I’d been dreaming about making a conch chowder ever since seeing the local conch on sale at the Bluffton Oyster Company. So, once the wind went down and Lee and Lynn were ready to leave Beaufort and I was ready to leave the protection of Bull Creek, I made arrangements to meet them on the May River. I would have liked to show them Bluffton but their Raymarine chart plotter didn’t show any detail for the river beyond the second marker. So, we decided that I would go up to get the conch and then meet them at the edge of the earth, as Raymarine sees it.
It was an unexpectedly pleasant and strange experience running up the May River and into a town I have already seen and explored. Everything, every bend in the channel, nearly every moment has been new and a discovery for hundreds of miles. To run up a river, knowing where to turn, where the shallow spots are, where to anchor, and then to walk into a town knowing the streets and the stores, seemed like a unique and exciting change. It was a preview of life along this waterway after I have traversed it several times and it has become as familiar to me as the coast of Maine. I’m really looking forward to that.
There are always new things to discover, of course. While looking for an ATM, I stumbled across the restaurant that is the companion business to the Bluffton Oyster Company seafood market. I had a “Low Country Boil”, of shrimp, sausage, corn, and new potatoes. The Bluffton Oyster Company and their restaurant sell only local seafood that they bring in and you can’t imagine how good their shrimp are unless you have tasted them.
http:www.blufftonoyster.com
After lunch and a bit more of exploring this town that is my favorite of all the places I have seen on this cruise, I stopped at the BFO seafood market. The sign out front said, “Please don’t take any pictures of the women shucking oysters.” I asked and this is a manifestation of the Gullah religious feelings about photography.
The woman at the counter said, “Oh, you came back.” I had said I would be back for the conch the next day but the wind turned it into three. I bought a dozen of the famous May River Oysters (deservedly famous after eating them), a bag of conch, and shrimp. They threw in four bags of ice for my ice chest for free.
Then, back down the now familiar river to find the familiar sight of Serendipity anchored halfway down to the ICW. I spent the afternoon making the chowder which more than lived up to effort of running twelve miles back over ground already covered. Just the experience of having this beautiful out of the way town feel familiar would have been worth it in itself.
It was an unexpectedly pleasant and strange experience running up the May River and into a town I have already seen and explored. Everything, every bend in the channel, nearly every moment has been new and a discovery for hundreds of miles. To run up a river, knowing where to turn, where the shallow spots are, where to anchor, and then to walk into a town knowing the streets and the stores, seemed like a unique and exciting change. It was a preview of life along this waterway after I have traversed it several times and it has become as familiar to me as the coast of Maine. I’m really looking forward to that.
There are always new things to discover, of course. While looking for an ATM, I stumbled across the restaurant that is the companion business to the Bluffton Oyster Company seafood market. I had a “Low Country Boil”, of shrimp, sausage, corn, and new potatoes. The Bluffton Oyster Company and their restaurant sell only local seafood that they bring in and you can’t imagine how good their shrimp are unless you have tasted them.
http:www.blufftonoyster.com
After lunch and a bit more of exploring this town that is my favorite of all the places I have seen on this cruise, I stopped at the BFO seafood market. The sign out front said, “Please don’t take any pictures of the women shucking oysters.” I asked and this is a manifestation of the Gullah religious feelings about photography.
The woman at the counter said, “Oh, you came back.” I had said I would be back for the conch the next day but the wind turned it into three. I bought a dozen of the famous May River Oysters (deservedly famous after eating them), a bag of conch, and shrimp. They threw in four bags of ice for my ice chest for free.
Then, back down the now familiar river to find the familiar sight of Serendipity anchored halfway down to the ICW. I spent the afternoon making the chowder which more than lived up to effort of running twelve miles back over ground already covered. Just the experience of having this beautiful out of the way town feel familiar would have been worth it in itself.
