet at a certain date and time at Inner Banks Outfitters and take a short ride through the downtown Washington historic district, spreading Christmas cheer along the way.

“I think it’s fun to A) get dressed up and ride your bike; B)

be around other people who are in the holiday spirit with you; and C) watching all the people smile that come out on their porches and see us. I mean, it makes people happy. And that’s fun,” said Liane Harsh, owner of Inner Banks Outfitters.

A small, festive group turned out for the first Santa Ride about a decade ago; the next year it was much bigger. In the hectic holiday season, it fell by the wayside for a few years, until it was revived in 2019, this time with golf carts included.

“Last year, I think it was particularly fun because it literally came together in one day,” said Scott Campbell, a long-standing Santa Ride participant.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 21

Jennifer Hudson, along with her children Mac (in Santa gear) and Hannah, made the Santa Ride a family occasion in 2019.

With the coronavirus pandemic potentially putting a damper on parades and other traditional holiday festivities this year, the Santa Ride’s open-air, socially distanced nature is a great way to share the Christmas spirit with friends, neighbors and strangers passed along the Santa Ride route — especially those whose circumstances require very limited contact with others.

“I would think this year we would be able to have another big turnout because it’s a safer way to celebrate,” Campbell said.

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The Santa Ride’s casual nature is one of its draws, and its short ride from the end of East Main Street to Hackney Avenue and back again through the downtown business district means all ages and all levels of cyclists can be a part of the festivities.

“It’s very easy to participate. If you can make it — great. If you can’t — also great,” Campbell laughed.

The date and time of the 2020 Santa Ride will be announced in early December on Inner Banks Outfitters’ Facebook and Instagram accounts. ⋇

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 23

Inner Banks Outfitters mechanic Jensen Burbules came decked out in festive jacket and on a one-of-kind bike of his making.

Golf cart owners and friends are now invited to participate in the Santa Ride.

Parade start in 2019 saw a slew of festive Santa Riders ready to share some Christmas cheer.

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CHRISTMAS PARADES AND HOLIDAY EVENTS The coronavirus pandemic has put a damper on 2020, from outright cancellations of events and transforming in-person events into online versions to finding safer, socially distanced ways to gather.

The following events are planned for this holiday season, however, those plans may change depending on COVID-19.

TUESDAY, NOV. 24, 5 P.M. LIGHT UP THE CITY, DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON Watch the trees light up for the holidays, socially distanced along Main Street in downtown Washington.

Harbor Walk of Lights, Stewart Parkway. Stroll along the waterfront to view vessels in full holiday décor in this nightly display through Christmas.

ALL OF DECEMBER TOYS TRAINS OF BELHAVEN, OLD CITY HALL, BELHAVEN Visit Don Stark’s amazing collection of Standard Gauge tinplate toy trains at the old Belhaven City Hall. Check www.facebook. com/BelhavenToyTrains for this year’s schedule.

SATURDAY, DEC. 3-5 CHRISTMAS MARKET, HARBOR DISTRICT MARKET, WASHINGTON Celebrate Christmas by shopping local this year. Dec. 3-4, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Dec. 5, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

SATURDAY, DEC. 5, DUSK BATH CHRISTMAS FLOTILLA, BATH WATERFRONT Join spectators on the shore or decorate your boat and take part in this festive Bath tradition.

SUNDAY, DEC. 6, 2 P.M. BATH CHRISTMAS PARADE, CARTERET AND SOUTH MAIN STREETS SUNDAY, DEC. 13, 3 P.M. WASHINGTON CHRISTMAS PARADE, STEWART PARKWAY This will be a “reverse parade” with floats parked on Stewart Parkway, and pedestrians can stroll by to see the full parade.

SUNDAY, DEC. 20, 3 P.M. EDWARD CHRISTMAS PARADE, MAIN STREET, EDWARD This annual tradition wraps up the Christmas parades for the year.

At the time Washington the Magazine was sent to press, dates had not been set for the Aurora and Belhaven Christmas parades (Belhaven’s parade is traditionally held at 11 a.m. on the second Saturday of December). Chocowinity’s parade and Christmas Expo, usually slated for the weekend after Thanksgiving, has been canceled this year.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 25

MERRY

mementos 1996, Downtown, City Hall, Singleton Church

Ornaments offer glimpses of Washington history WRITTEN BY MATT DEBNAM | PHOTOGRAPHED BY VAIL STEWART RUMLEY

O

ver the years and decades, Christmas ornaments become precious keepsakes for many families. For the past 25 year, the Washington Area Historic Foundation has been adding to those sentimental collections for many local residents. Each year since 1996, the organization has released a new ornament depicting buildings of historic significance in Washington, from private homes and businesses to public places and government institutions.

Like so many things in 2020, however, the production of ornaments for the upcoming holiday season has been interrupted by COVID-19, a historic event in and of itself. The building to be featured this year would have been the circa-1837 Isaiah Respess building on the corner of Second and Market streets, which currently serves as Will Mayo’s law office. Instead, that 25th ornament will be produced in 2021, the 26th year of the project.

As with any longstanding tradition, folks may naturally wonder why the WAHF has continued this project every year since 1996. The idea originated with the late Hazel Lassiter, who had the idea of depicting Washington landmarks in this manner for posterity. Since she came up with the idea, a long line of ornament chairpersons have kept the tradition alive, including the late Carol Bowen, Rebecca Clark, Johanna Huber, Betty Jane Green and Dee Congleton.

26 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

1997, Washington Harbor, Skip Jack

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“Our ornaments are a way to honor structures of the past and to focus on preservation,” said WAHF President Don Stroud.

