—James “Jack” Hadley, an eighty-two-year-old historian and Thomasville, Georgia, resident, on his efforts to restore the city’s Imperial Hotel, once listed in the real-life Green Book and a haven for African-Americans during Jim Crow.

Scraps of newspaper, brass buttons, an iron pot handle. Those are just a few of the items that have been discovered in the walls of a kitchen house and dwelling behind the oft-visited Nathaniel Russell House in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. The work is part of a project by the Historic Charleston Foundation, which owns the nineteenth-century property, to explore the outbuilding where enslaved men and women once lived and ultimately mount an exhibition that will help shed light on their lives. “It is our responsibility to restore this space so every visitor to Charleston can have this experience to fully understand where we come from as a community,” says Lauren Northup, director of museums for HCF. The Help Us Tell Everyone’s Story campaign is currently about $18,000 away from its goal, and for the remainder of February, every donation will be matched dollar for dollar. Donors who give $500 or more can schedule a private tour with Northup and see the excavation of the kitchen house, and history being rediscovered, up close.

For those who want to live with nature close at hand, Kiawah River puts the beauty of the South Carolina Lowcountry right out your front door. The new community sits along twenty miles of waterfront just outside Charleston, and half of its 2,000 acres will be kept undeveloped—meaning plenty of chances for fishing, kayaking, biking, and bird-watching. The craftsman houses were designed to emphasize Southern warmth and complement the natural environment, while community amenities include a boat launch, lodge, swim club, and more than fifteen miles of trails winding through the maritime forest. Learn more about Kiawah River and its offerings.

The Alabama-born author Helen Ellis launched a hilarious podcast, Southern Lady Code, to go with her soon-to-debut book of essays by the same name. Yes, she interprets tried-and-true Southernisms like “Bless your heart,” but my favorite episode unravels “We’ve met”—translated by Ellis as “I remember you because you were horrible to me, but you don’t remember me because you’re horrible to everyone.”

I can’t wait to read Ashley M. Jones’s newly released collection, dark // thing. The Birmingham resident’s unforgettable poems examine history, culture, race, Southernness, and womanhood in a singular, affecting way. (You should also pick up her first book, Magic City Gospel, which won the silver medal in poetry at the 2017 Independent Publishers Book Awards.)

Nashville writer Mary Laura Philpott also has a moving book of essays out soon called I Miss You When I Blink, and her newsletter, Blink, is the most delightful thing in my inbox. She lauds “a book, a link, a song, and a picture” in each one, and her loves-of-the-moment have hooked me on music by Twin Shadow and books by Elizabeth McCracken. Bonus: coverage of Frank, the turtle who for-real keeps knocking on her door.

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We recently asked you to share some good—and clean—jokes. Thanks to everyone who responded. Here are several of our favorites:

What did the mother buffalo say to her boy as he was leaving for school?
Bison.
—Carol S.

What did the drummer name his twin daughters?
Anna one, Anna two.

Where does the Fonz like to go for breakfast?
Chick-fil-eyyyyyyyyyyyy
—Sonya S.

Knock knock:
Who's there?
Pencil.
Pencil who?
Pencil fall down if you don’t wear a belt!
—Dykes E.

What’s orange and sounds like a parrot? 
A carrot. 
—Beth

Two cannibals were eating a clown, and one said to the other, “Does this taste funny to you?”
—Larry B.

A guy walks into a bar with a duck on his head.
The bartender says, “Can I help you?”
The duck says, “Yeah, can you get this guy off my tail?”
—Michael F.

A Mexican magician tells the audience he will disappear on the count of three. He says, “uno” … “dos” ... and poof, he is gone! He disappears without a tres.
—Dick E.

Who was the roundest knight at King Arthur’s Round Table?
Sir Cumference.
—Brian W.

What did the farmer say to the DJ?
Lettuce turnip the beets!
—Kimberly W.

The good times are rolling this week in New Orleans (and everywhere else that celebrates Mardi Gras). If you’re lucky enough to be part of the action, check out our Mardi Gras survival guide. And if you’re celebrating from home, we’ve got you covered, too. 

Farriers from across the globe vie for a $10,000 grand prize at the Kentucky Horseshoeing School in Richmond during the World Horseshoeing Classic.

Shop plants and accessories and talk to the experts as Bellingrath Gardens and Home in Theodore, Alabama, hosts the Mobile Area Orchid Society’s annual Orchid Show and Sale.

The Snow Moon Fest in Massanutten, Virginia, caps off the winter season with a polar plunge, fireworks, live music, and a torchlight “parade”—skiers flying down the slopes with blazing torches in hand. 

In the early 1980s, photographers Guy Mendes and Roger Manley hit the road with poet Jonathan Williams to document Southern folk artists. This weekend, Atlanta’s High Museum debuts Way Out There: The Art of the Southern Backroads, an exhibition of their images alongside works of the artists themselves. 

Charleston Wine + Food kicks off next Wednesday, serving up five deliciously jam-packed days in the Holy City.