By Bill King
Last Saturday, I made my annual pilgrimage to Loachapoka, Alabama. Yes, you are quite correct; it is a native American name. The name means “Turtle killing place.” Loachapoka is a quaint but adorable little town that is well worth visiting unless, of course, you happen to be a turtle. A milder translation of the name is “Turtle gathering place.” In case you’ve never heard of Loachapoka and do not have the foggiest idea where it is located, just go to Auburn and head West on Highway 14. Travel about five or six miles, and you will find yourself in downtown Loachapoka. It will take you only about ten minutes to get there from Auburn and less time than that to drive through town. Unless, of course, you happen to go there on Syrup Sopping Day, then you had better allow about 30 minutes. Don’t drive “through” town on that day, but stop…stop and stay for a while. Wherever you are coming from and however long it takes you to get there, it is worth the trip. Yes, you’ve already missed it this year, but write it on your calendar for next October. No, it won’t take you until then to get there, but if you don’t write it down now, you’ll forget, and then you’ll be upset when you remember that you forgot!
For the past several years, I have had the privilege of playing and singing on the main stage on Syrup Sopping Saturday. This year, beginning at noon, I did a 45-minute set of some original music, classic soft rock, and Christian. I even played our National Anthem on the harmonica while the crowd spontaneously joined in and sang the words. They were quite moving! I went a little early this year to hear my friend Tom Tyson and his band play right before me. Tom even hung around to play with me on his mandolin for a couple of tunes.
I always try to get there early anyway, at least early enough to have breakfast there. That’s because they have biscuits and syrup. They usually have regular biscuits and sweet potato biscuits. Sometimes, they run out, so that’s why I go early. I have found it quite difficult to sop up syrup if I don’t have a biscuit to sop with. It can be done, but it is quite messy, not to mention it’s rude to lick your plate!
I am a well-experienced syrup sopper. Growing up, Mama used to make homemade biscuits most mornings. Jean and I still have them sometimes, but Pillsbury usually makes them. We had two kinds of syrup back when. We had local farm-made Sand Mountain Sorghum or store-bought Golden Eagle. You have to have at least two biscuits to sop syrup. You break the first one into two pieces and smother it with your favorite kind of syrup. Then, once you’ve eaten both sides of that biscuit because you poured way too much syrup on them, it ran off your biscuits and covered much of the rest of your plate. That’s when the second biscuit comes into play. You use it to sop up as much of the remaining syrup as possible. Please be warned, though, that a third biscuit may be required to sop up all of the syrup. If it is not required, simply pour a little more syrup on your plate, and it will be. Of course, you can always break open another biscuit and start all over again!
Now that you know how to sop syrup don’t forget to show up next fall for Syrup Sopping at Loachapoka! See you there.
