Road Tips

Elizabeth on 37th - Savannah, GA

We were in a quandary as to where to have our last meal in Savannah.  There were a couple three places that we wanted to try, but we were torn as to what we wanted.  We decided to go try a place called Vic's on the River along River Street in the Historic District of Savannah.  Vic's is a southern contemporary seafood restaurant, very elegant, very nice.  Given that it was a Saturday night and we had no reservations, we knew it could be quite the wait to get in.  We were right - it was a two hour wait when we got there about 7 p.m.

Cindy and I waited in the bar area, having a drink trying to figure out if we wanted to eat in the bar, or wait two hours for a table.  Cindy finally decided that she wasn't going to eat in the bar "at a nice place like this".  We decided to go somewhere else along River Street for dinner.  I went up to the bar to pay our tab and I reached into my back pocket and - no wallet.  Uh oh.  Panic began to take over.  Where the hell was my wallet?  Cindy had me mentally retrace my steps backwards as to where the wallet may be.  I concluded it had to be back in our hotel room, but I wasn't overly certain.  That sick, hollow feeling in my gut began to grow as I paid the bar tab with cash and headed out to go back to the hotel.

It was a 20 minute walk back to the hotel, so we just decided to head over to The Hyatt, just down from Vic's, to get a cab to take us back to the Hilton Desoto.  Within minutes, we were back in the room and laying on top of the nightstand was my wallet.  Relieved that the wallet was safe and sound and not in the clutches of some pickpocket, we decided to go to Plan B for dinner - Elizabeth on 37th.

I called the restaurant to see how long it would be to get us in and the young lady who answered the phone said, "Can you come right now?"  I said we could.  She said she had immediate seating for two.

Rather than a short walk from the hotel, this was a five minute car ride that took us into the fringes of a not-so-nice section of Savannah.  (see map)   As I pulled up to Elizabeth on 37th, I noticed a Savannah cop car sitting out in front of the place with a lone patrolman in the driver's seat.  Cindy thought there must be someone famous inside having dinner.  Just a quick look around the neighborhood as we were driving around trying to find a parking spot told me the cop was there to keep the customers at ease.

Elizabeth on 37th is housed in an early 20th century mansion in the heart of the Victorian District in Savannah.  The restaurant was founded in 1981 by Chef Elizabeth Terry and her husband, Michael.   Elizabeth on 37th specializes in contemporary American and Southern cuisines, offering eclectic dishes that are made with local ingredients.  They have won many awards over the years for their food and wine selection.

In 1996, Elizabeth Terry retired from the business and Kelly Yambor took over as the head chef.   Yambor continued Elizabeth Terry's tradition of providing the finest in locally grown produce, meats, and seafood, while using the restaurant's own herb garden for the freshest ingredients possible.

In 1998, two long-time waiters at Elizabeth on 37th - brothers Greg and Gary Butch - bought a portion of the restaurant.  They continue to be the owners-operators of the business.  In fact, Gary Butch was our waiter for the evening!  It's sort of interesting to be waited on in a fancy restaurant by one of the owners - something we had no idea of until after we ate at the place.

After parking the car across the street from Elizabeth on 37th, we walked in and were greeted by the young lady I talked to on the phone.  She showed us into a dining room off to the right of the reception area in the restaurant.  We sat at a small table for two against the wall.  We were slightly under-dressed for the restaurant as a number of men had jackets and ties on.  But there were others like me who were wearing shorts and polo shirts, and like Cindy in a pair of capri pants and a nice top.

Gary Butch, a very friendly and personable guy, came over to greet us.  He gave us our menus, as well as a wine list.  He asked if we wanted anything to drink and Cindy said she wanted to wait for some wine.  I asked if they had real lemonade and Bacardi Limon.  He said they did, so I ordered that.

In addition to a number of great items on the menu, Elizabeth on 37th also offers nightly specials that change every day given the availability of ingredients.  One of the big things the restaurant relies upon is fresh seafood.  Shrimp and scallops that are caught earlier in the day are on the plates of patrons that evening.  One of the specials that evening was a seafood and rice dish that consisted of grilled shrimp, grouper and scallops served on a bed of Savannah red rice.  Cindy was drooling over the description of that dish on the menu.

Before I could even begin to think about what to narrow my choices down to, Gary Butch brought out a small dish for us.  He said, "This is the chef's choice appetizer tonight that we're giving you free of charge."  It was steamed mussels in a spicy, smoked tomato sauce.  It was enough to whet the appetite, fully knowing that we were going to be in for a major taste treat that evening.

One thing that caught my eye on the menu was a peppered beef tenderloin served with a madeira cream sauce.  It had asparagus as a side, but I was also looking at the pork loin special they had that evening that featured au gratin potatoes.  Since I'd been trying to avoid asparagus after suffering from gout after my second hip replacement, I was going to see if I could get the au gratin potatoes instead.

Suddenly, a young waiter comes to the table carrying a dish consisting of the 9 oz. peppered beef tenderloin filet.  It looked good, but it wasn't mine, that's for sure.  I sort of looked at him funny and said, "How did you know that's what I was going to order for dinner?"  The young waiter was somewhat embarrassed, apologizing profusely as he picked up the plate.  I said, "Hey, if that's the worst mistake you make all night, you're doing OK.  Besides, you pretty much convinced me that's what I want."

Our waiter, Gary, made it back over to the table and I thought I'd have a little fun with him.  I said, "How did you guys know that I wanted the peppered tenderloin tonight?"

He said, "I'm sorry?"

I said, "Yeah, one of your colleagues brought one out to our table and tried to serve it to me.  I thought this must be some kind of a restaurant if they can read your mind as to what you want for dinner."

He apologized for the slip-up and I laughed and said, "Aw, like I told the other guy, it's no big deal.  But that's what I want for dinner."

Cindy ordered first and got the seafood and rice special.  Gary said, "That's an excellent choice.  We have it on the menu from time to time and we may put it back on because it has been very popular for our specials."

He turned to me and said, "And how would you like your steak cooked?"  I told him medium-rare, maybe a little more rare than medium.  I then asked him if I could get the au gratin potatoes and he didn't have any problem with the substitution.  He said, "They also come with cooked Vidalia onions and broccoli spears."  Sounded great to me.  We also got mixed green salads with a homemade sweet watermelon house dressing.

For wine, I ordered up a bottle of the Three Saints Cabernet.  I'd read about this wine in Wine Spectator and wanted to give it a try.  We weren't disappointed in the least. 

After our salads were brought out, it dawned on me that I never did get my Bacardi Limon and lemonade.  When Gary brought the bottle of wine out to the table, I said, "You know, you forgot my drink."

Once again, he fell over himself apologizing for the slight.  I said, "Hey, once again, that's OK." 

He said, "I'll open this bottle of wine and then get your drink at once."  I said I'd rather just have the wine now.  It really was no big deal. 

The decor in Elizabeth on 37th was definitely upscale with a hint of Southern antique to the place.  The dining room had big windows and a high ceiling.   The lighting was muted and it was very cozy, comfy and romantic in the room.  We were digging the whole experience. 

Our food came out not long after we finished our salads.  The young waiter who had tried to offer me the steak earlier brought it out to me again.  I said, "I hope this is mine this time." 

He said, "I'm sure it is, sir."

My steak was cooked exactly how I asked - medium-rare, but more rare than medium.  It was tender with a load of cracked peppercorns across the top, then topped with the madeira cream sauce.  It was absolutely wonderful.  Cindy also said her seafood and rice dish was "out of this world."  I was offered one of her grilled shrimp and it was very, very good. 

We enjoyed a leisurely dinner, savoring the tastes and the surroundings for our last meal in Savannah.  Half way through Cindy's meal, she leaned over and said, "Honey, I'm glad you forgot your wallet back in the hotel.  We wouldn't have come here if you hadn't forgotten it."  She's right.  Sometimes it's amazing how things work out. 

After dinner, we were offered a number of different types of desserts.  But we declined this time, going only for a cup of coffee for Cindy and an espresso for myself.  Rarely do I drink espresso  or cappuccino, but I wanted one after this great meal. 

With a nice tip for Gary Butch, our bill came to slightly over $160 dollars.  Not cheap, but the experience and the taste sensation was well worth it.  The service was a little choppy, but it wasn't anything that I couldn't overlook.  I could even overlook the cop sitting outside the restaurant all evening.  While Elizabeth on 37th rivaled The Olde Pink House for both food and ambiance, we were hard pressed to be able to pick which restaurant was better between the two.  I guess that's why both restaurants annually tie in the critics voting for the best restaurant in Savannah. 

Soulard Farmers Market - St. Louis

 

During our trip to St. Louis, we took our friends Scott and Marcia to the Soulard Farmers Market, (see map) one of the oldest continuous public markets in the United States and the oldest farmers market west of the Mississippi.  They had heard about Soulard Market, but had never been there before.  We decided to run down there to walk around and see what they had to offer.  We all like the farmer's markets back in the Quad Cities.  The Soulard Market - which is open year round Wednesday's thru Saturday's - puts those markets to shame.

Soulard Farmers Market is the lone survivor of a number of public markets that dotted the St. Louis area in the late 1700's, and well into the 1800's.  When Pierre LaClede began to plot out the original plans for the village of St. Louis in 1764, he set aside space - a whole block - just above the river in the center of town.  At first, the market was situated in an open field, but structures were later built to house some of the market.

Soulard Farmers Market was created in 1838 when Julia Soulard donated two undeveloped half-blocks to the city of St. Louis.  Her instructions were that the property had to be used as a public market in perpetuity, or it would be reclaimed by her heirs.  Given that the historic Soulard area south of downtown St. Louis is one of the more attractive areas in which to live in the city, the city would be crazy to shut down the market.

Even though their logo and signage says that the Soulard Farmers Market began in 1779, there's no historical data that supports that date.  In 1779, the small riverside village of St. Louis was nothing more than a walled fortress nearly a mile away from the present day spot of the Soulard Market.  It made no sense that villagers would walk a mile into the wilderness to shop at a market when the well-established Market Square stood in the center of the village.  No one has been able to come up with any historical facts that show the Soulard Market was in place in 1779.  It's nothing more than a myth, but one that they still blatantly run with.

Soulard Market boasts over 90 vendors selling everything from clothing, to jewelry, to fruits and vegetables, to bakery goods, to fish and seafood, to exotic meats, to spices and coffee, to...  Well, just about anything!  While most of the vendors are not true farmers in the sense of the word, the Soulard Market does boast 10 vendors who are truly farmers/growers.  These farmers/growers are at the market on a seasonal basis, while many of the other vendors will be there year round. 

One of the best things about the Soulard Market is that if you have a hankering for a bloody mary or a beer, they have places where you can buy 'em.   This is one of those places - Julia's Market Cafe.  A bloody mary did sound good, but Cindy didn't think it would be wise to be carrying around a drink in the crowded market place.  She was probably right. 

 

And the place does get crowded.  We got to the market just before 10 a.m. and it was already jammed with people.  We had a little trouble finding a place to park on the streets in the Soulard area.  But there are always people coming and going from parking spots in the area, so we didn't have to wait too long to find a space.  While many people came to shop, a number of people were just milling around, enjoying the hustle and bustle of the market. 

 

 

 

 

One of the more neat things I saw at the market was this automatic donut machine that made little donuts.  The raw donut dough was pushed out of a reservoir into a small stream of hot oil.  The donuts travel down stream to a flipper which turns 'em over, continuing down stream to another flipper that gets 'em out of the hot oil and onto a tray.  I have to tell you there's nothing better than hot, fresh donuts.  But I'm still trying to watch my weight.  

