Seeing Southern

Remember those fairy tale places from your childhood? When I grew up, taking a vacation was magical, a once-a-year event. One that you looked forward for months on end.

Do you ever stop yourself, and say, “That sounded just like something my mama would say.” Eddie Harris is thankful every day for the “hippie craze” that included a longing for leather belts and pocketbooks.

This time of year, once you speed past college football rivalries and the big Thanksgiving feast, people eventually get down to business and remember the reason why a multitude of relatives are under the same roof – in honor of family and history.

Plant trees, and they will come. That's probably not the exact advice that Bill Mercier originally imparted to his son Tim or to his granddaughter's husband Joe Foster years ago, but since 1943, the Mercier family has been doing just that.

Would you believe that North Carolina has over 400 vineyards and 100 wineries? Who are they, Napa? Claiming the same number of vineyards and the same AVA designation, Napa and North Carolina are duking it out in the winemaking world.