Old Sheldon Church

Sheldon Church has lain in ruin for more than 120 years. Its gable roof, pediment, windows, and interior have disappeared, but the classic simplicity of its design still remains. One of the first Greek-Revival structures built in the United States, Prince William's Parish Church, erected 1745-55, was once one of the most impressive churches in the Province. During the Revolution, the Patriots are believed to have stored gun powder in it. In 1779, when the British General Augustine Prevost invaded the Lowcountry, the church was burned by a detachment which according to tradition, was commanded by the flamboyant local Tory, Andrew Deveaux. Rebuilt in 1826, the church was again burned by Sherman's men in 1865. The ruins are nevertheless a picturesque site from which the visitor can visualize the grandeur of the pre-Revolutionary church. (source: discoversouthcarolina.com)

This is a very popular location for weekend weddings. We pass this incredible place each trip back and forth to Atlanta. If you find yourself traveling down US 17 & US 21 it is worth the stop.

Passion for Reading Cookbooks?

For those of you out there who like to read cookbooks, boy do I have a great one for you to read. While at the Bay Street Bookstore in Beaufort over the weekend, I found the Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook. It is 553 pages of everything Southern. Cookbook authors Matt and Ted Lee relate in the cookbook their experiences growing up in Charleston and their search for the best local recipes. It includes everything you ever ate or will soon find yourself wanting to try of Southern cuisine.If you don't have this one on your shelf, you should get it. While I paid full price for an autographed copy you can get yours at Amazon.com. You will really enjoy reading the stories behind these time tested recipes. It will make a great Christmas gift for the cookbook collector in your life!

Low Country Beach, Boogie, Blues and Jazz

Everyone with a computer and access can now enjoy the premiere low country beach, boogie, blues, and jazz station. John FM. Many people listen to this station everyday while they are here on vacation. Now you can access this unique style of music regardless of where you are. Enjoy!

http://www.johnfm.net/

Monkey Island - Fact or Urban Myth?

Yes there are monkeys in the low country! On Morgan's Island, SC, the corporation known as Alpha Genesis raises monkeys for research. These monkeys have the run of the island. While you can see them from your boat, you cannot gain access to the island. There are no trespassing signs and signs asking you not to feed the monkeys. You never know what you will find in the low country!

Envirolink.org
http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/Week-of-Mon-20040216/019564.html

Alpha Genesis
http://www.alphagenesisinc.com/?gclid=CP39h-Sx8JUCFQOWHgod5AWifw

Hey Papa What's for Supper?

Because K and I cook at home a lot, people are constantly asking us,

What did you cook for supper?

Well I thought I would occasionally post meals that we prepare at home.

So for those of you who are interested here is our menu for tonight.

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Friday, September 19, 2008

Fish Packets

(cooked in aluminum foil packets in the oven)

with asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash, onion and tilapia

Brown Rice

Pinto Beans

(slow cooked in a crock pot with bacon and onions)

Corn Bread

"My Daddy's Pound Cake"

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Until next post, good eat'n y'all!

More Beautiful Sunsets!

From the Ocean Creek Golf Course

Sunset from the Wardle's Landing Crab Pier

The Rookery

Shedding of the velvet

This time of year on Fripp the buck deer shed the velvet covering on their antlers which signals the beginning of mating season.

One Beautiful Arachnoid!

This arachnoid lives just outside our screen porch. This one's for you Ab!

Lyd's B-Day Rapidly Approaching!

Our granddaughter Lyd will celebrate her first birthday on September 25th and K is desperately trying to finish her crocheted blanket!

Another Beautiful Veranda Beach Sunset!

All is quiet on Fripp Island

The tourist season is over and all is quiet on the southern end of the island. All summer long we share our "little piece of heaven" with the rest of the world. After Labor Day an initial unsettling quiet returns to Fripp Island. It takes us all a little while to get used not to seeing happy families on golf carts heading to the beach loaded down with all their beach paraphernalia looking like the Beverly Hillbillies. It is amazing how much and how many people folks try to fit on one golf cart! Every season more people are injured on the island from golf cart accidents than any other accident.