 

The center wing area of the Soulard Market houses a handful of eclectic shops.  This is the Frandeka Meat, Fish and Pet Shop.  Yeah, pet shop.  I don't think they kill the pets for food, but they do offer quail and duck.  So I'm guessing there's some raising of the ducklings and then whacking them for their meat that is going on.  Still, Frandeka's has some pretty interesting and ethnic meats and fish to choose from. 

 
 

Also in the center wing is Schmitz Spice Shop.  I love going into this place.  Not only do they have a wide array of spices to choose from, they have - maybe - 50 different types of coffee beans that one can buy.   I'm not a coffee drinker, but I just love the smell of coffee.  The hazelnut coffee is one of my favorites.  The overall smell and scents in Schmitz Spice Shop is alone worth going to the Soulard Farmers Market.

 

 

 

Baking goods were all over the market place.  This is the Black Bear Bakery on the southeast wing of the marketplace.   The fresh baked breads, rolls and pastries were mouthwatering.  But, once again, I abstained from buying anything preferring to add calories via Anheuser-Busch products over the weekend.  

 

 

One thing we did buy were some cherries.  A lot of cherries.  If you're a regular reader of Road Tips, you've learned that I developed a case of gout after my second surgery.  Cherries are a great antidote for gout and I was still getting some aftershocks from time to time.  We bought three pounds of cherries to take home.  Unfortunately, we had 'em stored in a paper sack in our refrigerator in our room and they instantly began to mold.  We had to toss 'em out when we got home.  Bummer, because they were very good.

One other thing we bought was a load of blueberries.  Fortunately, these made it back home intact and we were able to freeze a good portion of them.  Also good for gout and an excellent anti-oxydent, these blueberries taste as good when they're unthawed as when I first popped 'em in my mouth after we bought them.  These blueberries have a sweet and tart taste to them.  I love blueberries on top of ice cream, but I'm not eating a lot of ice cream these days.   Eating them all by themselves is just as good.

 

And the Soulard Farmers Market offers a number of fresh cut flower bouquets to choose from.  This is a beautiful array of roses that Cindy fell in love with.  She wanted to buy one of the multi-colored rose bouquets, but we didn't have a vase to put them in.  In addition to the fresh cut flowers, vendors offer a variety of annual and perennial flowers and plants, as well as fresh herb plants.  

 

 

All in all, the Soulard Farmers Market is a very interesting place to visit.   Even if you don't buy anything, the vibrancy of the market is worth going.  On a Saturday morning, it's loud and hectic and crowded and spirited.  Even if you don't like huge crowds, it's worth the trip.   

During our trip to St. Louis, we took our friends Scott and Marcia to the Soulard Farmers Market, (see map) one of the oldest continuous public markets in the United States and the oldest farmers market west of the Mississippi.  They had heard about Soulard Market, but had never been there before.  We decided to run down there to walk around and see what they had to offer.  We all like the farmer's markets back in the Quad Cities.  The Soulard Market - which is open year round Wednesday's thru Saturday's - puts those markets to shame.

Soulard Farmers Market is the lone survivor of a number of public markets that dotted the St. Louis area in the late 1700's, and well into the 1800's.  When Pierre LaClede began to plot out the original plans for the village of St. Louis in 1764, he set aside space - a whole block - just above the river in the center of town.  At first, the market was situated in an open field, but structures were later built to house some of the market.

Soulard Farmers Market was created in 1838 when Julia Soulard donated two undeveloped half-blocks to the city of St. Louis.  Her instructions were that the property had to be used as a public market in perpetuity, or it would be reclaimed by her heirs.  Given that the historic Soulard area south of downtown St. Louis is one of the more attractive areas in which to live in the city, the city would be crazy to shut down the market.

Even though their logo and signage says that the Soulard Farmers Market began in 1779, there's no historical data that supports that date.  In 1779, the small riverside village of St. Louis was nothing more than a walled fortress nearly a mile away from the present day spot of the Soulard Market.  It made no sense that villagers would walk a mile into the wilderness to shop at a market when the well-established Market Square stood in the center of the village.  No one has been able to come up with any historical facts that show the Soulard Market was in place in 1779.  It's nothing more than a myth, but one that they still blatantly run with.

Soulard Market boasts over 90 vendors selling everything from clothing, to jewelry, to fruits and vegetables, to bakery goods, to fish and seafood, to exotic meats, to spices and coffee, to...  Well, just about anything!  While most of the vendors are not true farmers in the sense of the word, the Soulard Market does boast 10 vendors who are truly farmers/growers.  These farmers/growers are at the market on a seasonal basis, while many of the other vendors will be there year round. 

One of the best things about the Soulard Market is that if you have a hankering for a bloody mary or a beer, they have places where you can buy 'em.   This is one of those places - Julia's Market Cafe.  A bloody mary did sound good, but Cindy didn't think it would be wise to be carrying around a drink in the crowded market place.  She was probably right. 

 

And the place does get crowded.  We got to the market just before 10 a.m. and it was already jammed with people.  We had a little trouble finding a place to park on the streets in the Soulard area.  But there are always people coming and going from parking spots in the area, so we didn't have to wait too long to find a space.  While many people came to shop, a number of people were just milling around, enjoying the hustle and bustle of the market. 

 

 

 

 

One of the more neat things I saw at the market was this automatic donut machine that made little donuts.  The raw donut dough was pushed out of a reservoir into a small stream of hot oil.  The donuts travel down stream to a flipper which turns 'em over, continuing down stream to another flipper that gets 'em out of the hot oil and onto a tray.  I have to tell you there's nothing better than hot, fresh donuts.  But I'm still trying to watch my weight.  

 

The center wing area of the Soulard Market houses a handful of eclectic shops.  This is the Frandeka Meat, Fish and Pet Shop.  Yeah, pet shop.  I don't think they kill the pets for food, but they do offer quail and duck.  So I'm guessing there's some raising of the ducklings and then whacking them for their meat that is going on.  Still, Frandeka's has some pretty interesting and ethnic meats and fish to choose from. 

 
 

Also in the center wing is Schmitz Spice Shop.  I love going into this place.  Not only do they have a wide array of spices to choose from, they have - maybe - 50 different types of coffee beans that one can buy.   I'm not a coffee drinker, but I just love the smell of coffee.  The hazelnut coffee is one of my favorites.  The overall smell and scents in Schmitz Spice Shop is alone worth going to the Soulard Farmers Market.

 

 

 

Baking goods were all over the market place.  This is the Black Bear Bakery on the southeast wing of the marketplace.   The fresh baked breads, rolls and pastries were mouthwatering.  But, once again, I abstained from buying anything preferring to add calories via Anheuser-Busch products over the weekend.  

 

 

One thing we did buy were some cherries.  A lot of cherries.  If you're a regular reader of Road Tips, you've learned that I developed a case of gout after my second surgery.  Cherries are a great antidote for gout and I was still getting some aftershocks from time to time.  We bought three pounds of cherries to take home.  Unfortunately, we had 'em stored in a paper sack in our refrigerator in our room and they instantly began to mold.  We had to toss 'em out when we got home.  Bummer, because they were very good.

One other thing we bought was a load of blueberries.  Fortunately, these made it back home intact and we were able to freeze a good portion of them.  Also good for gout and an excellent anti-oxydent, these blueberries taste as good when they're unthawed as when I first popped 'em in my mouth after we bought them.  These blueberries have a sweet and tart taste to them.  I love blueberries on top of ice cream, but I'm not eating a lot of ice cream these days.   Eating them all by themselves is just as good.

 

And the Soulard Farmers Market offers a number of fresh cut flower bouquets to choose from.  This is a beautiful array of roses that Cindy fell in love with.  She wanted to buy one of the multi-colored rose bouquets, but we didn't have a vase to put them in.  In addition to the fresh cut flowers, vendors offer a variety of annual and perennial flowers and plants, as well as fresh herb plants.  

 

 

All in all, the Soulard Farmers Market is a very interesting place to visit.   Even if you don't buy anything, the vibrancy of the market is worth going.  On a Saturday morning, it's loud and hectic and crowded and spirited.  Even if you don't like huge crowds, it's worth the trip.   

During our trip to St. Louis, we took our friends Scott and Marcia to the Soulard Farmers Market, (see map) one of the oldest continuous public markets in the United States and the oldest farmers market west of the Mississippi.  They had heard about Soulard Market, but had never been there before.  We decided to run down there to walk around and see what they had to offer.  We all like the farmer's markets back in the Quad Cities.  The Soulard Market - which is open year round Wednesday's thru Saturday's - puts those markets to shame.

Soulard Farmers Market is the lone survivor of a number of public markets that dotted the St. Louis area in the late 1700's, and well into the 1800's.  When Pierre LaClede began to plot out the original plans for the village of St. Louis in 1764, he set aside space - a whole block - just above the river in the center of town.  At first, the market was situated in an open field, but structures were later built to house some of the market.

Soulard Farmers Market was created in 1838 when Julia Soulard donated two undeveloped half-blocks to the city of St. Louis.  Her instructions were that the property had to be used as a public market in perpetuity, or it would be reclaimed by her heirs.  Given that the historic Soulard area south of downtown St. Louis is one of the more attractive areas in which to live in the city, the city would be crazy to shut down the market.

Even though their logo and signage says that the Soulard Farmers Market began in 1779, there's no historical data that supports that date.  In 1779, the small riverside village of St. Louis was nothing more than a walled fortress nearly a mile away from the present day spot of the Soulard Market.  It made no sense that villagers would walk a mile into the wilderness to shop at a market when the well-established Market Square stood in the center of the village.  No one has been able to come up with any historical facts that show the Soulard Market was in place in 1779.  It's nothing more than a myth, but one that they still blatantly run with.

Soulard Market boasts over 90 vendors selling everything from clothing, to jewelry, to fruits and vegetables, to bakery goods, to fish and seafood, to exotic meats, to spices and coffee, to...  Well, just about anything!  While most of the vendors are not true farmers in the sense of the word, the Soulard Market does boast 10 vendors who are truly farmers/growers.  These farmers/growers are at the market on a seasonal basis, while many of the other vendors will be there year round. 

One of the best things about the Soulard Market is that if you have a hankering for a bloody mary or a beer, they have places where you can buy 'em.   This is one of those places - Julia's Market Cafe.  A bloody mary did sound good, but Cindy didn't think it would be wise to be carrying around a drink in the crowded market place.  She was probably right. 

 

And the place does get crowded.  We got to the market just before 10 a.m. and it was already jammed with people.  We had a little trouble finding a place to park on the streets in the Soulard area.  But there are always people coming and going from parking spots in the area, so we didn't have to wait too long to find a space.  While many people came to shop, a number of people were just milling around, enjoying the hustle and bustle of the market. 

 

 

 

 

One of the more neat things I saw at the market was this automatic donut machine that made little donuts.  The raw donut dough was pushed out of a reservoir into a small stream of hot oil.  The donuts travel down stream to a flipper which turns 'em over, continuing down stream to another flipper that gets 'em out of the hot oil and onto a tray.  I have to tell you there's nothing better than hot, fresh donuts.  But I'm still trying to watch my weight.  

 

The center wing area of the Soulard Market houses a handful of eclectic shops.  This is the Frandeka Meat, Fish and Pet Shop.  Yeah, pet shop.  I don't think they kill the pets for food, but they do offer quail and duck.  So I'm guessing there's some raising of the ducklings and then whacking them for their meat that is going on.  Still, Frandeka's has some pretty interesting and ethnic meats and fish to choose from. 

 
 

Also in the center wing is Schmitz Spice Shop.  I love going into this place.  Not only do they have a wide array of spices to choose from, they have - maybe - 50 different types of coffee beans that one can buy.   I'm not a coffee drinker, but I just love the smell of coffee.  The hazelnut coffee is one of my favorites.  The overall smell and scents in Schmitz Spice Shop is alone worth going to the Soulard Farmers Market.

