Crafty Bill Hardesty knows that roses won’t cut it when you’re bestowing a gift upon Elizabeth Greer, aka “Nicotina, Queen of the Tobacco Festival” in Maryland. I seriously did not make that up. Instead, he comes bearing “five hands” of choice, air-cured Maryland tobacco, the secret to long life and prosperity.
You know those McCormick seasonings that you have stashed in your cupboard? The ones that probably should have been tossed and replaced five years ago? Easily half of our spices have the red, white, and blue McCormick label, and our funds help support the desperate research that Mr. William Hall is performing.
All day long, poor Mr. Hall must sit at his desk, teasipping and deciding which flavor, bouquet, and body combine for an ideal blend of tea. Once his palate is exhausted, he pauses to stare out his huge window that overlooks a busy Baltimore pier, where freighters unload cargo from exotic ports.
Nice work if you can get it.
But what, you ask, is even more curious than being a professional teasipper? How about the fact that there is in fact another William Hall currently running the Charleston Tea Plantation–and he is a third-generation tea taster.
If you are one of the many teetotalers among us, unable to visit the trendy wineries and breweries dotting the landscape, rest assured that you can visit the Charleston Tea Plantation instead. Get your sobering beverage fix on.
Per Charleston Living magazine,
The Charleston Tea Plantation has become a tourist attraction, welcoming 75,000 visitors each year to see how tea plants grow and how the tea leaves are harvested and turned into a refreshing glass of iced tea or a warm comforting mug of hot tea.
“I wanted a place to educate people on tea,” Hall said.
Visitors can tour the factory, board a trolley to ride through the acres of historic tea plants and learn all about the rich history of tea in the Lowcountry.
Perhaps, like me, you’d prefer a brimming mug of coffee any morning over some watery hot tea, but the truth is that tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water. And Mr. Hall, who lives on the farm, is pretty happy about that.
Mr. Johnson and Mr. Wright pause for a break on a hot August day in 1939. Both men were Farm Security Administration clients in Syracuse, Kansas who worked to maintain an irrigation well.
Below you see Mr. Johnson irrigating, having just built a dam of board and tumbleweed. Looks exhausting, no?
Gunnery instructor Clark Gable shows his skills with the US Army Air Force during 1943 in England.
What festive autumn colors! Sixteen-year-old Jacqueline LaVigne, aka Miss Vermont, took part in several 4-H canning projects, using tomatoes from her Essex Center garden. Check out that plastic apron!
This beauty had her hands full at the State Fair in Indianapolis. She was one of the 1,760,000 boys and girls taking part in 4-H Clubs in 1948. During WWII, 4-H club members canned 74 MILLION quarts of food. 
But it wasn’t only 4-H members canning. Home canning reached its peak in 1943, with over 4.1 billion jars canned in homes and community canning centers (Bentley, 1998). 
http://www.nal.usda.govwww.aliexpress.com
I’ve never seen this pairing in real life, but evidently folks at the Flower Mart in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon Place fancied a peppermint inserted in a lemon as refreshment. I mean, I guess if they ran out of Coke, it makes sense.
Today we wrap up with servers and burgers from Schacher’s Plates + Dishes.
In Virginia, we find young Lacy serving up a delicious-looking bacon cheeseburger with onion rings. That’s a fun indulgence.
Next, we visit the mysterious Roswell, New Mexico. Maybe it’s just me, but Christie looks a little extra-terrestrial herself, with her hair pulled back so tightly and those frameless lenses.
That “Alien Goo Burger” looks a hot mess, and not a burger at all. You may think these images were taken many moons ago, but only 13 years, to be exact. To be sure, prices were lower.
Evidently, they closed shop three years later. Roswellguy111 posted these words on the interwebs:
Crash Site Cafe Owner a mean guy
I worked for Danny Bowen the owner of Crash Site Cafe. The man was a good cook but he cheated his employees and cheated us pay. His business closed because he ran into financial trouble and because he was a mean boss. The food was the best but the owner was a bad guy. Crash Site Cafe is closed. If you’re going down second street as you enter Roswell, look by next to Sonic and you will see the abandoned restaurant with weeds and loneliness.
Weeds and loneliness. Well, how about that? Something disappeared in Roswell.
And something disappeared on this beverage glass. Clothes! What do you make of Alexa at The Palms in California? She’d fit right in here in Austin. Peace, man. And peace out.
Debbie looks pleased as punch to be clocked in at New York’s Buckhorn Family Restaurant. Maybe she needs a bite of cow to up her protein levels. The meal is called “Texas Steak and Eggs” but this Yankee is missing the Southern sweetness.
Shelley seems much happier, if not reluctant to be photographed, to be serving up fish and chips at Ontario’s Westwind Tavern.
There we are! Jenny at Dalman’s in the North Pole, bringing the welcome wagon. Yes, I WILL take the grilled beef steak and onion, thank you. A 20% tip for Jenny!
Daphne served halibut at Eureka Lodge.
Brenda served a 1/2 lb cheeseburger at Gwennie’s.
Betsy served prawns at Seaview Cafe.
Which of these Alaskan dishes would you prefer?
I Don't Get It 