Savannah Charleston Raleigh trip
I think I'll leave this 'diary' style. Pics uploaded to
This new Flickr account I'm still trying to figure out
Or the slideshow. Which is playing the pics backwards. This might take me days (or weeks) to figure out how to fix.
Saturday 3/3
There hasn't been much winter to escape from this year, but with 28F and swirling snowflakes, it actually felt good to accelerate out of the driveway knowing we were headed south.
Every time we take the route through Columbus (to shave off some miles and presumably save time) I dislike it even more. We just about got in an accident when someone started to cut into our lane.
Balmy spring temperatures, daffodils, robins and singing birds when we got to a rest area just into the North Carolina border from Virginia.
Neon-lit curbside service at BarBQ King in Charlotte. Nighttime skyline in the near distance while we enjoy chopped pork BBQ, round donut hole-like hush puppies and cole slaw. We drive another hour south to the Columbia area to our Holiday Inn Express.
Sunday 3/4
Some kind of pretty, yellow flowering vine tumbling all over trees and fences. First glimpses of Spanish moss. Saw billboards for a food festival going on in Hilton Head, then concluded it was a bit too pricey and not quite what we were looking for (which was casual, divey, local).
Stopped in Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. Admired the razor sharp cloud line receding into the east after a major storm system had passed through over the weekend (the tornadoes in southern Indiana on Saturday). Strange container ship gantries/cranes in the distance. Windy as hell. We had to actually lean into it to walk. Lots of waterfowl and yes, there are alligators in there. Is that a piece of wood, or--*SPLASH!!!!* Um, yeah, guess that was a 'gator. Our favorite was the 7-8 footer lounging on the muddy bank of a cut.
Next stop, Tybee island for an early dinner at Crab Shack.First some raw oysters, then big pile of potatoes, overdone corn, mussels, crab, crayfish (will I ever figure out how to eat those things?) and sausage chunks. Part amusement park, part restaurant. Wandered around the town, comparing it to the Outer Banks. Very similar, only with palmettos. Same touristy shops.
Stopped for a beer at Uncle Bubba's (we just happened to see it on our way out to Tybee). Menu items and merchandise looked just a bit(!!!) overpriced, including the 'redneck wine glasses', which Tim later speculated were plain old Mason jars attached to cheap glass candlesticks. A more low-brow version we saw elsewhere consisted of a red Solo cup glued to the same candlestick base. Celebrity status apparently allows one to put a price tag of $17 on something like this. We were darkly amused to hear the news of a sexual harassment/hostile workplace charge leveled against Bubba Hiers and his famous sister Paula Deen (the co-owner) by a former employee the very next day.
Checked into Confederate House (right on Forsyth Park) and met our interesting innkeeper in the huge pink-decorated ballroom. Place was warm and stuffy and she liked to talk. A lot. Very softly. And bring up politics. But still a most hospitable southern lady. Dropped off our stuff in the Andrew Jackson room and went out walking. Scrolled iron, decorative shutters, azaleas just popping, grand ornate row houses and always the huge live oaks growing everywhere, dripping with spanish moss and ferns. Watch your feet, lots of bumpy cobblestones, uneven flagstones, curbs and lumpy old sidewalks.
Found Paula Deen's Lady and Sons restaurant (one of many times we walked past it, and one of the few times there weren't people lined up in front of the hostess stand out front) and discovered the city market. Had gelato at GelatOhhh and watched a live cover band (Steppin' Stones...a girl and two guys) rock out. People dancing, hanging out, and having a great time.
Monday 3/5
Nice breakfast in the Confederate House ballroom. Never had sliced bananas in heavy cream before. Met the only other couple staying there at the time, from Raleigh, and had biked 42 miles to Tybee and back. Hostess monopolized the conversation a bit too much (when you can't hear someone tell her tales in a soft southern drawl unless you stop chewing, that's a bit intrusive. At least to me, before I've had sufficient coffee and refueling to be tolerant). Today's plans include the touristy historic district tour, and Mrs. Wilke's Dining Room. Opted for the 'get off/get on' trolley tour, which makes sense if you want to wander around at one stop or another. Good for all day. Did some on-foot touring, too.
Got in line in front of Mrs. Wilke's around 1300 or 1330 and struck up conversations with fellow line-mates. Male couple from Florida told us we'd love it, one guy came here every time he was in town. And once we got seated at one of many tables for 10, it did not disappoint. Like grandma on steroids. If you don't like one side dish, there are about 20 others (white rice, mashed potatoes, rutabagas, yellow squash, Savannah red rice, sweet potatoes, bread dressing, succotash, butter beans...) Take a small dab of each, because your plate will be full. And that's before they even bring out the fried chicken, corn bread squares and biscuits. Sweet tea, regular tea (which has to be switched out from the sweet that's already parked on the table) and water flow abundantly. Then at the end of it all, a little individual dish of cobbler or banana pudding. The ultimate grandma Sunday dinner.
