Beaufort Camping Trip Day 2 with Real Southern BBQ and S’Mores!

South Carolina camping trip cont’d….

Day two and a few more beach photos from the Hunting Island Beach State Park. I got some better shots on Day three.

When my parents said let’s go camping and arbitrarily picked Beaufort South Carolina I was thinking; Where?! You mean we pass Savannah, Georgia to get to BEAUFORT, South Carolina?!  Don’t hate me Beufortians…I just didn’t know.)

They kept telling me what a cute town it and that it would only take 3 ½ hours or so to get there so I said okay…but it will be tough that long of a drive with a toddler in the car. Little did I know, five hours later we would arrive a bit frazzled but with the realization that my daughter apparently loves Bob Marley and it puts her into a deep sleep. We now have Bob Marley on repeat on my iPod whenever we are in the car….I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy.

What resides in Beaufort is Sgt. Whites. A BBQ restaurant my Dad found last time they drove through the area. I believe this to be the main reason Beaufort was chosen and we drove five hours with a fifteen month old. Because according to Dad it is the BEST BBQ he has EVER had in his LIFE.

Come to find out, Gourmet Magazine had already done a review of it in 2004.  In it, the writers state; “One of the most euphoric moments of our eating career was the first time our eyes adjusted to the darkness inside Sgt. White’s Diner and the buffet came into view. By centerfold standards of chic cuisine, the food isn’t photogenic—the color scale is all earth tones—but it is seductive.”  I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Ok Dad, from now on I’ll trust you when you want to try an “indigenous” restaurant.  (In the past our indigenous experiences landed us with food poisoning for a few days.  (AKA that all you can eat fried crab leg shack on the side of the road))

The food is served buffet style.  For around $7 you get a meat, two sides, cornbread and a drink.  It’s a huge portion.

Here’s what I got; pulled pork, succotash with okra, greens, cornbread AND the nice lady gave me a little taste of the yams because I couldn’t decide between the greens and the yams. They were like a dessert; butter and brown sugar. I would have dove right into that bin but there was glass there.

The pulled pork was tender and moist. I didn’t even really need sauce but I got a little just to taste. The succotash was so flavorful with corn, okra and all sorts of veggies. And the cornbread was just the right texture.  Grainy and sweet.

As far as real southern BBQ I give this place a 10.  And lucky for us we got in there at the right time, right after we sat down what seemed like thirty people walked in and lined up.

Later that night…..Mom and I were looking at each other thinking the same thing. S’mores.

We didn’t want a big dinner that night but somehow we saved just enough room. There was only one problem. No fire that night because it was raining. We both turned and looked at the gas stove and problem solved. Granted, we missed out on the fire ambiance until the following night but the S’mores were just as good. I like mine a little burnt on the outside. In fact I like it when they catch on fire completely and the outside is charred and sugary and the inside is molten gooeyness. I took it easy this time because I didn’t want to set the camper on fire.

Graham crackers and Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate.

I know I’m all preachy about eating healthy but seriously, this is one of the best things in life! Sometimes you just have to do it. You don’t want to be on your death bed thinking; I just wish I ate that S’more.