Old Salt (Facebook) is one of Beaufort’s newest restaurants. It opened in 2012 in the space that was once a Beaufort classic, the Net House, at 133 Turner Street.

I ate at the Net House with a group of friends on a Saturday night in late May 1989. We were all somewhere between 18 and 24 years old. We were all fit. We were all tan. We had the perfect mix of boys and girls.

We spent the day on the beach. I can’t seem to recall which beach exactly, though I do seem to remember a boat ride. So, it must have been at Shackleford Banks.

Needless to say, we had had several beers that afternoon.

We were staying at a friend’s house in Morehead City, but we all were Beaufort fans and decided to take several cabs into Beaufort for supper.

The Net House was not exactly fine dining, but the fried seafood was great, the domestic drafts were cold, it was familiar and comfortable. That Saturday night in 1989 we got a table for 10. It was easy.

For years, the Net House served a stuffed soft shell crab entrée that was my favorite.

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