one of my favorite things about spontaneous road trips is all the little hidden gems you find when you’re not looking.  cypress grill was one of those places that makes you say, this is what it’s all about.

we were on a particularly long stretch of lonely road in north carolina when i happened upon this place in my trusty guidebook.  my moon handbook says: “the cypress grill is an unprepossessing wooden shack right-smack on the river, a survivor of the days when jamesville made its living in the herring industry, dragging the fish out of the water with horse-drawn seine nets … the cypress grill is open for the three and a half months of the year (from the second thurs in jan through the end of apr), when the herrings run, and you could hardly have a more intensely authentic, small-town dining experience anywhere else.”

i was intrigued but cautious, so i asked my dad to turn into the tiny street off the empty highway in search of this shack on the river.  “if there are less than three cars there,” i said, “we’re leaving.” it kinda freaks me out when we’re the only people in a restaurant.  (sorry, make that the only asian people in a restaurant in the middle of sparsely populated southern territory.)

so we drove down this tiny residential street and i was growing increasingly skeptical.  we drove down a good three miles of quiet gravel road without seeing a soul.  i was about to say we should turn back when the road ended at this spectacular scene:

to my utter surprise there was a makeshift dirt parking lot to my left PACKED with cars.  very good sign.  i tell my dad to park, and he nearly drives us into the river trying to fit the car into the crevice between the shack and the river.  not a real parking space, mind you.

it was exactly what i would expect it to be inside.  kitschy and sweet.  a ton of locals. someone’s grandma yelled across the room for us to grab a seat anywhere.  the menu was a flimsy worn piece of white paper with hastily typed items in times new roman. i smiled because this was the kind of place you’d try to replicate in california but just can’t.

of course you have to order the herring.  twice deep fried, and you eat them whole, with a side of southern staples like hush puppies (we literally had this for 50% of our meals on our trip), cole slaw, boiled potatoes.

oyster plate. for under $7. what?! i never get to enjoy these at home because of they are so expensive..

and my personal favorite, deviled crab. it’s a spicy crabcake in a shell. oh, i ate a ton of crab on this trip. maryland crabcakes, btw, to die for. but that’s for another post should i ever get to it. :)

i think my dad’s happy.

via @charitywater’s twitpic:

90-year-old Nun Tadfalah told us she waited her entire life for clean water to be brought to her village. A 90-year wait ended by charitywater.org donors.

scott harrison, president and founder of charity:water, writes: “take great pictures and video, tell their stories and infect people with your passion.”

what a gift it could be, to use our talents and resources to tell the stories of the voiceless.  i feel a calling being shaped…

traveled thousands of miles in search of inspiration

and found beauty in the littlest of things.

{david choi – won’t even start}

i’m back from the east coast! i meant to blog but was lacking internet in half the hotels and also forgot my card reader. :( it felt good though to whip out the old fashioned paper journal and give it a whirl. i miss the feeling of flowing ink, pretty handwriting, freedom to doodle.

a few shots from the cherry blossom festival in dc: