Wandering Wind Meadery in Charleston is "a small batch artisanal meadery tucked into the mountains in the heart of Appalachia." There are only a handful of meaderies across the state, so it's exciting to see one here in Charleston.



You may be asking: What exactly is mead? At it's core, it's simply honey wine: honey, water, and yeast fermented into an alcoholic beverage. But then that's where creativity is added - through fruits and other flavors.



Here are some of their offerings:

- Irish Sailor's Mead: Everything you hear about in the old Irish sailor shantys when they long for home... It's several flowers from the fields of Ireland, Juniper Berries, and Citrus to fight the scurvy aged over Bourbon Barrel Oak

- Clover Honey Traditional: Citrus and Coriander aged over Toasted French Oak

- Triple Berry Mocha: Berries and Chocolate aged over Toasted French Oak

- Peach Ginger: Peach and Ginger aged over Toasted French Oak

- Mango Jalapeño: Mango and Jalapeño aged over Toasted French Oak

- Cherry Hibiscus: Cherries, Hibiscus and Vanilla aged over Toasted Cognac

- Concord Grape Pyment: Our equivalent to a dry red table wine. Concord Grapes, hints of Vanilla and Lactose to round out the edges aged over Toasted French Oak



I tried the Clover Honey Traditional, which was quite tasty. A touch sweet, but certainly not as sweet as you might imagine "honey wine" would be. And most are on the dry side! They also have specific options available only to members - which is an interesting strategy. I wonder how many members they have now. 



Bonus: There were tasty treats from Jovial Confections, which were all delish!

Sassy Pig BBQ is a food truck that I tried out while attending Cryptid Bash at Freefolk Brewery in Hico. The food truck specializes in pulled pork – platters, sandwiches, nachos, and topped on baked potatoes or macaroni & cheese. Wings, ribs, and hotdogs round out the menu, along with potato salad, baked beans, and coleslaw sides. I went for their special, which was macaroni and cheese topped with pulled pork, black olives, jalapeños, barbecue sauce, and sour cream. These toppings left a little to be desired. It ate a little on the salty side with the olives. I would have loved some crunch - maybe a slaw - to bring in some creaminess. Grade: B

While staying at Hershey Lodge, I stopped by the Cocoa Beanery.



"Cocoa Beanery is an all-day coffee shop, serving up eats, ice cream, drinks, and treats in the heart of Hershey Lodge®. Stop in for snacks, grab-and-go meals, specialty coffee, espresso, rotating flavors of ice cream, and your favorite Hershey's candy toppings," according to the website.



I went for a cookies and cream, ice cream, topped with marshmallows. It is almost impossible for this to not taste good, right? It is kinda unfair. But, this was sweet and satisfying, and simultaneously familiar, but with a little bit of a unique spin.



Have you been to Hershey Park?



Grade: A

I may be weird, but I get excited when I get to try a new caterer.



Because, you can only check their food out in certain circumstances. You can't just decide to order a meal whatever you want. There has to be an event with food, and you have to hope that it's not just a generic provider.



I got lucky I had a recent Junior League of Charleston event where we celebrated our centennial anniversary. And one of the highlights for me was getting to eat food from Tastefully Dun.



We were able to enjoy crabcakes, antipasto skewers, fig and goat cheese crostini, stuffed meatballs, and, my favorite, a Swiss almond dip that I could have eaten the entire container of.



Plus, there were desserts: Macarons and fruit tartlet bites. I wish I could have dinners like this all the time. Just a bunch of hors d'oeuvres and I'm happy especially when they contain a lot of cheese.



Have you had the opportunity to enjoy any food from Tastefully Dun?



Grade: A

A few months ago, I learned about a bingo hall in Dunbar that raises money for the local schools.



It is apparently a big draw in the area every Saturday evening. And, they are really serious about it. I'm not sure if you've ever been to a bingo hall, but it was my first time. And, I learned that there are many more ways to hit bingo than I realized, and there are many more games than I knew.



For example, there are games within games, you can get bingo by not having boxes in a row, and there's something called tips that I still don't exactly understand. Despite that, my friend Beth and I had a fun time chatting with the other folks, fumbling our way through the game and dodging the indoor smokers.



But, one perk of the outing was a homemade dinner available for purchase. On this day, it was lasagna with salad and garlic bread. It was a little dried out by the time I got my plate, but it was still a decent meal with money that goes to a good cause.