RANDOM VAGABOND ALERT - A GREAT DEAL FOR HUNGRY NOMADS NEAR CHARLESTON

Low Country High Life For Budget Minded Culinarians

The Middleton Place Restaurant at Middleton Plantation, just fifteen minutes from Charleston, has a pretty sweet deal for people who take their gastronomy serious and need a little relief price wise. Through Restaurant.com you can get a couple of coupons to make a great meal less painful when you get the check. One coupon is $25 for $10 and the other is $50 for $25. The only fine print appears to be a minimum order of $37.50 for the $10 deal and $75 for the $50 deal. In the world of fine dining that's a pretty low threshold. If you want to read a few details about this great restaurant and the hotel located on the grounds of Middleton Plantation, check out my previous post Modern Meets Southern Vernacular at The Inn at Middleton Place. So - if you are in or near Charleston,this little restaurant will complete the evening in style for you and yours. Of course, if you want the Nomad Full Monty while you eat and sleep, I highly recommend the Inn as well. If that's not in the cards, I still recommend showing up a little early and enjoying the plantation and the Middleton Gardens, America's oldest landscaped gardens. The elegant landscaping, old buildings, water features and breathtaking vistas are worth an afternoon.

 

Bon Appetit in The Low Country

 

d.l. stafford

thenomadARCHITECT

 

RANDOM VAGABOND ALERT - THE LOTUS BECKONS AGAIN

Nothing Cures Beach Fever Like The World's Most Famous

 

We discovered the Lotus Boutique Inn & Suites last year in Ormond Beach, just north of Daytona, on a quick getaway in September. It is very hip, very small and very inexpensive. Perfect for Nomads with beach fever in search of a great place to kick back and still come home with some cash in their pockets. So we are heading out this morning for a little sun, sand and surf. Last year, it had just opened and hit all the right notes with us. Ocean front, great design, giant killer shower and a bed to die for. It even sports a nice little kitchenette for dining in. And its a mere fifty paces from the beach. Best of all, its a cool $159 per night and its almost May!

 

I will always have great memories of Daytona Beach from my childhood through high school with mom, dad and big brother. It was pure heaven. The beach is still just as beautiful and, with little hot spots like the Lotus, maybe The World's Most Famous Beach will one day regain its rank as a top spot for the discriminating beachcomber. As for now, I am amazed that this cool little place in the sun has held on to its unique combination of high design and low prices. And the service is second to none as well. If you want more details, just check out my post from last year - The World's Most Famous Beach & The Lotus - Sweet.

 

I'll check back in a few days to see how  the 2013 edition of this great little hotel is doing.  

 

Headin' South by Southeast from The Bunker

 

d.l. stafford

thenomadarchitect

VAGABOND ALERT NO. 10 - CREATIVE MUNCHIES IN A SMALL SOUTHERN TOWN

We Have To Keep Meeting Like This

 

For various reasons, we have been unable to take any extended trips of late. Funny how life gets in the way of big plans. However, don't ever underestimate the therapeutic value of the day trip. This past Saturday, as we were having our morning coffee, tea and McDonald's sausage biscuit in the bunker - even discriminating Nomads go off the reservation on occasion - we looked outside at the clear sunshine and nice, cool day and asked - What can we do on such a beautiful day here in God's country? Not long ago, Susie - an obsessive reader and crossword aficionado - read about a small, family owned, grass fed, free to run around and enjoy nature group of most happy cows which produce, according to their web site, the most delicate, delicious cheese this side of  the French Alps. So, we decided to take the roughly one hour trip to the south Georgia border town, just north of Tallahassee, to check out the appropriately named Sweet Grass Dairy.

 

After deciding on a destination for the day, we needed to find a place to eat. That's where the Nomad and the laptop come in. I studiously checked out the web for some places to eat without any particular expectations in Thomasville. Only thirty minutes north of the capital city, Thomasville was just a small town we used to go through on our way to Atlanta. Even though Sweet Grass serves lunch, I noticed a couple of other places that sounded interesting. After reading one particular restaurant menu that featured fried green tomatoes, hush puppies and shrimp & grits, I made an executive decision - Jonah's Fish & Grits it would be! One of the truly great things created by the world wide web is the ability of small, local hotels, restaurants and even cheese shops to get the word out to a wider clientele, and, ironically, to remain local and organic in the truest sense of the word. Maybe that think globally and act locally thing is more than just a marketing slogan. Yes my fellow Nomads, its not all Chic-fil-A's and Starbucks. Creative entrepreneurilism is alive and well.

