This past Saturday was a different kind of Sampling the South day. My husband Cavin and I had a few errands to do in a nearby town. We loaded up in the Ford Excursion, rolled down the windows, and took off. We were cruising down Highway 87 going South! The wind was blowing through our hair and we felt like kids with no worries in the world! I’m pretty sure at this point, we had dropped off of any radar as we were in a part of Northwest Florida that’s very much off the beaten path.
“The Nuttiest Place Around”
All of a sudden and without any warning, Cavin took a sharp right turn onto Homer Holland Road. I knew just where he was taking me! For mail purposes, the address is Milton, Florida… but the Holland family calls it “the nuttiest place around“. Even though it’s not peanut season, they still keep the farm store open a few days a week. We were fortunate to find it open for business the day we took that sharp right turn off the beaten path.
As we walked in the door, the old man working in the store placed two bowls of hot boiled peanuts on the counter. Every customer gets a free bowl of peanuts just for stopping in. We ordered two more pounds and went on our way. It was a perfect day for cracking the peanut shells with our teeth, sucking out the salty juice, eating the soft peanuts, and tossing the shells out the window. After all, they’re biodegradable! If you ask me, boiled peanuts are the perfect summertime pickup truck snack.
We love Holland’s Peanut Farm all year, but fall is a great time to take the family. They have a pumpkin patch with lots of activities including a hayride, petting zoo, zip lines, and corn maze. And of course… all the peanuts you can eat!
Southern Roots
As we were riding in the truck in the backwoods of the Panhandle of Florida, Cavin and I couldn’t help but think of our deep Southern roots. We were raised on sweet tea, buttermilk biscuits, pound cake, fried chicken, cheese grits, and of course the saltiest, juiciest boiled peanuts that could be found. In light of all that’s currently going on in our country, it seemed like a different world back then. I know it wasn’t perfect, but it was a good time to grow up.
Interestingly enough, the roots of a peanut grow very deep under the dirt. The peanut plant produces a flower above the ground. You can’t see what’s going on beneath the surface as the roots grow deeper and deeper into the soil. Just thinking about the roots of the peanut makes me think about how that parallels our lives.
When Cavin and I married, we wanted to see the world. We were called to ministry and vowed to go wherever the Lord led. The world is an amazing creation and we have been blessed to see some beautiful sights and meet some of the nicest people in the world. We never dreamed the Lord would bring us home to our deep Southern roots of South Alabama.
We love South Alabama, but we also love Atlanta, Georgia, and all the other wonderful places we have lived. While living in Atlanta, we were surprised to find out that Atlantans don’t have the same appreciation for boiled peanuts that Cavin and I have. Even though Atlanta is technically a Southern city, many of our friends had never even tasted boiled peanuts.
Boiled Peanuts in Atlanta
Cavin and I made it our mission to introduce as many friends as we could to this Southern delicacy. To do that, we first had to find “green peanuts” – not to be confused with “raw peanuts”. There’s a big difference between the two. We searched in all of the Krogers and Publix stores we could find within a 10-mile radius, without success. After a great deal of effort and asking fellow boiled peanut lovers, we finally found them in the international grocery store. We were so excited we bought twenty pounds! We boiled them and shared them with everyone we knew who had boiled peanuts in their DNA. We also hosted a peanut boil for a group of teenagers from our church. Many of them had never eaten boiled peanuts before. Sadly, they didn’t seem to enjoy them as much as we do.
Even though our children grew up living in many parts of the world, they started eating boiled peanuts at very young ages and still love them. Every time we took them to South Alabama or the Florida Panhandle, it was part of the tradition. It’s a taste that no kid can refuse, but they have to start young as they begin growing those deep Southern roots.
Peanut Roots and Building Relationships
Like the roots of the peanut that go deep beneath the surface, producing a flower on top of the soil, I like to think that all the experiences of our lives have made us into who we are today. Everywhere we have lived has a rich culture. People tend to take great pride in their native cities and countries – as they should. The roots of a person run deep, but the most important part is letting all of the experiences of our lives rise above the surface to become something beautiful. This is accomplished as we share with others, build relationships and learn to appreciate the roots of others.
I love boiled peanuts and our Southern roots, but I wouldn’t trade our experiences for all the boiled peanuts in the South!
Sampling the South…Southern roots are important, but don’t forget about the relationships!