Successfully vacationed with our 2.5 month old (and my parents and some family friends) at EI last week (despite kind of crappy weather). It was nice to know we could make the long drive from DC and go out to dinner most nights with the baby easily.
Just wanted to report back on the places we ate in case others are interested (although it might not be of use until next summer). This was the 26th year that my family has been to EI, and for the last 15 years probably, we've tended to go out to eat every night, so we've eaten at our share of places from Swansboro to Beaufort and inbetween.
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Crab Shack (Salter Path) - We typically eat here our first and last night, although this year we had to skip the last night due to rain and a wait that was too long with the baby. The food is probably not as good as other places nearby, but it's really nostalgic for us at this point. They serve my favorite hush puppies in the area, and otherwise are pretty typical fried seafood and two sides type place. My mom loves the cats and kittens wandering around outside.
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Riverside Steak and Seafood (Swansboro)- We just added this to our rotation a few years ago and have liked it every year. Great sweet potato muffins that come with their salads (they also have really good house-made dressing). Tried the scallop nachos for the first time this year and would recommend those.
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Cedars Inn (Beaufort) - This was LadyDeacToy's and my date night sans baby and was probably the best meal we had all week. It's the restaurant portion of an old historic inn on Front St in Beaufort. Shrimp and scallops on goat cheese grits. Yum.
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Port of Call (Salter Path)- Was Whidden's Landing for a few years, and now Port of Call. Not my favorite, but not bad. The bar has a really cool map of the island on it.
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McCurdy's (Atlantic Beach) - This has been one of our favorites the last few years, but we were pretty underwhelmed this year for some reason. We did get unlucky and had some cool and drizzly weather (and McCurdy's is at it's best when it's a nice night where you can watch the sunset from the deck), but we also had an overly long wait for a table (was told 25 min and it was more like 45) and then had another overly long wait to get our food after we ordered (another 45+ minutes). Food was ok, but service soured us a bit. We do like their hushpuppies though.
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Saltwater Grill (Swansboro) - My parents asked some locals for a new restaurant rec, and they pointed us to Saltwater Grill. Loved the atmosphere (2nd story with a good view of the water) and service. The food was pretty good too. I think this may make it into our rotation.
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Surfari (Atlantic Beach) - Used to be DJ Shooters, so is pretty new. The inside and the atmosphere are kind of blah, but everyone really liked their food here.
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Yana's (Swansboro) - For the first time ever we ventured out of the house for breakfast. If you go, make sure you go early because it is small and fills up fast (we arrived around 8:30 and got seated right before a big rush). The food is fairly typical diner food, but you have to order the fruit fritters. Basically like fruit-funnel cake. More suited to dessert than breakfast probably, but definitely unique.