 

As we headed to the big/little city, I placed a call to our beautiful daughter and asked if she wanted to join us for lunch. She did not hesitate. Like the good child we raised, she never turns down quality face time with mom and dad. What is it about eating together that brings out the best in those you love? 

 

Thomasville, We Hardly Knew You

 

As an architect, with an interest in urban design, I have witnessed the slow  disappearance of the small southern town as a viable economic entity. Thomasville appears to be the exception to that trend. I was very much impressed with the downtown area of this small, quintessential southern town. With a varied collection of small restaurants, retail shops and other specialty stores, this town center has maintained its historic character while fostering the growth of new, locally owned businesses. It all has an accretionary, natural quality that only happens when a community embraces the real experiences of true small town commerce for locals and visitors alike.

 

After parking, we made a beeline for Jonah's, gave the young lady our name and decided to wait outside for our daughter. After a few minutes, we were seated in this very busy, hip eatery. A simple former retail space, complete with white walls, 12 foot high ceilings, black vinyl floors, funky chandeliers and half of a small wood fishing skiff  hung unpretentiously from the ceiling, it featured an open view kitchen where all the good stuff gets created.  And the menu featured a veritable smorgasbord of good stuff. I settled on the shrimp and grits, Susie ordered the fish and chips and Lauren decided on the chicken/fried green tomato sandwich. We shared a nice little slice of New York cheese cake for dessert. The two women in my life spoke well of their choices and my  shrimp and grits were a 9.5. I am somewhat of a shrimp and grits expert. I have had this southern culinary creation from the low country of the Carolina's to the Texas panhandle, including some of the best ever made by my very own Sweet Magnolia, and Jonah's had the perfect combination of fresh shrimp, white cheese grits, a light sauce and roasted veggies, with a delicate hush puppy on the side. And of course, this was all accompanied by the southern nectar of the gods - sweet ice tea. Hot damn!

 

After bonding  over the great victuals at Jonah's, we headed around the corner to Sweet Grass Dairy. Finding a vast selection of cheeses from other like minded natural farms and cheese makers as well as Sweet Grass's own, we selected an organic goat cheese from Capriole of Greenville, Indiana and a mild tomme from Sweet Grass. Both proved to be outstanding and well worth the trip and the price. After Sweet Grass, we wandered into another organic establishment, Grassroots Coffee, and picked up a bag of organic home roasted coffee, served by a long bearded twenty something right out of 1967. Not your grandfather's Thomasville  anymore, this still small southern town is alive and kicking with a unique blend of old school  and new ideas for Nomads of every age to enjoy.

 

So, next time the weather is great and you just need to get away for the day, head on over to Thomasville, Georgia for a little mealtime R&R and pick up some of the best cheese around.

 

From Our Little Bunker in Dixie!

 

d.l. stafford

thenomadARCHITECT

 

 

RANDOM VAGABOND ALERT - A VERY COOL RESTAURANT IN THE MOST UNLIKELY OF PLACES

I Take Back Everything I Ever Said About Valdosta - Well Almost Everything

 

And the beat goes on. Several days ago, we had to make the thirty minute trip north to Valdosta, GA from the underground bunker here in North Florida for some needed car repair on a vintage automobile that shall remain nameless. I called and made the arrangements with the mechanic and said to my fellow life partner, nomad and very fine southern cook - Hey, why don't we have lunch in Valdosta at someplace other than a Chic-Fil-A or other road warrior haunt on the I-75 corridor? And she, never one to turn down an adventure, no matter how trivial, says sure. So I go on line and find a couple of local places that sound really interesting. This is Valdosta, Georgia after all. A town utterly defined by fast food joints, discount hotel chains and bad barbecue restaurants. Every tourist from Ohio, Michigan and Jersey stops in Valdosta for a little R&R on their way to the big prize - Disney or Universal.

