Southwest Virginia Blogs

We were fortunate to be in area for the 2006 edition of the Swansboro flotilla and Christmas tree lighting.  The streets of Swansboro were decorated for the holidays.

There were luminaries all around Front Street and along the shores of the White Oak river.  The weather had a pleasant chill to it, and a wonder crowd had gathered on the shores of the river.

A carriage service was offering horse drawn rides around town.  All the stores were open, and Jana's was even open into the evening. 

It was very pleasant evening as we stood on the shore waiting for the first of the boats decorated with Christmas lights.   It took a while for  the flotilla to appear, but they were well worth the wait.  My vote would have gone to swimming sea turtle.   Unfortunately moving boats in the dark are too much of a challenge for my pocket size Nikon.

I guess the only way to really enjoy the flotilla is to be there.  I understand there will be another one in Morehead City and Beaufort next weekend.  I hope the weather is as good for their event as it was for Swansboro's.

It really was a magical evening.  We finished it off with a delicious seafood dinner at Captain Charlie's.

I can highly recommend the fried oysters.

We were fortunate to be in area for the 2006 edition of the Swansboro flotilla and Christmas tree lighting.  The streets of Swansboro were decorated for the holidays.

There were luminaries all around Front Street and along the shores of the White Oak river.  The weather had a pleasant chill to it, and a wonder crowd had gathered on the shores of the river.

A carriage service was offering horse drawn rides around town.  All the stores were open, and Jana's was even open into the evening. 

It was very pleasant evening as we stood on the shore waiting for the first of the boats decorated with Christmas lights.   It took a while for  the flotilla to appear, but they were well worth the wait.  My vote would have gone to swimming sea turtle.   Unfortunately moving boats in the dark are too much of a challenge for my pocket size Nikon.

I guess the only way to really enjoy the flotilla is to be there.  I understand there will be another one in Morehead City and Beaufort next weekend.  I hope the weather is as good for their event as it was for Swansboro's.

It really was a magical evening.  We finished it off with a delicious seafood dinner at Captain Charlie's.

I can highly recommend the fried oysters.

We were fortunate to be in area for the 2006 edition of the Swansboro flotilla and Christmas tree lighting.  The streets of Swansboro were decorated for the holidays.

There were luminaries all around Front Street and along the shores of the White Oak river.  The weather had a pleasant chill to it, and a wonder crowd had gathered on the shores of the river.

A carriage service was offering horse drawn rides around town.  All the stores were open, and Jana's was even open into the evening. 

It was very pleasant evening as we stood on the shore waiting for the first of the boats decorated with Christmas lights.   It took a while for  the flotilla to appear, but they were well worth the wait.  My vote would have gone to swimming sea turtle.   Unfortunately moving boats in the dark are too much of a challenge for my pocket size Nikon.

I guess the only way to really enjoy the flotilla is to be there.  I understand there will be another one in Morehead City and Beaufort next weekend.  I hope the weather is as good for their event as it was for Swansboro's.

It really was a magical evening.  We finished it off with a delicious seafood dinner at Captain Charlie's.

I can highly recommend the fried oysters.

We were fortunate to be in area for the 2006 edition of the Swansboro flotilla and Christmas tree lighting.  The streets of Swansboro were decorated for the holidays.

There were luminaries all around Front Street and along the shores of the White Oak river.  The weather had a pleasant chill to it, and a wonder crowd had gathered on the shores of the river.

A carriage service was offering horse drawn rides around town.  All the stores were open, and Jana's was even open into the evening. 

It was very pleasant evening as we stood on the shore waiting for the first of the boats decorated with Christmas lights.   It took a while for  the flotilla to appear, but they were well worth the wait.  My vote would have gone to swimming sea turtle.   Unfortunately moving boats in the dark are too much of a challenge for my pocket size Nikon.

I guess the only way to really enjoy the flotilla is to be there.  I understand there will be another one in Morehead City and Beaufort next weekend.  I hope the weather is as good for their event as it was for Swansboro's.

It really was a magical evening.  We finished it off with a delicious seafood dinner at Captain Charlie's.

I can highly recommend the fried oysters.

The sun came up, and the rains moved to our west.  The skies are now very blue, and everything is starting to drain.

My normal route to the morning paper was blocked by closed road.  I had to take back way out which required fording some significant standing water.  We actually had a rainbow this morning so that's a good sign.

Fortunately our kids arrived safely last night, and the water is not any higher on our dock than it usually is after a heavy storm

I hope the areas to the east of us faired as well as we did.  Here on the western edge of Carteret County on the shores of the White Oak, we seem to be in good shape except for some minor flooding.

I hope the next Nor'easter has weather as warm as this associated with it, but that I suspect is a pipe dream.  You don't get many Nor'easters when the temperature is sixty degrees Fahrenheit.

It is hard to believe that the weather can change so quickly, but it does.  It was just last week that I was wearing shorts when I was cutting some weeds.

Today as I reported over at my Coastal NC site, we have rain and high winds.  Thanksgiving is going to be pretty damp in Carteret County.

When the sun comes up tomorrow morning, I will try to get some pictures of the water.  Late this afternoon, I drove over the bridge to Emerald Isle and took this picture of a couple of human bits of flotsam in the surf.

I think they were trying to surf.  Based on the driving rain and wind, I think I could find a nicer spot to play.   It will be interesting to see  how high the water level rises in the White Oak River  by tomorrow.

I guess if you can love a place in this weather, then you must have picked the right spot.  It is good thing I don't mind getting wet.

Living a life without trust would be a huge challenge.  I don't think even the most wired and connected individual can survive without trusting a few real people. 

