Fried Oysters

Drain oysters, and dry thoroughly between paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roll in cornmeal or fine cracker crumbs. Deep-fry in fat at 365° to 375° until brown. Drain on paper towel.

Scalloped Oysters

½ cup cracker crumbs
½ cup butter, melted
1 pint oysters
1 cup fine bread crumbs
salt, pepper, and paprika to taste

Combine ¼ cup cracker crumbs and ¼ cup melted butter in a shallow, greased baking dish. Spread evenly in a thin layer. Cover with half of the oysters, and season to taste. Make a second layer of cracker crumbs and melted butter. Cover with remaining oysters, season, and top with bread crumbs. Moisten with oyster liquor. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes.

Oyster Cocktail Sauce

10 teaspoons oyster liquor
½ cup tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 drop Tabasco sauce
2 lemons, juiced
Salt to taste

Combine ingredients, and refrigerate. Serve chilled. Pour over oysters or on the side.

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Even the most seasoned beachcomber is excited and pleased to find a whole, intact sand dollar on the beach. A common sand dollar is another name for a particular type of “flattened” sea urchin. The common sand dollar is found in the Northern Hemisphere in temperate and tropical waters. On a good day at Ocean Isle, Sunset or Holden Beach, you might find many sand dollars ranging in size from one to approximately four inches in diameter.

Sand dollars live on sandy or muddy flat areas of the ocean floor in shallow water near land. They often live in colonies. Female sand dollars release eggs that are fertilized externally. Interestingly, the newly hatched larvae can clone themselves as a means of self-defense. If threatened, they can double their numbers by halving their size, thereby lessening the chance of being detected. The larvae go through a few stages of development before forming an external skeleton that houses the animal’s internal organs. The skeleton is called a “test” and it is this sun-bleached skeleton that beachcombers find. If you find a sand dollar that is brownish and covered with short, dark, fur-like spines, the animal is alive and should not be removed from the beach.

A live sand dollar’s spines are covered with small hairs called “cilla.” By moving the cilla and spines, sand dollars are able to move across the sea beds in which they live. Mature sand dollars have few predators and can live up to ten years.

Beachcombers are most likely to find sand dollars at low tide, especially after a storm. The sun-bleached shells will be extremely fragile and will crumble or break easily. To preserve the sand dollars that you bring home, rinse them several times in fresh water, then soak them for 15 minutes in a water/bleach solution. When the sand dollars are dry, carefully paint them with a mixture that is half water and half white glue. The glue solution will make them less likely to break. Your beautiful sand dollars will last a long time if treated with care.

The Museum of Coastal Carolina has several sand dollars in its extensive shell collection. You can also see and handle live sea urchins in the museum’s touch tank. Through May 23 the museum is open on Friday and Saturday from 10:00 to 4:00. Admission is free for museum members. Non-member all-day admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students, $4 for ages 3-4, and free for ages 2 and under. For more information, call 910-579-1016 or visit www.MuseumPlanetarium.org.

When now owner Louis Moore Bacon bought Orton Plantation he may not have known exactly how much work was in store for him when he sought to restore the classic rice plantation from the early turn of the previous century. He recently took a reporter and some of the restoration crew on a tour of the property he is hoping to turn into a new long-leaf pine eco system. Here are a few photos from that trip:

The number of visitors to DuPont State Recreational Forest this year hit 327,000 at the end of October, a historical high, and forest officials said attendance shows no sign of easing up anytime soon.

Publicity surrounding its mountain biking trails, waterfalls and a role in the filming of the popular “Hunger Games” movie has drawn in thousands.

Initial results of a 2012 exit poll conducted by DuPont rangers showed half of roughly 900 visitors surveyed were from North Carolina, 21 percent from South Carolina, 9 percent from Florida and 5 percent from Georgia. But rangers were surprised to find that about 2 percent of DuPont visitors were from California, while other groups came from as far away as China, Great Britain and the Ukraine.

The March premiere of “The Hunger Games” — and subsequent DVD release in August — lured hundreds more visitors hoping to see where star Jennifer Lawrence, who played “Katniss,” crossed Triple Falls and plunged into a pool below Bridal Veil Falls.

Brevard-based Hunger Games Fan Tours sold out all of its main-season events and were half-full for November. Bookings for 2013 tours have already begun filling up.

A second movie, “Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” will wrap up filming next month in Hawaii after shooting scenes this fall near Atlanta. Rangers predict interest in the filming locations — including DuPont — will remain strong among “Hunger Games” fans for years to come.

While good for tourism-related businesses, increased visitation at DuPont isn’t without its downsides. Growing pains at the forest include damage to stream banks and trails from heavy foot traffic, parking lots that regularly overflow onto roadsides and greater numbers of accidents.

In 2006, the forest recorded 20 incidents such as lost hikers, injured tourists and car accidents. In the first eight months of this year alone, there were double that amount, including 13 traumas and five search and rescues.

A blaze burned down an iconic Calabash restaurant October 22^nd, leaving the structure ruined and forcing the eatery to close its doors at least for the foreseeable future.

Beck’s Restaurant, at the corner of River Road and Beach Drive Southwest, caught flame around 10pm.

Beck’s was the first restaurant in Calabash. Known for the Calabash-style seafood we all know and love, it was an original piece of Calabash history that burned that night.

The exact cause of the blaze is officially undetermined, but it is believed it occurred when a smoldering electric wire in a false roof at the rear of the building caught flame.

Beck’s was founded in 1940 by Ruth Beck, a member of the family that invented the lightly battered, deep-fried manner of cooking seafood that later became synonymous with Calabash. Beck’s was a family owned and run business that has been in the family for decades.

The current structure was swapped with where a portion of the parking lot sits now, and has been added to throughout the years. Town officials said losing the restaurant could have a negative effect on Calabash’s economy.

There are six Calabash-style seafood restaurants in the town, down from 23 at one point but losing another one would be a major hit to the Calabash economy.

The family doesn’t plan for the restaurant to be closed for very long, though. They plan to have it reopened by Easter.

Five fire companies responded to the blaze – Calabash, Grissettown, Horry County (S.C.), Ocean Isle Beach, Sunset Beach, Shallotte and Waccamaw provided backup coverage while those companies fought the fire. The companies battled the fire for nearly an hour and a half, continuing to put out hot spots throughout the night.