Low Country Escapade Escape - Feb 2025

wcmonk
Mar 1
4 min read

The Skinny

Thursday, Feb 13

Private dinner party at Lowcountry Produce Cafe on Carteret Street
Accommodations at City Loft Hotel

Friday, February 14, HVD!

Leisurely breakfast at LCP Cafe
Golf at the Cat Island Golf Club.
Lots of history tours walking tours to National Park tours, carriage tours, golf cart tours, etc. (see the Visitors Bureau in the old Arsenal Building which is also the History Museum or their website.)
Bay Street and side streets for shopping and restaurants
Low country oyster roast and low country boil dinner near Bray’s Island. The Bull Tavern for a nightcap.

Saturday, February 15, HBD Catherine!

Hunting State Park to walk the trails and see the beach. Lunch at Johnson Creek Tavern on the highway to the Park
MacDonald Marketplace gift store
Off to Parris Island Marine Corps Base which is open to the public to visit the museum.
Basketball game and dinner at Cue
Nightcap at Salta’s

The Meat on the Bones

Thursday, Feb 13

Thirteen couples depart Greenville NC for some Low Country escape escapades and arrived Beaufort, SC for lovely private dinner party at Lowcountry Produce Cafe on Carteret Street across from our cool accommodations at City Loft, former motor inn turned cool vibe motel complete with Matouk towels and robes. Specialty margaritas and wines from the Cafe Store accompanied a full bar in anticipation of a delish Mexican dinner of Chicken Tonga, fried flounder and beef tacos with all the fixings and yummy slaw and churros and chocolate sauce. Pretty spectacular.

Friday, February 14, HVD!

Leisurely breakfast at LCP Cafe famed for their glazed, powdered or sugared doughnuts among a huge offering of breakfast items. Fellas off to play golf at the Cat Island GOLD Club. Off to walk the streets of Beaufort and take in the aged grandeur of the historical clapboard homes with large wrap around porches and views of the rivers and marshes. The huge and knarly live oaks enshrouded us with Spanish Moss dripping from their gravity defying huge branches. Really gorgeous. Lots of history tours from walking tours to National Park tours, carriage tours, golf cart tours, etc. (see the Visitors Bureau in the old Arsenal Building which is also the History Museum or their website.)

Exercise then requires some retail rewards, so off to Bay Street for some therapy….Lots of restaurants on Bay Street, but head to the other side of Bay Street for the waterfront. Plums and Salta would be first on the list (esp Salta for dinner) but it was busy so we hit Low Country Cider and Superior Coffee next door….breakfast your best order here…

A low country oyster roast and low country boil dinner awaited at the home of our host’s family out on the river and marsh lands near Bray’s Island. Catered by Low Country Produce, the was the REAL deal. Bacon wrapped quail, mini tomato pies, steamed oysters primed us for a true sasuage, potatoes, corn, shrimp low country dish complete with cornbread loafs and key lime pie for dessert. It was simply gorgeous from the setting, tablescapes, and feast.

Too good of a night to let it end so off to The Bull Tavern for a nightcap. Ample bar and extent bartenders to hold all of us. Recommend.

Saturday, February 15, HBD Catherine!

Having walked the town, we ventured further afar to Hunting State Park to walk the trails and see the beach. Various trails and lengths, none longer than 2 miles explored the tranquil marshes, dramatic beach strewn with tree now driftwood littered through being tossed around by major storms and the most remarkable maritime forest blanketed by palms fronds as tall as you as groundcover mixed together with tall palm and pine trees. Worth the visit and while the lighthouse was under renovation, it is worth seeing as well.

Kept on theme with an early lunch at Johnson Creek Tavern on the highway to the Park. A classic dive overlooking the marches, buffalo shrimp, gumbo are the house specialties all with a cold beer or bloody mark for the post “hike” recovery.

Quick pop into MacDonald Marketplace gift store for some scores before heading back for afternoon activities. People raved about the carriage tour which book up, so take note. Off to Parris Island Marine Corps Base which is open to the public to visit the museum. The museum is quite well done, but the entire visit is a total immersion experience. Getting on base is a thing alone. Be sure you have your actual driver’s license with you and car registration were required while we waited to be cleared. You drive through the base to get to the museum. The day was appropriately dreary as we watched a number of platoons of new recruits drilling on the drill field, but the most fascinating was touring the museum with a platoon of recruits 4 weeks into their 13 week program having their own tour. We were instructed that we could ask the Sargents anything, but could not speak to the recruits. Interatction between the recruits and their superiors was fascinating and the recruits were between 17 and 25 years old. It was a total education in and of itself. Highly recommend and maybe Saturday best to catch a platoon at the museum as well.

Back to head to Bay Street to watch UNC basketball. Plan was to eat at Hearth for the yummy wood fired pizza, but Cue turned out to be a better option for game watching. The hard core had a nightcap at Salta’s.