Still finding a real person to trust is a lot harder now that families are scattered around the world.  I've never thought of trust as a national trend, but Sebastian Mallaby's article, "The Decline Of Trust," in today's  Washington Post makes some interesting points about the decline of trust in today society, in both business and government.

And the absence of trust can feed on itself. Leaders function under stifling oversight; this causes them to perform sluggishly, so trust continues to stagnate. But occasionally there is a chance to escape this trap: A shock causes trust to rise, leaders have a chance to lead and there's an opportunity to boost trust still further.

We've recently had a double opportunity. The boom of the 1990s boosted trust in business; the 2001 terrorist attacks boosted trust in government. But CEOs and politicians abused these gifts with scandals and incompetence. Such is the cost of corporate malfeasance and the Iraq war: Precious social capital is destroyed by leaders' avarice and hubris.

I often found it strange that my former employer, Apple Computer, would bring in high level management people from outside the company and trust their opinion far more than employees who had been working for the company.    I don't know if the  steadily declining trust that Apple showed it employees is mirrored at other companies, but I am sure that the lack of trust hindered productivity in Apple field teams.

Mallaby also talks about the Internet encouraging "acerbic negativity."  On the one hand Mallaby might be right if you let yourself listen to only certain parts of the Internet.

However, I would make the argument that new communication techniques arising from the Internet actually encourage building new webs of trust.  While there are parts of the Internet, like anncoulter.com, that I'll likely avoid, there are lots of other communities where I can find kindred spirits.

As someone who doesn't like large government, but believes that if we are going to have government it should be good government, there aren't any political parties locally where I really feel at home.  Yet through contact established from my Internet presences, I've met a number of people with similar beliefs.

Most of us who regularly post have communities of readers who have self selected to the point that  our audience cares about many of the same things that we do.  I trust  the opinions of many of my regular blog friends more than I do any politician.  I value their opinions as highly as I do some well known pundits.

So while Sebastian Mallaby might be right to indict part of the modern world, there are many on line communities where modern technologies are driving new levels of trust and cooperation.  Besides blogs, you cannot  discount the social changes happening through instant messaging and on line communities.

Technology hasn't created a virtual southern village yet, but I have a confidence in new ways of communicating that will bring us closer together rather than drive us farther apart. 

I don't believe we'll end up a nation of people listening only to their individual iPods or screaming at the rest of the world from our blogs.

Living a life without trust would be a huge challenge.  I don't think even the most wired and connected individual can survive without trusting a few real people. 

Still finding a real person to trust is a lot harder now that families are scattered around the world.  I've never thought of trust as a national trend, but Sebastian Mallaby's article, "The Decline Of Trust," in today's  Washington Post makes some interesting points about the decline of trust in today society, in both business and government.

And the absence of trust can feed on itself. Leaders function under stifling oversight; this causes them to perform sluggishly, so trust continues to stagnate. But occasionally there is a chance to escape this trap: A shock causes trust to rise, leaders have a chance to lead and there's an opportunity to boost trust still further.

We've recently had a double opportunity. The boom of the 1990s boosted trust in business; the 2001 terrorist attacks boosted trust in government. But CEOs and politicians abused these gifts with scandals and incompetence. Such is the cost of corporate malfeasance and the Iraq war: Precious social capital is destroyed by leaders' avarice and hubris.

I often found it strange that my former employer, Apple Computer, would bring in high level management people from outside the company and trust their opinion far more than employees who had been working for the company.    I don't know if the  steadily declining trust that Apple showed it employees is mirrored at other companies, but I am sure that the lack of trust hindered productivity in Apple field teams.

Mallaby also talks about the Internet encouraging "acerbic negativity."  On the one hand Mallaby might be right if you let yourself listen to only certain parts of the Internet.

However, I would make the argument that new communication techniques arising from the Internet actually encourage building new webs of trust.  While there are parts of the Internet, like anncoulter.com, that I'll likely avoid, there are lots of other communities where I can find kindred spirits.

As someone who doesn't like large government, but believes that if we are going to have government it should be good government, there aren't any political parties locally where I really feel at home.  Yet through contact established from my Internet presences, I've met a number of people with similar beliefs.

Most of us who regularly post have communities of readers who have self selected to the point that  our audience cares about many of the same things that we do.  I trust  the opinions of many of my regular blog friends more than I do any politician.  I value their opinions as highly as I do some well known pundits.

So while Sebastian Mallaby might be right to indict part of the modern world, there are many on line communities where modern technologies are driving new levels of trust and cooperation.  Besides blogs, you cannot  discount the social changes happening through instant messaging and on line communities.

Technology hasn't created a virtual southern village yet, but I have a confidence in new ways of communicating that will bring us closer together rather than drive us farther apart. 

I don't believe we'll end up a nation of people listening only to their individual iPods or screaming at the rest of the world from our blogs.

Living a life without trust would be a huge challenge.  I don't think even the most wired and connected individual can survive without trusting a few real people. 

Still finding a real person to trust is a lot harder now that families are scattered around the world.  I've never thought of trust as a national trend, but Sebastian Mallaby's article, "The Decline Of Trust," in today's  Washington Post makes some interesting points about the decline of trust in today society, in both business and government.

And the absence of trust can feed on itself. Leaders function under stifling oversight; this causes them to perform sluggishly, so trust continues to stagnate. But occasionally there is a chance to escape this trap: A shock causes trust to rise, leaders have a chance to lead and there's an opportunity to boost trust still further.

We've recently had a double opportunity. The boom of the 1990s boosted trust in business; the 2001 terrorist attacks boosted trust in government. But CEOs and politicians abused these gifts with scandals and incompetence. Such is the cost of corporate malfeasance and the Iraq war: Precious social capital is destroyed by leaders' avarice and hubris.

