A Day in Southport
A couple of weeks ago, we decided to run up to Southport for the day.
I was astonished to realize that I only lived 1 HOUR AWAY from the most beautiful place on EARTH! (*Can you tell I liked it?)
I’m not gonna lie. I might have gotten the Safe Haven movie as a present for Mother’s Day and I may just have a thing for Nicholas Sparks books.
That may or may not have been my motivation for going to Southport, but man am I glad that I went and man am I glad that it is so close!
Did I mention how beautiful it is there??? It has to be one of the most beautiful Southern Coastal Towns.
I just have to tell you this first. When I first moved to the Myrtle Beach area, I thought (in my romantic movie little head) that I was going to find this perfect little Coastal home with a slight Historical architectural feel to it. Then I moved to Myrtle Beach and quickly realized that dream WASN’T going to happen. Don’t get me wrong, I really love it here. However, I am a lover of homes.
I spend most of my time in my home.
I work out of my home.
I do pretty much everything in my home.
I could find that kind of home if I went more inland, but then it wouldn’t really be considered coastal and well, this isn’t a perfect world and we need to be closer to the beach for my hubby’s work.
So, back to Southport.
I WILL be retiring here one day. I’m just going to go ahead and put it out there. I am even going to start a penny jar now to start saving. Though, I have a strong feeling that penny jar will have to be more like a dollar saving jar.
We used to vacation on Ocracoke Island when I was growing up. In case you aren’t familiar with it, it is a small island off The Outer Banks. I love that place. Most of the island has newer homes, but there is still a small area where you see some homes like these.
Rooted in their history, just unwilling to give way to the newer, prettier ones. However, in my opinion, these are still the Belles of the Ball.
With their faces cloaked in a shade of Majestic Live Oaks draped with Spanish Moss, their beauty is like no other.
While most of them date back to the early 1900’s….. a few go back as far as the late 1800’s. I can’t help but wonder what a day in the life of a young girl would be back then who may have lived there?
There are so many little shops there, but I will have to be patient because when you decide to take your 3 babies with you when you go, the only thing they are interested in is the Toy Shop on the Corner and maybe the Candy Store in the back of the Christmas Shoppe. 🙂
That’s ok. I don’t mind it.
We were able to get plenty of walking in. The waterfront is right on the Cape Fear River, so we saw plenty of boats going by. I can’t wait to take our boat down there soon! You can pull right up to a lot of the restaurants on the water, so here is to hoping that we don’t take the dock out with us when we arrive! * We are “Rookie Boaters”, but learning fast. 😉
The kids are always competing with each other. I can’t imagine where they get that from???????
This one can be a little mischievous, so when I saw him holding his hands up, I had to make sure he wasn’t doing anything crazy…….
Thankfully, he was only trying to fly.
Did I mention the paparazzi around here is AWFUL??? 😉 Man! I heart that little boy!
I spoke with one of the locals at the Restaurant we ate at and she said that The Safe Haven movie filmed the Restaurant scenes here. However, it is really only a bar and not a full Restaurant like they portray it in the movie.
I figure when I become a millionaire or gazillionaire, I will just go and buy one of each of these houses. That’s doable, right?
I can even buy this one and put Z there when he misbehaves. Now that my friends, SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN! 😉
I find it only fitting since at one time this was the County Jail.
I’m just sayin…….
This weekend, if you really don’t have any plans, why not take a day and explore the area around you? You might just be pleasantly surprised by what you may find….
XOXO,
Esther
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Father’s Day and a Fish Fry
When I think of my Dad, the first thing that comes to mind is his hands. They are true
Southern, Hard Working, Big, Farmer type hands. I always felt like my Dad was the strongest man in the world. I guess it’s kind of perfect that I went and saw “The Man of Steel” today, because that is exactly how I feel about my Dad.
SO! Since it is Father’s Day, I found it only fitting to go back and share another thing that comes to mind when I think of my Dad. His Fried Fish!
My Daddy can Fry a Fish like nobody’s business.
So, here is an old post I did when Mom and Dad visited last year.
Say “Hi!”, dad.
Enjoy!
Well, my Mom and Dad visited this weekend and I was sooooo happy to see them. They only live 3 hours away, but 3 hours is still 3 hours no matter how you look at it and I was tickled to be able to see them.
The last time they came down, we had a fish fry and it was absolutely amazing! My daddy sure can fry some fish.
SO! We decided to make that a tradition from now on when they come down. Mom made her corn cake fritters to go along with it and it was perfect.
Here is what we did!
First, dad took the catfish and rinsed them really well.
Then he coated them in seafood breader. *Mom wanted me to make a point to say that they usually ONLY use “Atkinson” brand. However, all we could find down here was Moss’ brand and her picky little heart just had to settle. FYI: It was still REALLY good!
Coat them really well.
THIS well!
This picture makes me want to sing, “Daddy’s Haaaaaaaaaands, were soft and kind when I was cryin. Daddy’s Haaaaaaands…..” (Sorry, just thought I would share and break out a little Holly Dunn)
On to the frying! Dad likes to use peanut oil to fry in. It has a higher smoking point, so it has a less tendency to burn the fish if cooking for long periods of time and gives it great flavor. I know that a lot of people have allergies these days to peanut oil, so substitute vegetable oil if this is the case.
You can fry between four and five pieces at a time depending on the size of your frying pan. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan. If you do, it will bring your temperature down and the fish may not cook correctly.
