Skippers Fish Camp, Darien, Georgia

 

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."

Virginia Woolf

Just a short mile off Interstate I-95 in south eastern Georgia is Skippers Fish Camp, an amazing restaurant in the charming town of Darien, Georgia. This is our must stop when we are traveling back and forth to Florida. This restaurant is known for its fresh seafood, crab soup, shrimp and oysters. They also serve a wonderful variety of smoked meats if you are not a seafood person. The ribs looked fantastic as the meat was just falling off the bone. Delicious.

Joe and I spent a wonderful weekend in Darien and started off our weekend by having a scrumptious lunch at Skippers and then ended the weekend with having a nice dinner there. When we arrived in Darien at lunchtime, the first place we stopped was our favorite restaurant. This special restaurant is a two for one restaurant. One side is the casual Oyster Bar, which has outside seating on a deck overlooking the Darien River and inside seating with great views, while on the other side of the deck, is more formal dinner restaurant. For lunch that day, we ate inside the Oyster Bar section.

We were greeted by the hostess who led us to a table inside with a great view of the Darien River. We had hoped to have been able to eat outside on the covered patio but it was full up when we arrived. We noticed a few happy dogs sitting with their owners on the patio while enjoying their meal. So this place is Fido friendly if you sit outside on the patio. As we went to to sit down, we noticed a shrimp boat coming in for the day and parking on the dock just outside the restaurant. Yes, we looked like tourist jumping out of our seats to get a good picture as it pulled into dock. What a lovely site.

Our waiter came and gave us our menus and took our drink order. The menu had some great choices and after deciding, I ordered blackened shrimp and Joe ordered the Mahi Mahi plate. Our typical routine is to each order a different meal so we can split it and get a taste of several items. While we sat there enjoying our drink, we looked around the restaurant and were amazed by all the interesting artifacts on the walls and ceiling. Their was a huge 11’ mounted alligator above the patio doors, the skin of a large rattlesnake, a wild boar, a few deer, antlers, turkey, birds, beaver, an unknown entity, and multiple other stuffed critters.

Back in the 1800’s, the location of this restaurant was a lumber mill. Now this restaurant is owned by four older gentlemen who got together as friends and said let’s open a restaurant. And as they say jokingly, they should have known better. These four friends, Charlie Williams, a restaurateur, Jimmy Parker, resort management, Ken Tollison, businessman, and Michael Thomas, a local contractor got together and decided to jump in head first and create this unique place. It had been a their dream and by seeing the amount of people who stop here, I believe their dream was fulfilled. They did a great job and have made this restaurant a great destination to stop.

The flooring was made of hand-cut bricks that was recovered from a demolished 1940’s building in middle Georgia. During the days when Darien was known for its lumber business, many timber planks floated down the river and were collected. They got the milled timbers that were salvaged from the Oglethorpe Hotel, when it closed, in Brunswick, Georgia, refinished them, and used them for their flooring and tables.

Our food came out and as you can see it was wonderful. Their is nothing like having fresh seafood that is made to order and cooked perfectly. We relaxed and enjoyed our meal and drink and lingered awhile taking in the scenery. After we finished, we walked out to the large deck. Between the two restaurants, they have built a turtle pond. It was great fun watching them swim around and try climbing up the fake turtles in the tank as well as each other. On the deck, was a very large chair with the name of the restaurant on it as a picture prop as it would make an adult look tiny while sitting on it.

The deck had great views of the river and moored shrimp boats. It was so peaceful standing on the dock listening to the sea birds call out as they sailed overhead. Many people were relaxing on the deck on this lovely day. There was a Corn Hole game set up for anyone who wanted to play. Next to the formal restaurant was a small, private sitting area with a small garden.

On our last night in Darien, we stopped by again and this time ate in the more formal restaurant. We had another great meal and service. We once again were thrilled with our meal. They never disappoint here. We would highly recommend this place. If you are driving nearby, stop in and give them a try. They are located at 86 Screven Street, Darien, Georgia. Check them out: www.skippersfishcamp.com.

You will be glad you stopped. Enjoy your visit and bon appetit. Till next time. Bye for now.