 

 

 

Baking goods were all over the market place.  This is the Black Bear Bakery on the southeast wing of the marketplace.   The fresh baked breads, rolls and pastries were mouthwatering.  But, once again, I abstained from buying anything preferring to add calories via Anheuser-Busch products over the weekend.  

 

 

One thing we did buy were some cherries.  A lot of cherries.  If you're a regular reader of Road Tips, you've learned that I developed a case of gout after my second surgery.  Cherries are a great antidote for gout and I was still getting some aftershocks from time to time.  We bought three pounds of cherries to take home.  Unfortunately, we had 'em stored in a paper sack in our refrigerator in our room and they instantly began to mold.  We had to toss 'em out when we got home.  Bummer, because they were very good.

One other thing we bought was a load of blueberries.  Fortunately, these made it back home intact and we were able to freeze a good portion of them.  Also good for gout and an excellent anti-oxydent, these blueberries taste as good when they're unthawed as when I first popped 'em in my mouth after we bought them.  These blueberries have a sweet and tart taste to them.  I love blueberries on top of ice cream, but I'm not eating a lot of ice cream these days.   Eating them all by themselves is just as good.

 

And the Soulard Farmers Market offers a number of fresh cut flower bouquets to choose from.  This is a beautiful array of roses that Cindy fell in love with.  She wanted to buy one of the multi-colored rose bouquets, but we didn't have a vase to put them in.  In addition to the fresh cut flowers, vendors offer a variety of annual and perennial flowers and plants, as well as fresh herb plants.  

 

 

All in all, the Soulard Farmers Market is a very interesting place to visit.   Even if you don't buy anything, the vibrancy of the market is worth going.  On a Saturday morning, it's loud and hectic and crowded and spirited.  Even if you don't like huge crowds, it's worth the trip.   

The Olde Pink House - Savannah, GA

As I've said in many previous posts regarding our trip to Savannah and Hilton Head, we ate in a number of great places.  One place that kept coming up as a "must go" from people who gave us recommendations was The Olde Pink House located in the Savannah Historic District, about a 15 minute walk from our hotel (see map).  We made reservations and took a short walk over to the restaurant for dinner one evening. 

The Olde Pink House gets its name from the color of its white plaster walls that allows the original deep red brick color to bleed through.  Construction on the house began in 1771 by James Habersham, Jr. and was used as a pre-Revolutionary War meeting house for a group called the Sons of Liberty, also known as The Liberty Boys, young men who were in favor of a free colonial America away from British rule.  The house was occupied by British forces for a short time before Revolutionary troops forced the British out of Savannah.  The house was finally finished in 1789. Habersham's younger brother, Joseph, became the first Postmaster General of the United States. 

After Habersham moved out of the residence in the early 1800's, the building became the first registered bank in Georgia.  A north wing was added, as were two vaults and the one story Greek-style entrance.  During the War of 1812, the sons of James Habersham captured British gold and stored it in the vaults.

The Olde Pink House was also instrumental during the Civil War.  When Savannah was captured by Union troops, it was used as a headquarters for Brigadier General Lewis York who oversaw the troops who held the city for the North. 

The building was used for various businesses over the years, falling into a state of disrepair in the 60's.  The building was bought by Herschell McCallan and Jeff Keith in 1970 and was transformed into The Old Pink House restaurant.  They tried their best to restore the building to its original state including the plaster walls and hardwood floors.  One of the second story rooms is based on the original parlor where some of the Liberty Boy meetings were held. 

We had 8:30 p.m. reservations, but walked over to The Olde Pink House early.  We were told by a local Savannahan that we needed to have a drink in The Olde Pink House's bar in the basement - Planters Tavern.   I walked up to the hostess stand just inside the entry to The Olde Pink House and told the two ladies that we were actually there early, but we wanted to go have a drink downstairs.  One of the ladies said, "Oh, well, of course!  Everyone should go have a before dinner drink downstairs."  She said that our table would be ready at any time, so for us to just come back to the stand when we wanted dinner.

The low-ceiling bar is one of the locals favorite places to go, get a drink, and listen to Gail Thurmond, a local jazz pianist.  She plays every evening except for Monday nights.  Tourists love the place because of the supposed ghost sightings in the place.  I loved the place because of the coziness and old world style to the place.  There were huge fireplaces on each end of the room and heavy tables and chairs throughout.   But they didn't have lemonade in Planters Tavern.  So I ended up getting a Sweetwater 420 pale ale. 

We finished our drinks and went upstairs to get seated for dinner.  They took us up an enclosed spiral staircase and took us to a large room toward the front of the house.  We sat at a small table against the wall.  There were two larger tables in the room, both full of people.  The large table near us was celebrating a young lady's graduation the next day from the Savannah College of Art and Design. 

Our waiter greeted us and made sure we had our menus.  He gave us a couple of specials for the evening and asked if we wanted anything to drink.  I said we wanted to look through the wine list for the time being. 

Cindy saw something on the menu for an appetizer that she wanted to try - The "BLT".  It consisted of lightly breaded fried green tomatoes topped with sweet bacon and finishe d with a black pepper thyme buttermilk dressing.  It did sound good, so when our waiter came back I ordered a plate of those. 

In the meantime, I got to looking at some items on the menu.  While Southern style cooking is prominent at The Olde Pink House, they also had a number of seafood dishes, as well.  I wasn't quite burned out on seafood as of yet, but the Kentucky bourbon glazed pork loin certainly caught my eye.  It came with collard greens and a sweet potato.  I was leaning toward that. 

 The fried green tomatoes showed up at the table and since it was getting close to 9 p.m., we were both pretty hungry.  And that was even after our big lunch at Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room earlier in the day.  The fried green tomatoes were just excellent.  The homemade black pepper thyme buttermilk dressing was just outstanding.  Cindy commented that she could eat another plate of those just for her dinner!

Our waiter came back to take our dinner orders.  Cindy ordered one of the specials that evening that consisted of shrimp and scallops sauteed in butter and garlic, then served on a bed of fettuccine noodles and topped with a Parmesan cream sauce.  That sounded yummy, but a little too heavy for me. 

I went with the aforementioned Kentucky bourbon glazed pork loin.  Our waiter then asked, "And how would you like that prepared, sir?"

I looked at him with puzzlement?  I said, "What do you mean?"  I sort of chuckled and said, "I want it cooked, that's how I want it prepared." 

He said, "No, do you want it medium, medium-rare, well?" 

Now, I was completely befuddled.  I'd never been asked how I want my pork cooked EVER before.  There's this little thing called trichinosis that's been hammered into my head since I was a little kid.  The waiter said, "The pork we use is organic and doesn't carry the trichinosis virus.  We can cook it medium-rare with no worries."

Well, that was certainly a new one for me - although I've been told that some finer restaurants have been offering pork cooked that way for quite some time.  I actually like my pork undercooked a little bit to make it more juicy and tender.   I told the waiter that I'd like to have mine cooked medium.  I thought that would be a safe choice.  I also got a wedge salad to go along with Cindy's dinner salad she was getting.

I also ordered up a bottle of the Grgich Hills Chardonnay, a nice, light, yet crisp, white wine.  I knew it would go good with Cindy's seafood pasta dish, as well as with my pork.  

While Cindy said her salad was good, I have to say that my wedge salad was just so-so.  The blue cheese dressing didn't have much pizazz to it.  It was pretty uninspired for a wedge salad.  

We waited patiently for our dinner.  And waited.  And waited.  While all this was going on, our waiter was having a tough night.  At the large table across the room from us, one lady was not happy with her meal.  I don't exactly know what she was having, but she described the dish as "eating wall-paper paste."   And she wasn't very discrete about it, either.  The waiter offered to get her another meal, but she refused.  "My dining experience for this evening has been ruined," she bellowed.  Great, just what we need - drama with our meal. 

The manager came over to the table to inquire to the trouble and the lady, very loud and boisterous, once again described her meal as eating wall-paper paste.  I mean, she was letting the whole second floor know that she didn't like her meal.  Cindy was trying to figure out if the lady had the seafood pasta dish she had ordered.  Cindy sort of chuckled and said, "God, I hope that isn't what she was having." 

I believe the manager ended up "comping" her meal.  But everyone else at the table seemed to like what they were having.  I don't know if she was just trying to get out of the bill or what.  But it seemed a little odd with the dramatic display she was putting on just because she didn't like her meal. 

Our waiter came over while the manager was at the other table and poured some wine in our glasses.  I said, "Having a good night?"

He said, "I was up until that moment." 

He apologized for the delay in our meals.  He said there were a couple big parties in the restaurant that evening.   "It's SCAD's graduation tomorrow, and we've got a couple big groups here for dinner."

Cindy said, "Hey, don't worry.  We're fine.  This is very relaxing."

And it was.  Even though The Olde Pink House was pretty fancy, I didn't get the snooty, pretentious vibe that could have easily pervaded the restaurant.  Everyone was friendly and very down-home. 

Our meals finally showed up just before 10 p.m.  And the wait was absolutely worth it.  Cindy declared her seafood fettuccine as being "out of this world."  She offered me a bite with a scallop and it was excellent.  The Parmesan sauce had plenty of garlic, but it didn't overpower the taste sensation.

My "medium" Kentucky bourbon glazed pork loin was also excellent.  It was cooked the exact way I cook my pork loins at home - a little pink in the middle, but not overcooked.  It was tender and juicy with every bite.  The collard greens were OK, but the mashed sweet potato was...  It was...  Hmmm.... I can't describe it any better than saying that I was in heaven.  It may have been the best mashed sweet potato I'd ever had in my life.  As good as the pork loin was, the highlight of my meal was the sweet potato. 

After we'd finished, our waiter came by and asked if we wanted any dessert or coffee.  Cindy asked what they had.  He immediately said, "I grew up in Miami and my grandmother had a restaurant on the Keys.  She had the best Key Lime Pie in the world.  I have to say the Key Lime pie here is the closest I've ever had to my grandmother's."  He was even so sure about it that he said he'd buy us a piece of Key Lime pie if we didn't think it was excellent.  So, we ordered up a piece with two forks.  Cindy got a cup of coffee, and I got an espresso.

The Olde Pink House's Key Lime pie was everything the waiter said it would be.  After having some excellent Key Lime pie earlier in our trip, this one topped 'em all.  The citrus taste was just outstanding, but not overwhelming.  It was light and creamy.  The crust was buttery and crisp.  It was the best piece of Key Lime pie we may have ever had. 

The waiter came back and said, "So, am I buying you the pie?"

I said, "I've had a lot of Key Lime pies in my day, but that may have been the absolute best.  So, no, you don't have to buy us a piece of pie."

He said, "Well, I'm gonna do it, anyway.  You guys waited and were so patient.  It's the least I could do." 

I told him, "Well, you did a great job in the face of adversity.  I'm thoroughly satisfied with my meal and with the service." 

Before we left, we took a quick look around the other rooms on the second floor.  The one large party toward the back was breaking up and we were able to get into the large room to look at some of the ornate woodwork and artwork in the room.  The Olde Pink House was a pretty cool place.

 Our meal wasn't cheap - it came to just under $200 bucks with a hefty tip for the waiter.  But it was definitely worth it.   As I said, the food was excellent.  The service was top-notch.  The setting was wonderful.  It may have been the best meal we had while we were in Savannah.  The Olde Pink House gets four thumbs up (two thumbs each) from Cindy and me.

Mike Shannon's - St. Louis

We made our annual trip to St. Louis to see the Cardinals earlier this summer with our friends Scott and Marcia Schroeder. Actually, I was already in St. Louis on business, so Scott and Marcia drove Cindy down with them. After the Friday night game, we decided to eat dinner at a place that we've always wanted to try - Mike Shannon's. It's just a short walk from Busch Stadium over to Mike Shannon's, a popular place for fans and ballplayers, alike, after a game.

