Our visit to The Palmetto State

We spent this past weekend in charming Charleston, SC- enjoying time with family, sampling the regional lowcountry cuisine and discovering some of the classic antebellum and post Civil War history and culture of the south. (I know this is a long post, but we did a LOT this weekend)

We arrived Friday morning, met up with Dad and Leslie, picked up the rental car and after a quick stop at the Charleston visitors Center (to score some discount coupons!) headed to the historic downtown district and explored a bit while waiting for Brian and Nikki to arrive.



Once the whole gang had arrived, we grabbed lunch at the much-anticipated Hyman’s Seafood. A favorite of Brian’s- we had high hopes for this place. It did not disappoint. We started out by sharing their sautéed mussels and the shellfish smorgasbord which included oysters, clams, steamed shrimp and snow crab. It says it’s supposed to serve 4 people- but we were 6 and had plenty. Lunch was good and set the tone for a great afternoon. The place is a bit touristy (you exit through the gift shop and you have to get used to the slower Southern school of service where nobody is rushing to your table to check up on you every 5 minutes or turn the table over for the next guest)



As long as we were feeling touristy, our next activity was to hop on a carriage tour of the Historic Downtown neighborhood. There are several mule and horse-drawn carriage companies operating in the city. The tours last about one hour, and highlight several aspects of the downtown area including the history and unique architecture of several notable Charleston homes and neighborhoods. Not only does this give you a good sense for the size of the downtown area, it also gives you a feel for the beauty and charm of each neighborhood on the peninsula.



We took in a few more sights and then went back to the hotel to check in, relax and get ready for dinner at Peninsula Grill. The restaurant was a short walk from our hotel. We were impressed with their well thought out and diverse wine list and had a really delicious evening.



The meal was wonderful, but the highlight of dinner were the desserts Chef Bob Carter’s grandmother’s coconut cake is a six-layer confection of coconut sweetness and buttery richness- and the banana panna cotta is a silky & rich half-sphere of banana cream outlined with Tía Maria-glazed banana bread, caramel-coated banana slices, and banana-shaped crispy cookie topped with a crown of spun sugar. Their Ultimate Coconut Cake was recently featured on the Food Network’s Throwdown with Bobby Flay.



After dinner, Brian and Nikki & David and myself went to The Pavilion Rooftop Bar for some drinks. The breeze and view were great- and it was really nice to get some chill time with them.





Saturday was an entertaining, enlightening and exhausting day. When you go on vacation with my dad, you leave no stone unturned. We began our morning with a walk through the market.

The Charleston Market Hall and Sheds mark the location of the old Market, now a National Historic Landmark. The land was donated by the Pinckney family in 1788, and fresh meat and produce were sold here. The original market burned down in 1838, so the present structure dates to 1841. Today, the open air market is filled with vendors selling hand made sweet grass baskets, snacks, arts and crafts, jewelry, t-shirts, souvenirs, etc.



The market spans four buildings, but the main building sits just below the Daughters of the Confederacy Museum. The hall was the commercial center of Charleston for many years and served as a recruiting station during the Civil War. It is maintained by the Daughters of the American Revolution.



Next, it was on to the Aiken-Rhett House. Built in 1818 for Charleston merchant John Robinson, it was greatly expanded by Gov. and Mrs. William Aiken, Jr. in the 1830s and 1850s.

A successful businessman, rice planter, distinguished politician and governor of South Carolina, William Aiken, Jr. was one of the state’s wealthiest citizens. Following a well-established tradition among Charleston’s elite, Governor Aiken and his wife, Harriet Lowndes Aiken, traveled in Europe and returned with magnificent fine art and furnishings. The house has survived virtually unaltered since 1858 and many of these objects remind in the same rooms for which they were purchased.



The heavy presence of history fills these 23 rooms more quietly and completely than anywhere else in the city. Although they are not in the best shape, you get a real sense for what it was like to sit in their parlors, look at their artwork and be a cook in their kitchens. The slave quarters were especially interesting and moving. Confederate President Jefferson Davis stayed here during his 1863 visit to the city. This was the site of Beauregard's last headquarters in Charleston, being beyond the range of the Federal bombardment. From its upper windows, he could see Sumter as he prepared for the evacuation of Charleston.

We wandered through a park of moss-covered oak trees and around the corner to a model of the H.L. Hunley.



The Hunley was the world’s first successful combat submarine. The Hunley was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that demonstrated both the advantages and the dangers of undersea warfare. It was the first submarine to sink a warship, although the submarine was also lost during the process. It was lost at sea for over a century, but then raised from the ocean floor in 2000 and remains in a 90,000 gallon conservation tank. This is a full-scale model of the original.