They also serve as a fundraiser for the organization, helping pay for the maintenance of Harding Square and advertisements of the WAHF’s annual Home Tour. Typically, they can be purchased at the North Carolina Estuarium each year at the cost of $25, which includes a ribbon and stand for display.

Some of the structures depicted on the ornaments have been lost to time. Buildings such as the Bug House, the DeMille Home, the former John Small School and Tayloe Hospital long ago fell prey to the wrecking ball and the bulldozer. Others, such as the First National Bank, featured on the 2019 ornament and is now The Hackney restaurant and distillery, have been the subject of considerable restoration and preservation efforts.

“These ornaments help bring attention to the fragile historic district and the desire to maintain and preserve properties,” Congleton said.

Though the ornament project is taking a sabbatical in 2020, Congleton says it will return in force for 2021. ⋇ 1998, Bank of Washington

2000, City Hall

1999, John H. Small School 28 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

2002, The Bug House 2001, First Methodist Church, First Presbyterian Church and First Christian Church

These ornaments help bring attention to the fragile historic district and the desire to maintain and preserve properties.

— DEE CONGLETON 2003, Washington High School, Bridge Street

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2005, Atlantic Coastline Railroad Depot

2004, Tayloe Hospital

2010, DeMille House

2009, First Presbyterian Church 2011, Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church 30 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

2006, Washington Civic Center

2008, Old City Hall

2007, Turnage Theatre

2012, First United Methodist Church 2013, First Baptist Church NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 31

2015, Zion Episcopal Church

2014, First Christian Church

2017, Asbury Methodist Church 2016, Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church

2018 Jonathan Havens Moss Grain Mill 32 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

2019, First National Bank (The Hackney)

FULL CIRCLE

“

WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY VAIL STEWART RUMLEY

There’s a lot of past, present and future in this building.”

Dr. Marty Poffenberger is gazing at the newly constructed Pamlico Animal Hospital, its wall of windows reflecting a warm, clear fall day, its sleek design reflecting both the traditional and modern.

The new Pamlico Animal Hospital is ready for business, accommodating an ever-growing patient roster in a spacious building featuring not only an atrium and U-shaped reception counter in the waiting room, but state-of-the-art equipment, expanded kennel rooms, isolation rooms and more, topped with a second-floor suite of offices.

34 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

Kevin Rawls helps out at his stepfather Dana Eddings’ clinic in this photo taken in the 1980s. Rawls is now CEO/ president of WIMCO, the Washington-based construction company that built the new Pamlico Animal Hospital.

Dr. Marty Poffenberger and Dr. Dana Eddings (retired) share a laugh during a tour of the new facility.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 35

As Pamlico Animal Hospital began to grow, founder Dr. Chuck Manning (left) and business partner Dr. Dana Eddings (right) brought in more help with Dr. Marty Poffenberger (second from left) and Dr. Jocelyn Pease (second from right).

It towers over its predecessor just next door. The old building has not been forgotten — an enclosed breezeway links the old and the new, and the birthplace of the clinic will be remodeled into a luxury pet boarding and grooming facility. It has not been forgotten and neither will the lasting legacy of the veterinarians who started the animal hospital and nurtured it over the last 40-plus years.

Dr. Dana Eddings cradles a black bear cub hit by a vehicle.

Eddings repaired its broken leg and the cub was sent off to a wildlife rehabilitation center.

36 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

IN THE BEGINNING “I honestly never had any intent to return in Washington. I was finishing vet school and actually did an internship in Long Island,” said Dana Eddings.

It was 1979, and fate intervened when Eddings came home to visit his grandmother. Flipping through a veterinary journal, he saw an ad for a new clinic in Washington, and decided to reach out to fellow veterinarian Dr. Chuck Manning.

“We sat down and chatted for 20 minutes probably, and it was just an instant rapport. He, right on the spot, said, ‘I think we could work together,’ ” Eddings said.

The job with the Long Island clinic eventually fell through, and Eddings ended up back in Washington, half of a twoveterinarian practice.

“The two of us had a really small practice; we had a receptionist and one of us would leave the hospital every day in a veterinary truck to treat large animals,” Eddings said. “He and I

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 37

Dr. Dana Eddings (left) holds a portrait of Pamlico Animal Hospital founder Dr. Chuck Manning. The portrait, painted by renowned watercolorist and Washington resident Pat Holscher will be hung in the new facility. The new buildings hold plenty of space for the animal hospital’s many patients (above left).

Dr. Marty Poffenberger and Eddings take a tour of the new animal hospital.

were very different people, but it worked.

It just worked. Together, we were a good team. The practice began to grow, and we added onto that old building, front and back and sides, to accommodate the growth.”

In those years, they treated a lot of animals, both big and small: a baby bear, its leg broken in a collision with a car, received surgery, a pin in its leg and a trip to an animal rehabilitator. Eddings specialized in avian medicine, treating injured birds of prey and exotic macaws, parrots.

“Now there’s a solid basis of knowledge in that, in avian medicine, but when I was in med school, it was basically witchcraft,” Eddings laughed.

From lions and tigers that came into town with the circus — for which Eddings

would consult with their home vet in Florida — to clients carrying in a pillow case tied with a knot, the common mode of transportation for snakes, Manning and Eddings saw a side of animals that most rarely encounter.

“That kind of stuff, to me, made being a veterinarian absolutely fascinating,” Eddings said.

By the 1990s, small animal care was booming, and the pair cut back on the large animal part of the practice, focusing on pets.

“Chuck was very empathetic and legitimately caring about the people — the people and the pets. He had the ability to communicate with people on the level, and I don’t mean talking down to them at all, but be able to articulate, ‘This is what’s going on,’ and the

38 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

options out there, ‘These are the ways we can treat it,’ and help people make an informed decision, in that emotional time,” Eddings said.