October can be one of the most beautiful months on Fripp Island. The daytime temperatures moderate and the evenings cool to sweater weather. On weekends island residents gather on the beach to catch up after a busy summer of travel and visiting family and friends. Ab's parents Deb and Dur are coming to visit Fripp for the first time in early October. K and I are excited to have them visit and to share Fripp, low country history, beauty, and cuisine!

Last weekend we were all braced for Hurricane Hannah which miraculously veered to the right ever so slightly sparing us a direct hit. The island received heavy but much needed rain. K and I went back to Atlanta to escape the storm only to come back on Friday when it was obvious Fripp was going to be spared. Just across the bridge on Hunting Island two ocean front cottages were damaged to the point that they had to be torn down. One of the cabin access roads was swept away as well.

K and I went to the Dawtaw Island Club for their first Sunday brunch with our friends Rick and Irene. It was nice to have someone else cook for us! After brunch and returning to Fripp we agreed to meet on the beach. We finally got there around 3pm and enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon and stayed until around 7pm. We hadn't stayed out on the beach that late in a long time. There was a steady northerly breeze that none of us wanted to give up to go home and face a rapidly approaching Monday.

Feels Like Fall

K and I are waiting out Hannah in our Atlanta home this week. This morning the weather in beautiful downtown Norcross is incredible. The current temperature at 9 am is 66 degrees. Sixty-six! I took the opportunity to enjoy my first cup of coffee in my rocking chair on the front porch. I hope the day where you are is equally as pleasant!

M&A, I hope you guys can get outside this afternoon with Lyd. It is going to be a beautiful day.

Look Out NC!

It looks like South Carolina will be spared a direct hit from Hannah. This hurricane is following a typical pattern. It makes landfall around Wilmington, NC and bears down on the outer banks of North Carolina. Coastal Carolina residents are saying many prayers of thanks this morning.

Sweet Tea Never Tasted So Good!

Something amazing has happened to that most legendary of southern drinks. That nectar of angels, the brew of slow southern afternoons. Yes, I am talking about Sweet Tea. On Wadmalaw Island which is located north of Beaufort and south of Charleston a group of good old folk have infused vodka with American grown tea and sweetened it to levels only found in the south! It is the hottest thing since "moonshine"! It is currently only available GA, FL, SC, NC, VA, NV, KY and NY. Here is the link to their website.

http://fireflyvodka.com/home.cfm

My drink consists of Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka over crushed ice topped with Simply Lemonade. Amazing! It make those hot summer days a heck of a lot more tolerable. Shucks, maybe even pleasant! If you can find it you've got to try it! If you find yourself in Beaufort on your way to Fripp, you have to stop at Bill's and pick up a few bottles.

Latest Hannah Track!

WOW! It looks like we are going to dodge the bullet or the hurricane! It looks like it is going to make landfall somewhere between Charleston, SC and Wilmington, NC which would be around Myrtle Beach. Amazing! Fripp hasn't sustained a direct hit by a hurricane since 1893.

Hurricane Hannah!

We left Fripp today to return to Atlanta in anticipation of a possible mandatory evacuation on Thursday. The latest storm track now shows that the storm will pass to the right of Beaufort Co and Fripp Island around midday Friday. The problem with the timing is that it will be during high tide. We decided to move our golf cart further inland to John and Teresa's house as our house is so close to the shore. We hope to return on Sunday to clean up any damage. Since the storm is still in the Bahamas the track could still change direction. We hope it continues to move further to the east.

Here comes Hannah!

Tropical storm Hannah is expected to reach Savannah at 2pm on Friday. Fripp Island will be on the northheast side of the storm and will suffer from the from the largest storm surge. Winds are currently forecasted to be 75 mph when it makes landfall. We plan to stay until Wednesday to prepare the house. We expect that the house will be fine but the storm surge will be of major concern. More to come as we know more. For more information go to http://www.weather.com/.

Pray that the impact will be minimal....

Look LC! That's a Hawk!

While on our visit with our Virginia family, this beautiful hawk landed on the limb of this large tree in their front yard. After a rainy couple of days I guess this bird is hungry for anything that moves on the ground!

Our Beautiful Grandaughter!

LC & KK!

LC & Papa!

Virginia Visit!

