Learning a little from the locals

3/21/2006

“Good times come and good times go. I only wish the good times would last a little longer.”
- from “Story Of My Life” by Social Distortion

It is remarkable what you can learn about a place if you take a little time to talk with the locals.

On a whirlwind tour of the eastern United States last week, I learned some interesting things about a few of the people and places of the American south.

Memphis, Tennessee, for example, is known and revered by many as the home of Elvis Presley. Many of the locals, however, don’t hold “the King” in such high regard. Elvis was only a small part of Beale Street, and its incredible music and culture.

In conversation with a street preacher at the foot of the Elvis Presley monument at the top of Beale, I learned Memphis has a long history of individuals who fought for change. The man, who had more quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. than he had teeth, was also fighting for change—at least, enough change to buy his next bottle of wine.

At Hunting Island State Park, on the southernmost tip of South Carolina, I learned our campsite was the location for the filming of such notable screen classics as the Demi Moore epic G.I. Jane, the popular Tom Hanks film Forrest Gump, and an episode or two of CSI Miami.

A lagoon in the park was the exact spot where Forrest hauls his fellow soldiers out of the jungle, and a short drive up the coast takes you right into the heart of shrimp country. To celebrate, we stopped at the Shrimp Shack, right beside Barefoot Bubba’s Beach Wear, and enjoyed steamed shrimp, buffalo shrimp, jalapeno shrimp, popcorn shrimp, and crab cakes, just for something different.

Hunting Island is an alcohol-free park, but one of the locals said no one ever notices a straw sticking out of the sand if you feel like burying a jug of something on the beach. You just have to be careful of high tide. I got the feeling he probably had all sorts of things buried in the nearby dunes.

At Wall Doxey State Park, up in Holly Springs, Mississippi, I learned the most important piece of advice of the entire trip—how to trap an armadillo.

All you need is a football, and some lipstick.

I heard armadillos are easily tricked as spring approaches, when frisky males are out on the prowl looking for love. Any armadillo worth his shell will be so occupied with the football that he won’t even notice you, or care, if you happen to get too close.I said we could try a similar trick up in Canada with the porcupine, but the species is well protected because it is one of the only animals you can eat raw without any ill effects. Apparently, that’s true.

When the locals said we were crazy, I said I wasn’t the one carrying around a football and a tube of lipstick. It’s funny what you can learn at times.