Ashley Hall of Third Coast Byways (link) is the definitive Southern, and I mean that in the best sense of the term. This transplanted Birmingham native has been in our fine city for some time and established herself as a grape hound with Quality Wines and with Kermit Lynch. But her time in the wine industry has come and gone (at least for now), and as we all know … idle hands are the food fanatics treasure.
Motivated by her sense of civic duty, this belle has been slinging stories from Mobile to Biloxi and beyond for the past few months. We all know what’s going on down there in the Gulf, but Third Coast Byways offers a near daily update of things from a more personalized perspective.
Unlike yours truly, Ms. Hall has a background in journalism and is a really good writer. Helped by her deep knowledge of wine and her overall enthusiasm for food, Hall is helping to document the destruction of Apalachicola’s food eco-system and culture.
While the stories aren’t always the most happy go lucky, Hall’s charm seems to come through time and time again. She’s got a thankless job, but along with the Southern Foodways Alliance, she’s documenting something that needs to be followed. I highly suggest you start reading, it’s blogging with a conscience but not politics.