FOOD FOR THE SOUL

In just about every place I’ve ever lived and in just about every fictional small town I’ve ever created, there’s always a restaurant where friends gather. In my Chesapeake Shores books and in the TV series on Hallmark Channel, that restaurant is Sally’s, a favorite of the O’Briens. In my Sweet Magnolias books, it’s Wharton’s.

The original Parker’s Crab Shore

Parker’s Crab Shore

And for me, in real-life Colonial Beach, that restaurant is Lenny’s, or as one of my family members insists on calling it, Earlene’s, because that’s the fictional name I used in Amazing Gracie, which she identifies most closely with Colonial Beach.

As in most communities, different crowds gravitate to different restaurants in those early morning hours when coffee and gossip are essential to getting the day off to a good start. It used to be in Colonial Beach, when I needed my plumber, I knew I could find him at Ola’s most mornings.

One group of friends in town, all senior citizens, rotated among the various restaurants for dinner every night. I have no idea if they stuck to the same menu selections, but that routine was rarely varied.

In the very early years seafood was definitely king at most of the local restaurants. People debated over which one had the best crab cake, the best steamed crabs or the best hush puppies on the side. Whatever any individual’s preference, one thing held true: the eateries were all packed with locals and visitors on the weekends.

For years along Monroe Bay Avenue, parking lots were jammed from Dockside at the Colonial Beach Yacht Center at the Point, to Parker’s midway along the bayside road and on to Miller’s Crab Shore at the opposite end. Dockside is still serving dinners and offering weekend entertainment, but Parker’s is gone, replaced by a house and an empty lot that’s still for sale. Miller’s has changed hands a couple of times and is now serving Thai-French food under the Lighthouse name.

Many other restaurants in town have come and gone, but one name is constant, Wilkerson’s. The family-owned restaurant at the entrance to town has been in business for decades, though not without a bit of family squabbling over the years. Here’s the story of the Wilkerson family and their ties to seafood and to the restaurant that bears their name.