>> We are on Main Street, and this street does circle the island, so if you do want to take a walk today, you will not get lost.

Our people are buried approximately three feet under the ground, because we're only five feet above sea level.

The cement blocks are the lids of the vault.

You can choose to bury them or keep it on top.

>> MISHA COLLINS: So some of the vaults stick up above the ground?

Got it.

>> Yes.

They can have the lid of them above ground, if they prefer.

Or you can bury the whole thing.

>> MISHA: Well, it's kind of handy to keep it above ground, because then you can take the lid off, and you can see your dearly departed every once in a while, and then... >> No.

(chuckling): No.

>> MISHA: No?

>> (chuckles) Stop!

(laughs) (both laugh) >> I thought you were serious!

>> MISHA: Well, I mean, it's nice to be able to check on them every once in a while.

>> No!

>> MISHA: Make sure they haven't gone anywhere.

>> Stop.

>> MISHA: Okay.

♪ ♪ In the 1970s, a young couple set out on the most epic road trip of all time.

Jane and Michael Stern were on a mission to discover every regional dish in America, and over four decades, they burned through 38 cars and published ten editions of their iconic guide, Road Food.

♪ ♪ Now I'm picking up where they left off, exploring what makes America's communities unique and what binds us all together.

And it's delicious.

>> Major funding for this program was provided by: ♪ ♪ >> Yours is a front-yard family.

Because out front... >> How you doing?

>> ...is where all the neighborhood is.

And your neighbors know you well.

>> Mario, what's up?

>> They've seen your robe, your run, even your bathing suit.

>> (laughing) >> They also know your home turf stays open to the whole street.

So you stay out front.

We'll stay real-brewed.

And the world just might get a little golder.

Gold Peak real-brewed tea.

♪ ♪ (shade rustles) (doorbell rings) ♪ ♪ >> (softly): Yes!

♪ ♪ >> Staying in?

Quick!

Bounty-- the Quicker Picker Upper.

♪ ♪ Going out?

Quick!

Bounty-- the Quicker Picker Upper.

♪ ♪ >> MISHA: We are on the eastern shore of Virginia, which is ground zero for oysters, clams, crabs; watermen, who are the fishermen who harvest those.

We're going to meet Pete and Wec Terry, who are kind of pioneers of aquaculture here.

>> Good morning.

>> MISHA: Good morning.

Hi, Pete.

Misha.

>> I'm Wec.

Hi Wec, nice to meet you.

>> Nice to meet you.

>> MISHA: Who-- you're brothers.

>> We are.

>> MISHA: Who is older?

>> I am.

>> MISHA: Who is wiser?

>> I am, absolutely.

>> I-- that was too quick.

(laughter) >> Our family has roots here on the Eastern Shore going back to the late 1600s.

>> MISHA: How far is your farm from here?

>> Uh... >> Right over there.

>> Part of it's there and it then goes for about 30 miles right on down the coast.

>> MISHA: Would it be possible for me to come see your farm and see how you oyster and clam?

>> Absolutely.

>> MISHA: Okay.

That would be... >> Yeah, it's fascinating.

>> MISHA: Fascinating.

>> I'd love to have you.

The neatest part of what we do will start next month when we get our hatchery going.

>> MISHA: Well, great.

So our camera crew won't be able to see the cool stuff.

Great.

>> (laughing): There's still a lot of cool stuff to see.

>> There is a lot of cool stuff to see, but when you actually watch, you can look in the microscope and actually see the clams or the oysters being fertilized and see life being created.

>> You can't put that on TV, it's X-rated.

(laughter) >> MISHA: Hot oyster-on-oyster action?

>> Absolutely.

(laughter) >> MISHA: All right, I'll catch up with you a little later.

>> That'd be wonderful.

>> Looking forward to seeing you again.

>> MISHA: So we're at The Great Machipongo Clam Shack, and this is a very rare instance of a local small business restaurant taking over from a massive chain.

This was previously a McDonald's.

♪ ♪ You Roger?

>> Yeah.

>> MISHA: Nice to meet you.

>> Oh, wonderful.

>> MISHA: Thank you.

Wow, that's pretty.

>> Well, we have two soft shell crabs together on a bun.

On this other plate, we have the hemp crab cake.

It's our local crab meat combined with hemp seeds for nourishment.

>> MISHA: What's your story?

How did you get here, to the Eastern Shore?

>> Well, about 30 years ago, I created my own hatchery and nursery and then produced clams for about nine years on the barrier islands here.

So then I started selling clams in the back of my pickup truck, and then it became a thing.

