Month: February 2011

Some of What Was Beach Music for Me

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Some of this may not technically be considered Beach Music, but for me, growing up a mile from the North Carolina Coast in the 1960s & 70s, these were part of the mix:

Tell me that this wasn’t a surprise.  I always thought that this was a black group.  As I listened to the YouTube video the first time, I thought, “Now these guys could have been from North Carolina,” and then I found that they were from NC.  *”Girl Watcher” may be my No. 1 pick for Carolina “Beach Music,” although “My Girl”, “May I”, or “Up on the Roof”, are all close challengers.

So, this reminded me of WMBL 740 AM radio station from Morehead City, NC.  Craig Webber, Jay Cobb, and Duke Roberts were some of the DJs that I listened to in the late 60’s and early ’70’s.

*I lived in Hubert, NC with my ‘Aunt Sis’ (Carrie Kellum) and attended Swansboro High School (the one on Hwy. 24).  The “love of my life” was Debbie.  She lived in Cape Carteret.  There was just “Cape ‘C’ Shopworth” there at the time.  A convenience store.

I recall on one date, I drove from Hubert to Cape Carteret and picked Debbie up.  We drove all the way back to Jacksonville (which is about the same distance, in the opposite direction from her house) to see what was going on… only to decide to drive to Morehead City and see a movie there.  I’m thinking we might have seen Barbara Striesand in “Funny Girl.”  The movie Old movie theater in Morehead City, NCtheatre was new then, and still exists today, but not as a movie theatre.  *Debbie was a GREAT kisser!”

Altman’s Seafood Restaurant, Loris, SC

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Altman’s Seafood Restaurant, Loris, SC  (mp3)

I arrived about 1:30 pm on a Sunday afternoon in mid-February 2011. There were about six people waiting in line to pay. I was ignored for several minutes and finally I caught a waitress and asked if it was “seat yourself,” which it was. I ordered sweet tea and started down the buffet.

Above: There was a red Western Flyer bicycle suspended from one of the lintels, and family pictures near a fireplace.

The following is not the whole list of items on the buffet, but some of those I chose to eat: fried chicken, fried shrimp, baked ham, rice, macaroni & cheese, garden peas & potatoes, bbq ribs, chocolate cake.

Most of the church crowd had already left, but about 3 or 4 small groups left shortly after I had arrived.

Part of the “country clutter” included paper fans stapled along one of the lintels. They included church fans, Hooters and a Georgia peach. Bathrooms to the right (above) just past the buffet line.

Above: Sorry for the out of focus snapshot. Even in focus it would not have been a pretty sight. The remains of a BBQ rib, fried chicken bones, some shrimp & cocktail sauce and a few bits of macaroni & cheese.

The sweet tea was not the best I have had, but sweeter than most. I guess I would term it, not enough good tea flavor for the water.

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I definitely would go back because nothing was bland or bad. *Oh, I forgot. A pork rind was salty, as it should be, but extremely tough to break. The Front Porch Restaurant in Elizabethtown, NC fixes them very well, salty, and crunchy.

ADDENDUM:  This restaurant must have closed shortly after my only visit.  I think I heard that the owner died.

ADDED ADDENDUM [12/28/24]:  Just re-reading the above.  Yes, Altman’s has been closed a long time and I only had that one visit.  The Front Porch Restaurant in Elizabethtown also closed several years ago, and eventually another opened, a Mexican restaurant.  I’ve enjoyed at least a couple of lunches at the Mexican restaurant, and their lunch at that time had a very low price.

The Front Porch Restaurant had a very good “country” buffet, and I recall one summer they had sliced a whole bright red tomato and put it on the buffet.  I tried several slices and after going back ate almost the whole tomato.  It is so rare to get a good flavored tomato on which you can put some salt and pepper and enjoy it thoroughly.

 

Bill Explores Fort Macon

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GoAnimate.com: Bill at Fort Macon

When I was growing up, going to Fort Macon, near Morehead City, NC was a real treat.  Mom and I would drive down there and she would let me explore the fort.  There are many dark, dank places to explore.  But, the State has also spent money to fix up some of the living quarters inside the fort, and to create interesting displays of life and weapons as they were then.