Shipping Off to Guantanamo Well Fed

Blackstone’s Café
205 Scott St.
Beaufort, South Carolina





If President Obama were kind enough to offer me one final meal before he slapped on the cuffs and exiled me to Guantanamo, it would have to be shrimp & grits.

Nothing beats fresh wild caught American shrimp. And good Southern grits are one of those rare side items perfectly at home on a breakfast, lunch or dinner menu.

In combination, shrimp & grits encourages creativity. Like Mitt Romney’s position on abortion, no two versions are alike.

I’m happy to report, the chef at the Blackstone’s Café here in the heart of South Carolina’s Low Country takes full advantage.

Blackstone’s “Cajun” Shrimp & Grits are LOADED!

Onion. Green Pepper. Red Pepper. Crumbled breakfast sausage. And mounds of melted cheese.

Oh, and a good generous portion of local shrimp buried amid all that goodness and grits.

Whew!

That’s an explosion of flavor in every bite.

My only quibble with my “Cajun” shrimp & grits was with the “Cajun” part. These shrimp & grits need a bit more spice to earn that label.

On the side came a warm golden Southern biscuit which can only be described as buttery perfection.

Of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sample Blackstone’s specialty of the house, homemade corned beef hash.

A mishmash of crispy fried corned beef and potatoes, this is as good as hash can get.

There’s just something about that wonderful textural variety of soft and crunchy corned beef mixed with skillet browned home fries that makes a breakfast like this worth getting up early for.

And trust me, folks here in Beaufort are happy to do just that.

Packed with that classic breakfast joint eclectic mix of hung-over partiers and freshly scrubbed after-churchers, I chose the less crowed, though less interesting, back patio to enjoy my meal.

Though quiet and pleasant on a cool morning, I kind of missed being amid the hub bub inside. Plastered with prep school banners and Marine Corp paraphernalia, Blackstone’s décor reflects its local flavor well.

Just down the road from Paris Island, Blackstone’s Café reflects the conservative pro-military bias of this corner of the Palmetto State.

You’ve got to love a restaurant owner passionate enough about saving America to post the “Tytler Cycle of Democracy” in the men’s room.

The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith
from spiritual faith to great courage
from courage to liberty
from liberty to abundance
from abundance to selfishness
from selfishness to complacency
from complacency to apathy
from apathy to dependency
from dependency back to bondage.

– Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747-1813)

Never mind that no one can actually definitively cite the 18th Century Scottish historian as the originator of this bit of wisdom, but the message stands on its own. Nothing like educating a captive audience!

Unfortunately, Suit757 doesn’t put much stock in the “educate the masses” theory of saving the country. See above about that “apathy” thing.

Too many folks just can’t be educated – even captive with manhood in hand. Much more effective to mobilize the ALREADY educated.

But still, as I paid my tab and walked out the front door, prominently adorned with a “Fair Tax” bumper sticker, I felt good having given patronage to a philosophical soul mate.

I’m pretty sure the owner of Blackstone’s is right up there next to Suit757 at the top of Obama’s political enemies list.

Come to think of it, I’m pretty excited about that. At least we’ll be well fed down in Guantanamo.

Rating: Seriously Thought About Buying Shirt.