Mike Shannon is a former Cardinal baseball player who has been the lead announcer for their radio broadcasts since 2002. Before that, he was paired for 30 years with the great Jack Buck before Buck's death in 2001. Shannon is a native of St. Louis, was a big sports star while in high school before going on to the University of Missouri to play both football and baseball. Shannon was a budding superstar in football when he decided to quit school and sign a professional baseball contract with the Cardinals. Shannon has said in the past that he probably would have stayed at Mizzou and played football had the salaries in professional football been better back in the 50's. But baseball paid more back then. And that still wasn't very much.

Mike Shannon's style of announcing is down-home and folksy, but he is also known for his malaprop's. Some of his doozies over the years are:

"The Yankees and the Mets are playing at Shea tonight. After four innings, New York leads 3-2."

"We have Rick Ankiel on the mound tonight, pitching on his twenty-first birthday. Yessir, folks, this young man, just as of today, is old enough to vote!"

"The outfield is deep and playing him straight-away, and the infield is the same, except first, second, third, and short are playing him to pull."

But he's also come up with some good lines along the way, such as:

"A hit up the middle right now would be like a nice ham sandwich and a cold, frosty one."

"I said something yesterday about letting sleeping dogs lie, and this time the dog's on the porch grabbing the newspaper and stealing the baby!"

"He was trying to hit a three-run homer with the bases empty. To my knowledge, no one in the history of the game has ever done that. But it could happen someday. You never know in this world of baseball."

Cardinal fans take Mike Shannon in stride and acknowledge his deficiencies behind the mic. But don't let a fan from another team criticize Shannon. Then the Cardinal fans turn venomous. They'll say, "Yes, Shannon's an idiot, but he's OUR idiot!"

After watching the Cardinals get smoked by the Colorado Rockies, we walked over to Mike Shannon's for an after game dinner. Shannon's is located in the former Mark Twain Bank building at the corner of 7th and Market. (See map) Mike Shannon's moved to their present location in 2006 just as the new Busch Stadium was getting ready to open. Their old location - in which they were in for about 20 years - was just a block away, across Kiener Plaza at 7th and Chestnut. Mike Shannon's also boasts The Outfield in what used to be an enclosed parking area on the back side of the building facing Busch Stadium.

While Mike Shannon does show up from time to time, he really doesn't have much to do with the day-to-day operation of the business. For that, he relies upon his daughter, Pat Shannon-Van Matre (right), who has been in charge of the restaurant for over 10 years. Her son, Gary Van Matre, is the general manager for Shannon's. Nick Zotos, who worked as an executive chef for the upscale steak house chain Smith and Wollensky for a number of years, is the executive chef at Shannon's.

Although Mike Shannon's is a pretty fancy place, the maitre d' welcomed us to the place even though we had Cardinals t-shirts and shorts on. We were seated in the large dining room with ceiling to floor windows looking out into Kiener Plaza. The tables were large and covered with fine linen. The chairs were comfy. As we were seated, a man came out and placed our napkins on our laps for us. This was a real high brow joint, I'm tellin' you.

We looked through the menu and while we knew the prices would be high, even I choked a little bit at some of the prices. Their beef tenderloin filet was $48 bucks. Whoa. They also had a 34 oz. "club cut" bone-on rib eye that was $80 dollars! Oh man! They had a number of sides including baked and mashed potatoes, wild rice, asparagus, onion strings, creamed spinach - all of which were $8 dollars. Except for the Lobster macaroni and cheese. That was $12 bucks. Of course, Cindy spotted the Lobster mac and cheese and asked if we could get that as a side.

Our waiter came over and took drink orders and gave us a run down of their specials that evening. Actually, their appetizers including something called "Tuna - Two Ways", as well as carpaccio, calimari and Cajun shrimp all sounded interesting. But the one thing I wanted to see was the "64", a large amount of chilled seafood served over crushed ice. And Shannon's wanted $64 bucks for that. Nope, not tonight.

Over in the corner of the restaurant, a radio crew had set up for the after game radio show that Mike Shannon does on Friday nights after home games. It wasn't long after we got there that Mike Shannon, himself, showed up and walked over to the table to talk with the guys. I've seen Shannon a number of times from far away, but never up this close. I was actually amazed at how big of a guy he is. (6'3", about 220.) He's in his early 70's and looks like he could still go out and smack a fastball up against the wall.

We ordered up our food. Cindy and Marcia each got the beef medallions - small tenderloins topped with Bleu cheese, with a truffled marscapone potato cake, with confit Roma tomato. Scott got the 16 oz. bone-in New York strip steak, and I went with the 16 oz. dry-aged organic rib eye. I also got a wedge salad to go with the steak. Oh, and we had to order the Lobster mac and cheese to satisfy Cindy's curiosity.

During the radio broadcast, another gentleman in a cowboy hat walked into Shannon's and made his way over to the round table where Shannon was conducting his radio show. It turns out it was Tracy Ringolsby, a former writer for the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News, and one of the founders of Baseball America. Ringolsby also founded and writes columns for Inside the Rockies, a web site devoted to the Colorado Rockies baseball team, and is also enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame with his 2005 J.G. Taylor Spink Award given to baseball writers who excel in their writing. Our table was across the room and we couldn't hear the conversations going on, but we could hear the occasional loud laughter coming from the table.

I got my wedge salad and dug in. I have to say it was very, very good. The bleu cheese was very flavorful, as were the small bits of real bacon on the top of the wedge. Even though it was a good sized wedge, I made short work of the salad.

During a break in the broadcast, Mike Shannon got up and started to go around to individual tables to great the customers. He came over to our table and said, "Did you folks go to that sorry game tonight?"

Scott said, "Oh, yeah. Only I wouldn't use the term 'sorry'. I was thinking of something stronger than that."

Mike Shannon got a hearty laugh on that one. "Yeah, me too," he laughed. "Only it wouldn't be for mixed company."

It wasn't long after I finished my wedge salad that our steaks showed up. We were all pretty hungry, so we dug right in. Right away, Cindy declared the beef medallions to be "great!" She marveled at how tender and flavorful they were. Marcia agreed wholeheartedly with Cindy's assessment.

Scott literally tore into his bone-in strip steak and was very impressed with the taste. My organic rib eye. It was good. Not the best steak I ever had, but very good. I don't know if it was worth the $34 bucks or whatever they charged for it, but the ambiance and service was definitely worth it.

Cindy had me try a couple bites of the Lobster mac and cheese. It featured bites of real lobster meat mixed in with macaroni noodles and a multi-cheese sauce. It thought it was OK, nothing to write home about. It was very rich and all I needed was a couple bites before I knew that it was probably overpriced for what it was.

As we finished up our meal, Mike Shannon was wrapping up his radio show. He stopped by our table and asked how our dinner was. We made some more small talk and I said, "Hey, Mike! Can we get your picture?"

Scott, who is a huge Cardinals fan, jumped up to get his picture taken with Mike Shannon. We had Cindy's camera for the weekend - the nice little Panasonic "point-and-shoot" that we had taken with us to Savannah on vacation. It takes good pictures. But for some reason, I couldn't get the flash to go off - even when I thought I had it on the flash setting. I took three pictures of Shannon and Scott standing there, each time the flash didn't go off. Finally, Shannon said, "I've got to go, folks." And he followed a lady (who may have been his daughter) outside to an SUV parked in front of the restaurant in a loading zone. Shannon hopped in the passenger side and took off. I tried to clean up the pictures a bit and this was the best one of Mike Shannon and Scott. It didn't turn out too bad, but that light behind them screwed up the pic.

Before we left, we took a look around different parts of the restaurant to look at all the baseball memorabilia they had on display. Shannon's also features a couple of "private" rooms where baseball players, celebrities and dignitaries can eat without fans coming up and hounding them for autographs. Shannon's also has a large and very vibrant bar area to the right of the main entrance. There were a lot of people in there after the game. It's also known to Cardinals fans as a popular watering hole for some of the Cardinals players after the game.

All in all, Mike Shannon's was very good. Very expensive - but very good. I know that Scott had been wanting to go to Shannon's for dinner for quite sometime. (We tried to get into Mike Shannon's old location a few years ago for lunch, but they weren't open that day.) The service was wonderful, the decor was very classy, the memorabilia was to die for if you're a baseball fan. And on top of all that, we got to meet and talk with Mike Shannon. If you're a big Cardinals - or even baseball fan - Shannon's is a great place to visit. But if you're looking for a good to very good meal and money is no object, Shannon's is tough to beat.

The Beers of the Southeast

One of the great joys of vacationing in places that I've never been to is finding beers that are either regional or local brews indigenous to that location.  I can drink Bud Light or Sam Adams virtually anywhere I travel.  I want to try something that's new and exciting.  I found a couple while we were in Savannah and on Hilton Head Island.

The first beer is from the SweetWater Brewing Company, most notably the SweetWater 420 pale ale that Cindy had with our first meal in Savannah.  Compared to the Smithwick's that I had for my first beer, the SweetWater 420 was outstanding. (I've found sometimes that Smithwick's out of a keg goes flat rather quickly.)  When I was the mood for a beer while in Savannah, I immediately opted for a SweetWater 420.

The SweetWater Brewing Company is based out of Atlanta and brews four annual beers and six seasonal beers.  The brewery started in 1997 when two friends from the University of Colorado, Freddy Bensch (on left) and Kevin McNerney (on right), settled in Atlanta and started up their small brewery on Atlanta's west side.  Within five years, SweetWater was awarded the title of "Small Brewery of the Year" at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, and Kevin McNerney was also named "Brewmaster of the Year."  SweetWater has won numerous GABF and World Beer Cup awards for their beers over the years.

In 2004, SweetWater outgrew their original brewery and moved to a larger Midtown Atlanta location.  Since SweetWater's beer is not pasteurized, they have a limited distribution area in the Southeast since their beer must be shipped refrigerated to ensure freshness.  You can find the beer throughout Georgia and South Carolina, with limited availability in northern Florida, southern Tennessee and parts of Alabama.  

SweetWater also offers tours and tastings of their Atlanta facility (see map) on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.  I'm going to be in Atlanta soon and I would love to swing over for a quick look and some tastings.

The other beer that I fell in love with was from the Palmetto Brewing Company based out of Charleston, SC.  The Palmetto Brewing Company is much smaller than SweetWater as they only offer four year-round beers.  The Palmetto beer that I fell in love with was their pale ale, although I did try their amber while on Hilton Head.  The Palmetto pale ale may have been a little more forward in "hoppiness" than the SweetWater 420, but Cindy liked the SweetWater better.  

The Palmetto Brewing Company is a little older than the SweetWater brewery, opening in 1994.  Louis Bruce, a long-time wine distributor, had been looking at what it would take to open a small craft brewery for a number of years.  He enlisted the help of Ed Falkenstein (right), who had studied the art of brewing beer, and they opened the first licensed brewery in South Carolina since Prohibition.  Their distribution area is much smaller, as well, with their beers available only in the greater Charleston area, and in the Low Country around Hilton Head Island. 

The Palmetto Pale Ale was the type of beer that just went well with seafood.  And it was refreshing to sip on a warm afternoon.  It was very tough to beat. 

While I was drinking a lot of Bacardi Limon and lemonades on vacation, I really enjoyed the SweetWater 420's and the Palmetto pale ales when I wanted a good, cold beer.  I love good pale ales and both SweetWater and Palmetto make a good one.

Moon River Brewing Company - Savannah, GA

I always want to try a local brewpub when I'm on vacation.  Not only for my interest in their beers, but also because they usually have some interesting food to go along with their micro-brewed beer.  One place that we drove by many times was the Moon River Brewing Company on Bay St. in downtown Savannah. (see map)  We decided to go in for lunch one day. 

