Charleston, Charleston...a Road Trip!

Sun, Seafood, Sand, and Surf...all found within eight minutes of my front door.  The Apple Store...a 2 hour, 3 hour, or 4 hour drive depending on which city in North or South Carolina you would like to visit.

 On Saturday we chose the 2 hour drive to Charleston, SC, which turned into more of a 3.5 hour drive as Superman worked a bit on the way to my favorite South Carolina city.  My Sunshine gal was having problems with her itouch and if you know my youngest, you know how much of a problem this truly was...let's just say, I don't know of anyone who has literally worn out three itouches in just about as many years.  We had just purchased this one in June at our local electronics store but of course, Apple products are only serviced by Apple stores. While I was irritated that it broke so quickly (her "home" button was stuck on "home"),  I was more than happy to take a road trip to a city which the girls and I had visited one day last March when my friend was in town visiting me.  Superman had driven through this historic city but had never spent any time exploring...so off we went!

Arriving in the downtown district we encountered traffic...I do mean traffic!!!  Superman was less than pleased...he really would prefer not to shop on his days off but wanted to spend the day with his ladies & knew we had to fix that itouch.  We finally found a parking spot on the 5th floor of a public garage.  I think it was one of less than 10 that were empty.


I failed to grab my actual camera on the way out the door but of course, I had my iPhone which is what I used to snap the few photos of the day.  I used to be so diligent in taking photos but these days I seem to be so "into the moment" when exploring new cities that I take the picture in my mind on not on my camera or iPhone. 

One of the cruise ships docked in the port.  Superman and I had an "ah ha!" moment...we have always wanted to take a cruise but didn't think of setting sail so close to home.  Might be in the trips to consider for our 25th anniversary which is coming soon!



Cooper Bridge.  A bit intimidating to drive across the first time but after that it is just fun and gives such a vast view.  I didn't think to take a night photo but it is beautiful, full of lights!

These two photos were taken from the parking garage.  Not only did it give us a place to leave our car, but gave us some amazing views!

The Apple Store was first on our agenda.  Sunshine gal was all smiles when they replaced her itouch with a brand new one.  Next stop? Brookstone to get Superman a new helicopter.  The girls had bought him a remote controlled flying machine with all the bell and whistles for Christmas and all I can say, is thank goodness I purchased the extra warranty.  As we were heading into the store I noticed this interesting building across the street.  It was dusk so forgive my photos but I want to give you a true glimpse into the history of the deep South. 

When I first saw this building and pointed it out to my family I reasoned that it was probably an old train depot.  I failed to get a picture of the length of it which would help to show why I thought it was a train depot.  While the manager at Brookstone was swapping out helicopter I inquired about the building.  When she told us it was an old slave market my hubby and I were shocked.  Being from the Mid-West we studied the history of the deep South and of course, we have discussed it more since moving to the area but have never actually seen anything that would be tied to that controversial time in American history.  She explained that now the upper floor houses the United Daughter's of the Confederacy  while the bottom is an open air shopping area.  

After walking through the market, we used our iPhone GPS to get us to the restaurant that the nice lady at Brookstone raved about.  I have learned to ask the locals where to eat, they know the best places! She promised an old, two story, brick building, short wait time, and delicious food. We found everything she promised and then some as we got another history lesson from our waiter.   I managed to get a photo of the sign before the sun set and we headed on in for some dinner.  The Southend Brewery and Smokehouse

The building which the resturant calls home is on the National Register of Historic Places.  Our waiter gaves us tons of history about the building which will be something you can inquire about when you get to drop in for dinner. 

I was excited to see that we had come on just the right night as Charleston was featuring Restaurant Week.  The menu was large but I immediately knew that I wanted to order from the special menu.   

Starters

Smoked Pork and Green Chili Enchilada with Guajillo Pepper and Pict’s Stout Mole.  *

OR

Alligator Sauce Piquant with Jalapeno Toast Points

Entrées

Blackened Catfish with Sautéed Mirliton, Roasted Andouille and Béarnaise  *

OR

Chicken Clemençeau

Desserts

Chocolate and Pecan Pie  *

OR

Red Velvet Cake

The selections which I have * are the ones I chose and of course, I took photos to share with you.  I am sure your mouth is watering...

All three were delish!  After our waiter left, we joked about his pronunciation of the Chocolate Pecan,  PEE-Can,  pie since of course, we all KNOW it is Pecan, Pu-Chan pie.  ;)

I took some pics of the food the rest of my family ate too...

She Crab Soup...I ordered this too as I just had to taste it!  Very good and a bit sweeter  than some that I have tried in other establishments.

Superman had the steak...and yes, I tried it too!  He and Sunshine Gal shared their meals as they both wanted to try the steak and the...

Chicken Fried Steak.  The space on the plate is due to the other chicken fried steak had already been placed on Superman's plate...just keepin it real as a fellow blogger stated about her photos :)

Brownie with Vanilla Bean ice cream...

Lemon-Lime Tart...for those who know me personally you will be surprised to know I didn't even try it. 

While eating dinner we actually debated on spending the night so we could explore more of the city the next day.  Remembering we had made commitments to be greeters at church the next morning we decided to make a full weekend trip another time.   As we were leaving the hostess called a bike taxi for us as the walk back to the Apple Store (I had a later appointment to get my iPhone looked at) was quite long and it was getting cold.  Besides, we wanted to re enact a family photo that we took in Denver, Colorado, on a trip to downtown when the girls were small. 

This is my all time favorite pic of my family on vacation in Colorado.  We were in downtown Denver just after Christmas in a horse drawn carriage to see the lights.  It was the best night!  I am so thankful for digital photography, this was taken on a point n shoot on film!

The quality isn't much better but the memories are just as wonderful!  My babies have grown up and Superman and I are a bit older.  So glad we could squeeze into the bike carriage for a picture!  We didn't want to break the back of the bike rider so we opted for two separate carriages.  What a fun way to see more of the city on the way back to our destination.  Super inexpensive too, at just 18.00 for both carriages! 


Our road trip was fun and as I drove home, the other three fell asleep.  I scanned the Sirius radio and listened briefly to the Republican debate before settling on Siriusly Sinatra.  After we arrived home, Superman turned on the tv only to see that the FoxNews debate I had heard was live in downtown Charleston!  We all laughed and laughed...no wonder so many people were downtown, parking was almost gone, two men asked us how to get to some auditorium, and all of those people were pouring out of a convention center as we were leaving town.  Leave it to us to miss something so big that was right in front of us! 


How was your weekend?  Did you take a road trip?  Please leave me a note, I truly enjoy reading each and every one of them!