Inspiring Spaces: Island Creek Oysters

Ever wonder how an oyster grows? Well, I learned just that the other day at Island Creek Oysters.

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Life by the sea is slower. The tides and sea life are a huge part of coastal living.

My husband LOVES oysters. Even though, I’d grown up in New England I had never tried one until a few years ago. I brought Shucked by Erin Byers to St. John where we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. I fell head over heels in the love this book and the story of Island Creek Oysters. Erin quit her day job as a food and lifestyle writer to work as an Oyster Farmer. The days were long and the weather conditions could be treacherous. The book made me want to try these briny bivalves, but there was not an oyster in sight at Caneel Bay. I did try one when I got back to Scituate but didn’t adore them as Luke does.

Fast forward six years and our good friends, Chris and Jann, asked us if we wanted to take a tour of Island Creek Oysters. We immediately said yes! What could be better than an evening enjoying the water, oysters and a few drinks in Duxbury Bay?

It was a beautiful night to be out on the water!

We packed some coolers and headed to Duxbury which is only 30 minutes from our home.

We were greeted by CJ and this fun limo golf cart. The cart took us to Island Creek’s current head quarters.

A Tour of Island Creek Oysters

This is in the hatchery. You may be wondering what the murky looking stuff is in the tubes…

They’re oysters….

30 day old oysters.

We learned A LOT about the whole process which is very complicated, but the oysters are moved to different parts of the facility and fed algae, which they grow on site.

CJ said two adult oysters would be able to consume this in a day.

Can you believe that?

Island Creek Oysters started in 1995 by Skip Bennet. Many thought it was a crazy idea at first. Skip used the mud flats of Duxbury Bay for his oysters which gave them an edge for growing and also contributed to Island Creek Oysters’ distinctive flavor. You can read the full history of Island Creek here. From humble beginnings they’ve really expanded and have a non profit foundation, several restaurants and a large distribution arm. On the tour we learned that Island Creek is expanding even more since they acquired a parcel of land right on the bay which will become home to a food truck (opening this summer) and will be followed by a retail shop, a raw bar restaurant, a chef retreat, the hatchery and corporate offices.

Big things are in the works for Island Creek which is so exciting.

My favorite part of the tour was being out on the boat and enjoying the oysters.

Eating Oysters on Duxbury Bay

CJ drove the boat and Matt shucked the oysters.

We slurped and sipped and sighed at the views.

I was going to let our friends eat all the oysters and Luke told me, “Dani, you really should try them. You’ll never have a fresher oyster.” I ate 2 and really enjoyed them.

It was so quiet and peaceful out on the water. I loved seeing all the boats and the sun’s glow slowly descending in the sky.

This is Chris and Jann:

and Heather and John:

It really was such a wonderful night and we learned so much about oysters.

CJ snapped this photo of all of us:

The shadows grew long and then there was only one lonely oyster left:

I’m not sure who consumed the last one but we longed for more and more time on the sea.

We ate 100 oysters, can you believe it?

As we made our way off the boat, Luke quickly snapped these photos.

I have to give a shout out to my friends at J.Jill who sent me these lovely white lace jeans and linen top as a gift. This outfit was perfect – casual enough for boating but also nice for a nice dinner at The Oysterman after the tour.

We never wanted our night on Duxbury Bay to end. It was so meaningful to learn about the process and eat fresh oysters where they are grown. Would you like to go on a tour? You can learn more about it here.