Low Country Weekend

A few hours from our destination, we stopped for a late lunch.

A plateful of the south.  Pulled pork with Carolina vinegary sauce

 (yum), fried chicken, fried livers, fried gizzards, fried okra, fried 

squash, okra and beans, broad beans, cole slaw, and sweet 

pickles and cauliflower.  I went back and got a half plateful of 

collard greens with more fried okra and pork barbecue.  I could 

eat this every day.  Just make sure I'm sitting next to the 

defibrillator machine though.  For convenience' sake.

Folly Beach, SC.  Our nest for the wedding weekend.  Not bad digs, 

and a mere crawl from the reception next door.  There's nothing like 

opening the sliding doors and getting a faceful of ocean air.  

Thanks so much, Reno and Michele.  I feel like I say that an awful lot.

Looking south toward Kiawah Island.  I love the Carolinas;

in so many ways they remind me of the New Jersey coastline.

Why are you laughing?  No, really..........

Bowen's Island Restaurant, just inland of Folly Beach.  The line went

out the door behind me and down the switchback stairway.  At first

I was skeptical about waiting, but as soon as we got drinks to nurse 

while standing in line, we were at the counter in no time.  Place your

order, find a table, and wait for the food.  It wasn't that bad a wait.

My daughters found a table, suitably right next to a large oyster 

shell garbage can.  I didn't mind.  Rather than putting my empties

on my tray, I tossed them over my shoulder.  I'm thinking of

getting one of these for our kitchen table.

They must not be tea-baggers down there, 'cause they spelled

everything correctly.  And their warning could not have been

more telling.  There was booze, shellfish, and plenty of

finger licking.  Kind of like being at home, but this time no clean-up. 

College daughter waiting for grub.  

Down in the basement where the all-you-can eaters are seated.

This way, they can watch and make sure you're not feeding the

rest of your table from your tray upstairs.  The coolest thing in my

opinion is the hole in the middle of the table where the shells go.

Spartan, yet functional accommodations.  What more do you need?

Once the oysters come out of the steaming pots, they're dumped on 

this hot flat-top until they're shoveled onto cafeteria trays.  The 

oysters spend very little time there because there's usually a line 

of hungry folks waiting just behind this camera.

My first tray.  They aren't individual oysters, but clusters of them

jutting in all directions, some open, some not yet.  It's more work

than you think.  And I guess that's how they don't go out of business

with the all-you-can-eat feature.  After a while, especially if you're 

drinking at a decent clip, you become exhausted from prying and

shucking before you start to actually get ahead of the game.

Charleston's Carolina Yacht Club, Saturday morning.  Word had it 

that a young Bahamian hotshot was to sail off the end of the dock 

early that afternoon and I went down to see if I could meet him 

before he went out. Turned out his Dad was in town and he spent 

the morning with him, as he should have.  I guess I'll just have to 

visit Charleston again.  Brent seems like a good guy and I 

look forward to being in his presence the next time around.

Charleston Community Sailing was/were holding races off the 

dock that morning.  There were/was (never quite sure) an 

awful lot of young kids out on the water. High School sailing 

is alive and well in South Carolina.

Daytime photo of Bowen's Island Restaurant.  Note aforementioned

switchback stairway.  Apparently this place is fairly recently expanded

and re-modeled.  Check out the earlier link for vintage-er photos.

On the way back from CYC, I needed to get some brighter shots of 

this place.  They serve dinner only, so the only noises I heard were 

the wind and crickets.

Sophisticate:  To make complicated or complex.

It hasn't happened here yet.

Salts of the earth.  I'm sure they don't live an

extravagant lifestyle, but when their workday 

ends, they can sleep well.  The hose guy said he's

usually asleep by 9, still likes oysters, and, well,

that's all I got out of him.  In season, those oysters

are 28-32 bucks a bushel, like those baskets in

the video.  The night before, Saturday night, the 

restaurant went through 40 bushels.  They get 5

trays from each bushel.  I had two trays from the

200 that were served.  Would I go there again?

You bet your Crassostrea Virginica !

Now I know why they call this 'Low Country'.

At times, the water is at the edge of the road.  This photo was

 taken from the mounds of shells at Bowen's.  I spotted Forrest's 

shrimper across the marsh.  Several hours later, that marsh

was a couple of feet above sea level.

Catch anything?   

Downtown Folly Beach.  I found myself becoming instantly and

scarily at home in this community.  It's not hard to imagine shifting

right into the groove of this easy-going, laid back beach town.

Ah yes, the reason why we were all here!  It was without a doubt

the most relaxing, comfortable, and natural setting for a wedding 

ceremony I've ever had the pleasure of attending.  And to think 

that folks back home were shoveling snow.

Strings attached

Our niece Loren and husband Victor.  Love them

The Goddamn cornmeal-crusted scallop was so friggin big that 

the guest had to set it down on the surfboard bar because her

arm was getting tired.  The duck nachos were a bit lighter.

The Blu Bar.  A place to which I bellied up often that night.

Has everyone signed the guestbook?

Poogan's Porch for Sunday Brunch.  College daughter

took a pass and waited painfully in the car after a long

night of beer pong and flip cup games after the reception

 'til well into the morning.  We all eventually go 

through it, and it was her turn that day. 

A bloody mary in front of the fireplace.  People that ask for

this table rarely get it.  I just wanted to sit down.

The famous biscuit with honey butter.

The omnipresent Shrimp and Grits.  The poached eggs actually

made the dish.  I thought there could have been a lot more of the

cheapest ingredient in there......Grits!  Good though.

We followed this tour carriage slowly from behind in our 

car for several minutes, craning and listening intently before

he pulled over and told us that if we were to continue sitting

in, we would need to donate some gratuities to his cup.

Gorgeous Charleston, South Carolina

The pier at Folly Beach at the end of the day.

Sunset just around to the right.  I could really get used to this.