charleston – My Lowcountry Living

Bottlenose Dolphin Strand Feeding in South Carolina

The amazing Bottlenose Dolphins of South Carolina have adopted a unique way of hunting Fish called strand feeding. Working in groups of between two and six dolphins to create a wave to force the fish out of the water. The dolphins follow the fish onto the shore, stranding themselves briefly, to eat up their prey. While initially documented in South Carolina and Georgia, strand feeding has also been observed in Louisiana, Texas, Baja California, Ecuador, and Australia. This video shows the dolphins of Seabrook Island, South Carolina strand feeding at Captain Sam’s Inlet in a rare close up sighting.

Bottleneck Dolphin Strand Feeding

For more information on strand feeding check out these resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottlenose_dolphin

https://www.townofseabrookisland.org/dolphin-education-program.html

Strand Feeding on Seabrook Island

The 7 best places to watch the sunrise or sunset in Charleston SC

Charleston South Carolina has been blessed with a plethora of natural beauties. Indeed, mother nature has been quite kind to the Charleston area. Two of the greatest re-occurring beauties are our amazing sunrises and sunsets. The glorious hues that paint the Charleston skyline contain some of the most amazing orange, pink, and purple highlights that you have ever seen. Here are seven of the best places I have found around Charleston to see a sunrise or a sunset.

Sunrise at Shem creek. Take a walk down the boardwalks of the Shem Creek park. There is an area where the boardwalk from the park meets the boardwalk next to the creek. If you stop right there and turn and face the sunrise you will catch the most beautiful sunrise coming up over the creek.

Sunset at Sullivan’s Island. To find the perfect spot to view the sunset come out to Sullivan’s Island and go to the Station 10 beach access. Once you enter the Station 10 area head down to the beach and turn up the beach towards the Ravenel Bridge. Walk down the beach until the sand ends and you are surrounded by marsh. The sunset views from this area are beautiful with amazing views of the Charleston peninsula skyline and the Ravenel Bridge.

Sunrise from the Ravenel Bridge. The Arthur Ravenel Bridge has become a staple for those who love taking a brisk walk over the Cooper river, it also is somewhere that you can see fabulous sunrises. Drive over to the Mount Pleasant side of the bridge and park your car in Waterfront Park. From there you can walk up or ride your bike using the pedestrian lanes of the bridge. The walk from one side of the bridge and back is 5 miles. Along the bridge there are two areas that jut out with sitting areas and offer great views of Charleston and Patriots Point. Either one of these areas is great to catch a view of the sunrise, just turn and face east.

Sunset from the Pitt Street Bridge. Take a stroll down the Pitt Street Bridge in the old village of Mount Pleasant. When the sun sets over downtown Charleston you are treated to a beautiful silhouette of the Charleston skyline.

Sunrise from Folly Beach. Come into the town of Folly Beach on Center Street and head down to the stoplight at Arctic Avenue. Turn left on Arctic Avenue and head down past the pier. The best areas of the beach with the least amount of people begin at the beach entrances starting on 6^th street. There are parking lots on the corner of Arctic and 6^th, Arctic and 9^th, and Arctic and 10^th street. Park at any of these lots or on a side street and head down one of these boardwalks to the beach to witness a beautiful sunrise, in which you can see the sun rise up from “out of the sea” in a brilliant ball of fire.

Sunset at Bohicket Marina on Seabrook Island. Enjoy a fabulous sunset as the sun goes down over Bohicket Marina. What better way to enjoy the sunset than by having dinner on the outdoor patio of the Salty Dog café while the sun goes down. On many nights you may even be treated to a visit by dolphins taking an evening swim around the marina.

Sunset from Bohicket Marina on Seabrook Island

Sunset from the Pelican’s Nest on Seabrook Island. A true treat is to have dinner at the outside restaurant on Seabrook Island called the Pelican’s Nest. The tables are nestled up against the edge of the water and offer fantastic views of beach, ocean and the sunset.

Sunset from the dining area of the Pelican’s Nest on Seabrook Island.

Bitty & Beau’s Coffee – When a cup of coffee is more than a cup of coffee.

This trip was more than a couple of cups of coffee. It was a re-affirmation that the world is still good and that we are all one world family who should support each other.

I recently was with my daughter and we were looking for a cup of coffee in the peninsula of Charleston and came across Bitty & Beau’s Coffee. I had heard about Bitty & Beau’s and their unique story and decided that I should give it a try.

Bitty & Beau’s originally opened in Wilmington, NC in 2016 and they opened up their Charleston shop in 2018. The owners of Bitty & Beau’s are Amy Wright and her husband. The Wright’s have four children, two of which have Down syndrome. The Wright’s were determined to create a better place for their children and others living in the world with disabilities. Knowing that over 80% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are unemployed nationwide, the Wright’s decided they wanted to create a business that shows value, inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and from that idea was born Bitty & Beau’s Coffee.

