Tuesday, November 20, 2007

South Carolina adventures

I just returned from a long weekend in Hilton Head w/ a friend who has a condo down there. She and I had a great time shopping and eating and sleeping late.

If you ever happen to be down there stop by a placed called The Boathouse. They are well-known for their daily specials which are inspired preparations of the catch of the day they buy from local fishermen. All I needed to hear was "we got a 25lb snapper off the dock this morning" to know that I'd be a fool not to order the snapper special. It was served on top of a bed of garlic spaghetti squash with a side of wild mushroom risotto and a tomato salad.

My friends ordered shrimp and grits and the other daily special: flounder with saffron rice and steamed veggies. It was a whole fish (headless) and my friend ate every morsel! The shrimp and grits were almost too rich. For me to say there was too much cream in anything is rare, but the cream and cheese in the grits competed too much with the delicate shrimp flavor.

After Hilton Head, I stopped by Beaufort, SC, on my way home (pronounced "Bewfort" as opposed to "Boefort"). It's a small version of Charleston and the second oldest town in SC. The little town has a very interesting and troubling history: battles between the English and the Spanish, battles with the Creek and Temmasee Indians, the amassing of great wealth through slavery, and shifts in the agricultural industry.

I enjoyed walking around the town, looking at the river and reading the historic markers. I picked out a cafe with large porch facing the river for my lunch. It's worth a visit if you ever get the chance.

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