More walking, and then took a tip from a trolley tour driver, and checked out Rocks on the Roof at the top of the Bohemian Hotel. Great views to be had of the marshes and container ships cruising by. A waiter offered us a menu. Looked at it just for the hell of it, since we were still content from Mrs. Wilke's. Noticed something called 'Pigs in Zen'. Decided to come back later after several more miles of walking/shopping to enjoy a sunset dessert. Nueske's bacon covered with chocolate, studded with praline pecans and served on a white plate with a drizzle of caramel sauce and a dusting powdered sugar. Paired up pretty well with a red wine.
Tuesday 3/6
Early risers need coffee, and when breakfast is not served until 9am, Sentient Bean came to the rescue. We still had to wait for them to open at 7. They're on the east end of Forsyth Park. Walked around the park a bit, then had breakfast back at the B&B. Waffles were ready promptly at 9. And our talkative host. More talk about judges, acquaintances, city doings, her liver cancer and on and on and on. And on. The room was nearly unbearably warm and stuffy. We managed to drift toward the stairway, and even after I said 'we're just going to go up and get our things...' she kept on and on. Still I sensed a lonely soul and we parted with a hug. I told her to stay healthy. This place was a great deal with a great location, but we would find relief in being much more anonymous at Barksdale House Inn in Charleston.
On the road northward we enjoyed yet another spectacular sunny coolish day. Found Hilton Head Island without a problem and even Coligny Beach where we had stayed in September of '93. Holiday Inn Express is still there, the wide beaches (very windy, chapped face walk on the same stretch we'd visited before) and even Steamers, the restaurant where we first enjoyed a low country boil of corn, shellfish and potatoes.
The windy, chapped face walk was necessary because Tim had found Low Country Backyard, where we enjoyed a fried green tomato stack, a grilled pimento cheese sandwich, and the richest shrimp and grits EVER. The waitress was a Detroit suburb expat who told us they put cream cheese in the grits. And what had drawn her here was what we liked about it too: the low signage ordinances, and the greenness. If there's room for a Carolina pine to grow, it's left there. We'd love to come back and stay again. But not because of the vulture like time-share salesman who hailed us as we were strolling around and tried to talk us into signing on.
Arrived in Charleston to find our B&B, crammed between a parking lot and ugly building and across from a college athletic center. Pleased to discover breakfast would be a fuzzy 'show up between 0730 and 1000' affair, and that we were stationed in the nice carriage house in the back of the property.
A quick search for local food in the publications in the room jogged my memory about Bowen's Island (my stomach had been doing its usual extensive pre-trip research for months), so we headed out toward the coastal marshes. It was dark by the time we bounced down a pot-hole filled road lined with gorgeous houses (No, Tim, these are people's houses, because they're way too nice. We're looking for a shack on stilts right by the water). And there it was, complete with filled parking lot. Inside was as pretentious as the outside (think summer camp cabin, complete with graffiti-covered walls) and about as loud as Luanne Haubenstricker's 50th birthday party in the Gera Bar. There was in fact a party in progress on the other side of the room, but that's how many people were here on an average Tuesday night.
We saw a lot of fried seafood platters going by, but while we enjoyed the first of several Palmetto Brewing Company Amber Ales, we figured out what we needed to do for steamed oysters. You order, take your slip down to the young guy in the Oyster Room, which is on ground level. Where he's shoveling cluster oysters on a screaming hot metal plate heated by gas jets. And soon thereafter, he brings you a school cafeteria tray heaped with masses of local cluster oysters of every size. Yes it's a lot of work to pry them open and investigate to see if you've gotten them all, and once in a while you discover one full of mud, but the briny little morsels are worth it. Chuck the shells into the metal bucket at your feet, and chow down on hush puppies. The terry washcloth they provide for your napkin gets filthy. Drink more beer. Order another tray. Appreciate the goodness of life.
Wednesday 3/7
Enjoyed a light breakfast in the main house of the B&B, then went out walking. Passed plenty of high end shops, got partway around the battery park area. Zig-zagged back toward the cruise ship dock area where the Carnival Fantasy was turning around for a later departure to the Bahamas. Discovered the City Market where I found a cute batik dress and scarf, and postcards. Decided to put off purchasing benne wafers until we found them cheaper at a supermarket. The locally made sweetgrass baskets? Outrageously expensive.
