Harbour Town, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Harbour Town at the southern end of Hilton Head Island is dominated by the lighthouse (sort of). A relatively recent addition (it was completed in 1970), it has become iconic for the area. It is only ninety feet tall but still give a good view from the top (more on that further down).

Maybe it is best viewed from the water

The lighthouse is surrounded by shops and restaurants, though we did manage to find Out to Lunch, a statue of a young man reading a book and eating a sandwich. The book looked like a novel by Pat Conroy.

I might have called this, "Making Me Hungry"

The harbor is not very big but has plenty of leisure vessels.

Ground-eye view of the harbor

We paid to climb the lighthouse, which has some local historical items displayed on the way up. The first items were from the pre-colonial era, the usual primitive pottery so well made that it survives today.

Pottery from long ago

Lighthouses are managed by the US Coast Guard and the small museum has plenty of Coast Guard displays and information.

Uniform and a model ship

View from above of a larger model ship

The American Civil War left its mark on the area. Blockading Union Navy ships were able to take over some of the land and occupy forts in the area. They left a bit of junk too.

Civil War-era bottles

Occupying Northern troops

Various implements

Buttons and pipes

A diorama shows America's first golf club. The South Carolina Golf Club was located in Charleston and established in 1786. Golf is a big part of the entertainment on Hilton Head Island.

Old golfers

Another bit of Coast Guard display

The best part of the visit was the end of the climb where we had views from the 93-foot viewing deck. 

A pier

Looking down

Looking out

Daufuskie Island in the distance

The harbor

A pirate ship!

For lunch, we drove to the nearby Salty Dog Cafe which is quite popular with the islanders. The "cover dog" for the restaurant has gone through many iterations.

Will the real Salty Dog please sit up and beg?

We had the classic pretzel appetizer which was delightful and a variety of seafood items. Only the pretzel got a photo.

Salty appetizer at the Salty Dog

The restaurant complex (they have indoor seating, an outdoor bar, an ice cream shop, a t-shirt shop, and a second restaurant) has a web cam for visitors to get their picture taken!

That is me on the web cam!

The web cam is part of a geocache, so I got some exploring credit for it!

Food on the St. Marys City Trip

On the way down to St. Marys City, we stopped at Sandy Pony Donuts, a small chain (three stores!) of custom-donut makers. We each got a donut, five different one. I had the Blueberry Pie (blueberry glaze with powdered sugar and graham crackers). One son got the Blue Moon (blueberry glaze and cinnamon sugar), the other ordered Salted Caramel (caramel glaze and pretzel bits). My wife ordered Sand Dune (cinnamon sugar) while my daughter had the Ms. Sandy (honey glaze and cinnamon sugar). They were delicious.

Smoothies too!

Five fine fried foods

Just before arriving at the historic park, we stopped at a MOD Pizza where my son got a pizza with strawberries on top! It was too horrifying to take a picture of.

That night, we went to Pax River Ale House. As usual, we ordered the pretzel appetizer, which was more like bread sticks but still delightful. I had a nice hefeweizen with the fish and chips.

Sign over the door

One stick was already eaten!

Fish and chips and beer and water

Afterward, we went to Bruster's Real Ice Cream. They make their own ice creams and have a walk-up window. We enjoyed a good variety of flavors from cake batter to butterscotch ripple.

The shop

A cool customer

Happiness

Not sure which face to make

My butterscotch ripple

Lancaster Brewing Company, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

We went to Lancaster Brewing Company's Harrisburg location for dinner during our Hershey trip. As usual, we got the pretzel appetizer for everyone and a flight of beer for me. The pretzel was really good but I think we've grown enough as a family that we might need to order two pretzel appetizers in the future!

Unassuming facade

Pretzel, twisted but not crossed

The beer flight

 This beer flight was a nice change from other places. They had fourteen selections on a two-sided sheet of paper. I just circled the ones I wanted. The tray came with the beers on their numbers! Since I picked #13, it came in the middle.

Side #2 of the available options

 Those with especially good sight or high resolution monitors (sorry phone readers!) may notice the above picture lists a six-tasting flight and a twelve tasting flight! I was not intrepid enough to try twelve different beers. The ones I did try were the following:

1. Strawberry Wheat (ABV 4.7%)--They've been making this since 1995, so it clearly is very popular. I didn't particularly like it. This beer is another example of the mistake that is mixing fruit with beer.
2. Double-Chocolate Milk Stout Nitro (ABV 6.8%)--A yummy concoction with pure chocolate and cocoa nibs, this smooth drinker was pretty awesome, though maybe not the best to pair with dinner. It's more of a dessert or on-its-own beer.
3.  Baked Pumpkin Ale (ABV 7.5%)--a seasonal ale that does capture pumpkin spiceness without being disappointing. This beer is an example of the exception to the rule about mixing fruit with beer.
4. Hefeweizen (ABV 6.0%)--not the best Hefeweizen I've had (Weeping Radish on the Outer Banks makes the best) but a very good one.
5. Fresh Roasted Peanut Butter Ale (ABV 6.5%)--what a nice blend of peanut and caramel flavors! This ale was the surprise for me. I tried it for the exotic nature but would definitely drink more given the opportunity. This may replace Sweet Baby Jesus! in my peanut butter beer preferences.
6. Lancaster Oktoberfest (ABV 5.5%)--this beer was a little too lagery for my taste. It does make me look forward to Oktoberfests, though.