>> MISHA: That's amazing, that you can eat the whole... >> Yeah.

>> MISHA: ...crab like that.

>> So the, the crab actually pulls out... >> MISHA: It tastes a little different from crab where you peel and you just eat the meat.

There's more flavor.

>> Okay, that might be in the light breading that it gets.

>> MISHA: Mm-hmm.

>> And of course the shell, the soft shell itself also has a texture to it as well.

>> MISHA: I have one more question for you.

Outside, it says "not just seafood."

>> Yeah.

>> MISHA: But at one point, did it say "just seafood"?

>> It did.

I was trying to get established.

So initially, I was "just seafood."

>> MISHA: Mm-hmm.

>> Figuring that was catchy.

>> MISHA: Right.

>> But then we started cooking burgers and barbecue... >> MISHA: (laughs) >> And, you know, pizzas for the kids that didn't want seafood.

>> COLLINS (laughing): And-- I love-- I love that your marketing can be one thing, and then the opposite thing, and it's still effective.

And you stayed honest throughout, right?

>> Well, try to be, yeah.

>> MISHA: It was just seafood, and then now it's not just seafood.

>> It's not, yeah.

Okay, we gotta go.

>> Okay.

>> MISHA: Hi.

>> Hi.

>> MISHA: Misha.

>> I'm Heather.

>> MISHA: Hi, Heather.

>> Nice to meet you.

>> MISHA: Nice to meet you, yeah.

>> So we're ready to roll?

>> I'm Heather's dad.

She lets me tell people that sometimes.

>> MISHA: Did you know you were going to go into the oyster business when you were a kid?

>> Um, I don't know if I knew that that's what I was going to do.

I spent all my summers working here as a kid.

I practiced law in New York for about three years and then came back.

It's sort of family policy that you've gotta go away first.

(laughter) >> MISHA: I see, I see.

>> Do something else.

>> MISHA: You have to see, you have to see just how terrible the outside world is... >> Well... >> MISHA: ...with your own eyes, before... >> (laughs) >> My dad believed that if you didn't get away and see the modern world, that you came back with blinders on and you were no help.

>> MISHA: Uh-huh.

Did you go away?

>> I went to Virginia Tech, I got a degree in finance.

I was in special warfare in the Navy for eight years.

Yeah, I moved around a little bit.

And now I'm here.

>> MISHA: Huh.

>> I always knew this was where I wanted to end up, and I did.

>> MISHA: How have you seen the ecology changing here?

>> We're impacted a lot by global warming, by tidal rise and by the acid rain that's causing the oceans to become acidified.

We see every storm now has a major impact on the barrier islands, which has a major impact on us.

>> The clams are super sensitive... >> MISHA: Right.

>> ...to any kind of change in the water quality-- in water quality.

So... >> MISHA: How does that sensitivity manifest?

>> Change in pH.

Change in salinity, any kind of mineral in the water will cause them to die.

>> MISHA: Oh, really?

So it sounds like these bivalves are really canaries in the coal mine.

They can tell when something is amiss, huh?

>> Particularly oysters.

Oysters has always been the bell cow for pollution.

When the water quality is not right, I mean, they die.

The fact that all the oysters died here from disease, and... >> MISHA: When was that?

>> 1985.

>> MISHA: So, in 1985, there was a massive die-off here.

Was it in all of Chesapeake Bay?

>> Yeah, it was all over Virginia.

♪ ♪ All the gray you see up here are oysters, where they've come back.

They made a tremendous recovery.

>> MISHA: Can you eat them right out of the... >> Absolutely.

>> MISHA: ...flat here?

>> They're delicious.

>> MISHA: I'm not a professional.

Obviously.

(laughs) >> We talk about merroir here, the idea that what you eat represents the taste of the place.

And so when you taste an oyster, it sort of represents that moment in that place.

>> MISHA: That's super cool.

Thanks for that little adventure.

>> Yeah, absolutely.

♪ ♪ This should be eaten with a fork.

I just figured out.

It's gonna be hard to spoon feed you.

>> Oh, are you spoon feeding me?

>> MISHA: I am.

>> What you got there?

>> MISHA: Oyster paramour.

>> All right.

>> MISHA: (laughs) What do you think?

>> It's really savory.

What's in it?

>> MISHA: It's oysters... >> Mm-hmm.

>> MISHA: Crab meat, and paramour.

I don't know what paramour is.

>> What is paramour?

Is that code for something?

That's delicious.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> MISHA: Well, this is beautiful.

When you said we're going to steam some clams, I pictured a crock pot.

Not this.

(shells clattering) Okay, so what's the trick here?