A short walk further was The Charleston Farmers Market in beautiful Marion Square. Each Saturday morning the market features fresh local produce, flowers & plants, herbs, artwork, food vendors and musicians.


Fresh Pickle Works - yum!


donut machine

The samples were plentiful- our favorite was the Fresh Pickle Works by Alexis Kong and Raychelle Bennett (Phone: 843-744-4740). Although we didn’t get to try Coco's Mini Donuts by Linda Hardee (Phone: 803-516-9524)- it was fun to watch them being made. We cooled off with beverages, listened to some music and hit the road for Folly Beach.



Folly Beach, referred to by locals as the ‘Edge of America’ is a great town. We recharged our batteries with a fun lunch at the Crab Shack where you can make your own Bloody Mary on Saturdays & Sundays from 11:00-4:00. For the record, David has now dined in a place whose wine list claims, “We may serve our wines in plastic, but they still taste fantastic.”



Then we hit the beach for some sand, sun and frisbee fun.

When we were all a little more tan and all very tired, we packed up and headed back to Charleston.

Charleston Grill is the only restaurant in the state of South Carolina to be awarded Four Mobil Stars and features contemporary French-influenced Lowcountry cuisine made with fresh local produce- our kind of place!

The restaurant itself is beautiful and the innovative menu is divided into four categories: Pure, Lush, Southern, and Cosmopolitan allowing the diner to create your own special tasting menu. The Roasted Golden Beets with Goat Cheese, Wild Sorrel and Orange Rosemary Vinaigrette was incredible and David’s Grilled Colorado Lamb Chops with Parmesan Whipped Potatoes and Basil Lamb Jus tasted fantastic.

After all that good eating on Saturday night, we thankfully had some time to digest before our yummy brunch at Magnolia’s on Sunday afternoon. Charleston's most popular restaurant (you can buy their cookbook in most local souveneer shops and the airport) is located at the site of the city's original Customs House (circa 1739). Magnolia's setting is a blend of historic charm, southern flavor & contemporary American cuisine. I think everyone loved their entrees, but our shared appetizer of Housemade Potato Chips with crumbled blue cheese and scallions was definitely a hit!

Afterwards, we saw Charleston’s famous rainbow row and walked around the waterfront in the Battery District on our way to the Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon. Considered to be one of the three most historically significant Colonial buildings in the United States, South Carolina elected its delegates to the First Continental Congress in the Exchange’s Great Hall and the building played a significant role in the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Provost Dungeon in the basement has survived hurricanes, earthquakes, and wars. It was used for storage and as a prison where merchants, pirates and revolutionary protesters were jailed for decades.

We finished up our afternoon with a visit to the South Carolina Aquarium which has more than just fish. The Aquarium is home to over 10,000 plants and animals including river otters, rattlesnakes, loggerhead sea turtles, alligators, Venus flytraps, great blue herons, hawks, owls, sea horses, jellyfish, pufferfish, moray eels, horseshoe crabs, starfish, pythons, sea dragons and sharks.

There are over 60 exhibits located throughout the Aquarium that focus on five major regions of the Appalachian Watershed; the Mountains, the Piedmont, the Coastal Plain, the Coast and the Ocean. The Carolina Seas Exhibit was impressive. The largest exhibit in the Aquarium, it extends from the first to the third floor of the Aquarium, holds over 385,000 gallons of water and contains over 300 animals

We said goodbye to Brian and Nikki and learned about the start of the Civil War as we walked through the Fort Sumter museum (the actual fort is a ferry ride away).

We thought this was the end of our weekend as we headed towards the airport, but as we soon learned- we were wrong. Both Dad & Leslies’ and our flights were cancelled- and there was no getting home until Monday afternoon. So we rented a car a drove home. Dad took the 7 PM-10:30 PM shift and snoozed a bit while David drove through North Carolina, Virginia and part of Maryland. We got to Rockville shortly before 4 AM. I made a quick pot of coffee for Dad and then he was off to complete the final leg of the trip to NYC. They got home around 10 AM!

Although we hit some bumps in the road on the way home and the trip didn’t end exactly as planned, we really did have a wonderful weekend. Thanks very much to Nikki and Brian for being such great sports and to Dad and Leslie who worked hard planning the trip.

We managed to fit amazing Lowcountry cuisine, museums, festivals, Revolutionary and Civil War history, pirates, the beach, and a road trip into three days. As dad would say. “This…… is America!”