Let me explain
No, there is too much.
Let me sum up.
One of the better throwaway lines from an often overlooked film that is filled with absolutely wonderful throwaway lines. It also perfectly sets up this last little bit of chapter three.
I could just have ended it there (and should have I know), but since Im wasting everyones time by writing this TR in the first place, I see no reason why I should refrain from wasting a bit more of it. Realistically, once we left Fort Moultrie, the sightseeing part of the trip was pretty much over, but we wouldnt actually get back home for another day so there is more to tell.
Youre just not obligated to read about it.
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The Outpost
Being Disney fans Im pretty sure were all familiar with the Outpost in the World Showcase. Theres a fairly long walk between China and Germany and since the original plans for building a more purposeful
Equatorial Africa pavilion got scuttled (and then buried completely with the opening of AK), it made sense to open this little way-station along the route. Theres actually more here then meets the eye and if you take time to rummage around youll likely run across something interesting, something tasty, something unexpected, a potential for musical entertainment and in general considerably more then one would have expected from such an outwardly simply looking offering.
So now why am I bringing that up here?
Because we inadvertently found a similar outpost in the midst of that great big empty which takes up the space between Charleston and our digs back up in Garden City. I feel almost a little odd discussing this because it aint often that any traveler will recommend to his cohorts that they ought to take time out of their busy schedule to visit what looks at first glance to be no more then a gas station
But (and you can call me wacko if you want
Ive been called worse) thats what Im about to do.
Along US-17 just at the southern boundary of the Francis Marion National Forest, theres a geographic area known to the USPS as: Awendaw. In this same spot one will also encounter the
Sewee Outpost.
Like I said, at first glance it looks to be no more then a gas-station/convenience store, and thats precisely all we took it for at the time. But then we went inside to grab a snack for the drive. On the inside its more of a cross between a country store and a Bass Pro Shop (with an unusually well stocked toy and gag section to boot). Being right on the edge of both the
Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge and
Bulls Island, you can see why the sporting goods and clothing sections might be so well stocked. These folks also maintain a long term boat storage facility on site for the same reasons (something else you dont expect to find at your run of the mill gas station).
If that aint enough to catch you off guard, the deli in here is topnotch. Biscuits are baked on site daily and the hot ham variants are considered prized breakfast fair by the locals. In the afternoons they then put out various house baked hot casseroles (absolutely not normal gas-station fare to be sure). And if that werent enough, there are fairly regular gatherings of some of the Charleston areas better
Food Trucks that take place here as well.
Still not impressed? How about some live music.
This is also the home of the
Awendaw Green. A little amphitheater built on site that hosts weekly Barn Jams featuring local and traveling music acts. For a $5 donation on any given Wednesday (with part of the proceeds going to charity) you can take in some very high quality entertainment. Theres even an annual Bluegrass festival held each April.
Ok, now for the curve ball
These folks also maintain a Disk Golf course.
I dont know why a gas station would chose to do such
But they do; a full 18 hole course.
Like the music offerings, a 5$ donation will allow you to entertainer yourself with this considerably less expensive variation on the familiar game of the wealthy. They even sell disks and related supplies on site if you dont happen to have your own set on you at the time.
Like I said upfront, theres more to this outpost then anyone would ever expect. And if nothing else, you can always just top off the tank and simply jump back on the road to wherever it was you were going in the first place.
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Never go against a Sicilian
I said early on in this chapter that we indulged in two very fine meals along the way. The 521 Barbeque meet half of that requirement during the trip down. The second instance was on Saturday when we got back to Garden City; courtesy of
Salvatores Fine Sicilian Ristorante.
Dont bother lookin that one up. It aint in the book nor floating around on that there internets thing we hear so much about. Nope, to get some of that fine dining, you had to be there. Sals Grandmother immigrated to the US around the middle of the last century. As part of her mission in life, the ol gal not only made sure all her kids could cook properly, she did the same for the grandkids. As part of his contribution to the trip Sal brought along a cooler with some truly fine slow-cooked marinara and a bowl full of what could only be described as epic meatballs. We had to settle for store-bought dry pasta and paper plates, but still, that may well be some of the best Italian cuisine Ive ever had. Didnt think to take pictures (as we were too busy inhaling the meal in the first place), so youll have to trust me on that one.
After dinner, we decided to walk the couple of blocks from the condo down to the pier
Heres a more general view of the place form the inter-webs
The Garden City Pier is a decent fishing spot as far as the resort shore goes and also boasts a well stocked tackle shop and even gear rentals. The other resort-ish offering here is an arcade with all the usual token consuming gaming suspects. That last fact also makes the front of the place a rather noisy and a might, shall we say, youthful (and not in a good way). The business end of the place (the pier that is) is a very clean, fairly wide and stoutly built quarter-mile stroll out into the ocean. The original pier on this site was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1998, but the opportunity to rebuild allowed the owners to construct a much improved venue. It also offers two very entertaining things besides fishing
Bars.
Theres one at either end of it. And when we showed up there was live music at both of em. Free
live music. We spent a little time at the spot on the beach end of the structure until that band decided to take a break. Then we headed out to the deep end of the pier to take in the act that was playing out there. The cool breeze, good views of the water, lights of the cities to the northeast and the random civilian fireworks displays combined with the music to make for a soothing finish to the day. After the last tune, it was time to head back and call it a day.
One very fine day at that.
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Down to the last letter
Sunday morning saw us tossing all the gear back into the car and heading westward away form the coast. We did stop for breakfast though
This Omega is in Surfside Beach just up the road from where we were staying and right before you get back to Route-544. Ill recommend this pancake house over the one we hit the day before. Much less crowded and considerably better breakfast offerings (and free WiFi if you see that as a perk). Go figure. Ill be making the extra drive up here from now on when I happen to be down on the coast and just need to have someone else cook me some breakfast.
The rest of the drive home was rather uneventful. It was a Sunday morning in SC and there really wasnt much open. Sadly this also included the purveyors of barbeque so I couldnt stop and stock up on more of that either. Que Sera.
All in all this was a great guys outing. Good times, good food, bad jokes, far too many movie quotes, lots of things with the potential to go boom
What more could you want?
Wait
dont answer that. I can clearly see the gutter that some of yall would take this into if it were allowed it to continue.
So finally we have traversed from alpha to omega on this little trip and that (thankfully Im sure) brings this chapter to a close. I promise that the next chapter will actually include more conventional tourist destinations. That dont mean that there wont be encounters of the historical variety or worse: potential ship sightings
But with the rest of my family along for the ride and a bit of proper adult supervision this time around; the result should be at least a little bit more entertaining and easier read.
For some of you anyway
Next up: A Journey to the Tidewater
