We arrived in North Charleston at our hotel in the afternoon and rested a bit before heading down I-26 into town. We started out the evening with a carriage ride from Palmetto Carriage Works, "
The Big Red Barn" off Market Street. Let me tell you, folks, if you want to get into vacation-mode, take a carriage ride. We waited in the barn for our tour to start where there were a couple of fancy chickens, a baby donkey and its mama, and draft horses and mules. We set out with Ed as our guide and Traveler and Butterfinger pulling us along the streets of the low country. Something about the clip clop of the horses' hooves and Ed's dry, relaxed storytelling that just created an ambiance of relaxation. To keep carriage rides from becoming tangled on Charleston's crowded streets, the city tells each carriage on which tour route they may go. We went on tour route #2, seeing commercial, residential, historical, and spiritual landmarks.What remains of this city from prior to the Civil War is nothing short of miraculous. The city has seen bombardment for more than 500 days, 5 major fires, hurricanes (most notably Hugo in '89), and an estimated 7.3 magnitude earthquake.
We had dinner at Hank's seafood. A bit on the more expensive side, Hank's specializes in seafood and low country presentation. We started with She Crab Soup, a cheesy and buttery bowl that seemed to set the tone for all of the meals we would consume over the weekend. We also tried the cold smoked slamon on toast with a cucumber salad appetized. It was light compared to the soup and was a good transition from the hot soup and hot weather into the cool of the resturant. I had the Seafood a la Wando, which was a sampler of seafood in a saffron sauce accompanied by a fried grit cake--again, rich and buttery. Jon had the roasted grouper that came recommended by everyone in the place. The grouper is served over risotto. Jon said it was fantastic, but like we found with everything this weekend, became a bit rich by the end.
How do you follow up a meal that features butter? Easy, a praline from a candy shop on Market Street. Sugar, held together with butter with some pecans thrown in for texture. I nibbled on it after dinner, but didn't finish it until 4 p.m. the next afternoon. It made my teeth hurt. Our real dessert was a piece of pecan (pea-can) pie from The Pie Man, Toby Simmons. He was at the outdoor pops concert cutting still warm pies. OH MY! Delicious! (His site is down or I would link it).
After dinner we headed back to North Charleston and saw the new "Star Trek." We enjoyed the movie, and we enjoyed seeing a movie in a theater for the first time since Jude was born. Speaking of the little man, Jude is having a fantastic time with his grandparents. He ate Jello for the first time today and appeared to have experienced some type of nirvana as a result.
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