A GROWING PRACTICE “Honestly, I just got in my little car and drove around and interviewed at different practices. I came to Washington and really liked the practice,” Poffenberger said.

A Maryland native and graduate of veterinary school at Virginia Tech, at 26 years old, Poffenberger came into a practice that had a working wealth of knowledge.

“I learned a lot from both Chuck and Dana. They were great to have as mentors. And I learned a lot about business; they were always very involved

I invested 37 years of my life, often night and day. To see it prosper, I get to co-opt the legacy.

I was in the equation, and now it’s grown.

— DANA EDDINGS in the community, gave back to the community,” Poffenberger said. “It wasn’t about the money — they served the community. And that was what I wanted in my career: to have a business that feels like family.”

Thirty-five years later, Poffenberger and another Washington native who got her start working a high school summer at Pamlico Animal Hospital, Dr. Amy Boyer Martin, are partners in the everexpanding practice.

FULL CIRCLE Art has always had a place on the walls of Pamlico Animal Hospital, but visitors to the new clinic will find one piece with a place of importance: a Pat Holscher watercolor of Chuck Manning, wearing an Atlanta Braves baseball cap.

“The practice just has a strong foundation, with his ethics, his compassion for not just the animals — he was very compassionate about the animals, but also about the community and the pet owners,” Poffenberger said.

That compassion wasn’t limited to Pamlico Animal Hospital: Manning and Eddings owned Tar River Animal Hospital at one point and started one of the first veterinary practices on the Outer Banks, in Kill Devil Hills. Though Manning sold the practice in 2004 to Eddings, he enjoyed only a brief retirement before succumbing to melanoma in 2012.

“I still, probably daily, I think of things that he would have told me and that I learned from him.

Definitely, I tried to learn from his experience, and I try to pass mine on,”

Poffenberger said. Just as the portrait of Manning is tribute to Pamlico Animal Hospital’s founder, the building itself is a tribute to the families of those whose lives have revolved around it for decades.

Charlie Manning, Chuck Manning’s son and president of B.E. Singleton and Sons, cleared the land for new animal hospital. For Eddings, the building itself and its builders are a source of ongoing pride.

“I invested 37 years of my life, often night and day. To see it prosper, I get to co-opt the legacy. I was in the equation, and now it’s grown,” Eddings said.

“The icing on the cake to me, is it’s my family that has built it — WIMCO, my stepson and my daughter and son all work there. I’ve got my family adding to the legacy.” ⋇

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 39

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WHAT'S TO EAT Vail Hawkins holds her much-used and much-loved recipe for Italian cream cake.

42 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

HOME for the holidays WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY VAIL STEWART RUMLEY

T

here’s no truer adage than there’s no place like home for the holiday. But home is a combination of many things — familiar faces and places, sights and smells that take one right back to childhood.

Home is a sense, rather than simply the structure where you lived in years past.

Family meals and family favorites, recipes passed down from one generation to the next, are an indelible part of the concept of home. A visit home isn’t complete with a hunk of a favorite aunt’s made-from-scratch cake or a steaming bowl of granddad’s fish stew. From collards and biscuits to oyster stuffing and sweet potato casserole, eastern North Carolina is rich in culinary traditions, some down-home and others imported from far away.

In this holiday issue of Washington The Magazine, we celebrate some of those traditions, old and new, from near and far. As these local folks share some of their home-cooking, the prospect of being home for the holidays never looked, or tasted, so good. ⋇

ITALIAN CREAM CAKE Vail Hawkins Every time Vail Hawkins makes a cake, she says it will be her last one. She’ll tell you they’re “ugly” and “don’t taste good” but everyone who knows her cakes will disagree.

Especially applies to her Italian cream cake, one she started making long before they’d become a top auction item at Bath Elementary School’s Halloween carnival, in the years her three boys went to school there.

“Well, I judge everything by when Grandmama died and that’s 23 years, and I was making it 20 years before that, so that’s 40 years. Even more than that. I declare, I don’t remember,” Hawkins laughed.

Back when the Hawkins rented riverside cottages at Hawkins Beach, the Italian cream cake recipe arrived with a renter from Wilson.

“I got her recipe, except I changed it a little,” Hawkins said. “She put the nuts and the coconut in the icing, and I put it in the batter — it seemed to do better.”

Hawkins said she was surprised when a cooking segment on a morning TV news show recently featured Italian cream cake, presenting the delicious dessert as a new discovery.

“I thought, ‘Well, my land, I’ve been making Italian cream cakes forever. I don’t know where the recipe got lost,’” Hawkins said.

A family favorite, this cake makes a regular appearance at special occasions, birthdays or when family comes home — and they always come home for Christmas.

Ingredients: 1 stick butter; 1/2 cup oil; 3 eggs (separated); 2 cups, sugar; 1 cup milk; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 2 cups self-rising flour; 3 1/2 ounces coconut; 1 cup nuts.

Directions: Cream and mix first four ingredients. Combine milk, soda and vanilla. Add flour and milk, alternating. Add nuts and coconut. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Pour into three, greased cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Frosting: 1 package (8-ounces) cream cheese, 1/2 stick butter, 1 box confectioner’s sugar. Allow cream cheese and butter to soften.

Mix all ingredients.

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WALNUT BOURBON BALLS, OR RUM BALLS Betty Mitchell Gray Betty Mitchell Gray inherited her mother’s recipes, and each holiday season, she embarks on a treat-making odyssey, the final destination of which is delivery of sweets and savories to friends and family.

