Prone to claims

Day 2 in Charleston started out with a call to the grandparents to check the Jude status. He, of course, was having quite the time and wasn't missing us in the slightest.

We headed out to a local bakery and sandwich place for breakfast that was on the way to the Fort Sumter tour we were taking that morning. Finding the local place no longer open for breakfast, we ate at a Starbucks- so much for trying to buy local. Our tour set sail at 9:30 from Liberty Square, beginning with w 35 minute boat ride to the island where Fort Sumter is located. The boat ride has a prerecorded narrator pointing out sights along the way. You are given one hour at the Fort to explore and then another 35 minute boat ride to return.

The fort, originally built to protect the harbor, eventually became the home to the very first shots of the Civil War and its first casualty. The causality came not during the 34 hours of bombardment by angry Charlsetonian seccessors, but rather during a 100 canon salute, which was part of the Union's negotiated surrender. We really enjoyed the trip out to the fort and seeing unexploded canon fire in its walls, but the highlight for me was seeing two dolphins on the boat ride back.

After Fort Sumter we walked from the parking garage by the aquarium into downtown and had lunch at the Blossom Cafe. We started with the special appetizer of the day, a pork spring roll served with a small garnish salad and two dipping sauces. Jon ordered the Blossom Club, a roast beef sandwich with bacon, cheese, and red pepper remoulade. I settled on the lamb sausage pizza with sun dried tomatoes and carolina goat cheese. Jon said the sandwich was, "exactly what he wanted," and he left the restaurant inspired to make sandwiches. Rightly priced, casual, and delicious, the Blossom Cafe hit the spot. It was one of the only meals in Charleston that was not butter based.

We spent the afternoon combing the market and shops in downtown, then headed back to the room for a nap until dinner.

To be fair, Jestine's deserves its own blog post. Named for a woman who worked for one family most of her life and lived to be 112 years old, Jestine's serves up the best low country, authentic, homecookin' that we tasted. Folks start lining up outside before the main dining hour, but service is fast and the line moves quickly considering there are only about 15 tables in the place. Every table starts with pickled cucumber that are perfect palate cleansers. The popular thing to order next is a basket of corn bread, which comes with a sidekick of butter pads soaking in honey. I had he blueplate special, crabcake with macaroni and cheese and the broccoli casserole. Jon had the signature fried chicken that is coated in pecans and served with a horseradish dipping sauce. He chose green beans and red rice on the side. While the red rice wasn't anything special, the rest of the sides were good, yet were very overpowered by how delicious the main dishes were. We took a piece of chocolate cola cake to go. Jestine's was worth waiting in line for.

We took our cola cake to waterfront park to rest up for our Fried Green Ghost Tour of the College of Charleston. April, owner operator of fried green tours was our tour guide. She led us through what is now an Embassy Suites but was formerly the Citadel (a photo is located on this page) and the College of Charleston telling tales of people with half heads and stories to tell. We were "kicking up bones" all around Charleston, which also happens to be the home of one of the first female serial killers and the first woman to be hanged in South Carolina. Lavinia Fisher's story is much like that of Sweeny Todd, in that her husband was in on the murders and the two preyed on those who were innocently looking for a warm meal and place to stay. The tour ended at the King George Inn where we heard our tour guide's only first hand encounter. At the time of the tour, I wasn't scared or even really creeped out, but when you're lying awake in a strange hotel and the room is really quiet and you've just come back after a ghost walk; things are a little more creepy. We loved seeing the C of C campus, and a slight drizzle and Spanish moss hanging from the trees added to the ambiance. The tour we went on is the only haunted walk north of Market Street.