The building that houses the Moon River Brewing Company has a historical past in that it dates back to 1821 when it was built as the City Hotel, the first hotel in Savannah.   In addition to the hotel, the building also was home to the first United States Post Office in Savannah, as well as the first United States bank branch.  The City Hotel stayed in business until 1864 when the last customer checked out just before Gen. William Sherman's march into Savannah during the Civil War.

By the turn of the century, the building was used as a storehouse for both lumber and coal.  When the coal industry went away prior to World War II, the building was then used as a general storage warehouse.  In the 60's, the building was then turned into a office supply store.  When Hurricane David hit Savannah in 1979, the roof was torn off the building.  It sat empty until 1995.

As part of the revitalization of the Savannah Historic District, the main floor and basement of the bottom was turned into a brewpub - the Oglethorpe Brewing Company, named after James Oglethorpe, the founder of Savannah.

The Oglethorpe Brewing Company had a tough go and closed their doors after less than three years in business.  It was reopened in 1999 as the Moon River Brewing Company, named after the nickname of the local Wilmington River which was made famous in the song "Moon River" which was penned by Savannah native Johnny Mercer.  In 2004, local investor Gene Beeco, along with brewmaster John Pinkerton (who had come down to Savannah from the Frederick Brewing Company in Maryland), bought Moon River and its 15 barrel brewery.  Here's a picture of Beeco (on the left) and Pinkerton (on the right) during one of their famous Christmas Eve parties at Moon River.  

As you enter the Moon River Brewing Company, you walk right into the bar area - an old antique looking square bar with high back chairs.  A hostess greeted us and took us into the dining room and sat us at a booth.  She handed us our menus and said the waitress would be right with us. 

They had a beer menu on the table and I took a look through that.  They featured 8 beers they brewed on their own at Moon River, including something they called "Tater Ale", a sweet potato beer.  It sounded interesting, but the "Swamp Fox" India Pale Ale caught my eye.  The Swamp Fox featured a very hoppy and forward taste, the kind I like in a good strong pale ale.  Cindy doesn't really like that kind of a pale ale, but Moon River had a "Slo-vannah" pale ale that is more of an American style pale ale, less hoppy and forward.  For people who don't like to try microbrews, Moon River also offered other tap beers such as Guinness, Smithwick's and Sierra Nevada pale ale.  

Our waitress, a young, 20-something, very fun girl, came over to get our beer order.  We ordered up a couple - the Swamp Fox for me, and the Slo-vannah for Cindy.  She said, "Oh, I'm sorry.  We're out of the Swamp Fox."   So, I ordered up two Slo-vannah pale ales.  

She also talked about some of the specials they were having for lunch.  But Cindy had her eye on one of the appetizers - fried green tomatoes topped with real blue crab meat, then drizzled with a cucumber wasabi sauce.  Yeah, that sounded pretty interesting.  We ordered a plate of those while we looked through our menus and sipped our beer. 

I was in the mood for a good burger and Moon River has three burgers featured on their menu.  They also had other sandwiches, wraps, soups, salads and entrees - including seafood, steaks and an interesting sounding chicken/sausage Creole dish.  It sounded good, but I wanted a burger.  

And so did Cindy, so when the waitress came back, she ordered a Moon River burger - just an 8 oz. plain burger with lettuce, tomato, pickles and onion.  She also ordered a side of the scalloped potatoes.  I thought about getting their Black and Blue burger - an 8 oz. blackened burger topped with bleu cheese and served with dijon mustard.  But sometimes, the bleu cheese overpowers the taste of the burger.  I do like bleu cheese, but I opted for the Moon River burger topped with Monterrey Jack cheese and grilled mushrooms.  I got a side of their beer battered onion rings. 

Our fried green tomatoes appetizer showed up at the table and, man, was it a lot of tomatoes.  Big fried tomato slices covered the plate and then were topped with a generous portion of blue crab meat.  There was going to be no way we were going to be able to finish everything on the plate, especially with more food coming our way.  But we made a small dent into the tomatoes while we waited for our burgers.  I have to say they were really wonderful and really Southern. 

Our burgers showed up and they were thick and juicy.  There were a lot of grilled mushrooms on top with the Monterrey Jack cheese.  The burgers were very good.  The onion rings were OK, not exactly what I was thinking they would be.  They were a little too "bready" for me, but still good.  Cindy's scalloped potatoes, however, were just outstanding.  She offered me a bite and they were very cheesy and delicious.  They were excellent. 

The Slo-vannah pale ale was a great compliment to the meal.  It had a nice forward taste, but didn't overpower the taste of the food.  Whatever John Pinkerton did to make the Slo-vannah pale ale a smooth taste, he got it down.

Our lunch at Moon River wasn't all that cheap - about $35 bucks before giving our very fun and efficient waitress a good tip.  But the food was very good, the decor was pretty cool, the service was great and the beer was superb.  A trip to Moon River Brewing Company should be on your agenda if you're going to Savannah and want to experience a great brew pub.

Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room - Savannah, GA

We had a number of great suggestions from people as to where to eat while we were in Savannah.  One place that came up numerous times was Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room.  Since they only serve lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. through the weekdays, our only chance to go was on a hot and muggy Friday midday.  We walked down there from our hotel which was about a three minute walk, tops.  (See map)

There actually was a Mrs. Wilkes at one time.  In 1942, the L.H. Wilkes family were displaced from their farm near Vidalia, GA so the U.S. Army could build an air corps base.  Seeking work in Savannah's shipyards, L.H. Wilkes stayed in a boardinghouse owned by Mrs. Dennis Dixon.  His wife, Sema, would come to visit him on the weekends with their kids.  In 1942, Sema Wilkes began to help Mrs. Dixon in the kitchen at the boardinghouse when Mrs. Dixon fell ill.  Mrs. Dixon never fully recovered and in the winter of 1943, L.H. Wilkes began to work for the railroad and Sema Wilkes bought the boardinghouse. 

Railroads workers, which made up the majority of boarders at the now Mrs. Wilkes Boardinghouse, flocked to the dining room on the word that she made some of the best meals in Savannah.  Suddenly, instead of serving breakfast or lunch for 12 people, she was serving up to 60 meals at a time. 

 When the railroads began to slow down, and hotels and motels became more prevalent in the 60's, Mrs. Wilkes shut down the boarding house and converted the upstairs rooms into apartments.  However, Mrs. Wilkes continued to serve her lavish, Southern-style, down-home breakfasts and lunches (also known as "dinner" in the south).  Her meals were served family-style on large communal tables that served up to 12 people.  Soon, long lines began to form outside Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room restaurant as word got out to locals and tourists, alike, that her food was exceptional.  

Wilkes daughter, Margie, was the bookkeeper and part-time hostess, while her son was the cashier.  As Mrs. Wilkes reputation grew, she published her first cookbook - Mrs. Wilkes Boardinghouse Cookbook - which, it turns out, was actually written by her daughter, Margie.  She spent most of her time signing books and giving the blessing at the start of each breakfast or lunch.  

In 2002, Mrs. Wilkes passed away suddenly at the age of 95.  The family had a dilemma - what to do with the restaurant.  Margie Thompson and her husband, Bill, had retired from the restaurant years prior; and a case of acute arthritis was making it tough for their son, Ronny, to continue to run the business.  After Mrs. Wilkes died, the family had a meeting as to the future of the restaurant.  Ronny Thompson's son, Ryon, only 25 at the time, stepped forward and said that he'd run the restaurant. 

Mrs. Wilkes shut down for a period, went through an extensive remodel of the dining rooms and an updating of the kitchen, and then re-opened under Ryon Thompson's management in February 2004.  He cut out the breakfast service and reduced the lunches to five days a week, cutting out Saturday service.  (Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room will serve lunch for private functions from time to time on Saturday's.)  The recipes used are the same ones used by his great-grandmother when she ran the place over 60 years ago.  Many of the cooks are second and third generation cooks who learned the recipes directly from Mrs. Wilkes.  Ryon Thompson greets and seats the patrons with help from his mom, his grandmother, Margie Thompson, is usually at the place signing cook books, and 89-year old grandpa Bill Thompson runs the cash register.   

We got to Mrs. Wilkes a little past 1 p.m. and the line was already half a block long running up to the door.  As I said, it was a hot, muggy day and standing in line was not my idea of a good time.  There was a small antique shop near Mrs. Wilkes that was air conditioned, so Cindy ended up hanging out in there for awhile as I kept our place in line.  

The people who left the restaurant would invariably tell those of us in line that the food was "outstanding" and some were having trouble walking because they were so stuffed from over-eating.  Someone ahead of me asked a gentleman who had walked out if the food was worth the wait.  "Oh, it's worth it," he said.  "And then some."

We finally got to the door around 1:50 p.m., just ten minutes before they closed.  There were still people walking up to get in line.  I suppose, once you're in line at 2 p.m., you get in.  Ryon Thompson greeted us and let us in the side door on the ground level.  Another lady directed us to a large table just behind the cashiers station, manned by Bill Thompson.  We did not see Margie Thompson or her daughter (Ryon's mom) in the restaurant.  When the last patrons would get up from a table, it was cleared and another 12 people would be seated.  This would go on for three hours, five days a week.     

Now, I'm not big on communal dining where they put you at a table with a bunch of strangers and expect to share bowls and plates of food with each other.  But we were so intrigued with the concept that we bought into it.  We were seated with a Chinese family whose son was graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design that weekend. At the opposite end of our table was a 50-ish, sort-of-stylish couple from Arkansas who appeared to be newly dating from their conversations they were having while waiting in line (that is, when he wasn't on his cellphone talking way too loudly), and then a young couple from Chicago.  

On our table were huge bowls and plates of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, beef stew, rice, black-eyed peas, snap beans, squash, butter beans, candied yams, peas and noodles, pickled beets, cole slaw, baked beans, biscuits, mac and cheese, okra, collard greens, potato salad - Jesus Christ!  The list went on and on!  The menu changes daily, but fried chicken and beef stew are daily staples.  Sweet tea and water were also served with the meal.   

One of the waitresses, a matronly lady quite possibly in her 60's, shouted out the rules - in tradition of the former boarders at Mrs. Wilkes, everyone is responsible for taking their plates, glasses and silverware to the kitchen when they're finished.  She said, "We'll keep bringin' food to your table as long as you eat it.  Don't like to waste anything here!"

Looking at all the food, I was incredulous.  "How are we going to eat all this," I asked. 

Finally, the guy from Arkansas at the other end of the table said, "Well, I guess we all dig in."  So we did.  The bowls and plates were passed around.  There wasn't enough room on our plates for all the food.  And I wanted to sample nearly everything.

Actually, what I was after was the fried chicken.  I'd heard that it was even better than the fried chicken at The Lady and Sons.  And it was very good.  Probably better than The Lady and Sons, but it was tough to say because it had been days between the time we'd eaten there and when we ate at Mrs. Wilkes.  It was still very good, though.  As a table, we all asked for more chicken, that was for sure. 

We made some small talk with the young couple from Chicago.  Even though the Quad Cities are only 175 miles from downtown Chicago, the couple - probably in their mid-20's - weren't familiar with the area.  "Is that Rockford or Rock Island that is part of the Quad Cities," the young man asked.  We decided the food was much more interesting than they were. 

The Chinese family - a man, his wife and their son - pretty much kept to themselves except to ask for someone on our end to pass a plate or dish back.  The Arkansas couple at the other end kept their conversations to themselves, as well. 

The Arkansas lady appeared finished and excused herself to get up and go to the restroom.  The Arkansas man also stood up and began to look around the dining room.  They left their plates, glasses and silverware on the table.  When the lady came out of the bathroom, the man had already paid for the meal and they were out the door.  The waitress who had shouted out the "rules" at the start of the meal came over, saw the empty plates with the people gone.  He said, "Now, didn't I say that you need to take your plates back to the kitchen when you've finished?"