For Gray, the process is part translation and part improvisation, as Julia Mitchell’s recipes are somewhat cryptic.

“Mom would start after Thanksgiving, cooking. And I never got to watch her make any of these, because she was a nervous cook, and I wasn’t allowed in the kitchen. … Some of her instructions, like the rum balls, she says ‘store in tin can to ripen,’” Gray laughed. “And they do get more potent as they sit.”

When Gray retired, she revisited her mother’s recipe cards with the intent to revive a Mitchell family tradition. Repetition has honed those recipes into delicacies. As to where the recipes originated, Gray is unsure.

“I have no earthly idea, I would imagine all the mothers (during that time) kind of cooked the same things,” she said.

Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups Nilla Wafer crumbs; 1 cup powdered sugar; 2 tablespoons cocoa; 1 cup finely chopped nuts; 3 tablespoons corn syrup; 1/4 cup rum or bourbon; additional powdered sugar for coating.

Mix first four ingredients. Add syrup and bourbon or rum.

Roll into balls. Then in powdered sugar. Store in tin can to ripen. Makes 3 1/2 dozen.

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MARK DAW TOBACCO BARN FISH STEW Bob Daw Bob Daw’s brother Mark learned how to made tobacco barn stew not just a dish, but an event.

“Mark would pick a barn somewhere, on somebody’s farm, different farms — of friends, cousins,” Daw said. “It’d be so cold, but we’d get in there, light some lanterns, play some cards, talk junk and watch Mark Daw make a stew. But it would always be cold, in the wintertime, and we’d always do it with stripers, rock-fish.”

The Daw boys were from Wayne County, and this fish stew is a Wayne County legacy.

“He got (the recipe) from Jake Smith. Jake was an oldtimer when we were 35 or 40. He was the bull of the woods; he was a man with all the stories. He was the man, he was a storyteller, but he taught Mark how to make this stew.”

Daw carries on the tradition of Mark Daw’s Tobacco Barn Fish Stew with his circle of family and friends, preferably in his man cave on Blounts Creek.

“Some of it’s the tradition, but eastern North Carolina guys and gals — they love it,” Daw said.

Ingredients: pack of bacon; 3 pounds fresh striped bass (rock), cut into chunks; 3 pounds of thickly sliced potatoes; 3 pounds of thickly sliced onions; large bottle of ketchup; one dozen eggs.

Mark used an old fashioned, 3-gallon cast iron pot, but you could use any pot if you make sure it’s a large one. Put your pot over a burner on low-to-medium heat.

Then you put one pound of bacon in the pot. You can put the whole pack of bacon in at once, but we pull the slices apart. You fry the bacon to medium done and remove the bacon from the pot and place it on a side container, as it will go back into the stew later.

Leaving all of the grease from the bacon in the pot, you then add about two full quarts of water and place three pounds of rock or striper fish cut up in about three inch chunks into your pot. Then you add three pounds of thick-sliced potatoes on top of the fish and then you add three pounds of thick-sliced onions on top of the potatoes. Now you have layered up you stew for cooking. Do not stir!

Add a generous amount of salt and pepper and maintain your heat low-to-medium and bring to slow boil. Be patient with your heat because you don’t want your stew to stick on the bottom of pot. After your stew is at slow boil with some light bubbles rising up, you can add a two pound bottle of ketchup. Do not stir!

Keep heat at a light, slow boil and add back the bacon to your stew. After a 20-minute period, take a taste test to see if you need more salt or pepper. Cook until your potatoes are soft and done. Now you take one dozen eggs and break one egg at a time and drop eggs into your stew. Wait about 10 minutes and then dip yourself a big bowl to cool and say the blessing.

Get a tube of crackers and a cold drink of choice and enjoy your stew.

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ROSEMARY CASHEWS Michelle Clancy This favorite recipe hails from New York City, from a 1980s-era restaurant called Union City that served these rosemary cashews on their tables while patrons waited for their orders.

“Somebody told me about it, and I looked up the recipe and I just starting making them every year,” said Michelle Clancy.

A delicious combination of sweet, buttery and spicy, this recipe makes for a great Christmas hostess gift or readily

available snack for drop-in guests.

“I think the rosemary always smells to me like winter, wintertime. I’ve made it bring to book club. It’s also easy to take to a party around during the holidays — you put it in a plastic bag, bring a little bowl,” Clancy said.

The best part about this seasonal treat is it literally takes five minutes to make.

Rosemary cashews can be served hot or at room temperature. For those who like a more spicy version, amp up the cayenne.

Ingredients: 1 pound roasted, unsalted cashews (if you can’t find unsalted, use

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lightly salted); 2 tablespoons minced, fresh rosemary leaves (equivalent to four, 3-inch sprigs of rosemary); 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 2 teaspoons light brown sugar; 1 tablespoon kosher salt; 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted (you can use salted butter).

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread cashews out on a sheet pan. Toast in the oven until warm, about five minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar, salt and melted butter.

Add the warm nuts and thoroughly toss with the spiced butter. Serve warm.

TAMALES Lucy Trejo When Lucy Trejo came to the United States 22 years ago, she brought with her, not the written recipe to make tamales, but the tradition, learned from her mother, Faustina Hernandez, in Hidalgo, Mexico.

“It’s passed down from generation to generation,” Trejo said. “She remembers making them with her grandmother.”

Tamales require time, but the time is well worth it when the outcome is savory, spicy and a much-loved favorite for all celebrations.

“Most of the time we have tamales at all of the parties. It’s a traditional food,” Trejo said. “Because it takes so long, they are reserved for special occasions.”

Sometimes, a holiday or other celebration is not needed.

