Costa Rica

In over five decades I've only spent one Christmas away from Spartanburg. That was 1981, a long time ago now.

The details are fuzzy with age, but I remember that Christmas I was cooking at a restaurant in Charlottesville, Virginia, and I was low enough in the pecking order where taking the holiday off wasn't an option. Christmas was just one day off for the struggling restaurant, and somebody had to be there to close on Christmas Eve and to open up the day after.