Restaurant Review: Stax's Drake House in Landrum, South Carolina

Because of a number of factors I wasn't able to have Thanksgiving yesterday with dear friends as is the usual custom.  But they resolved that we were going to come together today and celebrate all the things that we have to be thankful for.  So a little before noon they arrived at my front door and we headed off to the nearby town of Landrum, South Carolina for a meal at Stax's Drake House.

Folks, I'm not lying.  I hadn't had real food in over three months.  My selections at the grocery store have been pathetic.  I had been so focused on finishing the manuscript of my book that proper eating simply hasn't registered at all.  So all this time I've more or less been making do with French bread pizzas purchased at the nearby Aldi.  My dog Tammy, with the food in those little foil cans that I've been getting her, has been eating more delectable fare than me.

With the manuscript "in the can," it was high time that I eat properly.

So we got to Drake House today and I was immediately charmed by the place.  The restaurant is in a large-ish domicile built in the early 1900s for railroad workers.  My friends and I went inside and were taken to our table.  The drink selection was easy: coffee, tea (sweet and unsweet), and water.  I chose the sweet tea.  That alone was a pleasure.  Too many restaurants can't brew sweet tea properly.  Drake House does it absolutely right.

The Drake House has a buffet.  Coming right after Thanksgiving the selection was much in keeping with the holiday.  I helped myself to the turkey and I don't know how they cooked it without it being deep-fried, but that was the most tender and moist turkey that I have ever put into my mouth!  It was a sheer delight.  I also got a few pieces of the chicken, which is hailed by many as among the best in the world.  This also surprised me by how good it was.  The ham was almost barbecued, it was much juicier than most that I've had.  The green beans were a fine bit of country goodness and the mashed potatoes were spot-on perfect in texture and taste.

There is quite a selection of desserts to choose from after the main course is completed.  I went for the pound cake.  Tasted just as good as Granny used to make.

I was thoroughly satisfied with the meal.  Indeed, I felt completely stuffed!  I think my stomach has actually shrunk over the past few months.  It needed something proper in it.  Drake House really was the best place to come to for serious food after a full season of self-denial.

My friends had been to Stax's Drake House before.  It had been a "hidden treasure" that their own family had discovered awhile back.  And now I know about it.  I'm looking forward to taking others to dine there in due time.  And after you're done, maybe you can take a stroll through downtown Landrum.  We spotted quite a few nice little places, including a bookstore that I am eager to visit sometime.

Stax's Drake House Restaurant is located at 511 N. Howard Avenue in Landrum, South Carolina.  For more information including dinner hours you can visit the website at staxdrakehouse.com.  I definitely recommend checking it out if you're in the area!

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Let her go? Queen Elsa arrested near Charleston for FROZEN weather

Disclaimer: I have yet to see Disney's Frozen, so I have no idea about how extensive Elsa's criminal activities go.  I'm assuming they are pretty pervasive, given how much I've heard it talked about by numerous children I've found myself around.

Just days after police in Harlan, Kentucky issued a warrant for her arrest, Queen Elsa was located this morning all the way in Hanahan: a small town near Charleston, South Carolina.  Hanahan police spotted Elsa freezing a fountain in broad daylight.  Police swooped in and arrested the Snow Queen before she could bring down the fury of a cold front threatening the area.

ABC News 4 is reporting that...

With more bitter cold heading to the Lowcountry this week, Hanahan police officers tried to do their part to stop the encroaching weather by arresting the Snow Queen.

Police Chief Mike Cochran and Officer Flor Reyes made the arrest.

In this case, police could not let her go after spotting her freezing a fountain in Hanahan. However, she was freed after a bond court hearing. Apparently the ice melted before the hearing, taking with it any evidence.

The ABC News 4 link has much more about Elsa's arrest, including several other photos among them pics of her getting her bond hearing.

No word on whether Elsa began singing "Let Me Go" after being handcuffed.

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The American Civil War began 150 years ago today

I have heard many dissenting opinions during my lifetime as to who fired the first shot: the Union army that was holding Fort Sumter, or the newly-minted Confederate army (which is said to have initiated hostilities with a 10-inch mortar round from nearby Fort Johnston).

But there is no dispute about the fact that the bombardment of Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina - an act which had no combat casualties - would lead to the greatest conflict in American history and the loss of more than six hundred thousand lives on both sides.

It was one hundred and fifty years ago today, on April 12th, 1861, that the North and South first clashed at Fort Sumter.

The American Civil War had begun.

This blogger pauses to remember those on both sides of th ewar, who fought only for what they sincerely believed to the best of their mortal minds was the right thing.

On that note, I think I'll pop in my DVD of Gods and Generals for the rest of the evening, if only for background noise.

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"Subversive" groups in South Carolina must be legally registered

What. The. Hell. ?!?

If you are a "subversive" person - i.e. if you are honked-off enough with the government that you think it should be overthrown or even coerced in any way whatsoever (which could mean anything) - and you happen to live in South Carolina, you must now register with that state's government or else get slapped with a $25,000 fine and up to ten years in prison.

Hit here for the full text of the "Subversive Activities Registration Act", which is now codified in the South Carolina law books.

Right off the top of my head, this law violates the First Amendment (right of peaceable assembly), the Fifth Amendment (protection against self-incrimination) and damn near everything that the Founders had in mind when they wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Who the hell in the South Carolina legislature voted for this abomination? Whoever they are, they should be dragged out into the street and horsewhipped most heinously. Followed by a good tar 'n featherin'!

EDIT 8:52 a.m.: It just hit me what South Carolina's lawmakers really have in mind with this thing. Let's start calling it for what it is: a dissent tax! South Carolina like most other states right now are having a bigtime budget crunch, so they've hit on a new channel of revenue. And right now there's beacoups of anger at the government, so South Carolina's legislators are attempting to tap into that as a lucrative source of income.

