Catch Of The Day ...

 “The water is a dark flower and a fisherman is a bee in the heart of her.”

                 ~ Annie Proulx

                 ~ born 1935

          ~ American novelist, short story writer & journalist

  ~ from “The Shipping News,” for which Proulx won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

                     ~ published 1993

I captured this shot of The Bluffton Oyster Company, located on the banks of the May River in the Lowcountry of Bluffton, South Carolina, on a beautiful late October morning. I presented the image in sepia to add an air of nostalgia, as the company has been part of the coastal landscape since the late 19^th century.

According to the company’s website https://blufftonoyster.com/: A Family Run Operation Since 1899 The Bluffton Oyster Company actually sits on reclaimed land, built up by more than a hundred years of discarded shells from previous shucking operations. The oyster business thrived in early Bluffton and throughout the 1920’s, with five different oyster operations in the area. Now the Bluffton Oyster Company remains the last hand-shucking house in the state of South Carolina.

Owned by Larry and Tina Toomer, The Bluffton Oyster Company specializes in in fresh local seafood and is known for its fresh local oysters, clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, fish filets, soft shell crabs and live blue crabs.

I’ve personally sampled their seafood, and it’s delicious!

Bluffton is situated on the north bluff of the May River, giving the Beaufort County town its name. The river winds through the Old Town area of Bluffton, which locals call “the last true coastal village of the South.”

Sweet Corn Country ...

“A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine.”

                  ~ Anne Bronte

                   ~ 1820 ~ 1849

I often drive by this cool sign that beckons travelers to stop for a sweet taste of summer ~ sweet corn ~ at Newhard Farms Corn Shed, Coplay, Pennsylvania, and I finally stopped to capture it in a painterly, HDR image on a beautiful mid-July evening.

I can attest Newhard’s has the best sweet corn in the Lehigh Valley, grown at their fifth-generation grain and vegetable farm.

According to Newhard’s website, in addition to sweet corn their tasty offerings include juicy peaches, delicious cantaloupes, ripe water melon, and fresh eggplant and vine-ripe tomatoes.

For more information visit https://thecornshed.com/.

Retro Rail ...

“I love the nostalgic myself. I hope we never lose some of the things of the past.”

                ~ Walt Disney

                  ~ 1901 ~ 1966

The Brass Rail sign beckons people to stop in for a cocktail at the Lehigh Street location of the iconic restaurant that has been a longtime staple of the culinary landscape in Allentown, Pennsylvania on a June evening in 2013.

Sadly, The Brass Rail, which opened on Lehigh Street in 1961, shut its doors in June 2022. An Allentown tradition for 91 years, the eatery’s original location on Hamilton Street in downtown Allentown opened in 1931 and closed in 2001.

Founded by Phil Sorrentino, The Brass Rail, known especially for its cheesesteaks, was run by generations of the Sorrentino family and will be missed.

 

A Sign Of Summer In October ...

“I can’t imagine there has ever been a more gratifying time or place to be alive than America in the 1950s. No country had ever known such prosperity.”

         ~ Bill Bryson

         ~ American-British author

          ~ born 1951

A cool sign beckons travelers on South Delaware Drive – Route 611 – to The Canalside Cup, open seasonally in the spring and summer, in Williams Township, Easton, Pennsylvania, along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) on a late October afternoon.

Sadly, The Canalside Cup is now permanently closed, but it dished up tasty fare with a cup of retro on the side.

The Canalside Cup served up ice cream, funnel cake fries, burgers, hot dogs and the like with a retro vibe, as 1950s music played over speakers outside where shaded picnic tables invited patrons to soak up the scenic view while they noshed.

I captured this shot after setting off from the Wy-Hit-Tuk Park Trailhead, Easton of the D&L Trail.

The trail is positioned between the Delaware River and Delaware Canal, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978. The site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America.

Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

Wy-Hit-Tuk means “river” in the Native American language of the Lenape, the American Indians who lived throughout the Delaware River Basin at the time of European contact.