I've never had steamed oysters in my life.

>> Okay, so you just... there you go.

>> MISHA: Okay, so it's not that challenging.

>> It's not.

Are they delicious or what?

So Bo is instrumental in trying to bring these oysters back.

Through the Nature Conservancy he's come up with some really innovative ways to get the oysters from nothing to a stage where they can continue to reproduce themselves and be a sustainable product for the state of Virginia again.

>> So the Nature Conservancy's been operating here for over 50 years now.

>> They found special places that they were worried would be developed and they bought them to protect them.

And we still do a little bit of that, but now it's a lot more about figuring out what we can do in these areas that we have protected to help protect nature in a way that will benefit the human community.

It's not about making oyster sanctuary just for the oysters.

But it's what are the oysters doing for all of us?

Are they filtering the water, are they helping to protect a shoreline, are they making for fish that in turn we can go out and catch and bring home or can be fished commercially?

>> MISHA: It's actually, I think, like, an evolution for humans to think about the fact that actually we're part of this nature and, and we can do things that are beneficial for the environment in feeding ourselves and... >> Isn't it crazy it took us that long to figure it out?

>> MISHA: Yeah.

>> You know?

>> It shouldn't... >> MISHA: Actually, I don't think we have figured.

I think a lot of people are not ready to even accept that.

>> Accept it.

The figuring out's happening, but the acceptance is the other step.

>> We're...

I think we're all moving in the right direction.

>> MISHA: Well, some of us are.

>> Well, I mean, have more wine.

It'll, it'll be okay.

(laughter) >> MISHA: Well, thanks for sharing your work and your family with us.

This was really nice.

>> Thank you for coming all this way.

♪ ♪ >> MISHA: We're in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay out on our way to see the watermen of Tangier Island.

They fish for blue crab and oysters and have been doing so for hundreds of years.

The island is sinking.

So the projection is that the 500 people who live here will have to relocate by the end of the century because the island is only four feet above sea level.

And with rising sea levels and erosion, the island is disappearing rapidly.

>> Hello!

>> MISHA: Hello.

>> I'm Michelle.

>> MISHA: Hi, Michelle, I'm Misha.

Nice to meet you.

>> Yep, and that's our mayor.

>> MISHA: Hi, you're... are you Ooker?

>> Ooker, yeah.

>> MISHA: Hi, nice to meet you.

>> Yeah, welcome.

>> MISHA: Thanks for coming out and finding us out here.

♪ ♪ So, what's your story?

How did you come to be driving this golf cart?

>> Well, I've actually been driving a golf cart for, I guess, 30-some years now.

>> MISHA: Were you born here?

>> Yes.

Yes, I've never lived anywhere else.

>> MISHA: How many relatives do you have here on the island?

>> (chuckles) Probably 400.

>> MISHA: (chuckles) Everyone?

>> Somewhere down the line, I don't know.

>> MISHA: Do you have a problem of gossip?

>> Well... >> MISHA: I mean, it seems like everyone would be in everyone's business.

>> Yeah.

Everybody knows everything.

>> MISHA: Is there any gossip you would like to share with me right now?

>> It's probably mostly about me.

So maybe not, no.

>> MISHA: Wow, they really are blue, huh?

>> Yeah, that's where they get the name.

That's a male.

>> MISHA: They are beautiful.

So you are mayor?

>> Yes.

>> MISHA: How long have you been mayor?

>> 14 years.

Nobody runs against me.

So I tell people that people are just happy with what I'm doing or just don't give a rip.

>> MISHA: (laughs) Or they just know you can't be defeated.

>> (chuckles) Maybe.

Our main concern here is getting protection for the island-- a sea wall, rock seawall around the island.

Since 1850, we've lost two-thirds of the land area here.

Early '40s, we had five or six other smaller communities around Tangier, they're underwater now.

>> MISHA: Really?

>> Completely gone.

On the west side, we were losing 25 to 30 feet of shore line a year.

>> MISHA: And what is the cause of that?

>> Just erosion, constant wave action.

Our shoreline is just this marshy sod material, very soft, so just constant wave action just chews it up.

And you see the marker out here ahead of us?

>> MISHA: Yeah.

>> That's where there was a community-- Oyster Creek, it was called.

>> MISHA: Really?

>> Yeah.

It was an area of high ground with homes on it, trees, and eventually the whole island disappeared.

>> MISHA: So where that green marker is out there, there used to be homes.

>> Yes.

I'm sure at the time they had no idea that their community would be underwater.

>> MISHA: Did you ever leave the island?

>> No.

No, always been here.