Plenty hungry by this time, so walked ALL the way back toward Hominy Grill where we enjoyed she-crab soup, cornbread and a pimento cheese plate. Then just down the street popped into Sugar Bake Shop, where we bought a small box of dessert delights: coconut and red velvet cupcakes, a pecan tartlet and a big chewy molasses cookie. Sitting outside in a tiny courtyard to enjoy these with coffee, we were joined by a local couple with whom we would have loved to hang out a lot longer. They gave tips on biking/touring around the city; she showed us a tidy way to eat a very frosting-heavy cupcake by tearing off the bottom and making a sandwich; he (a retired scientist) regaled us with stories of fast car adventures, book recommendations ('Allegiance') and what local restaurants were overhyped (Husk) and not good ("You two aren't anywhere near fat enough to get into Hyman's Seafood"!) and good (FIG).
More walking to burn off all this, then a boat trip and tour of Fort Sumter. Watched three dolphins alongside the boat and off the shore of the island and soaked in the Civil War history. Going back across the Charleston Harbor, watched the cruise ship leaving accompanied by a very serious-looking Coast Guard escort (machine gun mounted on the front).
Hungry again! Jestine's Kitchen for dinner. Opted for other entrees besides the monstrous-looking 3 piece fried chicken plate (pecan-crusted chicken for me and creole chicken stew over rice for Tim). More after-dark strolling around the city, then some Palmetto Espresso Porters on the back porch of the B&B.
Thursday 3/8
Light rain and high humidity. We need to be on our way north to Raleigh, but first more sightseeing and local eating. We choose Middleton Place Plantation over Magnolia Plantation (that one's just down the road, maybe next time). Camelias just past peak, azaleas just starting to open. Gators lined up by the edge of the millpond sunning themselves. Waterfowl all over in the marshy areas. Farm animals and plenty of other displays.
Glass Onion for lunch. We enjoy yet another pimento cheese plate, this one with sausage. Shrimp and grits with chard for me and crispy pork belly for Tim.
Amused and then annoyed by 90 miles of infinite variations of South of the Border 'Pedro' billboards. We learn it's one of the east's most well-known tourist destinations. Looks like a hot mess of colorful buildings just off the exit. Its own little party-colored town complete with water tower for travelers to and from Florida.
Still without a motel for the night, I manage to find cheap lodgings at Studio Plus on Weston Parkway in Cary. We join Bryan and girlfriend Cathy for dinner at 42nd Street Oyster Bar in Raleigh, and spend the evening at Bryan's drinking various liqueurs and looking over black and white family photos from the 60's.
Friday 3/9
Headed over to Bryan's where we decide to make lasagna to bring over to Chris and Lindsey and Colin's place that night, where we relocate ourselves. We shop at Trader Joe's and Harris Teeter for ingredients for a spinach and chicken sausage extravaganza. For dessert, we get inspired by the thin coconut cookies seen at TJ's, and the overripe bananas and crazy rich coconut curd at the Teet. A crunchy topping of benne wafers, toasted coconut and crushed coconut cookies is quickly mixed, and a layered banana coconut pudding is the result. After all this prep, we walk along a section of greenway that winds behind/between residential areas, enjoying the birdsong and trickling streams.
Saturday 3/10
Another walk along along the greenway, this one behind the Crabtree Mall. Farmer's Market is next on the agenda. We find collards, pork loin and sweet potatoes for that night's dinner. Local honey and molasses are procured. Lunch at Natty Greene's (probably the most lackluster, ho-hum meal of the entire trip...a chicken salad with very little flavor. Oh well, at least the beer and company were good). Stop at Peace Street market for some local beer shopping. Hang out at back at the house enjoying a mellow last evening of vacation and prune/rosemary/nut stuffed pork loin, roasted sweet potatoes and braised collards with smoked pork neckbones.
Sunday 3/11
We leave Raleigh around 1015 (taking the now traditional sprig of rosemary from Chris and Lindsey's plant by the driveway and leaving it to dry on the Traverse dashboard until we return the next time). Sunny, uneventful and rather fast trip home up 77. We worry we are going to face an impossibly long wait at Melt's Bar and Grilled, but there are seats at the bar. I've managed to get into this grilled cheese sandwich emporium, but Tim had not had the pleasure yet. There is a very convenient south location that works well for the trip from North Carolina to Michigan. Not very far off 77 at all, and just a little north of 80-90. This location is randomly decorated with plastic light-up holiday lawn decorations. Old Rasputin on tap here, and the sandwiches and fries are ridiculously good (the Parmageddon: fat, cheesy pierogis with cheddar between thick white bread. Carbolicious).
And then the last two hours of boring Ohio road time, and then home.