So we drop the beast off for repairs and check out the restaurants on my cell. We land on a place we know nothing about except that it has a name that conjures up visions  of southern cool - Steel Magnolias. I check out the menu and turn to my betrothed and say - OK? She says - OK. And we are off to downtown Valdosta. When we get to Patterson Street, we see several other eateries and I, being the architectural critic of the family, make note of some really fine vintage buildings on this particular street. Nice brickwork, colorful awnings, a few minimalist storefronts here and there. Very un-Valdosty, if you catch my drift. We park on the street - for free. How weird is that? We walk up to the front door to the place and there on the chalk board is the following axiom:

Wine does not make you fat. It makes you lean against

walls, floors, chairs and funny people you don't know!

 

I turn to the Suse and say - I'm in. She rolls her eyes and says - OK! After thirty nine years, she so gets me. We walk into a very hip, minimalist southern chic space. Fifteen foot ceilings, exposed galvanized ducts, old painted ceiling boards, old wood floors, white washed walls replete with ancient relics and mirrors and a facing wall with a very southern print wallpaper render a space perfectly adorned for hungry Nomads. I notice a tray with French Press coffee makers for the dinner and dessert crowd. More evidence that we are not really in Valdosta anymore. We are seated by a very nice staff person and greeted by a nice young lady who appeared to be the owner. This would later be confirmed during our meal.

This Place Says Bon Appetite With A Nice Southern Accent
 

The website for Steel Magnolias proclaims "our food base is urban Southern, taking the roots of classic Southern cuisine and showing a new way of looking at them". Reading the menu, it is clear that these people take their culinary reputation seriously. After checking out the various delicacies on the menus in brown file folders, we place our order. My lovely gets the Oyster Po Boy with slaw, tomato and remoulade  and I order the Chicken Salad Wrap with mixed greens, tomato and cucumber. What happened next hooked me. The chicken wrap was just not to my liking. It wasn't bad - I just didn't like it. So, the owner walks by and asks- "How is everything". Without saying anything, she read my mind or my hesitancy to agree and asks - "You don't like it do you?". I said "Not really". She immediately says "Why don't you take another look at the menu and select something else".   After perusing the menu again, I selected the Grilled Chicken Sandwich with cabbage slaw, tomato and garlic aioli. After two bites - WOW! Great service with classic southern charm and even better food. I am now officially committed to this cool little eatery.

 

As we were finishing up, the owner came over a sat down for a brief chat between servicing other diners. Come to find out, she has been open since October 2011 and has many years in the restaurant business. In the short conversation, I also found out that she has the ONLY Steel Magnolias Restaurant in Georgia. There is nothing quite so impressive as an entrepreneur and restaurateur who is this passionate about serving food this good.  

 

So, fellow Nomads - put this intimate little eatery on your must stops for some cool R & R as you travel down the busiest interstate on earth from parts north or south. It's a short ten minutes from  Exit 16. You will have a great lunch or dinner at very reasonable  prices, run by people who really care about the quality of food they serve and the people that eat it.


From the Hinterland

d.l. stafford
thenomadARCHITECT

One Ocean Resort & Spa - A Simple Travelers Review

The Sounds Of The Beach Are The Perfect Elixir For The Post Winter Blues

A few days ago, I posted Random Vagabond Alert No. 8 about a planned trip to One Ocean Resort in Atlantic Beach, Florida. In that post, I talked about The Nomad Architect Florida Boutique   Hotel Theory that states - while there are great small boutique    hotels in the tourist infested Sunshine State, you have to diligently search and seek out those places. I mentioned the Lotus Inn & Suites in Ormond Beach which proves my theory without argument. It took some research and serendipity to find it and, once I found it, it lived up to all the criteria that would warrant a spot on The Nomad Architect Places To Sleep Before You Die List:
 

• It must be small - No large hotel    can possess the qualities that make a place special.
• It must have a strong sense of design - Design changes everything in my book.
• It must pay attention to detail - Mies said it - "God is in the details". 
• It must have great staff -  Without friendly & competent staff, a hotel is just a fancy Motel 6.
• It must take advantage of its locale - A great hotel enhances the environmental experience.
• It must have great food - Either on site or nearby, Nomads have to eat well.
• It must be clean and orderly - This one goes without saying, but, we all have our stories.
• It must have a killer shower and/or tub - Nomads need to wash off the day's dirt in style.
• It must have a bed to die for - Without a great place to lay your head, a hotel just isn't worthy.
• It must be reasonably priced - The holy grail is the great hotel on the cheap.