>> MISHA: Was that the same for your dad?

>> Yep, yep.

>> MISHA: And his dad before him?

>> His dad and his dad before him, yep.

And my older son, he's here, he's crabbing, and loves what he's doing.

>> MISHA: So you were saying it's a conservative island?

>> Yeah, yep, yep.

Republican, yep, pretty much.

CNN did a story here and they focused on the erosion, of course, and also the support that the president received from the island.

And as they were leaving, they said, you know, you want to tell President Trump anything?

He may see this.

I said, "Yeah, tell him we love him like family out here."

I'm out crabbing on a Monday morning, my son comes to me in his boat.

He said, "Dad, you've got to get home, the president's gonna call you."

I said, "President what?"

He said, "Donald Trump is going to give you a phone call."

And I said "Really?"

So crabbing was good, beautiful day.

But I stopped what I was doing and went home and just stayed by the phone.

And I'm home in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee and President Trump calls.

>> MISHA: Wow.

>> So we talked for ten minutes or so.

He thanked us for the support he received here, and we just talked about infrastructure projects like our seawall, and, and just the need to cut through red tape and make things happen faster.

It was probably the highlight of my career, my mayoral career.

>> MISHA: Yeah, it's a pretty big moment to get a call from the most powerful man in the world.

>> Call me at home.

I got all kinds of hate mail.

>> MISHA: That's terrible.

>> Said they hope we all drowned out here and the island goes underwater.

And, and that's what I didn't understand.

You can have different ideas about something, and about certain people you support, but you can still be civil with each other.

There doesn't have to be that hatred there.

I don't... that's...

I don't understand that, that stuff.

>> MISHA: Well, I think people tend to pick teams and then draw lines in the sand and divide ourselves between other people.

And I would never write hate mail or say I wish a place would sink.

But I've been guilty of some of the same thing, and I am what you would call a liberal, and I did not vote for Trump.

And there were times when I was writing off people who did, and I don't want to be like that.

♪ ♪ >> You see this house here, this was damaged in the storm.

>> MISHA: Oh, just now, this past week.

>> See how it's starting to go into the water?

>> MISHA: Yeah.

>> And this, this platform here collapsed with the traps on it.

>> MISHA: Oh boy.

What a storm.

>> You can tell what kind of storm we had-- that guy, he's trapped his crab shanty down.

>> MISHA: Everyone's saying this has never happened before.

>> No, we've always had storm tides but nothing like we had.

>> MISHA: Not even during hurricanes?

>> Not even during the hurricane.

>> MISHA: Wow.

>> Just a combination of storms and everything.

I guess, like, the perfect storm for Tangier.

>> MISHA: Uh-huh.

>> We had water on property that had never had water on it in the history of the island.

>> MISHA: Wow.

>> This has been the worst it's ever been because you ain't got no protection with no jetty.

We've been over here 47 years, and she's looking about worse than she's ever looked.

And I ain't seen nothing like that.

♪ ♪ This was over here.

>> Did it get on your deck?

>> Over it.

>> So it was... >> About that far over it.

There's the pictures.

She's got 'em all.

>> MISHA: Oh, that's your porch right there.

>> Yes, it was beat... >> MISHA: And that's just this weekend, huh?

>> Yeah, the souse was coming from the back and busting up on it.

I've lived down here 48 years, that will be February.

And this is the highest I've ever seen it.

It was the first time I've ever been afraid when it come up.

>> MISHA: Really?

>> Yeah.

>> And I know what people are going to say.

They're going to say that sea level rise... >> MISHA: Yeah, it's not good P.R.

for you.

>> It's not.

♪ ♪ Sherman!

Sherman!

Come here, Sherman.

Is the town mascot.

>> MISHA: Hi, Sherman.

>> Come here, Sherman.

>> MISHA: How would you describe this crab cake compared to others?

>> It's mostly crab.

>> MISHA: It's pretty much just crab.

>> Pretty much all crab meat, yeah.

I've eaten crab cakes at some places and half of the crab cake is not crabmeat.

So... and the crab meat that we use here, it's Chesapeake Bay crab meat.

>> MISHA: That was the best crab cake I've had.

>> People will ask me, "Do you get tired of eating seafood because you work harvesting it?"

Not really.

>> MISHA: (chuckles) >> Not really.

>> MISHA: Is the Tangier dialect unique to Tangier or is it similar to other islands?

>> No, you go to Smith Island, it's completely different.

We have our own on vocabulary-- different names and... >> MISHA: Man, I wish I could speak Tangier.

>> Like the terms that we use, I don't know where they come from, do you?