I often found it strange that my former employer, Apple Computer, would bring in high level management people from outside the company and trust their opinion far more than employees who had been working for the company.    I don't know if the  steadily declining trust that Apple showed it employees is mirrored at other companies, but I am sure that the lack of trust hindered productivity in Apple field teams.

Mallaby also talks about the Internet encouraging "acerbic negativity."  On the one hand Mallaby might be right if you let yourself listen to only certain parts of the Internet.

However, I would make the argument that new communication techniques arising from the Internet actually encourage building new webs of trust.  While there are parts of the Internet, like anncoulter.com, that I'll likely avoid, there are lots of other communities where I can find kindred spirits.

As someone who doesn't like large government, but believes that if we are going to have government it should be good government, there aren't any political parties locally where I really feel at home.  Yet through contact established from my Internet presences, I've met a number of people with similar beliefs.

Most of us who regularly post have communities of readers who have self selected to the point that  our audience cares about many of the same things that we do.  I trust  the opinions of many of my regular blog friends more than I do any politician.  I value their opinions as highly as I do some well known pundits.

So while Sebastian Mallaby might be right to indict part of the modern world, there are many on line communities where modern technologies are driving new levels of trust and cooperation.  Besides blogs, you cannot  discount the social changes happening through instant messaging and on line communities.

Technology hasn't created a virtual southern village yet, but I have a confidence in new ways of communicating that will bring us closer together rather than drive us farther apart. 

I don't believe we'll end up a nation of people listening only to their individual iPods or screaming at the rest of the world from our blogs.

It's all in the neighborhood.  The shot to the right is of some early morning fishermen near the Highway 58 bridge close to Emerald Isle, NC.  They're in a pretty good neighborhood for finding fish.

I just seem to be in good neighborhoods for not having to mow my yard.  I've written about our crew of middle aged mowers on the hill before in "The First Mowing of the Year" and "The Last Mowing," but I haven't mentioned the good luck I've had recently in not having to mow our two yards.

In early September, with some partners we closed on a second home near Swansboro, NC.  That meant that I picked up a second yard which needed mowing not long after closing.  Since we didn't have a lawn mower in Swansboro yet, we arranged for a lawn service to mow the yard.  We were back in Roanoke when they were scheduled to do the first mowing. I was surprised to get a phone call from them.  They said something like, "Did you get someone else to mow your yard?" They had found the yard already mowed when they went out to mow it the first time.

I immediately called the real estate agent and asked if he knew who had mowed the yard.  He said they had been trying to figure out themselves how the yard got mowed.  We were down a couple of weeks later when I was sure that I would find the yard needing another mowing.  It looked like it had just been mowed.  It was then that I decided there must be a lawn fairy in the bushes.

The next morning I saw my new neighbor outside.  It didn't take him long to confess that he instead of a lawn fairy was mowing our yard.  Though he didn't say it, I think he was so glad to have the construction done next to him that mowing seemed like a small price to pay for having a neat yard next door.

You don't find many neighbors like our new neighbor.  He immediately offered to finish out the  mowing season for us since we didn't have a lawn mower at the house yet.  True to form he mowed it again before our next trip down.  Now the centipede lawns in our subdivision on the coast have gone dormant until next spring so I'm completely off the hook.

Of course the lawn in Roanoke is a different story.  I did contract to have it mowed a couple of times and managed to mow a couple of times between the rain storms the last time we were up on the mountain.  As I wrote in the "The mowing countdown," my Canadian psyche has a problem with December mowing which is often required in Roanoke.  Even in Roanoke things usually slow down in October and November, but this year the grass has grown like spring.  It's been a challenge for the middle aged mowers especially considering how much we've all been traveling.

This morning I got pictures in my email from my across the street neighbors of the new "Lawn Doctor" service that was mowing our  yard.  It wasn't exactly what you might think.  It was another neighbor mowing my yard.  Once again I'm off the hook for a while.

All I can say is that I really know how to pick neighbors.  I've lived in lots of spots, but none of them before Roanoke and Swansboro have ever had neighbors who would mow my yard.  As I've often said, neighbors make the neighborhood.

For over fifty years I've been walking the shores of the North Carolina coast.  The beaches like this recent shot of Emerald Isle are often at their nicest in the fall.  The water is still fairly warm, warm enough to go wading anyway, and the crowds are long gone.  My wife, Glenda, loves to look for shells. There are plenty of people who like to take home home shells to remember their great time at the beach.

My favorite way to memorialize a trip to the beach has always been taking home a cooler of fresh seafood.  For one magic summer while I was in college, I alternated camping on the beaches of Ocracoke Island with camping in the National Forests of western North Carolina.  Sometimes I would take the long way home from Ocracoke which as any well versed traveler of Route 12 knows is the Cedar Island Ferry.  I would stop in Morehead City for a meal at Captain Bill's and then fill a cooler full of fresh off of the boats shrimp and head home. I heard a rumor that Captain Bill's was up for sale, but there is no shortage of good places to grab some seafood before you fill your cooler.

Five to six hours after loading the cooler in the car,  I would be cleaning and boiling shrimp for a straight from the sea treat. I'm pretty convinced that most folks think shrimp come from the grocery store.  It has gotten more and more popular to buy your shrimp at the grocery store and have them steamed right there.  I'm no purist but I would rather have my shrimp cooked after they've been cleaned, and grocery stores don't do that.  You may not know the difference because you've never tasted shrimp that have been done right.  It's not that hard, but it does takes some time.

You do need one tool, a Shrimp Deveiner. They usually cost a dollar or two.  The next thing you need is fresh shrimp.  Ideally you try to get your shrimp as close to the boat as possible.  In most cases that means asking around locally to find out the best way to buy your shrimp.  Sometimes you can buy them right off the dock or from people who buy them right off the dock.  The shrimp should be firm and not mushy.

