By Jennifer Williams, Director of the Isle of Wight County Museum

Facts & Figures
•  The U.S. is the largest producer and consumer of peanut butter in the world. 
•  The average peanut farm in the U.S. is 100 acres.
•  There are enough peanuts in one acre to make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches. 
•  It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
•  Peanuts aren’t nuts; they’re legumes. It’s technically inaccurate to call it a nut, but it's usually refered to as one anyway.
•  Peanuts have more protein, niacin, folate and phytosterols than any other nut.
•  Peanuts and peanut butter contain over 30 essential nutrients and phytonutrients.
•  Peanuts are cholesterol-free and an ideal source of protein.
•  The average American consumes around 6 or 7 pounds of peanut butter every year.
•  The average child will eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before graduating from high school.
•  Two peanut farmers have been elected president – Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.
•  Astronaut Alan Shepard brought a peanut with him to the moon.

The Language of Peanuts
Goober—a nickname for peanuts—comes from nguba, the Congo language name for peanut.
The Peanut Gallery - This term  became popular in the late 19th century and referred to the rear or uppermost seats in a theater, which were also the cheapest seats. People seated in such a gallery were able to throw peanuts, a common food at theaters, at those seated below them. It also applied to the first row of seats in a movie theater, for the occupants of those seats could throw peanuts at the stage, stating their displeasure with the performance.
More peanut facts can be found on the Virginia Carolina’s Peanut Promotions website.

By Jennifer Williams, Director of the Isle of Wight County Museum

For survival, every culture develops methods of curing food to prevent deterioration. From the bounty supplied by the Chesapeake Bay and eastern woodlands, the Virginia Indians smoked and stored game and fish for the winter months. Fish was smoked where it was caught and transported back to villages while venison, bear and other game hung in the tops of houses so that smoke from the fires preserved the meat. These techniques were observed by some of the first English settlers to arrive in Virginia.

Swine, brought to the New World by Europeans, flourished in North America. Practically the perfect colonist, pigs are a relatively easy animal to raise, and they became a staple for most farmers by the 17th century. For the colonists, however, ham was the perfect food for export.

In the New World, counties and towns grew as a result of the trade and commerce that sailed to and from its shores. Wharves and warehouses were built, and vessels sailed to and from foreign and domestic ports bringing with them news and various imports such as sugar, spices, chocolate, coffee, tea and liquor. Merchants, who maintained close ties with other seaports, sold these items in their stores and helped facilitate the export of goods such as tobacco, tar, pitch, turpentine, wood, shingles and, of course, ham. This trading system fueled the New World’s economic engine.

Throughout the years, the business of ham became quite large. Industrial smokehouses replaced smaller farm and business fixtures, and numerous companies – some with names still recognizable today - gave their names to ham. Today along the Salty Southern Route, we can see and taste the influence of this history in salt and hardwood-smoked dry-cured hams, which keep indefinitely and without refrigeration.

We are so happy you have found yourself exploring the route and all that there is do along this foodie, historic, local, thematic trail. You may be wondering what’s with the name “Salty Southern Route?” Thanks in part to definitions from Webster’s Dictionary understanding the background of the name is quite simple:
Salty: tasting of, containing, or preserved with salt
Southern: situated in the south or directed toward or facing the south
Route: a way or course taken in getting from a starting point to a destination
 
Now put those definitions together starting from the bottom up and voila! “A way or course taken in getting from a starting point to a destination, situated in the south, tasting of, containing or preserved with salt” – this is the perfect explanation of the Salty Southern Route. Featuring all things pork and peanuts (which typically feature an abundance of salt) this trail meanders through eight charming towns, cities and counties along Coastal Virginia. Perfect for a girl’s getaway, a family trip, a couple’s mini vacation or a day trip, the Salty Southern Route offers something for everyone. Check out the itinerary section of the website to plan your trip or create your own custom adventure of all of the local shops, events, food & drinks and lodging.
 
The route is still "under construction" as they say, but if you have questions or need assistance planning your visit to the Salty Southern Route please feel free to give us a call at 757353.5521 or send an email to ltokarz@isleofwightus.net.
 
Y’all come back!
-The Salty Southern Trail Crew-