Dissent tax. That's what I'm gonna start calling it anyway...

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United States poised for Zimbabwe-style economic collapse, sez governor

If the United States keeps "spending a bunch of money we don't have", it faces a collapse of its economy much like what has happened in Zimbabwe, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford predicts.

In case you haven't heard, the financial hyper-inflation which has rocked Zimbabwe has led that country to issue a one trillion dollar bill as part of its currency. For one of those legal tender notes, you can currently buy a hamburger or two.

Sanford gets what's really going on. Too bad there doesn't seem to be many other elected officials who are likewise calling for fiscal sobriety right now.

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UPDATE: Pastor takes down Obama/Osama sign, gives pathetic excuse

Regarding Jonesville Church of God in upstate South Carolina that a few days ago caused a furor with it's vile church sign attempting to link presidential candidate Barack Obama to Osama Bin Laden: today it's being reported that Pastor Roger Byrd chickened out and removed the message.

And why did Byrd do this in the first place? In his own words...

"His name is so close to Osama I feeling might be Islamic therefore he doesn't recognize Christ."

Ummmm... saywhu...?

So simply because "Obama" sounded "Islamic" (whatever the hell that means) that this meant he automatically had to be assigned a religion? Isn't that fully counter to everything that Jesus, and then Paul and the other apostles, preached?

Roger Byrd can't get out of this no matter what he tries. It's obvious to everyone that this was a petty blow, motivated by worldly politics, that did nothing but inflict damage to the testimony of sincere believers. There is nothing constructive or beneficial that this preacher and his church did in the least bit.

And if these professed Christians spent as much time living humbly for Christ as they do with obsessing on things of this passing realm, this would indeed be a much happier world.

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A church sign we'll never see in Jonesville, South Carolina...

Courtesy of Church Sign Generator. Credit for the idea goes to Ed Darrell who suggested it on Kevin Bussey's post about the Jonesboro Church of God, which has upset a lot of people with the ridiculous un-Christlike message on its church sign regarding Barack Obama.

Jesus and Usama... yup, per the logic of Jonesville Church of God, that's certainly suspicious.

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South Carolina church's sign shows un-Christlike attitude toward Obama

Could somebody please tell me where there is a scriptural mandate for what the Jonesville Church of God in upstate South Carolina is doing with their sign?

From the story at WYFF in Greenville's website...

Small Church's Obama Sign Causes Big Controversy

POSTED: 4:20 pm EDT April 21, 2008
UPDATED: 10:18 pm EDT April 21, 2008

JONESVILLE, S.C. -- The sign in front of a small church in a small town is causing a big controversy in Jonesville, S.C.

Pastor Roger Byrd said that he just wanted to get people thinking. So last Thursday, he put a new message on the sign at the Jonesville Church of God.

It reads: "Obama, Osama, hmm, are they brothers?"

Byrd said that the message wasn't meant to be racial or political.

"It's simply to cause people to realize and to see what possibly could happen if we were to get someone in there that does not believe in Jesus Christ," he said.

(snip)

Pastor Byrd, it's an open question as to whether we already have someone "in there" who seriously believes in Jesus Christ today. So why is your church showing such concern now?

And how is what this pastor and his church showing that they sincerely believe in Christ, anyhow?

I said a few weeks ago that this kind of thing was going to continue leading up to the election. And though I'm not now and never will support Obama or cast a vote for him, I'm not nearly so worried about what he might do if he were to become President as I already am about too many of my fellow Christians who are not only frightfully paranoid - when scripture tells us many times to not be afraid of the things of this world - but also show such selective myopia on the basis of worldly politics. George W. Bush is already the most un-Christlike President in American history... so has the Jonesville Church of God ever condemned him?

Pastor Byrd says that the congregation of Jonesville Church of God unanimously voted to keep the message. Too bad they likely never bothered to pray and study scripture about the issue before deciding to press forward.

EDIT 11:43 pm EST 04/22/2008: I couldn't help it...

Courtesy of Church Sign Generator. Credit for the idea goes to Ed Darrell who suggested it on Kevin Bussey's post about Jonesville Church of God's ridiculous sign.

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Lizard Man Attacks Bishopville!

Doesn't this title sound soooo much like that of a Troma film?

Almost exactly 20 years since his last appearance, the Lizard Man (which may or may not resemble Stretch Monster, seen on the left) has been spotted again near Bishopville, South Carolina.

Beginning in the summer of 1988, there came a flurry of reports from the Scape Ore Swamp area near Bishopville in Lee County of a mystery monster. It was said to be humanoid, standing upright, with scaly green skin and red eyes. The Lee County Sheriff's Department wound up going out into the swamp and came back with plaster casts of tracks made by a three-toed creature that according to the South Carolina Marine Resources Department, did not match those of any known species of animal.

Needless to say, the Lizard Man story became a media sensation that brought television news crews and newspaper reporters from around the world descending on Bishopville. One of its local radio stations offered a $1 million reward for anyone who could capture the creature alive. There was even a song that came out about the Lizard Man.

And then it pulled a Keyser Soze and "like that, he's gone." After only a month of reputable Lizard Man sightings, the thing disappeared. There was one account of it being spotted soon afterward, but that later turned out to have been a hoax.

But now in 2008, Lizard Man has returned, acording to MyrtleBeachOnline.com. It's destroyed part of a couple's van, and this time it's left more tracks and blood. A California-based Bigfoot hunter is saying there's no question in his mind: Lizard Man is back!

As always, this blog will be on the lookout for further developments in this... matter, and relay them to you.

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