Eating our way through Charleston

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Charleston, SC. We left Tuesday afternoon and returned late last night. Mike had a meeting in Charleston and I took vacation so Ava and I could tag along. It was wonderful! We were in Charleston this past May visiting Dave's sister Kelly so it was really nice to go again having already done the touristy stuff. We could relax and enjoy the city and its warmer weather. This was Ava's first airplane ride. She was perfect! She barely made a peep on the way out. Last night she was a bit fussy but it was her bedtime. Once she found a comfy spot in my arms and the white noise of the engine started she was sound asleep. Here are some highlights of the trip:

We arrived in Charleston at about 10:30 pm on Wednesday and traveled to our awesome hotel, the Historic Holiday Inn. I highly recommend it. Good coffee in the lobby, free internet, great concierge service, fabulous location. We hit the hay for the night and woke up to a gorgeous, sunny, 70 degree morning. Ava and I walked Mike down to the South Carolina Aquarium where his meeting was held. His meeting was in the boardroom of the aquarium looking out over the awesome new bridge and Fort Sumpter. He even saw dolphins out the meeting room window! Ava and I hit the pavement in a huge way that morning. We walked about an hour before settling into our first culinary adventure. Charleston is known for incredible food. I could be there for months and never experience all the great food it has to offer. Where to begin? I started at Joseph's. I ordered Sweet Potato Pancakes with Pecan Butter. Yep. Drooling yet? The waitress said there was no way I could eat one order by myself. I frowned and wanted to say "wanna bet?" but I reluctantly agreed to a half-order and she brought me two pancakes. As Rachael Ray would say - "YUMMO!" I oohed and ahhed over the cakes so much that I made it out of there with some of the pancake batter, the recipe for the Pecan Butter, and the waitress even snuck me some of the butter in a little plastic container. We had no fridge in our room and I had no idea what I would do with the butter but you don't refuse this butter! I ate many meals alone during this trip and it was so fun doing it with Ava! I guess I wasn't alone, but you know what I mean. She was such a great ice-breaker. People would comment on her cuteness and then we'd end up having a great conversation. I'm so shy that I'd normally just hover in the corner so I really loved meeting people through her. Charleston is such a friendly city. Everyone is so nice and ready to chat.

Okay, back to the trip. Ava and I probably walked 6-7 miles that day checking out the city, it was fabulous. I met Mike back at the aquarium at about 4 and we headed to Market Street to catch a carriage tour of the city. Our horse Marty took us for a leisurely tour around Rainbow Row and Church Street. After the tour we headed our for another culinary adventure, Jestine's! This place is famous for low-country goodness. The line out the door and around the corner starts at 5pm! On the table you get pickled slices of cucumbers as you wait for your food. We ordered off the specials board because the menu was too overwhelming! We couldn't choose! I ordered shrimp creole and Mike had fried chicken. We both had fried okra and an appetizer of fried green tomatoes. If you haven't picked up on it yet, this wasn't a healthy trip. Ava snoozed in her stroller throughout the meal but started crying when we ordered dessert (Pecan Pie and Coca-Cola Cake) to share. There was no way I was missing these desserts I'd been dreaming about for weeks so we took them to-go and headed back to the hotel to put her to bed. The desserts were divine. I've never had coca-cola cake before so I can't compare it to anything but I really enjoyed it. The pecan pie was out-of-this-world wonderful.
Day two was a little slower in pace. It was warm and sunny in the morning and again Ava and I took Mike to the aquarium. Then Ava and I went to try out a brand-new restaurant called Alluette's Cafe. The food there is described as "holistic soul-food". Everything is organic, local, nitrate and pork-free. I was surprised to see a soul food joint without pork but thought it sounded interesting. Ava was the first baby to visit the place and as such the owner took her photo. We had a wonderful, leisurely morning sipping organic anise tea and eating shrimp and grits with shrimp caught that morning. Alluette also served whole-grain bread with home-made strawberry preserves that were incredible. I visited with Alluette about the impact of the food we consume on our psyche and our bodies. It was an incredibly interesting conversation, albeit a bit depressing. I left hours later having enjoyed wonderful food and company.
The weather took a turn for the worse around noon and Ava and I hid in the hotel as the rain fell and the temperature dropped. We met Mike at the aquarium for a reception at 5 and then headed out to the official work-dinner at Fish. This was a very fancy restaurant and very good. Not the kind of place we usually go when travelling. We tend to seek out the lower-end local places but this was excellent food and fresh, local fish. We had appetizers of goat cheese spring rolls topped with honey that were incredible. We also had a crab rangoon with boursin cheese. I ordered the roasted Palmetto Bass and Mike had a New York steak. The meal was finished with a chocolate cake and delightful carmel ice cream.

By Friday morning the rain still hadn't let up. Again, we got Mike to work and then had to get ourselves packed up and out of the hotel. The meeting let out at 12 and then we took a tour of the aquarium. Ava really enjoyed the tanks! It was so cute to watch her dart her head around to watch the fish. I can't wait to take her back there when she is a little older and can appreciate the giant sea turtles, eels, and sharks! They had a great flounder exhibit where you are tasked with counting them all in the sand. They are very well hidden and are so funny with their little cartoon eyes and funny mouths.
Mike mentioned at the aquarium that he wasn't feeling too well. I had a whole slew of restaurants I'd been waiting to try until Mike was with me so I of course, encouraged him to eat! I thought he just might be hungry so we headed across the bridge to the fabulous Boulevard Diner in Mt. Pleasant. This place is too awesome for words. It is nothing to look at, in fact it looks like an old Dairy Queen, but inside it is run by a fabulous chef who provides high quality food at diner prices. The atmosphere is all diner and the food is top notch. I had a tilapia over a seafood chowder with corn bread. Mike was a little green so he had a light sandwhich and Sprite. The menu was too overwhelming, everything looked incredible so I ordered off the specials board which contained 6-7 things, all of which I wanted. After lunch with Mike in a sorry state we decided to head to Kelly's house who we were staying with one night. She told us to let ourselves in and Mike proceeded to get really ill. What luck, eh? As soon as his work stuff ends he gets ill and can't enjoy the few fun hours alloted to him in the week. We hunkered down for the afternoon and he tried to keep liquids down. It was still rainy and cold so we didn't feel too sad about missing out. We had a wonderful evening visitng with Kelly. Mike was up and around by then and could at least visit and sip Fresca.
The next morning the clouds parted in more ways than one. Mike felt better (not good enough for a low-country breakfast...I asked him just in case...) and the sun was shining. The temperature was back in the 70s. We headed to Sullivan's Island to show Ava the ocean. We wrapped up the trip with another cruise through historic downtown Charleston to munch on fresh, hot pralines given out as samples at Market Street Sweets. We'd have taken a photo but we were too busy shoving the pralines into our faces. Our return flights were uneventful. Ava was wonderful.

The best part of the trip wasn't the food but spending 5 entire days with Ava. No sitter and no saying good-bye. She was so happy and because I'd been with her at all times I was able to anticipate her needs without her having to fuss. It was wonderful. It felt a little odd to ask for vacation days after so recently returning to work but yet it was exactly what I've been needing. I'm not looking forward to sharing her with the sitter tommorow but vacation can't last forever. I'll remember this one for a long time. One of my favorite quotes is "Invest in experiences, not things" and this trip was worth the investment!

Joseph's Pecan Butter
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans toasted and cooled
1/2 pound butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey

More photos of our trip here.