Hunting Island State Park & Johnson Creek Tavern
When we travel, lunch out is always a priority.
Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort is located on Port Royal Island, one of the largest Sea Islands along the southeast Atlantic coast of the United States. It is one of only a handful of U.S. towns that has had its entire downtown designated a historic district by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Filled with mansions built by the wealthy plantation owners before the Civil War, Beaufort was one of the only Southern towns chosen to be occupied by Union troops, rather than destroyed. More than 50 historic structures have been identified in Beaufort, including many lovely private homes that have been beautifully restored and are now available to view via professionally guided walking, bus, or horse-drawn carriage tours.
If you’ve never been to downtown Beaufort, it’s comprised mostly of the “city homes” of the former plantation owners from the surrounding areas.
The antebellum (belonging to the period before the Civil war) style is prevalent, but there are other architecture styles as well.
The Robert Smalls House: Robert Smalls was born into slavery in 1839, and spent most of his early years in the house owned by the McKee family. After a very colorful and historic life, he eventually was able to purchase the house. You can read about Robert Smalls here.
Tidalholm: was built in 1853 by Edgar Fripp and is where a lot of The Big Chill was filmed. I’ve written about the Fripp family here.
Marshlands: “Marshlands”, also known as the James Robert Verdier House. Built about 1814, it is a well-preserved example of early Beaufort architecture. Dr. James Robert Verdier, discovered the treatment for yellow fever, a disease spread by mosquitoes and one that plagued the Confederate(Southern) army during the Civil War.
The Oaks: “The Oaks” was built in 1855 for Colonel Paul Hamilton. Colonel Hamilton served as both governor of South Carolina from 1804 through 1806 and as United States Secretary of the Navy under President James Madison from 1809 until 1812.
These houses are in the same proximity and a lot of fun to explore on foot!
Hunting Island State Park
Not far from Beaufort is Hunting Island State Park. We stayed 12 nights there with our four cats.
Hunting Island is a 5,000-acre secluded semitropical barrier island located just 15 miles east of Beaufort, right in between Harbor Island and Fripp Island.
There are a variety of terrains and ecosystems including maritime forest, saltwater lagoons, marshes, and ocean inlets where you can observe a variety of plant and animal species in their native environment.
Parts of Hunting Island State Park have also been scene locations for popular movies such as Forrest Gump and The Big Chill.
The sites to see:
Hunting Island Lighthouse
Hunting Island Nature Center
Hunting Island Marsh Boardwalk
Hunting Island Fishing Pier
Hunting Island Lagoon
South Beach Boneyard
The Hunting Island Lighthouse was closed when we were there, it’s on the to do list for our January 2025 Snowbird escape to the South.
The Island Nature Center has live animals and exhibits that delve into the diverse habitats of Hunting Island State Park.
The Marsh Boardwalk and Fishing Pier are interesting as well. Cooling in the heat. I’ve seen marshes before but I’ve never gotten to walk out into one. Fishing gear may be in order for the next time!
The Hunting Island Lagoon was one of the favorite places to take the cats. Lots of things for them to climb on. I tried to get a wide angle, but with an iPhone it’s difficult. A piece of cake with my old film Nikon camera. Try to piece all three into one!
I need to get better taking photos of the cats walking on their leashes, I’m always afraid if I’m distracted they’ll escape - I guess eventually I’ll get over that.
Probably the best hike of all was the one to the “Boneyard”. The Boneyard is where you can see how a barrier island ebbs and flows as it relates to beach erosion. It’s a little bit of a hike through a humid maritime forest that runs along a marsh about one mile to the Atlantic ocean.
Everything Johnson Creek! My she-crab soup, his fried shrimp and our shared basket of hush puppies. The view is spectacular, that’s Hunting Island State Park in the far distance through the marsh. Looks like a field, but you’d need a boat to cross.
Johnson Creek Tavern
When we travel, lunch out is always a priority.
South Carolina was no different, except Johnson Creek Tavern had an incredible story in addition to the food. Johnson Creek Tavern is located on another island between Beaufort and Hunting Island State Park.
When you visit the Johnson Creek Tavern on Harbor Island, one of the first things you’ll notice are hundreds of dollar bills covering the walls, the ceiling, the bar, wooden posts, doorframes, anything a dollar can be stapled to. These are placed by visitors to the restaurant from all over the world.
But, periodically, those dollars come down.
Volunteers get together to take the dollar bills down and the proceeds are commonly donated to Honor Flight Savannah.
The Honor Flight Network was co-founded by Jeff Miller and Earl Morse.
Earl was working at a VA clinic in Ohio when then the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C was finally completed and dedicated in May of 2004. Earl often asked his veteran patients if they would ever travel out to visit their memorial. For most of these seniors in their eighties, it simply wasn’t financially or physically possible for them to make the journey on their own.
