NOVEMBER 21, 2024

David DiBenedetto

If your household is like mine, you’re feeling the incoming push of the holidays whether you’re prepared or not. My extended family is assigning duties for Thanksgiving dinner (my wife, Jenny, and I will handle the sweet potato casserole with sorghum and peanuts), and we’ve already been discussing where we’ll bunk on Christmas Eve. And don’t forget the duck season opener! (My Labrador retriever won’t let me out of her sight as the weather turns cooler.)

What a glorious time of year. If you feel the same way, you’ll love the December/January issue. Inside, take a trip to the Bahamas for a tropical holiday celebration courtesy of interior designer and hostess extraordinaire Amanda Lindroth (boat parades and stone crab claws included). You’ll also learn the secrets to hot gin punch, one of Charles Dickens’s favorite winter sippers. Hear from Vivian Howard on her journey to fruitcake love, and don’t miss our perfectly Southern gift guide. Speaking of great gifts, we also announce the winners of our fifteenth annual Made in the South Awards.

But it’s not all holiday merrymaking. Join a family goose hunt on Maryland’s Eastern Shore; hit the gridiron with Ole Miss’s de facto mascot, a yellow Lab named Juice; and take a tour of the South’s newest oyster bars. Plus: John Grisham dishes on his family’s rescue pup, Scout.

If you’d like to subscribe (and receive this issue), please consider doing so today, since we have only a limited number of issues set aside for new orders. If you’re one of the G&G faithful, expect to see the issue in your mailbox soon.

As I type this, our friends in Western North Carolina continue to dig out from the devastation of Hurricane Helene. But there are many bright spots. Asheville’s water is now running free and clear, and restaurants are throwing open their doors. And while the show of Southern support for our mountain neighbors has been overflowing, let’s continue to spread love and joy as fall turns to winter and beyond. 

Happy holidays, all.

DAVID DIBENEDETTO

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & EDITOR IN CHIEF
CO-HOST OF THE WILD SOUTH PODCAST

Follow me on Instagram @davedibenedetto