Often the shrimp you buy will have the heads still on the body.  Do yourself a favor and have the folks where you buy the shrimp take the heads off if at all possible.  It seems almost effortless for them, but for normal mortals it's a little more of a challenge.  Take a cooler and ice your shrimp down if possible.  Often the sea food shop will give you enough ice for a small cooler.  The biggest challenge with cleaning shrimp is that it is pretty boring.  We usually order three to four lbs of shrimp, weighed with the heads still on the shrimp.  That's about my limit.  After that I lose interest even if someone is feeding me freshly boiled shrimp.  By the time you take the heads and shells off, four pounds with the heads on are equal to approximately two pounds shelled and raw.

We've had good luck in the Swansboro, NC area buying our shrimp from one of the local institutions, Clyde Phillips Seafood, located between the bridges on Route 24.   Don't expect a lot of conversation, but you can count on fresh seafood and a magic touch for removing shrimp heads.

Learning to use the shrimp deveiner just takes a few shrimp and they don't seem to mind.  I also take out a second smaller bottom vein.  Once you have that mastered, my suggestion is to clean about one half your shrimp and then bring to boil about two to two and one half inches of water in an uncovered twelve inch deep (three quart) skillet.  If you have cleaned your shrimp the way I suggested, they cook without any smell.

My wife, Glenda, says she adds some salt, an amount or pile about the size of a quarter in her palm.  She dumps the shrimp in the boiling water and has a timer running from the minute the shrimp are dumped in the water.  The shrimp cook very quickly and are done in three minutes when they've turned a beautiful pink color.  As soon as they are done, my wife dumps them in a bowl of water filled with ice.

We then fish the shrimp out and let them drain in a collander.  All you have to do then is to put them in bowl or on a platter if they are going to be eaten immediately.  Once you have had real fresh shrimp done right, going back to anything less is tough to do.

I can highly recommend Kelchner's Cocktail sauce.  It does vary a little between batches so I try to be a little forgiving since it is the best I've ever had.

If you want to know more, this link on shrimp is very helpful as is this link on cooking shrimp.

You aren't able to read the sticker in the lower left corner of the left most window at Clyde Phillips, but it says "Friends don't let friends eat imported shrimp."  Just click on the link to the left for a view of the bumper sticker.  If anyone ever tries this shrimp appliance, I would be interested in hearing about it.

For over fifty years I've been walking the shores of the North Carolina coast.  The beaches like this recent shot of Emerald Isle are often at their nicest in the fall.  The water is still fairly warm, warm enough to go wading anyway, and the crowds are long gone.  My wife, Glenda, loves to look for shells. There are plenty of people who like to take home home shells to remember their great time at the beach.

My favorite way to memorialize a trip to the beach has always been taking home a cooler of fresh seafood.  For one magic summer while I was in college, I alternated camping on the beaches of Ocracoke Island with camping in the National Forests of western North Carolina.  Sometimes I would take the long way home from Ocracoke which as any well versed traveler of Route 12 knows is the Cedar Island Ferry.  I would stop in Morehead City for a meal at Captain Bill's and then fill a cooler full of fresh off of the boats shrimp and head home. I heard a rumor that Captain Bill's was up for sale, but there is no shortage of good places to grab some seafood before you fill your cooler.

Five to six hours after loading the cooler in the car,  I would be cleaning and boiling shrimp for a straight from the sea treat. I'm pretty convinced that most folks think shrimp come from the grocery store.  It has gotten more and more popular to buy your shrimp at the grocery store and have them steamed right there.  I'm no purist but I would rather have my shrimp cooked after they've been cleaned, and grocery stores don't do that.  You may not know the difference because you've never tasted shrimp that have been done right.  It's not that hard, but it does takes some time.

You do need one tool, a Shrimp Deveiner. They usually cost a dollar or two.  The next thing you need is fresh shrimp.  Ideally you try to get your shrimp as close to the boat as possible.  In most cases that means asking around locally to find out the best way to buy your shrimp.  Sometimes you can buy them right off the dock or from people who buy them right off the dock.  The shrimp should be firm and not mushy.

Often the shrimp you buy will have the heads still on the body.  Do yourself a favor and have the folks where you buy the shrimp take the heads off if at all possible.  It seems almost effortless for them, but for normal mortals it's a little more of a challenge.  Take a cooler and ice your shrimp down if possible.  Often the sea food shop will give you enough ice for a small cooler.  The biggest challenge with cleaning shrimp is that it is pretty boring.  We usually order three to four lbs of shrimp, weighed with the heads still on the shrimp.  That's about my limit.  After that I lose interest even if someone is feeding me freshly boiled shrimp.  By the time you take the heads and shells off, four pounds with the heads on are equal to approximately two pounds shelled and raw.

We've had good luck in the Swansboro, NC area buying our shrimp from one of the local institutions, Clyde Phillips Seafood, located between the bridges on Route 24.   Don't expect a lot of conversation, but you can count on fresh seafood and a magic touch for removing shrimp heads.

Learning to use the shrimp deveiner just takes a few shrimp and they don't seem to mind.  I also take out a second smaller bottom vein.  Once you have that mastered, my suggestion is to clean about one half your shrimp and then bring to boil about two to two and one half inches of water in an uncovered twelve inch deep (three quart) skillet.  If you have cleaned your shrimp the way I suggested, they cook without any smell.

My wife, Glenda, says she adds some salt, an amount or pile about the size of a quarter in her palm.  She dumps the shrimp in the boiling water and has a timer running from the minute the shrimp are dumped in the water.  The shrimp cook very quickly and are done in three minutes when they've turned a beautiful pink color.  As soon as they are done, my wife dumps them in a bowl of water filled with ice.

