Charleston Charm
My mom, Annelise, & I drove down for a day trip to Charleston, SC on Saturday. [Y'all are well aware by now that Charleston is my favorite place in America! :-D] It was pretty much a redux of our exact day trip two years ago, sans Will, who stayed in CLT with Grandaddo for guy time. ;-)
We drove straight into town and parked for the Charleston Farmer's Market in Marion Square. I'm still obsessing over the Charleston Crêpe Company after our wonderful experience last year, so there was no question that's where I was getting lunch. Yeah, it was hot out (I am sick to death of hearing people whine about the heat - esp. lots of the same ones who tell me to suck it up in the winter!) but my spirits weren't a bit wilted, and my Monte Cristo crêpe was heavenly. :-) Other divine finds: Chocolate Sea Salt popsicle from King of Pops and amazing preserves & ground-fresh-on-Thursday grits from The Colonial Charleston Kitchen (owner, Steve Dowdney, gave Annelise a jar of peach preserves, just for being sweet! :-D His balsamic pepper jelly = amazing!) I also fell in love with ALL the scents from The Charleston Soap Chef! I really wanted to buy something - ANYTHING! - from her, esp. to have in our new home, but I honestly could not decide which fragrance. Charleston Sweetgrass - so fresh & clean, Blooming Jasmine - perfect strong floral, Lemon Sugah - the only citrus I've ever liked, Love Milk Honey - even my perfume has a honey scent, Southern Magnolia - perfectly Southern, & Sweet Tea - uniquely sweet & clean = all of them, yes, please!
After the Farmer's Market, we headed over to the Charleston City Market. Talk about renovations: they now have an entire glassed-in & air-conditioned section - what a happy surprise! :-D Speaking of happy surprises, I got to meet up with my friend Shelley & her kids for the first time in over ten years!
Neither one of us could get over how normal hanging out together felt - like we just do this all the time. We really know & have kept up with each other so well (thank you, FB!) that it didn't feel "special" - but rather comfortable, happy, & relaxed...even while chasing three kids [Annelise, Carson, & Eli]. ;-) We browsed the Market, talked to the animals in the Palmetto Carriage Big Red Barn, made Eli's day at The Brass Pirate, and - of course; it's ridiculously inescapable - visited the candy kitchen. :-P
We left Shelley & her kids with hugs and drove over to Isle of Palms - our beach. While CLT was baking in a 109°F heat index, the beach was sheer perfection: the strong, warm sea breeze made our 95°F heat index really feel like the actual 84°F temp. :-P The ocean was warm (I didn't want to get totally wet, since we only had the public beach stand & not a condo to clean up in before dinner; but Annelise swam & swam and did NOT break out in cold urticaria bumps!)
We could've stayed out on the beach forever...but supper called. We cleaned up as best we could and rolled back over IOP & Sullivan's Island to one of our oldest faves, Locklear's in Mt. Pleasant. I had my requisite corn fritters with tomato jam, and Annelise charmed the zebra eel out of hiding from under the coral. (She does this every time, and the owners have said before that he doesn't come out for anyone else! :-D)
We drove straight into town and parked for the Charleston Farmer's Market in Marion Square. I'm still obsessing over the Charleston Crêpe Company after our wonderful experience last year, so there was no question that's where I was getting lunch. Yeah, it was hot out (I am sick to death of hearing people whine about the heat - esp. lots of the same ones who tell me to suck it up in the winter!) but my spirits weren't a bit wilted, and my Monte Cristo crêpe was heavenly. :-) Other divine finds: Chocolate Sea Salt popsicle from King of Pops and amazing preserves & ground-fresh-on-Thursday grits from The Colonial Charleston Kitchen (owner, Steve Dowdney, gave Annelise a jar of peach preserves, just for being sweet! :-D His balsamic pepper jelly = amazing!) I also fell in love with ALL the scents from The Charleston Soap Chef! I really wanted to buy something - ANYTHING! - from her, esp. to have in our new home, but I honestly could not decide which fragrance. Charleston Sweetgrass - so fresh & clean, Blooming Jasmine - perfect strong floral, Lemon Sugah - the only citrus I've ever liked, Love Milk Honey - even my perfume has a honey scent, Southern Magnolia - perfectly Southern, & Sweet Tea - uniquely sweet & clean = all of them, yes, please!
After the Farmer's Market, we headed over to the Charleston City Market. Talk about renovations: they now have an entire glassed-in & air-conditioned section - what a happy surprise! :-D Speaking of happy surprises, I got to meet up with my friend Shelley & her kids for the first time in over ten years!
We left Shelley & her kids with hugs and drove over to Isle of Palms - our beach. While CLT was baking in a 109°F heat index, the beach was sheer perfection: the strong, warm sea breeze made our 95°F heat index really feel like the actual 84°F temp. :-P The ocean was warm (I didn't want to get totally wet, since we only had the public beach stand & not a condo to clean up in before dinner; but Annelise swam & swam and did NOT break out in cold urticaria bumps!)
We could've stayed out on the beach forever...but supper called. We cleaned up as best we could and rolled back over IOP & Sullivan's Island to one of our oldest faves, Locklear's in Mt. Pleasant. I had my requisite corn fritters with tomato jam, and Annelise charmed the zebra eel out of hiding from under the coral. (She does this every time, and the owners have said before that he doesn't come out for anyone else! :-D)
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