All through the Carolina's you'll find restaurants boasting "Calabash Style Seafood." The real thing comes from Calabash, itself, a small town at the North/South Carolina border at the mouth of the Calabash River. Calabash style means seafood that is off-the-boat fresh, lightly battered and fried.

Top of the catch are the shrimp. Tiny shrimp so full of juice they pop in your mouth. Also on the platter above, oysters, clam strips and scallops.

We ended up at Ella's because our favorite Calabash stop and directly across the street, The Calabash Seafood Hut, is closed on Mondays. Now we have two favorites in Calabash.