“My family loves to eat them and everybody likes tamales. I like to see how they enjoy to eat tamales,” Trejo said.

Ingredients: 2 pounds, chicken breasts; 1 onion, quartered; 5 cloves garlic; 1/2 bunch cilantro; 2 pounds tomatillos; 5 (or more) jalapenos; 1 teaspoon cumin; salt; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 2 cups oil (or lard); 2 pounds cornmeal; corn husks, about 50.

Directions: Boil the chicken in water with a piece of onion, two cloves of garlic and salt. Reserve chicken stock.

Let chicken cool, then shred.

Broil the tomatillos and jalapenos.

Let cool, then blend tomatillos, jalapenos, three garlic cloves, a piece of onion, cilantro and salt. Add two cups of chicken stock. Sauté sauce until thickened, then mix with shredded chicken.

Wash the corn husks with hot water and dish soap until clean and soft.

Mix cornmeal, oil, two cups of chicken stock, salt and baking powder.

Mix for about 20 minutes, adding more stock if needed. Pour three tablespoons of the mixture into the corn husk, add about two tablespoons of the chicken filling. Fold the husk in three parts, then fold the end.

Place them upright in a steamer, covered, so no steam escapes. Steam for about an hour.

Then enjoy!

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PLUM PUDDING Carol Mann There are no plums in plum pudding — that’s the first thing any epicurean should know. The second is that this cake is rich, delicious and has a perfect balance of sweet and spicy. A third is that this recipe for plum pudding is several centuries old.

Plum pudding was a highlight of the holidays during Carol Mann’s childhood; Mann’s three daughters have grown up feeling the same. The recipe is that of Mann’s grandmother, passed down through many, many generations, before Mann’s ancestors even stepped off the Mayflower and onto New England soil.

How can you tell the recipe is that old? It calls for suet, a slab of beef fat, which was used before butter. Suet can be found at Acre Station in Beaufort County.

“I chose to use Craisins instead of raisins. Other than that, I make it exactly as (my grandmother) did,” Mann said.

“Many people pour liquor over their pudding and preserve it like one does a fruitcake, but my grandmother always made her puddings ‘family friendly,’ and she passed on the liquor so the kids could partake, as well.”

Ingredients: 1 cup plain bread crumbs; 2 cups flour; 1 cup golden raisins (or dried cherries); 1 teaspoon ground cloves; 1 cup apple, chopped; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 1/2 cups sugar; 1 1/2 cups milk; 1/2 cup suet*, ground; 1 tablespoon baking soda; 1 cup maraschino cherries, sliced.

Directions: *Suet can be obtained from your local butcher. It grinds easily in a food processor or meat grinder.

Mix everything in a very large bowl with

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a spoon. Pour into a well-greased pudding mold or large coffee can and cover tightly with lid or foil. Place in large kettle and pour in enough water to come 3/4 of the way up the mold or can. Cover kettle and simmer for two hours. After two hours, check pudding by inserting knife in middle to see if it comes out clean — if not, steam longer. Remove from mold while still warm and cool on cake rack. Wrap well in foil and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

Reheat pudding tightly wrapped in foil in oven. Serve with vanilla sauce: Vanilla sauce: 2 tablespoons butter; 2 tablespoons flour; 1 cup milk; 1/3 cup sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Melt butter, then add flour to make a roux. Gradually add milk and cook until thickened. Stir in sugar and vanilla and heat until dissolved. Serve warm over warm pudding slices.

Serves 12. Source, Marjorie J. Elliott.

DANISH APPLE CAKE Nancy Donahue When Johanna Peterson arrived in the United States in 1890, she brought with her the culinary traditions of her native Denmark “This recipe was just in her head, and this was her version of it, and there are many versions of it,” said Chris Donahue.

One hundred and 30 years later, the dessert is still a favorite of Nancy and Chris Donahue, Peterson’s great-granddaughter and great-great-granddaughter.

“It was something that we always had a Christmas; it was always our Christmas cake,” Nancy Donahue said.

The many versions of AEblekage (pronounced el-car in Nancy Donahue’s native Massachusetts) include baked and non-baked versions, variations on the fruit and/or the breads used.

“The thing I like about it now is that it speaks to a simpler time — of anybody can make this, you know, if you have

different fruit, if you have different breadcrumbs, whatever spices you like in your flavoring,” Chris Donahue said. “I think it’s a neat dessert, too, because when Mom was a kid during World War II, when sugar was rationed, it was a good dessert because it doesn’t have much sugar. Her grandmother used to make it with applesauce.”

This Danish apple cake is light and not overly sweet, making it an ideal ending to rich, filling holiday meals.

Ingredients: 2 boxes Zwieback toast, crushed; 2 sticks butter; 1 (48-oz) jar applesauce; 3/4 cup sugar; 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 1 teaspoon nutmeg.

Directions: Butter an 8-inch spring-form cake pan. Mix applesauce, sugar and spices together. Assemble ingredients in layers as follows: 1/4 crumbs, 1/2 stuck butter cut in wedges; 1/3 apple sauce mixture. Continue in same order, ending with crumbs on top and dot with butter. Bake in 325 oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Garnish each slice with whipped cream.

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SUE GRAVES’ EGGNOG Sarah Ninan “Everyone knew to show up to Sue Graves’ at 11 o’clock Christmas morning for all the Christmas goodies and they would slug down massive amounts of this stuff,” laughed Sarah Ninan.

The Graves family would get up early that morning and go into production.

They’d borrow all the hand-held mixers in the Summit Avenue neighborhood and set to work — in 1979, that included cracking, separating and whipping up seven dozen eggs for eggnog.

“My mother would keep track from year to year of how many eggs she would use,” Ninan said.