 

Now how, you may ask, does one come up with such a precise set of criteria to judge a hotel's standing on The List? To paraphrase the great Ed McMahon of The Tonight Show - The   answer to that question "has been kept in a hermetically sealed mayonnaise jar on Funk & Wagnall's Porch since noon today".

 

Having stated the criteria, it is time to objectively rate the One Ocean Resort & Spa of Atlantic Beach, Florida. Each "Must" gets 0 to 10 points.

 

• Size - 8 Points - At 193 rooms, One Ocean is not tiny but small enough to make the cut.
• Design - 8 Points - Good design, but a little over done with the trendy colors and sea shell wall sculptures. The motif is more corporate resort than cutting edge. In addition, because the hotel is in a renovated building, it suffers from some challenges that were difficult to overcome because of the original building. Access to the rooms is rather tedious, having to go down long public corridors and taking two elevators to get to your room. And the interior designer LOVES curtains! The room, however was very elegant, with very clean detailing and what appeared to be venetian plaster behind the bed.
• Detail - 8 Points - Pretty good. Why do architects obsess over this? Sorry. I would have replaced all of the old door hinges - but that's just me. And room doors need better closers and silencers, which would make the door close quietly. Picky, picky picky!
• Staff - 10 + Points - When you check in, apparently a "docent" is assigned to your room. And it is not just a word to One Ocean. When you need something, all you have to do is make a one button call to the front desk and - viola! I have never ordered coffee and tea at 7 AM and had it delivered to my room in less than four minutes. And it was great and hot. The best service I have ever had at a full service hotel.
• Locale - 10 Points - It's the beach. The balcony was large enough for two and allowed perfect views of the sunrise and ocean. If you go, make sure you get a corner room for the best view. And a higher floor would have been better. But third floor was fine.
• Food - 10 Points - We didn't eat at the hotel restaurant, but had two great meals at the North Beach Fish Camp Restaurant only a few steps away. Excellent seafood and a pretty mean shrimp and grits.
• Clean & Orderly - 8 Points - Room clean. Some of the public space  surfaces need some spiffing up. But, overall - very good.
• Shower - 9 Points - Shower was a bit small, more than likely due to the existing space, but, with two adjustable shower heads, this critical component was, if not a killer, a great place to get clean. The bath products were excellent as well.
• Bed - 10++ Points - They spared no expense on the bed. And the pillows, the comforter and the linens would have made any Sheik of Arabi feel right at home.
• Price - 7 Points - Here is where it gets a little tricky. I have noticed hotel costs rising substantially within the past year. More proof that our dollar is suffering due to the US Printing Press. One Ocean is not cheap. The room rate was a bit high, but, acceptable. Even the resort fee was tolerable, since it included the docent services, all the in room munchies, bottled water and goodies you could consume and all the coffee and tea you could drink. What was not tolerable was the mandatory valet parking fee. The idea of requiring someone to pay for parking valet services in a 193 room hotel with the parking lot literally a few steps away is absurd. And to rub salt in the wound, that fee doesn't show up until the final bill.

So - does the One Ocean prove the Florida Boutique Hotel Theory? I would answer with a qualified yes. I must admit, this Nomad and Nomadess are just not that into the whole resort thing. All that pampering and to do is just a bit much. For my money, The Lotus Inn in Ormond Beach beats One Ocean for half the price. So, next time you need some relief from the day to day or need a little beach time, One Ocean works, but I would drive a little further south to The Lotus.

 

From Our Little Underground Loft in The Hinterland

 

d.l.stafford

thenomadARCHITECT

Travel Quote of The Week -The three gret elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach - Henry Beston.

Video Artist of The Week - Maceo Parker brings blues, funk, Hammond B3 and big band sounds together for some serious music to wake you up. Hallelujah I Love Her So is worth a listen
 

 

 

 

RANDOM VAGABOND ALERT - AN OCEANFRONT CURE FOR THE WINTER BLUES? WE'LL SEE.

Spring Is Only Four Days Away - So What Are Winter Weary Nomads To Do?

