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The colonial seaport town gets a hotel and restaurant combo full of sweet homages to the community

February 29, 2024 Updated March 1, 2024

For over eighty years, a family-owned seafood market called Independent Seafood operated on Front Street in the colonial seaport town of Georgetown, South Carolina, serving fresh shrimp and fish to the community daily. Last year, it closed its doors—but two weeks ago, a new restaurant opened bearing their name, housed in a new hotel, the George, that opens today.

“We wanted to be thoughtful about the history and the fabric of the community,” says Steve Palmer, the founder of Indigo Road, the hospitality group behind the new spot. “There’s certainly sadness when a local business like that closes, and we decided the best way to honor them was to call the restaurant the Independent.” The menu reflects the market’s history, too: Raw offerings like littleneck clams and oysters abound, plus larger plates including blackened flounder with a lump crab and andouille sausage perlo. “That blackened flounder is the best-selling dish in the two weeks we’ve been open,” Palmer says. “And the fried crab fingers are my other favorite.”

The hotel itself, with fifty-six rooms, features its own set of homages to Georgetown and the surrounding area; Charleston designer Jenny Keenan wanted to incorporate the history of the town and the environment into every detail. “We all wanted something that blended into the town and the landscape,” she says. “Pecky cypress wood was non negotiable. So were sweetgrass baskets and local art.” Below, look inside the hotel and the restaurant.

ANDREW CEBULKA

“I always love to see the sweetgrass huts along Highway 17 as I drive from Charleston to Georgetown,” Keenan says. The team commissioned local Angela Manigault to make two large baskets to hang on the hotel wall as a nod to the regional art form.

ANDREW CEBULKA

A seating area at the end of the hotel’s first-floor corridor features poppy patterns, a colorful tapestry from India, and framed insects. “Living with birds and butterflies and alligators is part of being in an area with so much greenspace,” Keenan says. “I added touches of the flora and fauna wherever I could.”

ANDREW CEBULKA

From the lobby, guests can peek into the Independent and at a commissioned piece featuring a flying bull and fish. “We wanted the restaurant to feel distinct from the hotel,” Keenan says. “It has a nautical, throwback vibe, with merlot-colored walls and blues.”

Inside the Independent, the bar area features layered textures of leather, wood, and marble.

In the back hallway, this seating area incorporates a collection of found pieces. “We wanted it to feel old, so these items are from antique stores and flea markets,” Keenan says. The team dubbed the portrait of the woman Eliza, after Eliza Lucas Pinkney, an influential historical figure who brought indigo to the area—and they borrowed her name for the outdoor bar, as well.

The cypress wood paneling and floor covers the first-floor corridor, providing a backdrop for a whimsical piece of an alligator and mermaid by Charleston artist David Boatwright.

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On the way to the hotel elevators from the lobby, guests pass under an archway, one of Keenan’s favorite structural details. “I wanted it to feel like you are walking through a forest,” she says.

Keenan also wanted the hotel to have an English feel, so she selected patterned wallpaper—in dark blue as a nod to the importance of the indigo industry to the area.

GEORGETOWN, SC (WMBF) - Aviation and history enthusiasts are in Georgetown this weekend to get an up-close look at one of two B-29 planes left in the world.

The aircraft was built in 1944 and named the B-29 Doc. On Thursday morning over 200 people got to see the aircraft take off and land at the Georgetown County Airport.

The Executive Director of B-29 Doc Josh Wells said this is a unique opportunity for everyone.

“Everyone can see airplanes overhead and a lot of times you can even touch things in museums, that’s different here, we want people to get up close and experience history while we learn about the greatest generation,” said Wells.

People had the opportunity to climb into the cockpit and see the 80-year-old plane. Some folks even came from out of state, like Warner Tedesco who traveled from New Jersey.

“It’s special when you consider there’s only two examples of this that are flying and there’s not gonna be a third,” said Tedesco.

Tedesco was far from being the only aviation enthusiast at the county airport today. His friend, Dave Callahan, lives in the Myrtle Beach area and also came to see the B-29.