Four years later and Bitty & Beau’s now has four coffee shops in Wilmington NC, Charleston SC, Savannah GA and Annapolis MD. They currently employ 80 people with disabilities and have been featured on The Today Show, Rachael Ray, CNN, Harry, Good Morning America, Dr. Oz, HLN, People Magazine and Southern Living Magazine. In 2017 founder Amy Wrights was named a CNN Hero of the Year.

My trip to Bitty & Beau’s didn’t disappoint at all. The shop rivals any Starbucks and the staff was friendly and full of a contagious spirit of joy. There was a line to order and many patrons were taking selfies next to Bitty & Beau’s signs and checking out the various shirts, mugs, and other items for sale that go to support the cause of Bitty & Beau’s. Our order was prepared quickly and handed to us with a smile. This trip was more than a couple of cups of coffee. It was a re-affirmation that the world is still good and that we are all one world family who should support each other. Thank you Bitty & Beau’s for reminding me about this, and making my day brighter. I have found my new favorite coffee shop in Charleston.

Bitty & Beau’s is located at 159 Church Street, Charleston SC 28403.

You can get more information about Bitty & Beau’s from their website: https://www.bittyandbeauscoffee.com/

Dining review – The Salty Dog Cafe

Our main courses did not disappoint either. The highlights of our meal were the shrimp and grits, seafood pot pie, and the fresh catch of the day, which happened to be a marvelous swordfish.

This last Sunday was Mother’s Day, and both my wife and my elderly mom wanted out of the house after nearly two months of social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The governor of South Carolina just eased social distancing restrictions last week, and this weekend was the first weekend that restaurants were allowed to be open, but only for outside and patio dining. We decided that we wanted a water view if we were going to be dining outside and chose the Salty Dog Café on Seabrook Island.

Of course, there was a wait when we arrived at 6:00 PM because every restaurant in Charleston that could have outdoor dining was packed for Mother’s Day. Still, we didn’t mind the wait as it gave us an excellent opportunity to walk around the picturesque Bohicket Marina.

Once we were seated, we were immediately greeted by our server. The server recommended several appetizers, which we were happy to order. The two appetizers that we ordered were the hush puppies and pimento cheese dip. Both were excellent. The hush puppies were paired with sweet butter that complemented the hush puppies that were crispy on the outside and soft and tasty on the inside. The pimento cheese dip came with carrot sticks, homemade pita chips, and homemade thick-cut kettle potato chips. The pimento dip was savory with a robust mix of spices, but to be honest, I think that those kettle chips stole the show. This appetizer is worth ordering just to try the kettle chips.

Our main courses did not disappoint either. The highlights of our meal were the shrimp and grits, seafood pot pie, and the fresh catch of the day, which happened to be a marvelous swordfish. The shrimp and grits were served with creamy andouille sausage and bacon gravy. The gravy was a perfect complement to the stone-ground grits and sautéed shrimp. The seafood potpie contained shrimp, scallops, and fresh fish wrapped in a light but tasty puff pastry. Lastly, the swordfish was quite amazing. It was light and delicious. For those people, like my wife, that like fish that don’t have that overly “fishy” taste, this is for you. My wife, who is not a fan of fish, tasted it and said it was the best fish she had ever tasted. On this particular night, we were too full to look at the dessert menu but were pleasantly surprised when our server told us that the two moms’ in our group would receive a complimentary slice of red velvet cake for dessert. The red velvet cake was moist and delicious and well received by both my wife and my mother.

As great as our food and service was, the highlight of the dining experience was watching the sunset go down over the marina and the surprise visit that the diners had from a group of local dolphins who decided to show up at the dock just about 100 yards from our table. We give this restaurant a thumbs up, and we will be returning to the Salty Dog Café in the near future.

Hello

Hello to all you blog readers out there, welcome to My Lowcountry Living! My name is Tommy Ray, that’s my first name. Yes, it is a double first name, just like Billy Ray Cyrus. I am from Colorado, but live in Charleston now. Despite being from Colorado my double first name fits in just fine in South Carolina. I started mylowcountryliving.net to share my life living in the lowcountry of South Carolina. I love to cook and garden and through this blog I intend to share my favorite recipes with you and try new recipes together. I will share my experiences gardening and growing my own fruits and vegetables. I have been a type 2 diabetic for about 4 years and I am on a journey to lose weight, lower my A1C and live a healthy lifestyle. That journey to a healthy lifestyle will have its ups and downs and I will share that with my readers and together we can grow from it.