Michael Perry halves the pan-seared scallop then layers it with sautéed spinach, oven-roasted tomato, crispy bacon, and the top scallop half before finishing it with a sweet-and-spicy Thai glaze.
Since Perry created the scallop BLT eight years ago, he’s never added it to the official menu of Parrot’s on Eleventh, his Morehead City restaurant on Eleventh Street. Still, “it’s what we’re known for,” he says. “We serve it every single night.”
Located waterside on Shepard Street, Big Rock Landing is the site of the longstanding Big Rock Tournament. photograph by Bluefin Artistry, Courtesy of Downtown Morehead City, Inc.
Parrot’s is known for its intimate appeal — the space alone is within a historic home with cozy dining spaces — and its seafood specialties. “We’re a small restaurant and have no freezers, so we order fish fresh almost every day.”
Here in Downtown Morehead City, getting fresh fish is no problem. It all comes down to people who cherish their natural resources — and look out for each other. Perry was born and raised three blocks from Parrot’s. Except for a brief stint attending the Culinary Institute of America in New York City, he’s always been right here. “I love the water. I can smell it about 200 to 300 miles before I get to it,” he laughs. “This is a very heavy fishing community, and we’re lucky because we’ve created relationships with the local fishermen and have access to great seafood.”
Different preparations of local shrimp shine at restaurants throughout Morehead City, like the shrimp napoleon at Floyd’s 1921. photograph by Bluefin Artistry, Courtesy of Downtown Morehead City, Inc.
Sammy Boyd, the owner of Morehead City’s Southern Salt restaurant, explains why North Carolina is a key player in the country’s seafood industry: “Think about all the rivers, sounds, creeks, and tributaries we have access to. There’s so much spawning ground in our marshlands and inland waterways,” he says. “We naturally have big habitats for major fish to flourish.”
From triggerfish, wahoo, mahi, red snapper, grouper, and Spanish and king mackerel in the Atlantic Ocean to the in-shore spot, trout, Atlantic croaker, and blue fish, North Carolina waters have made fishing towns like Morehead City a force to be reckoned with.
The Sanitary has been an iconic spot to experience Morehead City’s fishing culture since 1938. Take a seat at the window and watch boats pass through Harbor Channel as you munch on a basket of hush puppies. photograph by Bluefin Artistry, Courtesy of Downtown Morehead City, Inc.
Boyd would know. “I started working in a fish house when I was young — unloading boats, cleaning and packing the fish. When I was eight, I started buying and selling it. Then I did commercial fishing and selling to the restaurants. I was a one-man band: fisherman, middleman, and processor.”
On the dock just outside Southern Salt, five 60-foot charter boats are docked alongside a 90-foot shrimp boat. “A lot of what they catch goes to New York, New Jersey; a lot is headed to Charleston,” Boyd says.
Before or after a day on the water, boaters and fishermen dock their boats at Morehead Gulf Dock for fuel and tackle supplies. photograph by Bluefin Artistry, Courtesy of Downtown Morehead City, Inc.
And a lot goes directly into Southern Salt’s kitchen. “We bring fresh, local product to the table,” Boyd says. “Mahi is one of my big sellers — mahi and shrimp. Flounder is big, too. People love our steamed oysters and bacon-wrapped scallops.”
Boyd still fishes, cleans, and packs his fish. It means a lot to him that he can serve a chemical-free product to his customers. “If it comes right out of the water and straight to the table, no preservatives enter into the equation.”
Rise and shine! The dawn of a new day brings a sense of anticipation to venture out and see what’s biting. photograph by Bluefin Artistry, Courtesy of Downtown Morehead City, Inc.
Terrell Gould grew up fishing on his father’s boat, the Mattie G II. “I am one of the last ones down here who grew up learning the trade without using a Loran or a GPS,” he says. “Fishing was a lot harder back then.”
Prior to the 1960s, he remembers his dad holding up an Apelco flasher — just a row of flashing lights. “The bottom lights would flash to signify the bottom of the ocean. If anything flashed between that, we knew there were fish beneath the boat.”
According to Gould, “North Carolina is blessed with more life bottom — meaning coral or granite or shipwrecked surfaces that the fish hang out and live on — between Cape Lookout and Cape Fear than any other state. You’ve got blue marlins, sailfish, white marlins, wahoo, dolphin, tuna, several different varieties of mackerel, bluefish, and 30 to 40 different species of bottom fish.”
For an authentic taste of Morehead City’s fishing culture, join Terrell Gould on a charter fishing trip aboard the
Carolina Princess. photograph by Bluefin Artistry, Courtesy of Downtown Morehead City, Inc.
Today, he shares the wonders of the area’s fishing scene with all levels of anglers aboard his boat, the Carolina Princess, a 95-foot fishing boat docked along Downtown Morehead City’s waterfront. They’ll cast lines for black bass, vermillion snapper, grouper, wahoo, dolphin, or mackerel.
“I’ve seen first-timers out-fish the experts,” Gould laughs. “What I’ve found over the years is that it’s a very simple process. Fishing is an equal-opportunity experience. You put your bait down, wait for a bite, and reel it in.”
Any time of day, fishing boats lined along the Morehead City Waterfront are poised to take their captains and crews out to see what’s biting. photograph by Bluefin Artistry, Courtesy of Downtown Morehead City, Inc.
It’s impossible for Rodney Kemp, 78, to separate Morehead City’s commercial fishing heritage from the menhaden business.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but the Union army that was stationed here during the war between the states first discovered the menhaden fish,” Kemp says. “They didn’t eat it; they used the oil and the skin to make things. The people of Carteret County learned that it could be lucrative.”
By the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, three menhaden processing plants stood just across the street from the location of today’s hospital. The smell was putrid. Horrific. “Tremendous,” he remembers. As a child, Kemp lived just down the street from one of those plants. “You never get used to the smell. In fact, when they built the Morehead City hospital in 1965, they had to have air conditioning and double-paned windows. The stink alone would kill you if you were in the hospital.”
Working on menhaden boats or in menhaden factories was hard. “But it was lucrative,” Kemp says. “Around here, they called it ‘the smell of money.’”
Those with smaller watercraft can launch their boat from Conchs Point at the edge of Bay Street. photograph by Bluefin Artistry, Courtesy of Downtown Morehead City, Inc.
The last of the menhaden factories, Beaufort Fishers, closed in 2005. Today, the building has been transformed into a restaurant that, like Southern Salt and Parrot’s on Eleventh, stands as a testament to the area’s continued success as a seafood lover’s paradise. And whether you’re here to eat it or catch it, it doesn’t take long before the same water that nurtures the fish starts to nurture you, too.
“I love the water and the sun and the beaches, and I’ve got it all right here,” Boyd says. “I can’t think of nowhere I’d rather be but where I grew up.”
If you’re curious to dive into the culture of the local watermen and the delicious end results, book a fishing charter and make plans to visit the many local restaurants in Downtown Morehead City. Click here to learn more about how to experience this coastal community.
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