Okay, I’ll do the text and am adding pics slowly…

From Atlanta (after a huge day-after wedding brunch) I headed out toward the coast. Eventual destination was Savannah but I got as far as Pettigrew State Park, which has a gorgeous lake & mill house.

For fun, photos will show pecan groves, small town advertising and other bits & pieces. Also Savannah which I hit the next day, great city.

My mom had shared an old Gourmet article by the Sterns and she sent me to Tybee Island where I managed to find the Crab Shack ("Where the elite eat in their bare feet"). Wow. Great experience. From the pond full of gaters to the view to the food and the service. I LOVED this place!!!! Most people had platters covered with all kinds of stuff (see photo). As a solo diner with an admittedly smallish appetite (I love great food just can’t eat tons), I went for a small order of crab and one of boiled shrimp and a side of slaw. OHMIGAWD the coleslaw was the absolute freshest and best I have ever tasted. Unlike any slaw I have had previously and that’s a lot of slaw. YUM.

This is my table-neighbor’s platter, partly demolished already… mmmmmm.

That’s my meal above.

Then I went up the coast into South Carolina. I stayed at the gorgeous Edisto Island State Park. Great beach there. Amazing wildlife refuge nearby too.

Coastal SC

HQ at the ACE Wildlife Refuge

Leftovers at Edisto Beach

Then to Charleston and oh MY! It was everything I ever dreamed of in a southern town. Beautiful, friendly and easy to navigate. I shot tons of pictures, I didn’t want to leave! Per Ayersian’s suggestion I hit Jestine’s Kitchen for lunch. The line outside indicated that it was a popular spot. Huge crowd! But since I was pressed for time (headed to see a friend) I decided to ask if they would do take out. Answer: yes. [:)] But once inside I saw that there were about 7-8 empty tables and the hostess had a bit of an attitude. Did they want a crowd of hungry people outside to make ’em look good? I have waited tables plenty and saw no reason for the long line when there were lots of seats and wait staff to serve. I was very unimpressed with that. My food (forgot a pic!) was good, a fried shrimp po’ boy and slaw… but not great. Shrimp & sauce excellent but bread was very so-so. I might go back & try other stuff but not if I saw a line like that and empty tables inside.

I ate my food on a bench at the GORGEOUS campus of the College of Charleston. Wow was it amazingly pretty.

Next up was Wilmington, NC for a friend visit. They told me to hit Morehead City, NC and go to Sanitary Seafood on the way north. [No groaning please…] I did and was pleasantly surprised with the historic stuff inside (pics etc) but I also had an excellent lunch. I ate it outside on the waterfront. I had awesome weather!

I spent the night in George L Smith State Park and saw a lovely old plantation the next day en route to the Outer Banks. In Kill Devil Hills I had lunch (again thanks to Ayersian) at a ,29,337863.003,1,45454,66.30.46.217
337865,337863,337863,2007-10-25 14:03:06,RE: Road Trip MA to GA via all states in between”