Cindy said, "You sure did!"

She said, "I thought so!  Some people!"  She gathered up the plates and took 'em to the kitchen.  Cindy and I made damn sure that we took our plates, glasses and silverware back to the kitchen. 

I went up and paid for lunch - $16 bucks per person - and Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room doesn't take credit cards.  Man, I was stuffed!  The food was superb, the ambiance was interesting, but it would have been better to dine with a large group of people that we knew.  I just don't feel comfortable sitting next to people I don't know, especially when I'm eating.  The food definitely made up for the uncomfortable feeling that I had eating with strangers who really had little to nothing in common - other than the food.  If you like that kind of thing, you'll absolutely love Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room.  But for me, the excellent food would be the only reason I'd go back.

La Rancherita - Rock Island, IL

I just love authentic Mexican food.  We have a large Mexican population in the Quad Cities and finding a good Mexican restaurant with REAL Mexican food is a real treat.  Some of the more established Mexican food places in the Quad's are getting to be either too predictable, or the quality of their food has gone down hill as they've expanded or grown their business.  On the advice of a friend, Santo Pullela, with whom I worked with on River Roots Live in the past, Cindy and I went to La Rancherita over in Rock Island one evening.

La Rancherita is located on 14th Ave in Rock Island, just south of Augustana College and near the border with Moline (see map).  In fact, 16th Ave in Moline becomes 14th Ave. in Rock Island.  It's a little confusing when you come through Moline to get to La Rancherita.    It's housed in a building that - I was told - was formerly a neighborhood grocery store a number of years ago.  Parking is mainly street parking, but there are a couple lots across the street that appear to be attached to vacant buildings.

La Rancherita is owned by five brothers - Roberto, Carlos, Jeronimo, Everando and Salvador Villalobos, and helped out by their nephew, Jose Arias, Jr.  The family is originally from San Jose de Gracia, Mexico, a small village just south of Guadalajara in west central Mexico.  They moved to the Chicago area about 13 years ago and ended up in Rock Island over five years ago.  The recipes they use at La Rancherita are family recipes that have been passed along over the years.

Cindy and I got in there around 6:30 one evening earlier this summer and took a booth up toward the front of the restaurant.  We were given chips, salsa and homemade pico de gallo, and I ordered up a Sol beer, while Cindy got a Negra Modelo.  The menus were on the table and the description of the food was exactly what I was looking for.  Real pork tacos al pastor, shredded beef enchiladas, real homemade pork or chicken tamales, menudo soup - I was already in a mental tizzy just trying to figure out what to get.

La Rancerita has a number of dinner combinations, or you can order ala carte.  That's exactly what I did.  I knew the tacos were pretty small, so I got two pork tacos al pastor with corn tortillas, a beef enchilada and a pork tamale.  Cindy got the burrito combination with refried beans and rice.  She also got a chicken tamale.

Our waitress was pleasant and very thorough, checking on our chip basket, salsa and beers on a regular basis.  Their hot sauce salsa was very good and I was getting a slow burn from eating the chips with the salsa.  I think I went through three Sol's before we got our food.

And it wasn't all that long - less than 10 minutes - after we ordered our food when it came to our table.  The pork tacos were great.  I love the small (5 inch) corn tortillas when eating a taco.  Two tortillas per taco (sometimes three in some places I've been) is the norm in authentic Mexican places.  I really liked the enchilada and the pork tamale was a little dry, but really tasted good with a generous slather of salsa on top.

Cindy, on the other hand, wasn't quite as enamored with her dinner as I was.  She declared her burrito as "OK", but she did like the chicken tamale.

We noticed a lot of families coming and going from La Rancherita while we were there.   The table turnover was rather quick at the restaurant, which is very good if you own the place.  There were also a number of people who got food to go.  La Rancherita also offers a kid's menu and they also have an extensive breakfast menu with authentic Mexican egg and chorizo dishes.  Cindy did want to come back sometime for breakfast.

With tip (La Rancherita doesn't take credit cards - cash only), our bill came to about $35 bucks -$17.50 of that was our bar tab - so our food was relatively cheap.  And I thought it was delicious.  Cindy wasn't quite sold on the food, but I thought it was wonderful.  We've got La Rancherita programmed in on the GPS so we'll have no problem finding it the next time we go.  

Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam - Summerfest 2009

 "Davy Knowles, the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter, is talented like very few bluesmen these days. He shreds like a young Robert Cray and wails like the love of his life was just hit by a truck." - Nick Alderman, Village Voice.

"If this were a more just world, the band's startlingly talented guitarist, singer and songwriter Davy Knowles would already be a star." - Shane Harrison, Atlanta Journal Constitution.

"I heard the spirit of Jimi Hendrix." - Patrick MacDonald, Seattle Times.

“Davy is very young but he already has got a recognizable style. He’s definitely the gunslinger guitarist of the 21st century. He’s a phenomenal talent." - Peter Frampton

"Holy shit!  I have seen the future and his name is Davy Knowles!" - Me

I recently took in the Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam show at Summerfest in Milwaukee.  I was up there on business and decided to head out on a cool and rain-threatening evening to catch his show. 

I first heard Back Door Slam a couple years ago when WXRT in Chicago was playing a track from their first album, Roll Away.  The group consisted of three friends from the Isle of Man in Great Britain - Davy Knowles on guitar and vocals, Adam Jones on bass and Ross Doyle on drums.  I immediately went out and bought the CD and have been loving it ever since.   The band got their name from a song on Robert Cray's 2003 album, Time Will Tell.  

It was apparent from a standpoint of musicianship and talent that Knowles was the prodigy in the group.  Only 20 years of age when Roll Away was released, he garnered the attention of a number of guitarists including Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, Warren Haynes and Peter Frampton.  And it was easy to read between the lines of an announcement on Back Door Slam's web site (which now re-directs to Davy Knowles.com) earlier this year that announced that Jones and Doyle had left the group to "embark on new projects of their own in the UK and Europe."  I don't think anyone has heard from those two since.  

Now known as Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam, Knowles' follow up album - Coming Up for Air - was produced by Frampton (the first album that Frampton has produced for someone other than his own albums) and mixed by the great studio engineer Bob Clearmountain.  Frampton enlisted the help of longtime Jackson Browne bandmates Fritz Lewak (drums) and Kevin McCormick (bass) to back up Knowles in the studio.  Frampton also hired Tom Petty's keyboard player, Benmont Tench, to play on a number of songs on the album.  And Frampton and Knowles share guitar licks on a remake of George Harrison's "Hear Me Lord" from his "All Things Must Pass" album.  It turns out that Frampton played on the original cut on the album, as well.  It's one helluva CD if you're into that blues/rock type of music like I am.  

Davy Knowles was playing at the revamped and remodeled Harley-Davidson Roadhouse stage that evening, opening for Buddy Guy.  While it was a cool evening (low 60's) and there was a threat of rain (it began after Davy Knowles played), I was decked out in shorts and a t-shirt.  It was either wear that or put on my slacks and a button-down shirt.  I may have been only one of - maybe - two or three people wearing shorts.  There were guys in pullover jackets, women in turtlenecks, kids with coats on.  Yeah, it was cool, but I was fine. 

Moments before the 8 p.m. start time, I found a seat smack dab in the middle of the stands in front of stage at the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse.  I was incredulous.  Here was this great young guitarist getting ready to play and there were - maybe - 300 people sitting there.  I thought, "Well, there's a lot of people who are here at Summerfest who are going to be missing out on a great show."

And from the opening number, it was a great show.  Knowles was backed by a bald bass player only known as "PK" and on drums by Steve Barci.  I could tell right away these two were much more talented musicians than Knowles original Back Door Slam bandmates.  Knowles has also been joined on tour this summer by keyboard player Ty Bailie, a tour that has included opening up for the new rock supergroup Chickenfoot that consists of Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar (formerly from Van Halen) and Chad Smith, the drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  But it was just PK and Barci with Knowles that evening. 

By the time Knowles had played his fourth song of his set - a combination of songs from his new CD and from "Roll Away" - the seats around me began to fill in.   Then Knowles did an unbelievable and mesmerizing redux of David Crosby's classic "Almost Cut My Hair."  I was just blown away by the passion and emotion he exuded during the song.  I just sat there thinking, "My God, this kid can PLAY!!"

Knowles also did a great rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Commotion" with Knowles commenting beforehand, "We're gonna slow it down a bit."  But he played it with even more punch and ferocity as the original CCR rendition.  

I felt a couple of sprinkles about an hour into the performance, so I got up and stood over under the awning of the Miller Lite beer station for the rest of the show. The rain was coming down pretty well by the time I made it back to my hotel and I was happy it held off as long as it did for Davy Knowles' performance.  It was an amazing performance and a completely flawless show.  

Knowles recently played at the Prairie Dog Blues Festival in Prairie du Chien, WI.  I had some friends go up for the fest and I was talking to one, Tom Laake, the next day after the show.  I asked him how Davy Knowles was, and in a slow, measured voice, Tom said, "Davy...Knowles...was...exceptional." 

Tom was spot on - Davy Knowles is exceptional.  I get the chance to work the River Roots Live event here in Davenport again this year, and we're having Joe Bonamassa coming back for an encore performance of his great show last year.  While I'm a huge Bonamassa fan, I stand by my original quote - "I have seen the future, and it is Davy Knowles."

To catch a song from Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam, click on the You Tube link below and see him play "Tear Down the Walls" from a live performance he gave in Atlanta about three weeks before I saw him in Milwaukee.  It's tasty stuff, Maynard.

The Black Marlin Bayside Grill - Hilton Head, SC

During our trip to Hilton Head, we were continually looking for good seafood places along or near the water.  I'm not quite sure how we happened upon The Black Marlin Bayside Grill, but I'm certainly glad we found it.

The Black Marlin is located at the Palmetto Bay Marina on Hilton Head Island (see map).  I have to tell you up front, it's rather difficult to find if you don't know exactly where to turn, or if your Hertz Neverlost has you trying to turn left onto a road where there is no left turn.  We had to drive across the causeway that goes over Broad Creek - pay a $1.75 both ways - to get back over to the area where we knew The Black Marlin was situated.  We finally were able to find the road - a right turn, that took you to two successive left turns, that took you under the causeway bridge along the water front up to the parking lot of the Palmetto Bay Marina.   The parking lot was packed because there were some other restaurants in the area.  I let Cindy out at the front of the building and found a parking spot toward the back.

We had our choice of eating indoors or outside.  We initially opted for inside dining until I got a look at the patio seating outside.  The Black Marlin was, indeed, a classy place and their outdoor seating featured heavy duty glass-topped metal tables with heavy metal woven chairs.  Each table had their own umbrella and there were tiki torches around perimeter to keep the mosquitoes away.  Our hostess took us outside and sat us at a table that, unfortunately, was near the air conditioning unit for a condo that bordered the patio.  It was a little loud, to say the least.  I asked Cindy if she wanted to go inside and she said, "Ah, this is fine.  We can just talk a little louder."

Our waitress came to the table and got our drink order - my Bacardi Limon and lemonade (yes, they had real lemonade - I asked before I ordered!), and Cindy got a glass of their house chardonnay.  We immediately ordered up a dozen oysters on the half-shell and a pound of cold peel and eat shrimp.  The waitress said, "Is that all you'll want, then?"

I said, "No, no.  We're going to order dinner.  That's just our appetizer."

She sort of chuckled and said, "Well, OK, then..."

Actually, I saw they had fish tacos on the menu and I thought I'd just get a couple of those ala carte after the oysters and shrimp.  Cindy was intrigued with their special "catch of the day" - a red snapper "mojo de ajo" (roasted garlic and chipotle peppers cooked in lime juice and olive oil), and also topped with broiled shrimp and chunks of fresh garlic.  Well, Cindy does jumping jacks for garlic anything, so she had to have that.

