Over The River and Through The Woods, Well Sort Of

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year, and why not? Family, pumpkin pie, Christmas Parades on television, good food, pumpkin pie, football games, and, oh did I say pumpkin pie? I have so many fond memories of Thanksgiving from my childhood. Thanksgiving at my maternal grandparents home was always an event, eating at the large dining room table in shifts due to the huge group of family members assembled, dozens of pumpkin and pecan pies stockpiled in the pantry room off of the kitchen, and the best mashed potatoes and gravy I have ever eaten.

Back in those days, my mother and father would load us up in the family sedan of the day, Oldsmobiles usually, and off we would head in a haze of blue smoke from my fathers cigars and my mothers Winstons. A couple of hours later and a dizzying headache from the second hand smoke and we had arrived. Grandmothers house was utter Valhala to me. My grandfather was the proprietor of the local grocery store and meat market, so the house was always stocked with Pop Tarts.

The excitement for the holiday began to set in days before the big trip and culminated with the two hour drive, over the river (through a real covered bridge) and through the woods, well actually the Monongahela National Forest, was all that was involved, and a whole lot of twisting mountain roads of course.

This year for the first time since moving to the Lowcountry five years ago, my family has made the trip over the river, several of them and through the woods to my wifes parents home in West Virginia. Actually, the heavy traffic on I-77 was more of a challenge than the rivers and woods, especially on the "number one travel day of the year." I am sure that the trip will provide cherished memories for the entire family, and I am really looking forward to the family time, the pumpkin pie, the good food, the pumpkin pie, watching parades, pumpkin pie....

I hope you have a great holiday, and have the opportunity to enjoy your family, no matter whether you are at Grandmother's house in the woods or on a sandy beach From The Land of Palm Trees. Have a blessed Thanksgiving.