We then fish the shrimp out and let them drain in a collander.  All you have to do then is to put them in bowl or on a platter if they are going to be eaten immediately.  Once you have had real fresh shrimp done right, going back to anything less is tough to do.

I can highly recommend Kelchner's Cocktail sauce.  It does vary a little between batches so I try to be a little forgiving since it is the best I've ever had.

If you want to know more, this link on shrimp is very helpful as is this link on cooking shrimp.

You aren't able to read the sticker in the lower left corner of the left most window at Clyde Phillips, but it says "Friends don't let friends eat imported shrimp."  Just click on the link to the left for a view of the bumper sticker.  If anyone ever tries this shrimp appliance, I would be interested in hearing about it.

For over fifty years I've been walking the shores of the North Carolina coast.  The beaches like this recent shot of Emerald Isle are often at their nicest in the fall.  The water is still fairly warm, warm enough to go wading anyway, and the crowds are long gone.  My wife, Glenda, loves to look for shells. There are plenty of people who like to take home home shells to remember their great time at the beach.

My favorite way to memorialize a trip to the beach has always been taking home a cooler of fresh seafood.  For one magic summer while I was in college, I alternated camping on the beaches of Ocracoke Island with camping in the National Forests of western North Carolina.  Sometimes I would take the long way home from Ocracoke which as any well versed traveler of Route 12 knows is the Cedar Island Ferry.  I would stop in Morehead City for a meal at Captain Bill's and then fill a cooler full of fresh off of the boats shrimp and head home. I heard a rumor that Captain Bill's was up for sale, but there is no shortage of good places to grab some seafood before you fill your cooler.

Five to six hours after loading the cooler in the car,  I would be cleaning and boiling shrimp for a straight from the sea treat. I'm pretty convinced that most folks think shrimp come from the grocery store.  It has gotten more and more popular to buy your shrimp at the grocery store and have them steamed right there.  I'm no purist but I would rather have my shrimp cooked after they've been cleaned, and grocery stores don't do that.  You may not know the difference because you've never tasted shrimp that have been done right.  It's not that hard, but it does takes some time.

You do need one tool, a Shrimp Deveiner. They usually cost a dollar or two.  The next thing you need is fresh shrimp.  Ideally you try to get your shrimp as close to the boat as possible.  In most cases that means asking around locally to find out the best way to buy your shrimp.  Sometimes you can buy them right off the dock or from people who buy them right off the dock.  The shrimp should be firm and not mushy.

Often the shrimp you buy will have the heads still on the body.  Do yourself a favor and have the folks where you buy the shrimp take the heads off if at all possible.  It seems almost effortless for them, but for normal mortals it's a little more of a challenge.  Take a cooler and ice your shrimp down if possible.  Often the sea food shop will give you enough ice for a small cooler.  The biggest challenge with cleaning shrimp is that it is pretty boring.  We usually order three to four lbs of shrimp, weighed with the heads still on the shrimp.  That's about my limit.  After that I lose interest even if someone is feeding me freshly boiled shrimp.  By the time you take the heads and shells off, four pounds with the heads on are equal to approximately two pounds shelled and raw.

We've had good luck in the Swansboro, NC area buying our shrimp from one of the local institutions, Clyde Phillips Seafood, located between the bridges on Route 24.   Don't expect a lot of conversation, but you can count on fresh seafood and a magic touch for removing shrimp heads.

Learning to use the shrimp deveiner just takes a few shrimp and they don't seem to mind.  I also take out a second smaller bottom vein.  Once you have that mastered, my suggestion is to clean about one half your shrimp and then bring to boil about two to two and one half inches of water in an uncovered twelve inch deep (three quart) skillet.  If you have cleaned your shrimp the way I suggested, they cook without any smell.

My wife, Glenda, says she adds some salt, an amount or pile about the size of a quarter in her palm.  She dumps the shrimp in the boiling water and has a timer running from the minute the shrimp are dumped in the water.  The shrimp cook very quickly and are done in three minutes when they've turned a beautiful pink color.  As soon as they are done, my wife dumps them in a bowl of water filled with ice.

We then fish the shrimp out and let them drain in a collander.  All you have to do then is to put them in bowl or on a platter if they are going to be eaten immediately.  Once you have had real fresh shrimp done right, going back to anything less is tough to do.

I can highly recommend Kelchner's Cocktail sauce.  It does vary a little between batches so I try to be a little forgiving since it is the best I've ever had.

If you want to know more, this link on shrimp is very helpful as is this link on cooking shrimp.

You aren't able to read the sticker in the lower left corner of the left most window at Clyde Phillips, but it says "Friends don't let friends eat imported shrimp."  Just click on the link to the left for a view of the bumper sticker.  If anyone ever tries this shrimp appliance, I would be interested in hearing about it.

For over fifty years I've been walking the shores of the North Carolina coast.  The beaches like this recent shot of Emerald Isle are often at their nicest in the fall.  The water is still fairly warm, warm enough to go wading anyway, and the crowds are long gone.  My wife, Glenda, loves to look for shells. There are plenty of people who like to take home home shells to remember their great time at the beach.

My favorite way to memorialize a trip to the beach has always been taking home a cooler of fresh seafood.  For one magic summer while I was in college, I alternated camping on the beaches of Ocracoke Island with camping in the National Forests of western North Carolina.  Sometimes I would take the long way home from Ocracoke which as any well versed traveler of Route 12 knows is the Cedar Island Ferry.  I would stop in Morehead City for a meal at Captain Bill's and then fill a cooler full of fresh off of the boats shrimp and head home. I heard a rumor that Captain Bill's was up for sale, but there is no shortage of good places to grab some seafood before you fill your cooler.