Our waitress came out with our order of peel and eat shrimp and our oysters on the half shell.  They don't season the shrimp at The Black Marlin with cajun seasoning like they do at many of the other places we'd had shrimp at while on vacation.  But the shrimp was still very good - large and meaty.  I eagerly devoured a large portion of the shrimp while helping Cindy peel the shells off of hers.  (I'm such a good husband.)

Here is a picture of our oysters.  They were big and plump, good and meaty.  They served them with cocktail sauce, so I asked the girl for fresh ground horseradish and some Tabasco.  She seemed a little surprised.  "Oh," she exclaimed.  "They didn't put a horseradish container on the tray.  I'll go get y'all one right away."  And she was back in about 30 seconds with the horseradish.  She said, "I took off with the tray before they realized that it didn't have the horseradish on it.  They came looking for me and caught me just inside the door."  We had great service at The Black Marlin Bayside Grill.

We finished up our shrimps and oysters and Cindy really wanted the red snapper topped with "mojo de ajo" (roasted garlic and chipotle peppers, diced and cooked in lime juice and olive oil) and grilled shrimp special.  I ordered up a couple fish tacos.  We sat and enjoyed the evening, even though the air conditioning unit ran non-stop while we were there.

Our dinner showed up about 15 to 20 minutes after we ordered.  I have to say that Cindy's red snapper with the mojo de ajo with the grilled shrimp on top looked unbelievable.  It came with a side of rice and a corn, lima bean, tomatillo medley.  Once Cindy took a bite, she had that look of "Oh my God!" on her face.  She said, "Oh, God, Will.  You've got to try this."

And it was good.  Very good.  The red snapper was light and flavorful.  The mojo de ajo sauce was a great complement to the fish giving it sort of a smoky, garlic taste.  It was very, very good.

My fish tacos?  Well, I guess I need to ask how they prepare their fish before I order fish tacos again.  Fish tacos to me are grilled white fish, topped with lettuce or cabbage and pico de gallo.  The fish tacos at The Black Marlin were deep fried pieces of fish - not quite as bad as plain ol' fish sticks, but I'm not a big fan of fish that is deep fried (or really anything that is deep fried).   It was topped with a pico de gallo which was very fresh and flavorful.  It's not that the fish was bad, I just wanted it to be grilled or broiled at the very least.

Our waitress came over and asked how everything was.  The excited, yet blissful look on Cindy's face as she was chewing on another bite told the waitress everything she needed to know.  I, on the other hand, told her that I thought the fish tacos would be grilled or broiled, not deep fried.  I said, "I guess it's my fault.  It seems like the only place I can ever find fish tacos that are cooked that way is west of the Rockies."

She said, "Oh, goodness, no!  We could have broiled the fish for you instead of deep fryin' it.  Do you want me to take these back and get you the broiled fish tacos?"

Well, by this time I'd already eaten one and was two bites into the second one.  I declined, saying that the tacos were still good.  And they were for deep fried fish tacos.  I've had some deep fried fish tacos where, I swear, they took common frozen fish sticks and deep fried them, chopped 'em up and put them on the tortilla.  Horrible.  Just horrible.

I was pretty stuffed by the time we finished, but being that we were on vacation, we had to share a dessert.  We decided that it was going to be pretty tough to beat the Key Lime Pie we'd had earlier at Uncle Bubba's and The Lady and Sons, so Cindy wanted to try The Black Marlin's signature Kentucky bourbon glazed pecan pie drizzled with caramel.  I'm not big on pecan pie, but it sounded so sinful that I readily agreed to that.  Cindy ate the bulk of the piece of pie, but it was pretty damn good.  There's something about the taste of pecans that doesn't agree with me.  But if you glaze pecan pie in bourbon, then pour some warm caramel on top, it certainly helps the taste.

After dinner and paying our tab, we took a short walk down along Broad Creek to watch some of the boaters enjoying a late day sail.  It was our last night on Hilton Head and we knew it was going to be very difficult to leave.  It was really a very nice, laid back time we had on the island.  But we'd already committed to going back to Savannah and were excited to get back to enjoy some more of the city.  It wasn't long before some very large mosquitoes began to make their presence.  And for some reason, mosquitoes love me.  I'm the first person they nail, long before they bother anyone else.  Cindy thinks it's the alcohol that I sweat out that attracts them.  But even if I haven't been drinking, they nail me.

Although I was disappointed in my fish tacos - but I readily admit that it was probably my fault for not asking beforehand how they're prepared, especially in the South - everything else about The Black Marlin Bayside Grill was wonderful.  Our service was impeccable and our waitress received a generous tip for her efforts.  While it's a little tough to find, the Black Marlin is worth seeking out if you get out to Hilton Head Island.

A Couple Lunch Spots on Hilton Head Island

While on Hilton Head Island, we did take time out of our lazy days to go out for lunch at a couple of places.  The first place we went to was Reilley's North End Pub, a little restaurant/pub tucked back in a corner of a strip mall not too far from our hotel (see map).

We entered Reilley's and found it to be sort of dark and cozy with a lot of wood paneling throughout the dining room.  They had a small bar area off to the left and a pretty good sized dining area.  We were seated in a nice wood booth and given menus. 

Reilley's first location opened in 1982 when Tom and Dianne Reilley started a small pub - Reilley's Bar and Grill -  in a strip mall on the south side of the island.  They moved across the street in 1995 after a fire destroyed much of the strip mall the restaurant was in.   The location on the north end of the island opened in 1988.  It underwent extensive renovation a year ago.  It's actually very nice on the inside.   

We were given a few minutes to go over the menu and in the meantime I ordered a Bacardi Limon and lemonade and the waitress brought out pink lemonade with my rum.  I said, "Oh, pink lemonade?  You don't have regular lemonade?"

She said, "No sir, I'm sorry.  We have sweet tea if you're looking for something more sweet." 

I said, "No, no!  Pink lemonade (which is usually infused with grenadine) is sweet enough.  I was looking for more of that tart lemon taste." 

I asked her if they had just the raw lemonade before they mix in the grenadine and she said, "No, it comes in a mix that is already made up for us."  Oh well.  I just had the one drink before switching to a beer. 

Most of the lunch food at Reilley's North End pub was basic bar food - burgers, sandwiches, salads.  They have a much more extensive dinner menu that includes steaks and seafood.  One item on the lunch menu that piqued my interest was Reilley's Meat Load Sandwich - a healthy chunk of homemade meatloaf topped with cheese and friend onions.  I thought that to be a little too much for lunch, so I went with the tuna melt - an open faced tuna sandwich on a toasted English muffin topped with cheddar cheese.  Fries came with the sandwich, but I knew I wouldn't eat any of them. 

Cindy got a patty melt served between slices of dark rye bread.  She also got a side of Reilley's cole slaw - creamy cole slaw infused with raisins.  I had a bite of it, but I'm not big on raisins, so I didn't care for it.  Cindy liked it, however.  She likes raisins. 

My tuna melt was pretty good.  The English muffin had a generous amount of tuna on top and it was very tasty.  Cindy declared her patty melt as "good".  She offered me a bite and I gladly accepted.  It was very good - the burger had good flavor and was very juicy. 

Reilley's North End Pub was good, a nice little place to go to lunch.  But the lunch spot that we were thoroughly impressed with was the British Open Pub. (see map)  As I said in my post from earlier this week, golfing is king on Hilton Head Island with over 25 great courses on the the island with another 35 courses within a 60 minute drive.  One of my long-distance friends, John Stewart of Fort Myers, FL, is an avid golfer and he spends at least a week a year on Hilton Head.  He suggested I try the British Open Pub - not just for the food, but because he knows I love sport memorabilia.  He said the British Open Pub was chock full of neat stuff to look at.  

And John certainly wasn't wrong on the amount of memorabilia.  The Titleist Bar at the British Open Pub was pretty cool.  I especially loved the glass topped bar that featured the portraits of Americans who have won the British Open framed by Ti tleist golf balls.  There was a number of flat-screen televisions throughout the bar area (and actually in the dining room, as well).  It was the quintessential sports bar geared more for golf.  I used to golf a number of years ago and admire anyone who can hit a golf ball straight, so I was pretty taken in by all the stuff they had to look at.

The British Open Pub has two dining rooms that also have a lot of memorabilia on the walls.  I absolutely loved a lot of the old pictures and panoramic photographs of some the legendary British and Scottish golf courses where the British Open has been played. 

The B  ritish Open Pub on Hilton Head Island is the first of three opened in 1998 by a trio of entrepreneurs, Damian Hayes, Walt Rinaldi and John DeAngelis.  There are two other British Open Pubs - one in Okatie, SC at the Okatie Creek golf club; and the other in nearby Beaufort, SC on Cat Island, next to South Carolina National Golf Club. 

We were seated in a very spacious booth and given menusto look over.  John had suggested the Lobster Pot Pie at British Open Pub - a small crock of fresh lobster meat, with carrots, celery and herbs added, cooked in a Newburg sauce and topped with a puffed pastry.  John told me, "It's not cheap, but boy, is it good."  Man, that sounded good when he described it to me.  But it turned out that they only served it after 5 p.m.  We were sort of bummed about that. 

The British Open Pub also served traditional English dishes such as Shepherd's Pie, a steak and mushroom pie, "Bangers and Mash", and fish and chips.  They also had an extensive list of "sandwedges" - a play on the terms sandwich and the sand wedge golf club.  Unfortunately, when I was a golfer, I knew my sand wedge all too well. 

I ordered up a Wexford Reuben - British Open Pub's slow cooked corned beef with sauerkraut and swiss cheese topped with 1000 Island dressing served on homemade dark rye bread.  Cindy saw something on the lunch specials menu board that got her interest - a lobster roll sandwich.  It was fresh lobster meat made up sort of like a tuna salad and served open faced on a hard roll with a side of fries.  It wasn't cheap - $19.99 for the sandwich.  But, we were on vacation, so what the hell.

And it was very good.  She offered me a bite and it was just scrumptious.  I was overly happy with my Reuben, as well.  We had great service at British Open Pub, as well.  It was a very busy place during the 1 p.m. hour. 

 If we would have spent more time on Hilton Head, we probably would have come back for dinner at least one night as the British Open Pub also featured nightly specials, as well as steaks, chops and seafood.  But we really wanted to do nothing but eat the fresh seafood while we were on the island.  The Lobster Pot Pie would have been pretty interesting to try.  Still, just for lunch, the British Open Pub was a winner all around.  

Hudson's on the Dock - Hilton Head, SC

While on Hilton Head, Cindy decided that I needed a pair of swim trunks for our walks along the beach.  For some reason, she deemed my khaki shorts as "inappropriate beachwear".  I didn't pack any because I wasn't going to get into the water above my knees since I couldn't be immersed in water for four months after my last hip replacement.  But she was adamant that we go get a pair of swim trunks for me. 

We found a Wal-Mart on the island and went in to get some trunks.  When we came out, there was a kiosk where a lady dispensed information on condo rentals, time-shares and local restaurants.  We had read up on a local seafood place, Hudson's on the Dock, where they had their own fishery and fleet of crab/shrimp boats.  The lady was trying to entice us to go to a couple of other restaurants by offering coupons.  Cindy said, "What do you think about Hudson's?"

The lady sort of turned up her nose and she said, "It's OK.  But I don't like to go to places where I can make the same food at home."  

Well, we were on vacation, we didn't have a home - let alone a kitchen - to cook in.  We declined her offer of the other restaurants and went with our instincts and went over to the west side of the island for dinner at Hudson's that night (see map).  

We were glad we did.

Hudson's isn't fancy or high-brow compared to other places on the island.  It's located at the end of road next to a marina full of fishing boats.  There's a small parking lot near the building, but a larger one down the road where overflow parking can go.  We saw the place and immediately fell in love with it. 

