I’d Drive To The End Of The Earth To Be Happy, Or, At Least, For A Good Plate Of Shrimp & Grits

Today started off with me taking my time once the kids were out the door.

It’s a holiday, but our school system is in session, making up for the one snow day so far this year. I, on the other hand, was not obligated to follow my standard Monday routine.

I made my way to Hob Knobb coffee, but instead digging into work, the morning here started with a hazelnut latte, Father John Misty Pandora station, and the latest issue of Garden & Gun magazine…which led me to that plate of shrimp and grits, and being happy.

My eating habits are somewhat disciplined, no bread, no cheese, light on the fried foods and rarely any red meat. I haven’t had pizza or pasta since April of last year. But, shrimp and grits – especially when defined as “iconic” – is a meal worth breaking my own rules for.

According to page 104 in this month’s Garden & Gun, those shrimp and grits were prepared by chef Bill Smith at his Crook’s Corner restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The article is about Smith, but I’m stuck on his grits.

So stuck that I’ve already convinced my husband to do a long weekend in the Chapel Hill area, as well as found an 8K race about 20 minutes from the restaurant. The more I run, the more I can eat.

I’m not sure what this post is about. Food. Eating. And the distances I’ll go for either. (Google Maps says Crook’s Corner is an 8 hour, 16 minute drive from my neighborhood.)

Maybe it’s about having time to sit back and just enjoy things, and what it leads to. A relaxed morning with a good magazine that has now inspired a mini-vacation centered on (what I would call) the perfect meal.

I remember reading a book about grief, and how it impacts the decision making process. How grief impairs us, and limits us and the choices we make. I think happiness works in the same way, but to the opposite end of things – opening us up, showing us possibilities previously unimagined.

Good food, both in theory and sitting in front of me, makes me happy. This morning, I knew nothing about Bill Smith, his restaurant, or his shrimp and grits.

Now I have more than just Smith’s food to consider. I have a road trip with my family to look forward to. A race to keep me training. A whole new (minor) adventure that will be here before I know it.

All the result of me taking time to enjoy myself.