Day 6. Today we traveled twenty miles or so north to the little community of Southport. This is definitely a spot worth visiting and spending some time. Less commercial than Little River, North Myrtle Beach, or Myrtle Beach, there are lots of things to do and places to eat. Our hosts for the day were our friend Ernie, and a new friend, Connie, took us to a restaurant called Fishy Fish on the ICW.
From a food standpoint Fishy Fish was a treat. The place was big on atmosphere, the patrons friendly and the food very good. Between us we had a crab sandwich, fish taco's, calamari, and shrimp with the fixings and all were pleased with their choices. Although busy on Saturday noon, the service was prompt and friendly. Check out the tequila diet mentioned on the sign above.
From Fishy Fish we traveled a little way south, to Silver Coast Winery for a wine tasting. Befitting a Saturday the place was busy, but the staff friendly and helpful. The wines were quite good by our tastes and properly priced. We were more fond of the whites (Chardonnay blends) than the Merlot or Cabernet. I don't know quite what to say about the place. Wine grapes don't grow particularly well in this region and all of the grapes are trucked in. In some ways this made Silver Coast feel like a mock winery (the vines in front are for show only), but I respect the brewer's art enough to know that regardless of the origin of the grapes these people know wine.
We decided to wear off our wine at nearby Oak Island with a walk along the beach. The wind had thrown up row after row of waves against the powdery sand beach. The rip currents were obvious so no one was swimming, but the beach walk was great. Gloria caught this picture of Ernie and I under a fishing peer a half mile or so down the beach which was nearly deserted. What a beautiful spot.
The leisurely beach walk whetted our appetites enough to warrant a stop at Java City back in Southport. The coffee was excellent, but pricey. We hung around until the place closed at 7:00 pm. Surprised that it was time to eat again (but pleased ) we settled on The Dead End Saloon and Fish Factory Grill as our supper stop.
This restaurant is not a sinister as its name which comes from the location of the place at the end of a street just before the water's edge. Once again the food was excellent, especially the crab soup which was one of the best and most filling dishes we have consummed on this trip. In fact, the crab here was as good as any we have eaten so far. We watched the sun go down over the ICW from our table side window and said goodby to another very pleasant day on the road.
We thoroughly enjoyed meeting our new friend Connie and exploring the wonderful little community of Southport, NC and would definitely return here for a stroll down its Main Street which promised more adventures than we could take in on one day.
Maybe we'll see you along the way.
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