>> No.

>> They've been around forever.

>> "This has been hot."

>> Yeah, "This has been hot."

>> Which means it's been very cold.

>> "It's been a hot day," that means it's been very cold.

(laughter) It's opposite.

>> "This has been a hot day" means it's been cold.

>> MISHA: Uh-huh.

>> Yeah.

>> And it's how you say it.

>> MISHA: Speaking in opposites, is that something that everyone does reflexively without thinking about it?

>> Oh yeah.

>> Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like you see you see, you see a pretty lady... >> I was thinking the same thing!

>> You see a pretty lady, you say, "Man, you see that lady?

She was ugly."

She was very good looking.

>> Or you could say, "Oh, she's really purty"-- she's ugly.

>> MISHA: (laughs) >> Yeah.

Yeah.

She can't come.

>> MISHA: She's not invited?

>> No.

>> My husband is jealous, so watch out.

>> Steady as she goes now.

>> Yeah.

>> Too cold to swim, hold onto the post.

>> This is the odd thing here.

I'm the star.

You think you are, but it's me.

(laughs) >> MISHA: What was it like growing up here?

>> Great.

We have freedom, our kids have freedom.

Bye, baby.

We can send our kids out to play and never have to worry about it.

And if they're awry in water or whatever, not supposed to be, a parent will call us and we just go get them, or they'll bring them home to us.

>> Yep.

This is our seawall that was put down in '89.

This is where we were losing the 25 to 30 feet a year.

Since then we haven't lost an inch, so it works.

And then this is the new seawall that was put down just a couple of years ago.

So that protects the wave action from coming in to the harbor from the northwest wind.

♪ ♪ But we're trying to get it all the way around.

And it's a, it's a slow process.

>> MISHA: That's expensive, right?

>> Yeah, it is expensive.

And 90 percent comes from the federal government, ten percent from the state.

>> MISHA: And it's interesting talking to you about this because I think the liberal circles that I run in, we paint conservatives or Trump supporters as people who want no government.

But, of course, I think there's a middle ground... >> Oh, there is a middle ground.

>> MISHA: ...that we all need to find in order to have a functioning society.

>> Right, right.

Everybody needs to look for that middle ground.

You don't want to be extreme on either end.

There's always a middle ground if you want to look for it.

>> MISHA: Well, I certainly hope we can find it.

>> Yeah, yeah.

Because right now there's a vast divide in the country.

Yeah, I'm hoping it will get better.

But I don't know.

I don't know.

>> MISHA: Well, me too.

I mean part of why I'm doing this show is trying to break down, not only for the audience but for myself as well, this idea about us and them.

>> Yeah.

>> MISHA: I want to find that common ground.

>> Yeah.

We're all in this together.

>> MISHA: Thank you for spending the day with me.

>> It was our pleasure.

>> Yeah, glad you could stop by.

>> MISHA: So when you say it was your pleasure, you mean it was you had a miserable time.

>> It was really nice.

No, no, no, I'm being totally honest.

>> MISHA: When you say you're being totally honest, I know that that means you're lying.

>> This has been a good day.

>> Yeah.

>> Means it's not.

>> It's been a great day.

See, the tone I'm using means it's been great.

>> MISHA: Okay.

(chuckles) >> Yeah.

>> MISHA: Well, thank you for your hospitality.

Thank you for sharing a little slice of your unique world here.

>> Yeah.

>> Thank you.

>> MISHA: Take care.

Good luck with your move.

>> MISHA: Thank you, sir.

I'm going to give you a hug too.

>> Yep, okay.

>> MISHA: All right, thank you.

>> Come back again, anytime.

>> Yes.

Anytime.

♪ ♪ >> MISHA: If you want to see extended footage of these conversations, or of me spilling food on my shirt, or if you want to know more about the restaurants and recipes from this episode, go to roadfood.com >> Major funding for this program was provided by: ♪ ♪ >> Yours is a front-yard family.

Because out front... >> How you doing?

>> ...is where all the neighborhood is.

And your neighbors know you well.

>> Mario, what's up?

>> They've seen your robe, your run, even your bathing suit.

>> (laughing) >> They also know your home turf stays open to the whole street.

So you stay out front.

We'll stay real-brewed.

And the world just might get a little golder.

Gold Peak real-brewed tea.

♪ ♪ (shade rustles) (doorbell rings) ♪ ♪ >> (softly): Yes!

♪ ♪ >> Staying in?

Quick!

Bounty-- the Quicker Picker Upper.

♪ ♪ >> Going out?

Quick!

Bounty-- the Quicker Picker Upper.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