Fry smaller pieces of fish between 2-3 minutes. Fry larger pieces of fish between 3-4 minutes PER SIDE.
When fish are finished cooking, it is a great idea to drain them on a wired cooling rack so that the grease can drain and the fish stay crispy.
This is what they will look like! Yummy, right? RIGHT???
Dad’s 6 pounds of fish!
Recipe: Dad’s Fish Fry
Ingredients:
– 3-4 lbs. of white fish cut into pieces (we used catfish)
– 1 cup seafood breader to coat
– salt/pepper
– peanut oil or vegetable oil for frying
Directions:
Clean fish by rinsing with water. Do not dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Coat with seafood breader. (Breader will adhere to fish because of being wet from rinsing with water).
Meanwhile, fill pan with oil until about 2 inches deep. Heat oil over medium high heat to around 350 degrees.
*Always drop fish in and away from you. This way, if any hot grease splatters up, it will most likely do so away from you.
Fry small pieces of fish 2-3 minutes total. Fry larger pieces of fish 3-4 minutes PER SIDE.
Drain fish on a wire cooling rack to get a crispier crust.
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Strawberry Muffins
I have been on a Strawberry Kick as of lately. It must be the time of the year.
Strawberries are everywhere and ripe for the picking!
“There’s umm Strawberries and Cream, Strawberry Shortcake, Strawberry Tartlets, Strawberry Pancakes, Strawberry Cake, Strawberry Ice Cream,
Strawberry Creole…………………..”
SAY WHAT??????? Sorry, had to throw in a little Forrest Gump there.
My latest is Strawberry MUFFINS! SO GOOD!
These little things are ridiculous. It’s best not to be alone when you bake these because others may never get one! They are that good!
The best part or possibly the worst part is that they are very quick to make! This may or may not cause you to bake them all the time, not being the best thing for your waistline! LOL!
They have a pecan streusel topping that is AMAZING!
I always add more strawberries than the recipe calls for. Because of this, I bake them a little longer to make sure the filling is done.
Definitely give these a try and if you manage not to eat them all yourself, try giving one to your child’s teacher or better yet, YOUR BOSS! You might just get that raise you have been wanting.
However, if your boss is allergic to nuts, might want to skip that one……………. OR not……………….. YOUR CHOICE! I DON’T JUDGE!
XOXO,
Esther
Recipe: Strawberry Muffins
– 3/4 cup Skim Milk
– 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
– 1 Egg
– 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
– 1 1/4 cup Chopped Stawberries
– 1/3 cup Sugar
– 1 tbsp. Baking Powder
– 1/4 tsp. Salt
Direction:
– Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 regular size muffin cups or line with paper baking cups.
– Mix milk, oil and egg in large bowl until well blended. Stir in remaining ingredients except Pecan Streusel Topping , just until moistened.
– Make Pecan Streusel Topping , Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling two- thirds full. Sprinkle batter with Pecan Streusel Topping on top.
– Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Pecan Streusel Topping:
– 1/2 cup chopped Pecans
– 1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
– 1/4 cup All- Purpose Flour
– 2 tbsp. Melted Butter
Mix all ingredients in large bowl until well blended.
Pecan Streusel Topping (recipe below)
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Guess what happened on Mother’s Day?
Aint no party, like a Wall Family Party , ’til a crazy lady comes out to play!
That’s right!
How was your Mother’s Day? Did you have your family over?
Did you go to your own Mother’s house and spend time with her and tell her how much you loved her?
Did you travel out of town to do that? You did?
Me too!
I love my Mommy very much! So much that I travelled 3 hours to get to her to my hometown of Raleigh.
Did I mention how much I love Myrtle Beach now? Not to say I dislike Raleigh……… that much. LOL!
You see, it’s just because I was reminded of how CRAZY Raleigh can be when I visited.
Now I know every city and town has their own kind of Crazies running around. I know this.
However, I didn’t even have to leave my parent’s doorstep to see the next Showtime for the Crazies in Raleigh.
Would you like to hear the story? You would! Ok, let me clear my throat.
In fact, I’m not going to just tell you the story…… No way! Instead, I think I will tell a poem.
Here it goes.
To Mom on Mother’s Day:
Mom, we love you so much, this you can plainly see,
We fixed you ribs, yummy desserts, and even homemade sweet tea.
We all gathered in your honor to rejoice and give thanks,
‘Til a crazy lady showed up next door to bust in and break thangs!
Her eyes were red with rage, she was barefoot and all sweaty,
But we didn’t pay much attention to her until she pulled out her BIG FAT MACHETE!
So daddy got “ole trusty” and even though it was dusty, starting waving it around in the air,
Things started to shatter and we were all lookin at her when she decided to come out of there.
Daddy yelled “Call the Cops!” cause I’m gonna shoot me somebody if that crazy lady comes over here!
She took off in her little red coupe and high taled it out of there, I’m guessing purely just out of fear.
So the cops showed up, about seven or so,
They asked us what she looked like and asked “which way did she go?”
Then they called CCBI up in there and hung around a little bit longer,
See, there was a real bad smell coming from in there and it was getting a whole lot stronger!
Not sure what they saw in there or if they ever found that lady,
I’m not one to talk, but if you ask me, it all looks shady!
Whether she left because she was done or because my daddy was waiving his gun, I guess we won’t ever be quite sure,
I guess the bottom line to the story is even though my parent’s street is crazy, one thing it will never be is a bore.
Happy Belated Mother’s Day!
XOXO,
Esther
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