In colder years, the bowls of eggnog would be set outside the kitchen door to chill before the many guests arrived; even better if that rare eastern North Carolina Christmas snow occurred. Today, Ninan keeps with tradition and makes her eggnog in a ceramic bowl that came from her grandfather’s house and serves it in a silver punch bowl, also a family heirloom. She says the recipe is supersimple, if you have a good mixer. Best served immediately, the alcohol content can be adjusted.

“While the recipe has the ratio of alcohol, what would end up happening is another fifth would be dumped in it, so it really is alcohol to taste,” Ninan said.

Ingredients(serves 36): 3 dozen large, fresh eggs; 3 pints whipping cream; 2 cups bourbon; 2 1/4 cups sugar. Ingredients (serves 24): 2 dozen large, fresh eggs; 2 pints whipping cream; 1 1/2 cups bourbon; 1 1/2 cups sugar.

Directions: Separate eggs into two large clean bowls — be very careful to not let yolks get into the egg whites. Beat yolks. Slowly add sugar to yolks and beat until fully dissolved.

Add liquor to “cook” yolks.

Beat cream until thick. Add cream to yolks. Beat egg whites until they stand up.

Gently fold egg whites into above. Best served immediately after preparing. Refrigerate.

Taste and add more spirits if desired. Recipe can easily be divided or doubled. Caution: not too strong or too sweet. *Caution: recipe contains raw eggs.

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PASTITSO Alexis Davis For Alexis Davis, the traditional Greek dish of pastitso is a family favorite. Passed down from Davis’ YaYa, the Greek diminutive word for grandmother, pastitso is rich, flavorful, hearty and filling, but not heavy.

“When she came (to the U.S.) she couldn’t get the long macaroni, so she made it with elbow macaroni. But, really, any hollow pasta can be used,” Davis said.

Easter and Christmas each year featured an enormous tray of pastitso and Davis has continued the tradition in her family.

Served hot, or you can serve it at room temperature, pastitso is a lighter take on lasagna and truly a dish worth experiencing, holiday or any day.

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Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef; 1 pound ground lamb (or beef if you prefer); 1 large onion, chopped; 1 clove garlic, smashed; 2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce; 3/4 cup dry red wine; 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon; 1 tablespoon dried oregano; 1/2 cup chopped parsley; coarse kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste; 1 pound penne, rigatoni or other hollow pasta; 1 pound or more asiago or pecorino Romano cheese, grated, about 4 cups; 5 eggs; 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter; 1 cup flour; 5 1/2 cups whole milk; grated nutmeg (I like about 3/4 teaspoon).

Instructions: Make the meat sauce one day ahead. In a large pot, add a little olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt; cook until onions are just translucent. Add garlic and sauté a minute or two. Add the ground beef (and lamb, if using) and cook and stir until no longer pink, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks.

Deglaze with wine and cook a minute or two. Add the two cans of tomato sauce, cinnamon and oregano, stir and bring to a simmer. Add parsley. Season with salt to taste. Let meat sauce stew for three hours — yes, for three hours — with a lid on, slightly askew. Stir occasionally. Let cool and then refrigerate overnight.

Bring sauce to room temperature or warm gently before layering the pastitso. Grate the cheese and set aside, you want at least four cups.

Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente (I cook a minute or two less than package directions). Drain pasta and when cool enough to handle, put it in a large bowl and mix one beaten egg and two egg whites into the pasta with your hands.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a lasagna pan, or other large pan, drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom or coat lightly with cooking spray. Put all of the noodles which were tossed with egg in the bottom of the pan and arrange evenly. Sprinkle with a third of the shredded cheese. Using a slotted spoon, cover the noodles and cheese evenly with all or most of the meat mixture, leaving room for the béchamel layer on top. Sprinkle another third of the cheese over the meat layer. You now have noodles, cheese, meat, cheese layered, so far.

Make the béchamel sauce. In a heavy-bottomed large pot, melt 1 stick of butter. Add the flour to the melted butter and whisk to combine well and cook, stirring constantly for a minute or two. Slowly add 5 cups of milk, whisking the whole time. Cook and whisk until it just starts to boil. When it starts to bubble, turn off heat.

In a separate bowl, beat 2 eggs and the yolks and 1/2 cup milk with a whisk. Add this mixture to the pot, slowly, whisking the whole time. Add grated nutmeg.

Put back on medium-high heat and cook and whisk until thick and bubbly.

When at the desired consistency, cut the heat and let the béchamel sit for a few minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary.

In a small saucepan, melt a 1/2 stick of butter. After the béchamel has rested a few minutes, pour it over the meat and cheese layer, spreading evenly over the top. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the béchamel. Lastly, drizzle or spoon the melted butter on top of the cheese, this is what will brown the top of the pastitso.

Place pan on a baking sheet and then into preheated oven and bake for 50 minutes to one hour, until browned and center is hot. If not browned enough, turn on broiler, watching carefully until top is browned.

Let pastitso rest for 15-20 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

DINING GUIDE

Discover your next dining experience.

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WORD ON WINE

HOLIDAY

SPIRITS T WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY VAIL STEWART RUMLEY

he holidays have rolled around; the menu planning for those special meals with family and friends is underway. Everyone has their own culinary holiday traditions, and a few of those favorite family recipes are shared in this issue of the Washington the Magazine.