The history of Hudson's dates back to 1912 with the construction of an oyster factory next to the water.  In 1920's, a local gentleman by the name of J.B. Hudson bought the little oyster factory.  The Hudson family served oysters to the locals right in the factory.  Part of the Hudson's on the Dock restaurant is where the old oyster factory used to be.

In 1955, J.B. Hudson's son, J.B. Hudson, Jr., had now taken over the operation and added shrimp to the menu.  He also expanded seating in the restaurant a few years later.  In the early 70's, Brian and Gina Carmines, who had grown up on Long Island, but had been transplanted to Atlanta for Brian's business, bought Hudson's on the Dock.  In the early days, Brian was the cook, chef, and manager.  Family members waited on and cleared tables, washed dishes and glasses and manned the bar area.  Over the years, the Carmines added to the restaurant to a present day capacity of 345 seats.

This is the main dining room at Hudson's, with huge windows that looked out onto the docks with the fishing boats moored to the docks.  There was a nautical theme to the dining room with fishing nets hanging around the room.  The old wooden tables also had comfortable high-backed chairs to go along with them.  We went early - around 6 p.m. - and the main dining room was filling up with people.

We were seated at a corner table near the window and were given menus by our very friendly hostess.  I immediately ordered up a Palmetto Pale Ale, a beer brewed up in Charleston.  It was very good.

We decided to go for the seafood overload that evening.  The menu had all different types of seafood combinations from a catch of the day, to boiled or grilled shrimp, fresh crab, anything that you could think of - and cooked anyway you wanted it. 

One of their featured fresh catches that day was 1 lb. of soft shell crab claws served cold.  I talked Cindy into that.  I wanted shrimp, boiled and seasoned with cajun spices.  But we also started out with a dozen of freshly caught oysters on the half shell.  Cindy also got a side of what they called "Seven Day" cole slaw - a sweet, 7-day marinated cole slaw.  Hudson's is famous for their Hushpuppies - deep fried balls of cornbread - so she got an order of those, two.  And she also got a side of sweet snap peas.

Cindy decided that she wanted some wine that evening so I ordered up a bottle of the Franciscan chardonnay, one of our favorite white wines.  The waitress - an older lady who had worked at Hudson's for over 20 years - brought it chilled to our table when she brought out the oysters on the half shell.

Oh, my God!  The oysters were plump, meaty and flavorful.   They were served with a side of fresh ground horseradish along with Tabasco.  We had eaten a couple before Cindy suggested we take a picture of the oysters before they were all gone.  Our waitress, who had a great sense of humor, assured us the oysters were caught earlier that morning and put on ice in the fishing trawler.  She said, "We save the 7-day-old oysters for the people we don't like."  They were just outstanding.

It wasn't long after we finished off our oysters when the waitress brought out Cindy's soft shell crab claws and her sides, and a heaping order of boiled shrimp.   The crab claws were huge and came with a slightly spicy remoulade sauce.  Hudson's also provided a nutcracker to get all the crab shells cracked.  Cindy had some trouble getting some of the crab meat out, so I had to help her.  As my reward for helping her, I got to sample some of the crab claw meat.  Oh, man!  Was it great!

Cindy also tried of Hudson's signature Hush-puppies.  The look on her face told me they were good.  She offered me one and I said that I really didn't care for Hush-puppies.  She said, "They put some sort of seasoning or herbs in them.  They're not like regular Hush-puppies."

She was right.  They were excellent.  They had a hint of an onion taste to them, along with some other herbs that I couldn't quite identify right away.  They were completely different from the Hush-puppies I'd had in the past.

This is my plate of boiled shrimp.   They were huge!  And they were great - by far the tastiest shrimp I had during our whole vacation.  Once again, our waitress told us the shrimp were caught earlier that day.  She says, "We never have to freeze our seafood.  We usually sell out of our daily catches."  I found out that Hudson's sells over 5 tons of oysters and a ton of crab each year.  They'd sell double the amount of crab if they could catch more.

The boiled shrimp was so good I finished the pound I had on my plate.  I motioned for the waitress to come over and I ordered up another pound.  The second pound was just as good as the first.

For dessert, Hudson's featured their homemade Key Lime Pie.  We ordered a slice with two forks.  It was good, sort of heavy, but not as good as what we'd had earlier in the week at Uncle Bubba's and The Lady and Son's.  Honestly, we never had Key Lime Pie the rest of the week that came close to what we had at Paula Deen's restaurants.  Except for one place.  I'll tell you about that in a later post.

We walked around the restaurant after we finished dinner and looked around the expanded dining area on the north side of the restaurant.  This is a picture of the nautical themed bar area.  A few people were having dinner in the bar area, but I didn't seem to see any bartender while we were in there.  I did notice the waiters and waitresses going behind the bar to grab beers and drinks, so maybe they make and fetch their own drinks at Hudson's, I don't know.

We walked outside to the dock and looked in the windows of the fishery where the fresh seafood would come off the boats each day.  Outside the fishery, next to the dock, was a large pile of oyster shells.  There had to be 1000 pounds of oyster shells in the pile.  They certainly do go through the oysters at Hudson's

We walked down the dock looking at the boats and enjoying the evening along the water.  I'm telling you, I achieved seafood overload that evening.  A couple pounds of peel and eat boiled shrimp did the trick.  But I really wish I would have been able to try the blackened cajun scallops they had on the appetizer menu.

All in all, Hudson's was just outstanding.  Quite possibly the best seafood restaurant we ate at during our vacation.  And we ate at a LOT of seafood places.  If you're looking for a fancy place to eat, Hudson's ain't the place.  But if you want GREAT seafood in any setting, Hudson's is the place.

As we left Hudson's on the Dock, Cindy said, "You know, we should really go back to Wal-Mart before we leave Hilton Head and tell that lady at the kiosk that she was completely nuts!"

Hilton Head Island

After spending a few days in Savannah, we took the short trip up the coast to Hilton Head Island.  Although it's only a 45 minute drive via back roads up to Hilton Head, the differences between Savannah and Hilton Head are vast.  There's really no old historic feel to Hilton Head like there is in Savannah.  There really isn't a central area on the island and it's much more tourist driven than Savannah.  If you're a golfer or a tennis player, Hilton Head is heaven.  We went for the rest and relaxation on the beach.  We found the island to be great for that.

 

Hilton Head is the second largest barrier island on the East Coast, behind Long Island.   As seen from space, the island looks like a big Nike shoe with a backwards "swoosh" logo.  It was first explored by Europeans in 1521 and was named by British sea captain, William Hilton, who explored land in the Caribbean for King Charles II of England in the mid 1600's.  Hilton, who was actually looking for Barbados, spent several days on the island and named the "head" of the island after himself.  The island also was known as "John's Island" and "Jenkin's Island", but it was eventually named Hilton Head Island by people who settled there. 

The island was an important part of Civil War history as it was used by Confederate forces as an outpost to help keep the Port Royal pass open for ships to travel up two navigable rivers to keep commerce and trade open in South Carolina.  In November of 1861, with the largest Navy armada ever assembled by Union forces up to that point, the Battle of Port Royal began.  Within 10 days, 12,000 Union troops stormed the island and took over Fort Walker.  The fort became a Union outpost that helped choke off shipping in and out of South Carolina, further crippling their cotton trade during the war.  

Today, the island annually hosts an estimated 2.25 million visitors.  While the beach is the main attraction, there are a number of world class resorts on the island.  There are also over 250 restaurants to choose from on the island, with a varied mix of cuisines to choose from.  

We stayed at the Hilton Oceanfront Resortwhile we were on Hilton Head.   The hotel had all the amenities you'd want to have at an oceanside resort - great beach access; good restaurants (although we only ate breakfast there), an attentive staff and a great view from your hotel balcony.  This is our view from our fifth floor room looking southeast over the family pool (which did get sort of loud during the day) out toward the ocean.  We got there early in the afternoon and they had our room waiting for us.  As much as I loved Savannah, I could have stayed at the Hilton on Hilton Head for a week.

Our room was rather large with a King-sized bed, a sitting area, a large balcony, plus a small kitchenette in the room.  With the wind coming in off the ocean, it was very tough to keep the sliding doors shut.  We had a refrigerator that allowed us to stock ample supplies of beer, white wine, and lemonade for an occasional Bacardi Limon and lemonade drink.  I have to say that there was nothing more relaxing than sitting on the balcony in the early morning light watching the waves roll in on the beach.

  

This is the adult pool at the Hilton where no screaming little shits could come and disrupt the calm and quiet of the area.  I spent a good portion of one mid-day camped out on a chase lounge, reading, napping and just hanging out.  The pool was very inviting, but I couldn't get in because of my incisions from my hip replacement surgeries.  I couldn't submerge my hips into either chlorine or salt water for up to four months after my last surgery.  And that's too bad because they also had two large hot tubs that would have felt great on my legs after some of the long walks we hand on the beach.

Speaking of the beach, here is a shot of low tide on Hilton Head beach around 6:30 in the morning.  We would get up early each day we were there and go out and walk up and down the beach.  Eventually, we were joined by scores of other people who were enjoying the early morning breeze coming off the ocean.  Dog owners could run their dogs on the beach without a leash up to 10 a.m. each day.   We just loved the roar of the ocean and the tranquility of the surroundings.  God, I love being at sea level.  

 

Fishing and shrimping is big on Hilton Head Island with a number of fisheries headquartered mainly on the west side of the island.  A few of these fisheries feature restaurants that serve a lot of fresh seafood caught earlier in the day.  Here is a small fleet of shrimping boats docked at a marina next to a restaurant Cindy and I ate at one evening, Hudson's on the Docks.  This may have been the most pleasantly surprising meal we had while on vacation.   You'll read about Hudson's in my next post. 

If there is one area that is considered a "central" or "downtown" area is the Sea Pines Resort, although a lot of the locals still refer to its long-time name, Sea Pines Plantation, or simply, "The Plantation."  The resort boasts a world-class championship golf-course (Harbour Town Golf Links), stadium tennis courts, shopping, restaurants, private homes and condos, and the famous Hilton Head Lighthouse.  For non-residents and non-guests of the resort, it cost five bucks to drive onto the property.  We went out at dusk to watch the sunset and to check out the lighthouse.  Parking was a pain in the ass at the small public lot near the lighthouse.  I thought about parking at the Sea Pines Resort hotel, but I saw people getting towed from that lot if they didn't have a tag on their car for the resort.  

I let Cindy out so she could walk out onto the pier to take some pictures.  There were dolphins swimming along in the bay, their dorsal fins popping up out of the water from time to time.  A number of people were hanging out on the pier enjoying the evening and the sights.

I talked Cindy into walking up to the top of the lighthouse.  She's scared of heights, but the stairs were inside the lighthouse structure.   It cost $3.00 a person to go up.  They got you coming and going if you want to see the lighthouse.  We got to the top and walked around the outside taking some pictures.  This is a shot of the marina at Sea Pines, as well as some of the shops and restaurants on the left, with some condos on the right.  There was an outdoor music show going on that evening featuring a troubadour entertaining younger kids.  I have to say there may have been a crowd of 600 or so along the marina listening to the music.

I was talking to a guy on top of the lighthouse who hadn't been to Hilton Head in over 10 years .  He said, "They've really changed this out here.  There was nothing out here 12 to 15 years ago, just the lighthouse.  Now they've got this resort and restaurants and stuff.  They ruined the scenery out here."  

All in all, Hilton Head was a great place to chill out and de-compress.  The time we spent there was too short.  I found that I could be a good beach bum when I was on Hilton Head.  It was probably a little too expensive and a little too "high-brow" for my taste, but it was very nice, to say the least.  I'm sure that if we go back to Savannah, we'll book more time for a few days at Hilton Head.