Five to six hours after loading the cooler in the car,  I would be cleaning and boiling shrimp for a straight from the sea treat. I'm pretty convinced that most folks think shrimp come from the grocery store.  It has gotten more and more popular to buy your shrimp at the grocery store and have them steamed right there.  I'm no purist but I would rather have my shrimp cooked after they've been cleaned, and grocery stores don't do that.  You may not know the difference because you've never tasted shrimp that have been done right.  It's not that hard, but it does takes some time.

You do need one tool, a Shrimp Deveiner. They usually cost a dollar or two.  The next thing you need is fresh shrimp.  Ideally you try to get your shrimp as close to the boat as possible.  In most cases that means asking around locally to find out the best way to buy your shrimp.  Sometimes you can buy them right off the dock or from people who buy them right off the dock.  The shrimp should be firm and not mushy.

Often the shrimp you buy will have the heads still on the body.  Do yourself a favor and have the folks where you buy the shrimp take the heads off if at all possible.  It seems almost effortless for them, but for normal mortals it's a little more of a challenge.  Take a cooler and ice your shrimp down if possible.  Often the sea food shop will give you enough ice for a small cooler.  The biggest challenge with cleaning shrimp is that it is pretty boring.  We usually order three to four lbs of shrimp, weighed with the heads still on the shrimp.  That's about my limit.  After that I lose interest even if someone is feeding me freshly boiled shrimp.  By the time you take the heads and shells off, four pounds with the heads on are equal to approximately two pounds shelled and raw.

We've had good luck in the Swansboro, NC area buying our shrimp from one of the local institutions, Clyde Phillips Seafood, located between the bridges on Route 24.   Don't expect a lot of conversation, but you can count on fresh seafood and a magic touch for removing shrimp heads.

Learning to use the shrimp deveiner just takes a few shrimp and they don't seem to mind.  I also take out a second smaller bottom vein.  Once you have that mastered, my suggestion is to clean about one half your shrimp and then bring to boil about two to two and one half inches of water in an uncovered twelve inch deep (three quart) skillet.  If you have cleaned your shrimp the way I suggested, they cook without any smell.

My wife, Glenda, says she adds some salt, an amount or pile about the size of a quarter in her palm.  She dumps the shrimp in the boiling water and has a timer running from the minute the shrimp are dumped in the water.  The shrimp cook very quickly and are done in three minutes when they've turned a beautiful pink color.  As soon as they are done, my wife dumps them in a bowl of water filled with ice.

We then fish the shrimp out and let them drain in a collander.  All you have to do then is to put them in bowl or on a platter if they are going to be eaten immediately.  Once you have had real fresh shrimp done right, going back to anything less is tough to do.

I can highly recommend Kelchner's Cocktail sauce.  It does vary a little between batches so I try to be a little forgiving since it is the best I've ever had.

If you want to know more, this link on shrimp is very helpful as is this link on cooking shrimp.

You aren't able to read the sticker in the lower left corner of the left most window at Clyde Phillips, but it says "Friends don't let friends eat imported shrimp."  Just click on the link to the left for a view of the bumper sticker.  If anyone ever tries this shrimp appliance, I would be interested in hearing about it.

Going out to eat breakfast is one of our favorite things to do when we're relaxing.  Not having to clean up after an early morning meal is a special treat.

The challenge is always getting the ladies up and out the door before the morning is too far gone which I consider to be 8:30 am.  Yana's is located at 119 Front Street in Swansboro along North Carolina's Crystal Coast.

I managed to get the family over to Swansboro by slightly after 9 am which worked out fine since the middle of the week during the last of October isn't exactly high season here at the beach.  Getting to Yana's relatively early can be very important during the summer or even on the weekends during the winter.  Last weekend we waited thirty minutes for a table on Sunday morning.

However, if you want a delicious breakfast, the wait is worth it.  There are usually a couple of gift stores nearby that are open so it's fairly easy to entertain the ladies for a few minutes.

Since we were early for mid-week, we walked right in and had a choice of table or booth.  Jana's is a little crowded, but it's also very efficient.  The waitresses appear to really know what they are doing and all the food we've eaten has been very well prepared.  The most recent trip, I had country ham and eggs with home fries and a biscuit.  My wife, Glenda, had scrambled eggs and grits with a biscuit, and my oldest daughter, Erin, enjoyed a plate of pancakes with some country ham.

The meal was very reasonably priced.  With three beverages and tax but before tip, the total was twenty three dollars and a little change.  Jana's is definitely in the holiday mood with some great Halloween decorations, I'm told the ladies bathroom features a talking Elvis. Be sure not to miss that.

It's hard to fault a restaurant with delicious food where one of the town Cats, Morris, greets you just outside the door.  Yana's is open for breakfast and lunch.  Their menu is on line at this link.  You can call them at (910) 326-5501.

After breakfast, we hit the Swansboro shops until I protested loudly enough to be allowed to go take a nap in the car.

When the ladies were done shopping we drove across the bridge from Cape Cateret/Cedar Point to Emerald Isle.  Based on the number of boats anchored along the Inter Coastal Waterway, I believe the fish must be biting.

So if you haven't had a trip to the beach this year, now is a great time to come.  The crowds and heat are gone.  The fish and cool weather are here along with those of us who can't get enough of the beach.

Going out to eat breakfast is one of our favorite things to do when we're relaxing.  Not having to clean up after an early morning meal is a special treat.

The challenge is always getting the ladies up and out the door before the morning is too far gone which I consider to be 8:30 am.  Yana's is located at 119 Front Street in Swansboro along North Carolina's Crystal Coast.

I managed to get the family over to Swansboro by slightly after 9 am which worked out fine since the middle of the week during the last of October isn't exactly high season here at the beach.  Getting to Yana's relatively early can be very important during the summer or even on the weekends during the winter.  Last weekend we waited thirty minutes for a table on Sunday morning.