 I had fish and chips for dinner that was delightful. My son was even more delighted with his grilled cheese sandwich (featuring bacon slices and a tomato jam).

Fish and chips

Happiest customer ever?

Evil Czech Brewery

We visited Evil Czech Brewery for dinner on our way home from Minnesota. It's located just outside of South Bend, Indiana. Our original plan was to arrive in South Bend in time to catch the 5 p.m. vigil Mass at Notre Dame's basilica, but we didn't count on crossing the time zone border in the wrong direction! So we went to our hotel, relaxed a bit, and then went to dinner.

The brewery is fairly unassuming with a fun logo. I do find the half-helmet a little weird.

Evil Czech Brewery

Not someone to meet in a dark alley

We are fans of fresh-made pretzels, so we ordered that as our appetizer. Given the evil bent of the venue, this pretzel was particularly untwisted.

Amazed children

Even as a sort of micro-loaf, we enjoyed the pretzel a lot. It came with the standard mustard (that was too spicy for our mild tastes) and beer cheese sauce (that was just right by our reckoning).

I had the "Cali B" burrito for dinner that was very yummy and not too large. We definitely did not want to take leftovers home to the hotel. The fries were an unusual side for a burrito but they tasted great too.

"Cali B"

My son was happy because the menu had his favorite, mac and cheese, in several varieties.

A happy patron

Of course, I ordered beer. The waiter explained that they've had some CO2 problem with their brewing equipment and many of the beers were not available. We sat right by the brewing area (the big silver vats you see all the time at breweries and brew pubs). Since it was Saturday, I just assumed the brewers were not working the weekend. Anyway, I wanted to order the Voodoo Vanilla Rye Porter but it was not on tap. I opted for the Just My Luck Pale Ale, since it was just my luck that the beer I wanted wasn't available. Maybe they are too good at being evil here?

Just My Luck Pale Ale-American

Just My Luck is 6% alcohol by volume and a fairly standard drinking ale. I liked it but wasn't wowed. The waiter did wow me, however, when he came back later with my second beer. They had Voodoo Vanilla Rye Porter in cans and they poured me one!

Voodoo Vanilla Rye Porter

I was very happy with the extra effort. Beer snobs would say that cans aren't as good as fresh-pulled drafts. I'm not so fussy and was delighted with both the beer and the waiter's perseverance. The porter is 5.2% alcohol by volume and quite flavorful and easy to drink. I should have bought some cans to bring home!

They do have a funny tag line--"At Evil Czech Brewery, we believe life is too short to drink bad beer, but there's always time for Evil Beer!"

They offer great dinners and we'd probably go again if we were in the area.

Cute Kid Pix November 2018

More pictures that didn't make their own post...

My birthday was in November. One celebration was going to The Ale House in Columbia for dinner, where we had to try out the soft pretzel because that's what we do at restaurants nowadays.

Someone can't wait!

To go with it, I ordered the Belgian wheat ale called Staring at the Sun from the Oliver Brewing Company. It was tasty and refreshing and went well with the meal. It was Taco Tuesday at the restaurant, so I ordered ala carte tacos. Yummy!

Staring at the Sun

We didn't get dessert at the restaurant since our children were inspired by The Great British Bake Off to make Baked Alaska. It came out very well.

Separating eggs the old-fashioned way

Getting a meringue by cooking the egg whites and sugar

Whipped to perfection

Final results

They made cookies as the base for the Baked Alaskas. The leftover dough made a nice way to spell my name.

Doughfont has no capital letters

We visited cousins in Virginia for Thanksgiving and brought a pumpkin pie that we made at home. The pie was extra-special since we did a fancy top from the spare pie crust that came in the ready-made pack we bought at the store.

Made at home!

Our youngest has started a new sports class, Mighty Kickers, that teaches soccer skills in an indoor setting (since the weather is putting the Brrr in November). The teacher does a great job goofing off and being entertaining along with teaching skills. My son is enjoying it a lot.

He's a good listener, just look at those ears!

Carrying and kicking

We made it to one library storytime that had a craft. The theme was Peace (leading into Christmas season). We glued and colored a dove and some hand. I think the hands were supposed to be holding each other, but maybe not.

Coloring

Talk to the hand(s)