Oyster Roast at Folly Beach

Folly Island, along the Atlantic coast just east of Charleston, South Carolina, is dear to my heart. Several times I got away from chilly Indiana winters and took a sojourn here to meet up with a dear friend - an environmentalist, surfer woman, and champion of endangered sea turtles, among other things. Sara is a Fort Wayne native, a former employee of the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, and she was employed with the South Carolina parks department in environmental education work at the time.

To fly from Fort Wayne International airport, it usually requires a connection into a city such as Cincinnati, but it's not all that far to the southern East Coast from Indiana. And fall is the time to do one of my favorite things in that area - take part in an oyster roast.

Folly is not a terribly large island - it was convenient for us to ride our bikes through town (beach cruisers of course) all the way to the county park at the beach. The oyster roast is set up at an open-air pavilion. Rough-hewn tables fashioned from large timbers stretched the length of the pavilion, three rows across. Large holes jig-sawed in the middle of these tables gave access to garbage cans positioned underneath.

People lined up standing at the tables as if they were bellying up to a bar. Men came carrying huge kettle drums steaming with roasted oysters. Two men on either side of the kettle dumped the steaming oysters in front of the people, who took knives and towels, and pried the oysters apart. They dipped piecesof oyster meat in fresh cocktail sauce and munched on crackers. Then they threw the empty shells through the holes in the center of the tables - saving spaces at the outside of the tables for people instead of trash cans. Mind you there are lots and lots of oyster shells flying -they add up.

We went through piles and piles of large grey local oysters (years before anyone had heard of a gulf oil spill) and we pried, and talked, and laughed like crazy. The whole community came out, young and old, and it was a great, wonderful smelling party.

To compliment the seafood were pots of chili, as part of a cooking contest. Crock pots, plastic cups and spoons tempted everyone to try. Shredded cheeses, sour cream, hot sauces, and oyster crackers stood by. After sampling chili and speaking to each dish's creator if one so chose, guests had the opportunity to vote for one's favorite. Winners' dishes made their way on to the menus of a couple of local restaurants.

I'm not going to be able to make a beach trip this fall. But for anyone with the time, it's well worth it. A campfire at an out-of-the-way beach makes for special memories. I promise it is something you'll never forget.