Port Royal swells with crowd for shrimp and grits festival

Port Royal was the place to be on Saturday, especially if you liked tall ships and shrimp and grits.

Paris Avenue spilled over with people there for the third annual Bridges Block Party and shrimp and grits cooking competition, while many more ventured down 11th avenue to get a glimpse of El Galeon.

The replica of a 16th Century Spanish galleon arrived at Port Royal Landing on Thursday and was creating a lot of buzz throughout the block party, though the main attraction was hard to beat.

“I’ve been reciting them in my head,” said Shelby Miller, as she stood in the shade spoon-feeding her 8-month-old daughter, River, on Saturday afternoon.

Miller had already tasted four shot-sized samples and was trying to keep the various entries straight in her head.

“So far, I think number 8 is the best,” Miller said. “The gravy has the right amount of saltiness, and the grits aren’t mushy. And, of course, there’s the shrimp.”

The friendly shrimp and grits “cookoff” offered those who attended the fundraiser a chance to sample various recipes, while those who entered received bragging rights as to whose recipe was the best in town.

As people milled about tasting entries, others checked out arts and crafts on display along either side of the street.

The relatively new event hosted by Bridges Preparatory School usually sees about 3,000 participants, said Amy Painton with the school’s Parent Teacher Organization.

The block party is the school’s key fundraising event, she said, and is as popular with the community as it is with the school.

“I mean who doesn’t like a festival,” she said. “And Port Royal knows how to do a festival.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Port Royal swells with crowd for shrimp and grits festival."