RABBIT TRAIL... (forgive the photos.. they were taken with phones. so the quality is not quite as good as our others). 
Pam, Lisa & I went  to Georgia for some errands. While there, we stopped in Hartwell beside Lake Hartwell to eat at the Swamp Guinea. This is a fish camp, much like the ones we grew up with around here. There aren't many of these left anymore unfortunately cause they sure were good eatin'. This place don't look like much from the outside, but the food portions are extremely generous, with many all you can eat selections, the sides are family style and the layout is like a big summer camp.. with long tables. Nothing fancy. And the food is served on Styrofoam plates. 

INSIDE THE SWAMP GUINEA

Their menu is very extensive. They have every kind of seafood you could want. Plus Fried Chicken, County Ham, Brunswick Stew (what is that ?). The BEST sweet tea in five counties.

We had a fabulous waitress who was just as friendly and down to earth as could be. Just good folks.. you could tell.She talked and joked with us and even let us take her picture. We told her we were going to put her on EHarmony.... 

JOYCE OUR FABULOUS WAITRESS


We each ordered something different. Pam ordered the Fried Chicken platter. It came with baked potato, salad, hushpuppies.The daggone platter was like half a chicken!! but their Fried Chicken is out of this world good. It is way too much for one person to eat though. You can get a doggie bag for anything you cannot eat. 

FRIED CHICKEN PLATTER

Lisa ordered the Fried Flounder Platter. Again.. tons of food. Salad, Baked potato, hushpuppies. Her fish looked yummy and she said it was too. She ate half of it before we could get the picture made!!

FRIED FLOUNDER PLATTER - AFTER LISA ATE HALF 

I made the mistake of ordering the All you Can Eat Shrimp. Little did I realize it came with slaw, hushpuppies- which is fine. BUT!! It also came with French Fries (the big meaty ones.. need I say more?), Country Ham, Brunswick Stew, Catfish, Perch, Boiled Shrimp, Fried Popcorn Shrimp, Fried chicken and I think that's all!! Can you believe it!!! They should have called it the All You can Try to Eat and forgot the Shrimp part. Well needless to say.. I could not eat it all nor even a good bit of it. I put the fries to the side.. gave Pam the boiled shrimp cause I don't like cold shrimp, ate some of the ham, which was really good. I also ate the piece of Fried Chicken.. YUMMY!!, a piece of the perch. ( OK, a bit dry), none of the catfish, most of the slaw ( great slaw!), only a couple of the hushpuppies ( they were really dry and bland this time - almost like they forgot to put something in them), tasted the Brunswick stew ( Yuck), ate most of the popcorn shrimp. 

With the AYCE plates, you cannot get a doggie bag. I asked Joyce what they would do with all that leftover food and she said they just toss it. Well, if that bothers you like it bothered us don't get the AYCE platters. You get just as much food on the regular platters and the cost is the same. 

If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell? We snuck out two pieces of the catfish in Pam's pocketbook. I fed it to my big dogs. They loved it. 

THE DISHES JUST GO ON AND ON....




On the way down, we stopped at a couple of thrift stores and flea markets. You KNOW I just can't pass those up. Here is one that Pam particularly liked.  She even found a treasure in there she couldn't pass up. 

THE DOGHOUSE AND THRIFT STORE IN MARTIN, GA

If you ever find yourself down in Hartwell, Ga. do stop in at the Swamp Guinea. It is worth the stop. Good basic seafood. And sweet tea that will make you think of wide, covered porches with trailing vines of honeysuckle climbing the porch posts up to the second story, cool summer breezes in the evening that carry the voices of the whippoorwills across the hills, and easy, carefree days when all you had to do was play in the  creek.