Big Al's BBQ and Grill with a Walk Over the 301 Bridge

Big Al's BBQ and Grill

      Today's trip was local for us and the food was at a newer establishment that I have been to several times now. Big Al's BBQ in Summerton, SC quickly became my favorite place to eat in the area. The food is fresh and top notch quality. Unlike my previous posts, where I didn't know what to expect, I knew in advance that Otis and I were getting a good meal. I went in to order a Pork BBQ Sandwich with a side of fries and greens. I was told there were no greens today, but they did have green beans. I reluctantly went with the green beans and I will talk about those more down the page. 

    Big Al's does the pork BBQ on Friday and Saturdays. The meat is right off the pig and this sandwich is messy, but absolutely stupendous. You have the option to get it with or without skin on the side. I highly recommend you get the skins. If you have a pup like Otis with you, set one piece of skin to the side for them, then peal back that bun and put the rest on top of the meat. It adds a layer of flavor with a crunch and makes this sandwich really stand out from other SC BBQ I have had. The other thing I really like about this specific sandwich is that the mustard base BBQ sauce is just added to the top, not mixed in with the meat. You get the taste of the sauce, but it doesn't hide the juicy meat flavor on the bottom. Otis likes this too because I can easily remove unsauced meat from the bottom for him. 

    Typically, I am not a fan of green beans, Otis is not a fan of green beans. What I ate today were not typical green beans. These are heaven in a cup and something you have to try for yourself. I gave Otis two and he scarfed them down. I went to give him some more and he was so eager he clamped down on my fingers. He never gets this excited for food. He really enjoyed licking out the bottom of this cup as well.  

    After he bit me with the green beans, I decided to give the rest of his sandwich portion to him in the container. We both really enjoyed this meal. If you are in Summerton on a Friday or Saturday, stop by Big Al's for a BBQ sandwich! It is definitely the spot to go in the area. It is open others days of the week, but with a more limited menu. 

Big Al's BBQ and Grill

2 Cole St

Summerton, SC 29148

Walking the 301 Bridge

    

    The original plan for today was to walk the 301 bridge in the morning, head to Big Al's to pick up lunch and go back to the bridge to eat. Most of the plan worked out, but I had to do some things in between and by late afternoon on a Saturday there were just too many people around the picnic area for me and Otis to eat and take photos for the blog. So we did eat Big Al's at the bridge, but at the upper parking lot in the grass. As you can see, the bridge does have a nice new picnic area, which is great for a meal outside.

    We started our walk just after 7:30 this morning trying to beat the sun. I would not recommend this walk for a pup on a hot and sunny day. It is full sun and the pavement does get hot. My other dog caution would be that I have seen alligators right along the shore by the pavilion and small beach area, so just be aware and it is best to keep dogs away from the water. We set out to walk the entire length of the bridge and back. Round trip it is approximately 3.7 miles. It is a flat easy walk with one small incline at the other side of the bridge. 

        There can be a lot to see along this old roadway right next to route 95. I particularly like this spot for bird watching and the species you will find here will change throughout the year. Currently we are in migration and still have some of the migratory winter residents around, but most of those are heading north and birds that have flown as far as South America are starting to make their way back to the area. This particular section will have a variety of warblers in the coming weeks and often has Painted Buntings when they return for the summer. 

    This Common Loon that flew over us is one of the winter residents that will soon be flying north to nest and raise young. Currently around Lake Marion you may spot them on the water or even hear their calls. It makes me nervous photographing large birds at this angle, you never know when they are going to go, even in flight and I do imagine I will get hit sometime.

    A variety of flowers, both native and non-native can be seen along the old roadway. Above is Trumpet Creeper a native flower that attracts Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and other native pollinators. You may not think of birds as pollinators, but they accomplish this just like many insects. When feeding on the flower they will bump the flowers anthers collecting a bit of pollen and moving on to the next flower can bump and deposit the pollen in the flowers stigma, which can lead to fertilization. Unfortunately, there are also highly invasive non-native flowering plants along this section of trail including Japanese Honeysuckle and Wisteria. These often overgrown and outcompete native flowers.

    This isn't the greatest photo, but shows you never know what you are going to see when you are out just looking for anything. After a couple loons had flown over I had thought this was another one, it was a good distance when I spotted it and this is a cropped image. When I started going through my photos at home I realized it was not another loon, but a Willet. These shorebirds can be found year round along the coast here, but some do migrate to two distinct nesting populations, one in the Northeast and one in the Northwest. This could possibly be a migrating western Willet, it was heading in that direction, or it could just be an individual that is a little lost. It was nice to see something I hadn't seen at this location before. 

    For the majority of the walk it was overcast. Otis did pretty well, by the end I think it was a little too hot for him. We did make several water stops for him. I would highly recommend taking water and sunscreen if you decide to do this walk. Even on overcast mornings like this it can clear up in a matter of minutes and you can be stuck far from the start in the blazing sun. 

    Although there were a number of Swallows flying around this was the only Tree Swallow and the only one landed. It is likely making its way on migration and was just exhausted. 

    On this walk Cliff Swallows were the most prevalent species of swallow, they will construct mud nests underneath the bridge. This Cliff Swallow I observed hitting the water several times. They will fly down and skim the water surface for a drink, but in this case it looked like it was hitting the water with its body. It may be getting itself wet, then flying to a patch of dirt and using the water to make mud. This is just speculation on my part, but would make sense. The way you can distinguish a Cliff Swallow from similar species like Barn is by the white/cream colored forehead and the tail is flat. Barn Swallows, which were also flying around have a heavily forked tail.  

    Otis kept his head down sniffing for most of the walk, but for me some of the views of the lake are just expansive and beautiful. The channel marker in this photo is the same as the next photo.

    Ospreys have been on their nests now for weeks here. I thought they would be sitting on the nests or spending most of their time fishing for their young. This one though was still nest building. I watched it two times bring sticks from the lakeshore and place them on the nest. 

    The same Osprey bringing one of the sticks back to the nest. You do need binoculars to get a good look at this nest, but this is a perfect location to observe a nest from a safe distance. It isn't often where an Osprey nest is in a location where you can observe it from above. If you want to see just the nest and not do the full walk you can park on the Santee side of the bridge and walk out to the top of the arch for this view.  

We made it to the Santee side and it was time to turn back.

 

    Otis would just like you to know that the bridge is just a walking and bike path now. Do not try driving across, if you look behind him you can see why.

    

The view from the top of the arch. The Osprey nest is on the left side, two more can be seen on the other side of 95 on the right, they are on electrical towers. 

    We didn't see too much new on the return. The skies cleared up and we did go a bit faster to beat the heat. Two Royal Terns did fly over, but otherwise is was the same as the way out. 

    I am still getting back into the swing of things blogging again. I think I will be keeping the format of food first, then the walk, even if like in today's post the walk actually came first. I am trying to get the blogs done the same day as I do the walk, but I think most, like this one will be posted the day after. I hope if you are reading, you are enjoying and that this may be giving some of you ideas for nice day trips with some food and a walk.  

301 Bridge (Clarendon side)

9000 St Paul Rd.

Summerton, SC 29148