Crab Crackin' on Edisto

Sorry, folks. No honky tonk bars or neon lights in the Ace Basin.

The entrance to Botany Bay is through a beautiful canopy of live oaks.

A short cruise up Hwy. 17 leads to Edisto Island, a flat sub-tropical barrier island just south of Charleston and about an hour north of Beaufort. Here’s a place of majestic live oaks, heavily laden with Spanish moss, that form cathedral-like canopies over winding sandy roads.

Edisto Beach Road

Cross over vast marshlands through palmetto-studded live oak hammocks and dark water cypress swamps.

Oysters crowd the creek banks, and shrimp, blue crab, and mullet are there for the taking for anyone with a cast net. Most of the land is a jungle of tangled oaks, magnolia trees, palmettos, and yuccas standing high above a woodland floor.

Botany Bay Plantation is one of the most unique destinations on Edisto Island. The 4,000 + acre property boasts historical buildings, maritime forest, beach, and freshwater ponds. Be sure to see Boneyard Beach and the sun-bleached standing and fallen trees that line the shore. Shells are abundant and everywhere as far as the eye can see, but cannot be removed.

Edisto Beach Post Office

Approaching the island on Highway 174, Marsh Hen Mill, formerly known as Geechie Boy Grits, is situated on the right. I stopped here recently on a May afternoon, where I found a fresh coffee and a cornmeal muffin. I lingered awhile, talked with owners Greg and Betsy Johnsman, stocked up on grits, and purchased vegetables picked that morning from fields out back. “My family has lived on the land for almost 325 years,” said Greg with pride. It’s a quiet oasis along the back roads when in the mood for a little nostalgia.

Flowers Seafood on Edisto Island. Painting by Charleston’s Sandra Roper.

Be sure to indulge in some crab crackin’ at Flowers Seafood.

Travel a short distance down the road and look for a cinderblock shack with a giant blue crab painted on the side, Flowers Seafood. Vincent Flowers has been hauling in fresh seafood for generations. Be sure to order some garlic-steamed crab and eat at the picnic table out back. Their seafood comes right off their boat into their cooler.

Get some fish to take home from the Sarah Jane, the only commercial fishing boat on the island right now. It docks at Edisto Seafood, 3729 Docksite Rd. Head for the beach and you can’t miss it.

Whaley’s Restaurant, Edisto

Whaley’s Crab Cakes will keep you coming back.

Whaley’s Shrimp and Grits

Don’t forget Whaley’s is known as one of the best seafood dives in SC, “Home of the Ugly Fish”. It started as a gas station and convenience store that was the only place to get fresh water or make a phone call for 45 miles. Whaley’s still serves a a popular gathering spot, but now locals and visitors come by for platters of fried mahi-mahi bites dipped in house-made sauce and beers pulled from the original soda cooler.

No kidding, in front of me was a bumper sticker that said, “I Brake for Boiled Peanuts.” He must be heading over to Pink’s vegetable stand.

What a great place for veggies. It’s off the main path but easy to get to with the best boiled peanuts in the land. Grab a soda and a Styrofoam cup of boiled peanuts and browse the selection of pies, jellies, and jams abundantly displayed at this African-American family-owned farm market. It’s an Edisto Island tradition - small farms selling their produce by the side of the road.

George and Pink’s, 7971 Eddingsville Beach Road

The pies are a must-try!

King’s Farm Market is a good stop for fresh produce, catching up on gossip, and meeting some super fun folks.

Edisto Beach

I think I could kick off my shoes, pull up a lounge chair, and spend the rest of the day.

I might even bring along a Styrofoam cup of boiled peanuts and watch the sun go down.