However, if you want a delicious breakfast, the wait is worth it.  There are usually a couple of gift stores nearby that are open so it's fairly easy to entertain the ladies for a few minutes.

Since we were early for mid-week, we walked right in and had a choice of table or booth.  Jana's is a little crowded, but it's also very efficient.  The waitresses appear to really know what they are doing and all the food we've eaten has been very well prepared.  The most recent trip, I had country ham and eggs with home fries and a biscuit.  My wife, Glenda, had scrambled eggs and grits with a biscuit, and my oldest daughter, Erin, enjoyed a plate of pancakes with some country ham.

The meal was very reasonably priced.  With three beverages and tax but before tip, the total was twenty three dollars and a little change.  Jana's is definitely in the holiday mood with some great Halloween decorations, I'm told the ladies bathroom features a talking Elvis. Be sure not to miss that.

It's hard to fault a restaurant with delicious food where one of the town Cats, Morris, greets you just outside the door.  Yana's is open for breakfast and lunch.  Their menu is on line at this link.  You can call them at (910) 326-5501.

After breakfast, we hit the Swansboro shops until I protested loudly enough to be allowed to go take a nap in the car.

When the ladies were done shopping we drove across the bridge from Cape Cateret/Cedar Point to Emerald Isle.  Based on the number of boats anchored along the Inter Coastal Waterway, I believe the fish must be biting.

So if you haven't had a trip to the beach this year, now is a great time to come.  The crowds and heat are gone.  The fish and cool weather are here along with those of us who can't get enough of the beach.

Going out to eat breakfast is one of our favorite things to do when we're relaxing.  Not having to clean up after an early morning meal is a special treat.

The challenge is always getting the ladies up and out the door before the morning is too far gone which I consider to be 8:30 am.  Yana's is located at 119 Front Street in Swansboro along North Carolina's Crystal Coast.

I managed to get the family over to Swansboro by slightly after 9 am which worked out fine since the middle of the week during the last of October isn't exactly high season here at the beach.  Getting to Yana's relatively early can be very important during the summer or even on the weekends during the winter.  Last weekend we waited thirty minutes for a table on Sunday morning.

However, if you want a delicious breakfast, the wait is worth it.  There are usually a couple of gift stores nearby that are open so it's fairly easy to entertain the ladies for a few minutes.

Since we were early for mid-week, we walked right in and had a choice of table or booth.  Jana's is a little crowded, but it's also very efficient.  The waitresses appear to really know what they are doing and all the food we've eaten has been very well prepared.  The most recent trip, I had country ham and eggs with home fries and a biscuit.  My wife, Glenda, had scrambled eggs and grits with a biscuit, and my oldest daughter, Erin, enjoyed a plate of pancakes with some country ham.

The meal was very reasonably priced.  With three beverages and tax but before tip, the total was twenty three dollars and a little change.  Jana's is definitely in the holiday mood with some great Halloween decorations, I'm told the ladies bathroom features a talking Elvis. Be sure not to miss that.

It's hard to fault a restaurant with delicious food where one of the town Cats, Morris, greets you just outside the door.  Yana's is open for breakfast and lunch.  Their menu is on line at this link.  You can call them at (910) 326-5501.

After breakfast, we hit the Swansboro shops until I protested loudly enough to be allowed to go take a nap in the car.

When the ladies were done shopping we drove across the bridge from Cape Cateret/Cedar Point to Emerald Isle.  Based on the number of boats anchored along the Inter Coastal Waterway, I believe the fish must be biting.

So if you haven't had a trip to the beach this year, now is a great time to come.  The crowds and heat are gone.  The fish and cool weather are here along with those of us who can't get enough of the beach.

I have written about crabs before, but they have always been the soft shelled variety.  My post, "The exquisite pleasure of fried soft shell crabs," shows that I have more than a passing acquaintance with blue crabs.

As was mentioned in that post, we did live in Maryland for a few years, so we certainly had the opportunity to sit around the table a few times with neighbors and attack a steaming pile of crabs waiting for us on newspaper.  Yet we had never tried doing crabs on our own. 

Our partners in our place in Swansboro, Robert and Diane, are born and bred Marylanders.  Crabs are second nature to them.  On their first visit to our joint second home, there was an effort made to catch crabs by dangling turkey necks on a string into the waters near our house.   The theory  is that the crabs  grab onto the turkey necks.  You then pull the crab up and slide a net under it just as it get to the top of the water.  Unfortunately either the tides or location conspired against us, and we struck out on catching our own crabs.  We ran out of time and tactics on that first visit. A week later, I did manage to catch a single crab while flounder fishing our dock.  Since one crab is pretty useless, I watched him scurry back into the water with the hope that perhaps this was a good sign.

Prior to our friends next trip, we visited Clyde Phillips Seafood between the bridges in Waynesboro.  Their sign indicating live crabs was a hopeful omen.  We actually got to go back into the cooler to examine their stock of crabs.  We made arrangements to come back the next day and get some crabs for our feast.

Robert and I headed over early the next day.   Robert used some tongs to pick some male crabs which were weighed and paid for before  being stuck back into the cooler for our return later in the day.

We then set off looking for crab mallets or crackers, Old Bay Seasoning, and coarse sea salt.  We had already snared a pot suitable for crab steaming on the way to the seafood market.  We had zero luck finding crab mallets or crackers, but we found everything else at the local Lowe's grocery store.

Later in the day after picking up an appropriate amount of beer at the local convenience store, we headed off to retrieve the crabs.  As soon as we got them home, they were thrown into the sink, where each one was examined to confirm that it was still alive.