Even for wine lovers, finding the perfect wine to pair with a new dish sometimes ends up in guesswork. With the help of Mary Mehlich, owner of Wine & Words & Gourmet in downtown Washington, the challenge of selecting the perfect wine to go with these perfectly delicious recipes is removed. “Mary the Wine Fairy” knows the wine for you!

see recipe on page 52 54 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

see recipe on page 48 The recipe for pastitso, contributed by Alexis Davis, evokes the old-world Greek tradition. It’s a bit like lasagna, but without the heaviness. The egg and béchamel sauce make for a light, yet rich entrée, which Mehlich said would be perfect with a red, but not just any red. Castellinuzza E Piuca Chianto Classico, from Toscano, Italy, is an ideal choice with its harmonious, elegant taste, as well as being “smooth and easy to drink.”

Bright and spicy, with a dry, peppery finish, Sterparo Primitivo would also complement pastitso. Hailing from Basilicata, Italy, this Primitivo takes on a different personality, because volcanic soils lead to a softer tannin and higher acidity.

“This wine pairs well with pastitso, because the acidity will cut through the richness of this dish,” Mehlich said.

A dry rosé is the best match for Lucy Trejo’s chicken tamales, made with a green sauce that is both fresh and spicy. Mehlich recommends the Ponte Vinho Verde rosé from Vinho Verde, Portugal.

see recipe on page 46

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“This is exactly what a dry rosé should be — stuffed with strawberry and raspberry flavors, bright, fresh and perfect for spicy tamales,” Mehlich said.

Carol Mann’s plum pudding, a centuriesold recipe, calls for an equally ancient wine — Madeira. Broadbent Medeira 5-year Reserve, a full-bodied, rich dessert wine from Madeira, Portugal, is Mehlich’s recommendation for this cake-like dessert with the perfect balance of sweetness and spice.

“The subtle richness of this dessert pairs perfectly with this Madeira. The oak aging

will play off of the spiciness,” Mehlich said.

With the holidays, come family and friends stopping by to say hello, drop off a gift, and perhaps indulge in trading memories of holidays past over a glass of wine. Michelle Clancy’s rosemary cashews make for the perfect snack to have on hand when guests stop in; keep a few bottles of Chenin Blanc or Cabernet Sauvignon for an ideal pairing.

From the Loire Valley in France, Domaine Pierre Chauvin L’Argonettes Chenin Blanc has a freshness that will play off the oily richness of the cashews,

see recipe on page 47

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according to Mehlich, while the Chilean Cousino Macul Antiguas Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon is also a great pairing.

“It’s juicy, with a hint of spice from 12 months in French oak, aging. It would be an absolute complement to the spicy nature of this appetizer,” Mehlich said.

Make your holiday spicy and sweet with these recipes and wine pairings — or pop down to Wine & Words & Gourmet to find out which wine pairs best with your culinary creations.

Wine & Words & Gourmet is located in downtown Washington. ⋇

TRAVEL & LEISURE

Celebrate the Holidays

at Tryon Palace

C

WRITTEN BY STEVE BARNES | PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY TRYON PALACE

ome help the Tryon Palace celebrate its 250th anniversary by experiencing Holiday Cheer Saturday, Dec. 12 and Dec. 19 in New Bern.

This famed North Carolina tradition opens with a Fife and Drum Corps parade. Jonkonnu dancers and Atumpa (talking drums) will be performing on Pollock Street in front of the palace gates throughout the evening alternating with the Fife and Drum Corps. There will be food trucks on Pollock Street as well.

“We are going to close Pollock Street, so there will be more room for folks to social distance and still enjoy all of the performances,” said Tryon Palace public affairs Director Nancy Figiel. “The palace, grounds and gardens will be fully decorated, and we’ll have our COVID-19 protocols in place. We know people are tired of being cooped up and are ready to get out and enjoy a social occasion. We are ready to welcome them.”

A variety of circus and juggling acts will perform under a tent on the palace grounds, including a sword swallower, Roger the Younger and the PB&T Circus. There will be an 18th-century

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military campground demonstration as well.

A full ticket option includes a walk-through of the palace first floor, fully decorated with greenery and florals and escorted by guides in period costume. The festivities will end with a spectacular display of black powder fireworks.

“We are expecting 800 to 900 visitors a day and can accommodate 50 guests every 15 minutes on a timed ticket,” Figiel said. “We have pages and pages of plans in place to make sure everyone has a safe, leisurely and enjoyable tour of the first floor and the cellar. Our museum shop will be open, and we’ll have fire pits outside, so everyone will stay warm.”

Holiday Cheer is an outside event and will be held rain or shine, so Figiel encourages vistors to dress accordingly for the weather. Tickets with a palace tour are $15 for adults and $8 for youth. Lawn tickets that don’t include a tour are $10 and $6.

Beer and wine from Brutopia will be available along with snacks and hot cocoa.

For more information, visit tryonpalace.org or call 252-639-3500. ⋇

DESTINATION: TRYON PALACE LOCATION: NEW BERN DISTANCE: 38 MILES TIME: 44 MINUTES

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CAST A LINE

The most underrated time of year

FOR FISHING

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STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY CAPT. RICHARD ANDREWS

ovember and December are a time for families to come together for the holidays and celebrate the end of the year. The weather has cooled off for the season, and many people are putting their boats up for the winter.

This time of year can be one of the best times to be on the Pamlico catching fish. Cold temperatures typically work in your favor by congregating the fish in areas where they can feed in comfort around abundant food sources. These areas are typically in the upper reaches of our major rivers and in some of our more prominent creeks, which are typically more accessible during heavier wind, a common factor during the late fall and winter.

If you can find those areas, then you have a great chance to have an amazing day of fishing.

Along with speckled trout, flounder, red drum and a host of other species, the Pamlico has excellent numbers of juvenile stripers. Stripers spend their early years in the river before reaching adulthood and migrating out to the ocean.