Our beautiful Virginia family!

We recently visited our son, daughter-in-law and grandaughter in Virginia. We get to see them about every 6 weeks or so. We miss them terribly during those stretches between visits.

Rain is gone...Time to eat!

Now that the effects of tropical storm Fay have moved out of coastal South Carolina, the birds and animals have come out to eat. On our way back from lunch at Ocean Point Grill we saw this beautiful blue heron.

Stay Away Fay!

We arrived this afternoon on Fripp Island to heavy rain and windy conditions. The streets were water covered in many spots. The outer bands of tropical storm Fay are hitting the lower SC and GA coastlines. The storm made landfall for the third time south of Jacksonville, FL this evening and is expected to head west across FL through the panhandle towards Alabama. The good news is that south GA and the coastal regions will really catch up on their rainfall deficits.

Dinner with David and Elizabeth

Kaye and I prepared dinner for our friends David and Elizabeth tonight. David is wheelchair bound and is unable to visit us so occasionally we prepare dinner and take it to their house to catch up. Tonight we prepare pork tenderloin with grilled peaches and brown rice with a pecan praline mustard sauce. You cannot get much more southern than that! We also prepared green beans and read potatoes with country ham and onions. No meal is ever finished without Kaye's famous chocolate brownies for dessert. Mmmmm!

We had a good time catching up and talking about our grandchildren!

Jeff

Wednesday Night! Shrimp Night!

It is Wednesday and that means shrimp night at a local hangout called Boondocks. Here you can buy local shrimp for 35 cents each! Kaye likes them boiled with coleslaw and hushpuppies and I like mine fried with french fries and coleslaw. When we finished I asked Joe the owner how many shrimp they go through on an average Shrimp Night. He said that they go through about 4,000 shrimp. The locals and the tourists are doing their part to support local shrimpers!

The Gay Seafood Company

This family has been in the shrimping business for a long time and is a big source of local shrimp and fish to the residents and tourists who visit Fripp and Hunting Islands. This dock is also famous for the role it played in the movie Forest Gump. This dock served as the location for the scene where Captain Dan watches from the dock as Forest frantically waving then dives in to the water as the shrimp boat crashes.

Across the street is the "Shrimp Shack" run by the same family. This walkup is the birthplace of the shrimp burger. Many people travel far and wide to partake of this local original. The challenge is to show up on a day they are open. They are open most days except Monday in the summer. Local joke is that they are open about 15 days a year. Kaye and I have joked that they have surprassed the 15 days for 2008. In the late fall it gets pretty difficult to catch a day when they are open. Driving out to this part of the island isn't a disappointment even if you find the "Shrimp Shack" is closed.

Marsh View from our Crow's Nest

The Rain is Gone!

The rain is gone and the sun has returned! There have been flash flood and tornado warnings all day. This is the first time we have been able to see the ocean all day.

Fripp Island Rookery

On the southern end of the island there is a rookery where each evening hundreds of snow egrets roost for the night. It is a favorite place for visitors and residents alike to visit each evening as the intense heat of the day has subsided. We took this picture on Saturday evening after dinner while out on a golf cart ride around the island.

This past weekend was unbelievable on Fripp Island. We had the most incredible weather. Temperatures were in the upper 80's and low 90's with humidity in the 30% range! For those of us who live in the south, a day like that in August is a tremendous gift. At this time of year, the temperature and the humidity fight to get to 100%. We had a wonderful northerly breeze on Saturday and a southerly breeze on Sunday. On Monday the heat and the humidity returned. It is now raining and is expected to rain heavily tonight and tomorrow. Rain totals are expected to reach 3-4 inches!

Jeff

Welcome!

This site will be dedicated to sharing with everyone our musings about our activities, our friends, our growing family, cuisine, history and culture of the low country.

The picture here is of us with our son, daughter-in-law, and our new granddaughter.

This part of the south has wide white sand beaches and calm waters that even the smallest children can enjoy. Kaye and I would agree that our favorite part of the island are the marshes. They change colors with the seasons and are always beautiful.

As part of this launch, we have included on our site under "Low Country Links" our favorite local restaurants, art galleries, and places we think you would find interesting.

Welcome to Fripp!