“We’ve both kind of followed it from restoration up and getting just to see it airworthy and landing here so close to home, it’s special,” said Callahan.

Georgetown County Airport Manager, Jim Taylor, said this is part of celebrating South Carolina Aviation Week.

It’s the first time the airport has celebrated since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You do community events, you get community out here, they get excited about the airport,” said Taylor. “There’s a lot of people in town who don’t even know Georgetown County has an airport.”

Taylor said outside of expanding tourism at the airport they’re also hoping to expand the amount of businesses that operate there.

He said they’re currently working on plans to attract distribution centers for companies like UPS, FedEx, or Amazon.

“Any business, any aviation business, we’re looking at it as purely economic development, not only the investment somebody’s gonna make, but the jobs they’re gonna create,” said Taylor.

The plane will be making more flights on Saturday at the Georgetown County Airport and people will have the opportunity to fly in the plane, but Taylor said tickets are almost sold out.

Copyright 2024 WMBF. All rights reserved.

These Covid tracking pages are no longer being updated. Get the latest information from the Centers for Disease Control, or find archived data from The Times’s three year reporting effort here.

An updated vaccine is recommended for adults and most children. Statewide, 7% of vaccinations did not specify a home county.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notes: The hospitals map shows the average I.C.U. occupancy at nearby hospitals in the most recent week with data reported. The data is self-reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by individual hospitals. It excludes counts from hospitals operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service. Numbers for hospitalized patients are based on inpatient beds and include I.C.U. beds. Hospitalized Covid-19 patients include both confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients. The C.D.C. stopped reporting data on cases in May 2023.

How trends have changed in Georgetown County

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notes: Weekly county death data prior to Jan. 2021 was not reported by the C.D.C. and is sourced from reporting by The New York Times. Hospitalization data is a weekly average of Covid-19 patients in hospital service areas that intersect with Georgetown County. Hospitalization numbers early in the pandemic are undercounts due to incomplete reporting by hospitals to the federal government.

Historical trends in Georgetown County

The data in these charts has been archived and they are no longer being updated.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data in these charts has been archived and they are no longer being updated. Weekly county case data prior to Jan. 2021 was not reported by the C.D.C. and is sourced from reporting by The New York Times. The C.D.C. stopped reporting data on cases in May 2023. Test positivity data is based only on test results reported to the federal government and is a seven-day average.

Georgetown is the epicenter of a culinary explosion, according to event organizer and restaurant owner Greg Metcalfe.

“It’s about to get really crazy with The Independent (inside The George Hotel) and Frank’s on Front coming onto the scene,” he said, also citing Winyah Brewing Company, which is set to open its new facility on King Street.

And there’s much more on the horizon.

Metcalfe is a chef and co-owner of Georgetown’s SoCo Grille and SoCo Wood Fired Pizza. He also serves on the board of the Georgetown Business Association, the organization behind the festival.

“As we grow each year, we are seeing a lot of community involvement from the city to volunteers to businesses wanting to sponsor the event,” Metcalfe said. “(It’s) a lot different from the first year when we were scared to death it would be a flop. Obviously, it was great for Georgetown and we couldn’t be more excited to be starting our third year.”

This year, expect small plates from more than 20 area restaurants and offerings from local craft microbreweries – with an expanded beer garden and a wine tasting area complete with sommeliers to discuss their offerings.

The event is free to attend and runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Food tokens are $2 (maximum food item piece is 3 tokens). Beer and wine tokens are $6.

Local musical acts such as NTRANZE, The Clean SL8 Band and Whiskey Neat will perform on two stages throughout the day, and a kids zone will keep little ones entertained. Be sure to check out the handiwork of local artisans.

A portion of proceeds benefits Friendship Place, a local charity committed to helping the less fortunate in the area.

Here are some other local events to check out:

IT’S TRIVIAL UNTIL YOU TRY IT

Put your team trivia skills to the test with other like-minded contestants at Local Eat Drink Celebrate gastropub at the Hammock Shops Village in Pawleys Island on Thursday, April 25, from 7 p.m. – 9:15 p.m.

