Exotic Dining

For the first time in many years, we have dined out with children while at the beach. Day before yesterday we went to a popular local dive, Red's Icehouse, on Shem Creek. This is a place where fishing boats come and go on their way to the sort of establishment which pays for fresh fish and cleans them up so as to be presentable for customers. Traffic moves briskly up and down the waterway. In addition to ships, the waterway is frequented by dolphins. We were shown to a shaded table at waterside where we watched the traffic and the dolphins. Also we watched sea-going customers pull up in boats, tie at the dock, come up the ramp, and report to the bar. The whole place looked as if it would be no surprise to the staff should customers get sick-drunk and throw up all over the floor. The whole place had that beat-up look of a far-too-popular bar/restaurant open to the salt air.

Lydia and I ate scallops, crab cakes, and coconut shrimp. The kids ate chicken and fries. The food was great. Lydia took the kids' picture by a sign that said," No drunks, No swimming from the deck, No unsupervised children." The waitress gave each child a new frisbee, the ones in which their food had been served.

Today we visited historic McClellanville. This sleepy, waterside, fishing village is hidden under massive old live oaks heavily burdened by Spanish moss, great, gray swaths of Spanish moss. The trees and moss meet above all the streets which resemble tunnels through the spooky vegetation. Each old wreck of a house has enormous porches, most of them screened.

We ate lunch in a bar/restautrant which rivalled Red's for falling-apart ambiance.
Every single thing there was a drab, badly painted wreck...except for the neon signs advertising various beers. The place was a disgrace. However, the food was exquisite. I ate fried green tomato salad and fried fresh shrimp, all of it the best food I have eaten for a loooooonnnnngggg time. Just wonderful. Desert was key lime pie and chocolate-walnut pie. Beyond belief. As we ate, there were people waiting for tables. Amazing that could happen in this apparently semi-inhabited little assemblage of moth-eaten Taras and kudzu and Spanish moss all surrounded by a miasma of mosquitoes. This restaurant is a hot spot. I bought a cook book of recipes from local homeowners...all of it about cooking fish in some way.

Again, the kids wanted chicken and fries. As we left, Lydia took their picture out front on a bench under some flowers in an out-of-control window box. All the way home, the children played with puppets we'd found in a little craft store by the restaurant. Benny's puppet is a lovely calico cat. Sadie's is a rat which she continually referred to as, "So cute."

As I frequently say, "Just so that everyone's happy."