A&A Seafood Shack and a walk at Indian Bluff Recreation Park

A&A Seafood Shack

    When we left the house we had a completely different plan for today. Crossing Lake Marion on 95 south, I noticed some birds on the lake on the other side of the 301 bridge, which is now just for walking. I decided to take Otis for a quick walk there and get a closer look. After turning onto old 301 in Santee, I noticed something new, at least to me. A&A Seafood Shack. I decided going there would be a little easier than where we originally intended to and after the walk on the bridge we stopped in. The birds on the lake ended up being Double-crested Cormorants, a seafood eating bird, that may have brought good luck to our stop. 

    With having to leave Otis in the car I hoped to make a speedy order and get back to him. When I got up to the ordering counter I wasn't sure what to get and asked what was recommended. With pride the woman taking orders said something along the lines of "everything on my menu is great, but we do have a shrimp special today." I went with the shrimp special and was asked how many shrimp I wanted, I said "twelve" and she said "how about 16?" I said sure and ordered a side of fries and fried okra. She said it would be only about five minutes and I explained I had a pup in the car and would be waiting outside. She said a text would inform me when the food was ready. This worked out wonderfully for me, I don't like leaving Otis alone for too long. In right around five minutes a text came in informing me the food was ready and I went back in to grab it. She had it on the counter for me and as I approached she opened the container with a big smile. As you can see the shrimp looked amazing. I think it is awesome to see when people really care about the product they are putting out and they certainly did at A&A. I was asked what sauces I wanted and the house Boom Boom sauce was suggested. So I did get one of those along with cocktail and tartar.

    Where I had planned for us to walk for the day was only a 13 minute drive, but I felt the food would be best if we ate it right away. We went to a little spot I don't think many people use by the Santee Town Hall on Brooks Blvd. It is a quiet area by the water tower and has a small pavilion with tables and public restrooms. I got things set up and Otis and I started digging in.

    The shrimp were outstanding! I think Otis thought so too. They were large, plump and lightly breaded, exactly the way I like fried shrimp. They were enough to be a meal on their own, but I wanted to try the sides. Both the fries and okra were good, in all though I think this was way too much fried food for both Otis and I. He did get to try everything and had his share of shrimp. The recommended Boom Boom sauce had a little bit of heat and nicely complemented both the shrimp and fries. The cocktail sauce had a good horseradish kick to it, so it was clear that it was house made too.   

    If you are traveling 95 or visiting the Santee area and want Seafood, this is the place to go. If you bring your pup, where Otis and I ate is just a minute down the road. If you decide to do the walk as well, I would suggest doing that first. If you don't have a dog, eat in. There is little better than fresh seafood strait from the kitchen. I did not take any photos of the inside of A&A because there were customers eating and for these blog posts I am trying to respect the businesses and their patrons. 

A&A Seafood Shack

505 Bass Dr.

Santee, SC 29142

Indian Bluff Recreation Park

    From Santee, Indian Bluff Recreation Park is about ten miles down Old Number Six Highway. It is a small park nestled on the shores of Lake Marion and for its size has a lot to offer. In the summer this is a great place to take Otis for a cool down swim, but on weekends it can get crowded and anywhere on Lake Marion, there can be alligators! We made a brief stop at the beach area on the main lake before going into the park. Currently the lake level is high, so not much of the beach is exposed. There are steps that go down to the water and swimming is allowed, but there are no lifeguards. 

    While we were stopped at the beach this Osprey was hunting. Osprey eat fish and are exceptionally good at finding at catching them. This individual is flapping to stay in place while watching the water. When you see one doing this, watch and wait, it means they may see a fish and a dive may be coming. In this case the Osprey lost interest in what it was looking at and moved on down the lake. This area has a very healthy Osprey population and as you will see a little further down, they are currently on nests. 

    From the beach we drove down to the main parking area. There you can go to the main lake, fishing pier and the picnic area or down the boardwalk on through a forested area. Otis and I started by going out to the main lake. This is the fishing pier, one of the nicest public ones on Lake Marion. Unfortunately, if you are a fisherman, the park closes at 5 in the winter, 7 in the summer, so night fishing is not possible here.  

    From the pier we walked strait back across the parking area and down the boardwalk. On the right hand side you pass a small wetland and on the left a cove off of the main lake. This trip Otis and I didn't see much along the boardwalk. Other times of year this can be a great area to see migrating songbirds, some like Prothonatary Warblers even nest around the wetland. 

    At the end of the boardwalk we were greeted with this view of the cove filled with Bald Cypress. Be mindful if you visit this park in the summer with your dog or children, I have seen alligators right at this spot. I do let Otis swim here, but always leashed and in the summer I do wade into the water with him. It is safest to keep your dog out of the water. I recommend if you do want to swim, use the beach on the main lake. Although alligators are still possible there, from what I have seen, they prefer the shallower coves with trees and other vegetation to the deeper, more exposed main lake. Another caution with a dog in this beach area is your dog may find dead fish. One of Otis's greatest joys is finding and rubbing himself on dead fish. Often I forget and it ends up leading to a dog bath when we get home. On this trip he didn't find any. 

   

    Otis looking out and not seeing much of anything out on the water.     

    It was a hot day and he went in to cool down, didn't want to go in far enough for a swim though. I tried taking more photos of him along this walk, but they just didn't come out well. I think after the meal we had he would have much preferred a nap to walking. 

Osprey on Nest in a Bald Cypress

    In the past couple years derelict boats have been showing up in this cove. The year before last, a pontoon boat that was left ended up sinking and slowly broke apart out in the Cypress. Last year this boat and two others appeared. The other boats had warning stickers placed on them, I think by DNR and disappeared. One of which, I found again across the lake at the Potato Creek Marina. There it was being gutted. This one has remained and with some internet sleuthing, I found this boat or at least its owner had an interesting history. According to the Yachting Journal website this boat is owned by Harold Worden or had been. A quick search on that name came up with a court case with links to Santee, SC. The case was Eastman Kodak Co v. Harold Worden and involved industrial espionage with Worden being convicted of interstate transportation of stolen property. Hopefully this boat will be removed soon and won't break up like the one the year before last.      

    

    On our way back the beach, I picked up some trash as Otis walked along side sniffing for other things. He also had a barking match with another dog, which they both seemed to enjoy. After throwing out the trash we called it a day and headed out. If you go to the areas I share in this blog, please be respectful and take out everything you bring in. Indian Bluff is an exceptionally beautiful place that would be a bit better if it wasn't for trash that both washes in and is left behind by visitors. 

Indian Bluff Recreation Park

157 State Rd S-38-1641

Eutawville, SC 29048