This installment is the third week of the 13th season with “The States That You Moved From” as a theme. Grand prize winner gets a dinner for six with wine pairings created for your team. Teams that compete six out of seven weeks are entered into a drawing for a $100 gift card – with prizes and gift cards awarded weekly.

Call (843) 314-0474 for reservations.

AUTHOR/COMEDIAN SUZANNE PARK VISITS

Meet standup comedian-turned-bestselling-author Suzanne Park on Friday, April 26, at Caffe Piccolo in Pawleys Island.

Park will be on hand to present and to sign her new book, “One Last Word” from 10:45 a.m. – 1 p.m.

As a comedian, Park appeared on BET and was a semifinalist in the NBC showcase, “Stand Up For Diversity.” Her comedic novels have been featured in “best of” lists from NPR, Country Living, Buzzfeed, The Today Show and more.

Tickets are $35 and include an author presentation, meet-and-greet, book signing (available for purchase onsite), lunch, dessert, coffee, tea and water.

For more information, visit www.litchfieldbooks.com

PAUL GRIMSHAW BAND PERFORMS

Paul Grimshaw might well be the hardest working musical performer on the Grand Strand. Whether as a solo act or with his duo or band, he’s been blanketing the Grand Strand area since 2000 – with a jaw-dropping gig schedule and a wide variety of musical covers including classic rock, pop hits, country, oldies and much more.

You can catch The Paul Grimshaw Band May 1 and most Wednesdays at Dead Dog Saloon in Murrells Inlet. Complete your Dead Dog experience with a cold one and choose from a varied menu while enjoying the idyllic setting of the MarshWalk.

Find Dead Dog Saloon at 4079 U.S. Highway 17 Business, Murrells Inlet.

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The George Hotel has opened its doors to welcome guests. The design-forward waterfront property from Indigo Road Hospitality Group and Winyah Hospitality has 56 rooms and suites alongside a full-service restaurant, marina bar and private event spaces, making it the first of its kind on South Carolina’s Hammock Coast.

Georgetown, SC, is a common stopover for boaters traveling the eastern coast and The George offers prime marina access, allowing boaters the opportunity to enjoy the hotel’s amenities, while also providing a port for guests to enjoy excursions, such as fishing and sailing, in Winyah Bay. In addition to on-site activities and events, The George offers a variety of spaces that can be booked for semi-private and private events, including a meeting and event room, outdoor greenspace and bar, Eliza’s, and on-site restaurant, The Independent.

Housing 56 rooms, 42 of which are waterfront, the hotel has been curated by Jenny Keenan Design, which used a collection of vintage European furnishings and custom pieces. The lobby sports two-toned hardwoods and lime-washed plank walls, patterned sofas, wing-backed chairs and "oriental" rugs. The corridor of the first floor displays a large painting of a mermaid and alligator by artist David Boatwright of Charleston.

There are several room types, including two suite variations with living rooms and balconies, the largest being approximately 725 square feet. Each guestroom includes vintage seating and sideboards with custom fabric headboards ranging from detailed chintz to soft pastel stripes. Rooms vary in color scheme, while cypress softwoods stripe the floors and walls of communal spaces.

Located within The George Hotel, The Independent is a seafood restaurant and raw bar paying homage to the community’s former seafood market by the same name. Guests can expect a seasonal menu of Southern-inspired dishes guided by the region’s seafood. Raw offerings such as littleneck clams, peel-and-eat shrimp and oysters on the half shell are complemented by prepared small plates, chef selections and à la carte proteins and sides.

Located on The George’s greenspace, Eliza’s waterfront bar serves as a casual retreat along the Sampit Riverfront with lounge seating and outdoor games. It offers island-inspired cocktails with a small menu of light bites, snacks and a full raw bar, as well. The name serves as tribute to South Carolina’s Eliza Lucas Pickney, who was largely responsible for the indigo crop hitting the map, and the first woman to be inducted into South Carolina’s Business Hall of Fame.

For more information, visit www.thegeorgehotelsc.com.