When the other species are hiding, the stripers always have a way of showing up to the party in full force. Anglers consistently catch stripers up to 30 inches with an occasional 30 to 35 inches or larger landed.

The striper fishery on the Inner Banks, in my opinion, is arguably the best winter fishery the state of North Carolina offers. We are so blessed here to have a healthy population

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of estuarine striped bass spread among such a vast area. The Pamlico, Pungo and Neuse rivers and the Albemarle Sound can all produce world-class striper trips on light tackle, and they are all within an easy drive of Washington.

Other highlights of the latefall fishing on the Pamlico will be our speckled trout and redfish.

Both species can be somewhat cyclical in their abundance in the estuary and dependent on a number of factors that can contribute to the relative abundance from year to year.

This year, we will have plenty of each. 2020, so far, has been one of the best years for speckled trout fishing anglers have ever seen, and in addition to that, we have two strong year classes of redfish in the estuary. So far, this summer and early fall, we’ve seen plentiful numbers of “rat reds” (young, less than 18-inch fish) as well as “slot-sized reds” (18-to-27-inch fish). Redfish, if located, can be very aggressive and relatively easy to catch compared to the more finnicky speckled trout.

If you’d like to experience one the best times of year for fishing on the Pamlico, reach out to us to arrange your next fishing adventure. You will be exposed to what the Pamlico has to offer, as well as learn about our estuary and have lots of fun doing so.

Capt. Richard Andrews is a resident of Washington and the owner of a local year-round guide service offering fishing excursions on the Pamlico and nearby rivers. He can be reached at 252-945-9715 or richard@tarpamguide.com.⋇

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WHY I LOVE WASHINGTON

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WRITTEN BY JEFF BOWEN | PHOTO BY VAIL STEWART RUMLEY

aving lived in Washington for my whole life, there is a lot to explore on the backroads of Beaufort County. Just thinking of some of the local road names like Old Bath Highway, Terrapin Track, Lizzard Slip and Betsy’s Elbow makes you wonder, “Where did that name come from?”

As a young child, there were bikes to ride — journeys and adventures to go on. It was a thing to put some playing cards in the spokes of the bike to get the clicking sound to enhance your speed.

Before long, bikes turned into tractors. The summertime meant it was tobacco season. Tobacco was part of most kids’ summer. From the time school got out until we went back (normally after Labor Day, so all the crop could be taken in), working in tobacco was the way to make some cash. Time to plant, sucker, top and then my favorite part — truck the tobacco to the tobacco barn. I didn’t need a license to drive the tractor from

the tobacco patch to the barn, with the tobacco carts just zigzagging behind you from Terrapin Track to Harvey Road, driving just right so not too many leaves were lost. As I got a little “seasoned” from one year to the next, I got the chance to drive the CJ 5 stick shift Jeep. Who needed the Driver’s Ed class when you had the backroads of Beaufort County to take you anyplace you wanted to go?

The cash from working in the tobacco fields led to the first of many vehicles.

What guy isn’t excited about getting his first car? It was washed every week, cleaned on the inside and out. Of course, with real “wheels,” there were more roads to be ventured on like Asbury Church, Turkey Trot and CBH Lodge.

The Washington Square Mall was the place to be with your ride — cruising the mall. Eating in the car was a treat, if you so dared not to drop anything.

Wendy’s burgers and French fries never tasted so good. Fixing up a 1971 Chevy Chevelle — starting with a metal shell

66 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

and finishing the project with the help of some Beaufort County friends — is a good feeling. Seeing the engine, paint job and interior come together and driving it down Mill Hole Road and testing out the tires before getting to the railroad tracks, means things are complete.

As time passes, some things do not change. I’ve still got the bicycle (without the cards in the spokes) and the 1972 green Chevrolet Caprice that was the family car, where my brother and I got the whole big back seat with Daddy and Mama up front. A Chevy Silverado pickup truck, Camaro and Trans Am make their way up Slatestone and Cherry roads to Market Street to head to the Dairy Palace for some refreshments on the waterfront. Coming full circle, I now own a 1952 model M Farmall tractor. I’m a lot gentler on this tractor than the one I trucked tobacco with.

There’s just something about the people in Washington and all the places that you can meet them, on many backroads. ⋇

ADVERTISER INDEX Beaufort County Health Department

62

Beaufort County Schools

8

Bertie Ambulance Service

57

Bertie Peanuts

51

Big Bargain Furniture

2, 15

Bloom Women’s Apparel

15

Carolina Wind Yacht Brokerage

15

Carryout by Chrislyn

53

Century 21 Real Estate

9

Coastal Insurance

40

Coldwell Banker Coastal Rivers Realty

3

Cottage Junkies

15

Country Boys

57

Daughtridge Patio

9

Dowry Creek Marina

65

Easter Radiology

17

El Charrito

53

Executive Personnel Group

40

Feyer Ford

63

First Bank

9

Gail Kenefick - Coastal Rivers Realty

15

Jones & McKinney, P.A.

15

Kari Hall, Century 21

15

King Chicken

58

Mauri E. Alligood - State Farm Insurance

40

Nan McClendon - The Rich Co.

57

Pamlico Plantation

62

Percision Eye Care

17

River Street Networks

33

Rod & Jordan Cantrell - Edward Jones

33

Ryan Whitford - AssureVest Insurance Group

67

Robert D. Alton, Nationwide

51

Slade Landscaping

62

Sloan Insurance

15

Scott & Stringfellow BB&T

40

Stewart’s Jewelry Store

7

The Rich Company

5

Tideland EMC

59

Towne Bank Mortgage

17

United Country Respess Real Estate

40

Vidant Health Systems

68

Washington Funeral Home

33

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