Check out an award winning boutique resort and spa on old Jax Beach I found on line about a year ago, that's what. The room is booked, the docent has been advised of our needs - that's right a docent - and the weather has been confirmed. So to the beach we are going for our first 2013 Official US of A  Nomad Architect Road Trip to cure those  Man This Weather Sucks - I Just Wanna Go Somewhere - If I Don't Get Out of This Town I'm Gonna Scream - End of Winter Blues.

 

Generally, I am not too keen on resorts and spas, but my research tells me the One Ocean Resort in Atlantic Beach, Florida is worth a look. My last memory of Jax Beach was an insane New Year's Eve Party at the Holiday Inn On The Beach when I was in college. Probably not a good benchmark for travel advice. Due to a variety of commitments, we have been unable to travel of late and the wanderlust spirit has suffered  as a result. So, when we started talking about a quick getaway, I pulled up the web site for One Ocean  and - viola! 

 

This little trip is going to test my theory about Florida boutique hotels. Though few and far between, they are out there if you look. This past fall, we tested the theory with a visit to The Lotus Inn and Suites in Ormond Beach and - In a word - Brilliant! So, as we head out for our little getaway from the day to day, in addition to enjoying all that One Ocean has to offer, I will be taking copious notes to ensure that Aesthetic Vagabonds everywhere can be in the know on this Forbes Four Star boutique on old Jax Beach.

 

Stay Tuned - From The Underground Loft In God's Country Part B,

 

d.l. stafford

thenomadARCHITECT

RANDOM VAGABOND ALERT - BIG TIME PIZZA IN A SMALL TOWN

A Little Bit of Italy Comes To Folks In The Hinterland

 

We are currently living in the small, small, small town of Madison, Florida. It is the place where I met my one and only in 1969. We have stayed together all these years and I still get nervous when she walks in the room. I am in daily wonderment at how the Good Lord placed her in my line of site on that fateful spring day in '69. And this year will be forty years, two kids, very few fights and more good times that any human being should be allowed to have. As the Lyle Lovett song "Give Back My Heart" says - She cooks the supper and I try payin' the rent. OK, so now you are beginning to think- shutup already!!

 

The reason why the little personal history is important is today's Alert. Here in Madison - a town that has actually lost population since its heyday when I was a student and enjoyed a life changing summer romance with the best looking woman I ever saw, a town that has a restaurant that sells food by the pound and a town where taking the garbage to the county dump is a social event (the Waste Management guy is always friendly) - we have a serious, no holds barred, so good it will make you tear up pizza restaurant. Yes, Cuccinella's Brick Oven Pizzeria has arrived in the hinterland. The ultimate family operated small business, this little place serves the best pizza I have had this side of Florence - and always with a smile. Simple in concept and preparation, Cucinella's Pizzeria serves up excellent, hand made pizza with your favorite toppings - all fresh. And no pizza Nazis here, like the overcrowded and overrated Antico's in Atlanta, that will flog you if you have the audacity to ask for any combination of toppings not specifically listed on the menu. You know - things like pepperoni and sausage. And they seem to like to burn their concoctions and expect you to like it! Tedious indeed.

 

So once a week or so we call up one of the family at the local pizzeria and order our pizza, always extra crispy. It is one of those guilty pleasures that makes life better. If Bloomberg were mayor of Madison, I am sure this incredible, edible Italian delicacy would  already have been outlawed. I usually have mine with a coke (very weird), another Bloomberg no no. And, if I am feeling particularly cosmopolitan, nothing enhances a fresh piece of Italy like a nice pinot or shiraz. In any case, this pizza goes well with whatever your beverage of choice might be.

 

So, next time you are heading to points east or west on I-10, check out Cucinella's. Take exit 251, turn onto FL-14E, stay on Fl-14E which turns into South Range, once you are in town. It's on the corner of South Range and Rutledge (201 SW Rutledge Street), next to the laundromat, the same place I used to do my laundry in college. And you thought modern life was destroying the important things in our culture. Of course, if you take US 90 (Base Street) right through the middle of town, hang a right onto South Range and go two blocks. It's on the left. Just call ahead and order when you get on the exit ramp and it will be ready when you get there. They are open  11-2 & 5-9 Monday through Friday and 4-9 Saturdays. Ah! the joys of small town life.

 

La Dolche Vita from God's Country - Parte B

 

d.l. stafford

thenomadarchitect.com