Next they were placed into the steamer which already had beer and water turning into steam.  Next a good dose of Old Bay Seasoning and some coarse sea salt was put on the crabs.  The top was put on the steamers and the timer was set for twenty minutes.

After some battles with our propane stove which needs some adjustment, the crabs were pronounced done.  The ladies had earlier covered the kitchen table in plastic garbage bags with a layer of newspaper on tops.

We had a great feast, finding plenty of those delicious morsels that keep you picking until all the tasty sea creatures are gone. When we were done, it was all rolled up put in a garbage bag.

The only regret is that we eventually ran out of crabs and that it will be a while before we can go on a search for even larger crabs for another feast.

I have written about crabs before, but they have always been the soft shelled variety.  My post, "The exquisite pleasure of fried soft shell crabs," shows that I have more than a passing acquaintance with blue crabs.

As was mentioned in that post, we did live in Maryland for a few years, so we certainly had the opportunity to sit around the table a few times with neighbors and attack a steaming pile of crabs waiting for us on newspaper.  Yet we had never tried doing crabs on our own. 

Our partners in our place in Swansboro, Robert and Diane, are born and bred Marylanders.  Crabs are second nature to them.  On their first visit to our joint second home, there was an effort made to catch crabs by dangling turkey necks on a string into the waters near our house.   The theory  is that the crabs  grab onto the turkey necks.  You then pull the crab up and slide a net under it just as it get to the top of the water.  Unfortunately either the tides or location conspired against us, and we struck out on catching our own crabs.  We ran out of time and tactics on that first visit. A week later, I did manage to catch a single crab while flounder fishing our dock.  Since one crab is pretty useless, I watched him scurry back into the water with the hope that perhaps this was a good sign.

Prior to our friends next trip, we visited Clyde Phillips Seafood between the bridges in Waynesboro.  Their sign indicating live crabs was a hopeful omen.  We actually got to go back into the cooler to examine their stock of crabs.  We made arrangements to come back the next day and get some crabs for our feast.

Robert and I headed over early the next day.   Robert used some tongs to pick some male crabs which were weighed and paid for before  being stuck back into the cooler for our return later in the day.

We then set off looking for crab mallets or crackers, Old Bay Seasoning, and coarse sea salt.  We had already snared a pot suitable for crab steaming on the way to the seafood market.  We had zero luck finding crab mallets or crackers, but we found everything else at the local Lowe's grocery store.

Later in the day after picking up an appropriate amount of beer at the local convenience store, we headed off to retrieve the crabs.  As soon as we got them home, they were thrown into the sink, where each one was examined to confirm that it was still alive.

Next they were placed into the steamer which already had beer and water turning into steam.  Next a good dose of Old Bay Seasoning and some coarse sea salt was put on the crabs.  The top was put on the steamers and the timer was set for twenty minutes.

After some battles with our propane stove which needs some adjustment, the crabs were pronounced done.  The ladies had earlier covered the kitchen table in plastic garbage bags with a layer of newspaper on tops.

We had a great feast, finding plenty of those delicious morsels that keep you picking until all the tasty sea creatures are gone. When we were done, it was all rolled up put in a garbage bag.

The only regret is that we eventually ran out of crabs and that it will be a while before we can go on a search for even larger crabs for another feast.

I have written about crabs before, but they have always been the soft shelled variety.  My post, "The exquisite pleasure of fried soft shell crabs," shows that I have more than a passing acquaintance with blue crabs.

As was mentioned in that post, we did live in Maryland for a few years, so we certainly had the opportunity to sit around the table a few times with neighbors and attack a steaming pile of crabs waiting for us on newspaper.  Yet we had never tried doing crabs on our own. 

Our partners in our place in Swansboro, Robert and Diane, are born and bred Marylanders.  Crabs are second nature to them.  On their first visit to our joint second home, there was an effort made to catch crabs by dangling turkey necks on a string into the waters near our house.   The theory  is that the crabs  grab onto the turkey necks.  You then pull the crab up and slide a net under it just as it get to the top of the water.  Unfortunately either the tides or location conspired against us, and we struck out on catching our own crabs.  We ran out of time and tactics on that first visit. A week later, I did manage to catch a single crab while flounder fishing our dock.  Since one crab is pretty useless, I watched him scurry back into the water with the hope that perhaps this was a good sign.

Prior to our friends next trip, we visited Clyde Phillips Seafood between the bridges in Waynesboro.  Their sign indicating live crabs was a hopeful omen.  We actually got to go back into the cooler to examine their stock of crabs.  We made arrangements to come back the next day and get some crabs for our feast.

Robert and I headed over early the next day.   Robert used some tongs to pick some male crabs which were weighed and paid for before  being stuck back into the cooler for our return later in the day.

We then set off looking for crab mallets or crackers, Old Bay Seasoning, and coarse sea salt.  We had already snared a pot suitable for crab steaming on the way to the seafood market.  We had zero luck finding crab mallets or crackers, but we found everything else at the local Lowe's grocery store.

Later in the day after picking up an appropriate amount of beer at the local convenience store, we headed off to retrieve the crabs.  As soon as we got them home, they were thrown into the sink, where each one was examined to confirm that it was still alive.

Next they were placed into the steamer which already had beer and water turning into steam.  Next a good dose of Old Bay Seasoning and some coarse sea salt was put on the crabs.  The top was put on the steamers and the timer was set for twenty minutes.

After some battles with our propane stove which needs some adjustment, the crabs were pronounced done.  The ladies had earlier covered the kitchen table in plastic garbage bags with a layer of newspaper on tops.

We had a great feast, finding plenty of those delicious morsels that keep you picking until all the tasty sea creatures are gone. When we were done, it was all rolled up put in a garbage bag.

The only regret is that we eventually ran out of crabs and that it will be a while before we can go on a search for even larger crabs for another feast.