In addition to being a physician assistant, Earl was also a private pilot and a member of an aero club out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. In December of 2004, Earl asked one of his World War II veteran patients if it would be all right if he flew him out to D.C., free of charge, to visit his memorial. Mr. Loy broke down and cried. He told Earl that at his age he would probably never get to see his memorial otherwise, and graciously accepted the offer.
Earl posed the same question to a second World War II veteran a week later. He, too, cried and enthusiastically accepted the trip. Earl realized that there were many veterans who would have the same reaction. So he started asking for help from other pilots to make these dreams a reality.
There were two major stipulations to his request. The first was that the veterans pay nothing. The entire aircraft rental (around $600 to $1200 for the day back then) would have to be paid solely by the pilots. The second was that the pilots personally escort the veterans around D.C. for the entire day.
Eleven pilots who had never met his patients stepped up to volunteer and Honor Flight was born.
In late 2005, Jeff Miller, a dry-cleaning company owner in Hendersonville, NC, inspired by Morse, had a similar idea but on a larger scale - he wanted to charter commercial jets.
Jeff shared Earl’s concern that local WWII veterans would never get to visit their new memorial. He formed HonorAir and began flying large groups of WWII veterans from the Asheville Regional Airport on chartered jets. By the end of 2006, HonorAir had flown more than 300 WWII veterans to their memorial.
In February of 2007, Morse and Miller met in Washington, DC at the first “Summit” and merged Honor Flight and HonorAir into what is now known as the Honor Flight Network.
In the Winter of 2008, Earl Morse and Jeff Miller were awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President George W. Bush.
Honor Flight Savannah uses the proceeds to send Veterans of WWII, the Korean and Vietnam wars to visit the memorials that have been erected in their honor in Washington, D.C.
According to our server at the tavern, one collection was around $11,000. Another was over $13,000. The last time they took the bills down, it was over $17,000 that went to Honor Flight Savannah.
With that awesome backstory, Johnson Creek Tavern is also the first place I experienced awesome She Crab Soup.
The soup is named for the "she-crab", or female crab, a roe (eggs found inside female crabs) carrying crab, as the orange crab roe comprise a chief ingredient in traditional she-crab soup.
If you’re skipping the roe, you’re technically making crab bisque instead of she crab soup. Roe is expensive, but really makes this unique.
She-crab soup is a rich soup, similar to bisque, made of milk, heavy cream, crab or fish stock, Atlantic blue crab meat, and (traditionally) crab roe and a small amount of dry sherry added as it is plated. It may be thickened either by heat reduction or with a purée of boiled rice; it may also include mace (milder nutmeg), shallots or onions.
She-crab soup, hush puppies and a cold beer.
Now that’s a lunch!
Authentic She-Crab Soup Recipe
Four servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole milk or half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco, plus more for serving
1 small yellow onion
2 stalks celery
4 cloves garlic
1/2 medium lemon
1 pound lump Atlantic Blue crabmeat
1/4 cup crab roe (optional but authentic)
5 sprigs fresh parsley, for serving (optional)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 (8-ounce) bottle clam juice, divided
2 tablespoons dry sherry, plus more for serving
Instructions
Place 1 1/2 cups whole milk or half-and-half, 1 cup heavy cream, and 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce in a large measuring cup or medium bowl and let sit at room temperature while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
Prepare the following, adding each to the same medium bowl as you complete it: Grate 1 small yellow onion on the large holes of a box grater (about 1/3 cup). Finely chop 2 celery stalks (about 1 cup). Mince 4 garlic cloves.
Prepare the following, keeping each separate as you complete it: Finely grate the zest of 1/2 medium lemon until you have 1/2 teaspoon zest. Gently pick through 1 pound lump crabmeat to remove any shells or cartilage. Reserve 4 ounces (about 1 cup) of the crab for serving. Pick the leaves from 5 fresh parsley sprigs and coarsely chop if desired (1 tablespoon).
Melt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onion mixture, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg. Cook until the onion is softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
Add 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour coats the vegetables, is cooked, but not browned, and starts to leave a film on the bottom of the pot, about 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup clam juice, and cook, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the liquid evaporates, about 2 1/2 minutes.
Add the remaining 3/4 cup clam juice, milk mixture, and crab.
Add half the crab meat and roe. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes until thick and heated through.
Bring to a simmer and cook, whisking often, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat. Add the lemon zest and 2 tablespoons dry sherry and stir to combine. Taste and season with more kosher salt or white pepper as needed.
Divide the reserved 4 ounces crab meat between 4 bowls, then ladle the warm soup on top. Garnish with the parsley and serve with more dry sherry or hot sauce if desired.
Enjoy!
I did!
Lots here I didn't know about this area! Loved reading about the Honor Flight. I wondered what all those dollar bills are for! I'm glad you had a chance to enjoy Beaufort and Hunting Island.
Very touching story about Honor Flight Savannah! Enjoy going back to the area in January.