Taste of Core Sound

One day before my 70^th birthday – you might call it Birthday Eve – an assortment of gift bags and birthday cards appeared on the counter between the dining room and the kitchen, and I was instructed not to handle any of them until tomorrow.

We had big Birthday Eve plans tonight.  “Taste of Core Sound,” the signature winter event of the Core Sound Museum and Heritage Center, is normally held at the Museum on Harkers Island, a considerable drive after dark.  But because the Museum is still not open due to damage from Hurricane Florence, it is being held this year at Southern Salt, just down the street from the Ruddy Duck in Morehead City.  So Martha snatched up two tickets before they were sold out.

The evening began at 6:00 p.m. with Southern Salt’s famous hot crab dip and Down East egg rolls, moved on to a bountiful buffet, and included a silent auction of decoys and a presentation about antique shorebird decoys.  The Down East buffet was delicious!  The menu:

Conch stew

Fried oysters

Baked scallops

Stewed duck and rutabaga

Fried Shrimp

Chicken and pastry

Winter collards

Sweet Potatoes

Homemade coleslaw

Light rolls

Albert’s famous lemon pie

I’m not sure who Albert was, but his pie was delicious, which must account for its fame; even after all that food we both enjoyed a slice.  We had stopped at the Core Sound Museum Store on Arendell Street earlier in the week to pick up our tickets, a big imposing two-story house with high ceilings that reminded Martha of her Mamah’s house, and a young man there had told us not to eat anything else today, and now we understand why.

Southern Salt was a restaurant we will return to again.  Located right on the water, next to the Ruddy Duck, it was a great venue for this event; it was sold out, and we hope they will decide to have it there next year instead of way out in the "boonies" on Harkers Island.

We sat with a couple from Marshallburg, home of the caviar farm we had visited on Valentine's Day, and they were very surprised to learn that we knew all about it.  But we were glad to not have that long drive home on this cold and rainy night.