Charleston Landscaping

Day 24: More southern hospitality, please! Charleston, South Carolina is the main attraction today and we didn’t have any specific plans/places in mind to visit. We woke at a Pilot Gas Station about an hour out of Charleston early in the morning, but it took a few hours to get going. Just groggy and slow.

Chad, I’m hungry.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you some lettuce. I’ve been thinking about getting lettuce for a while.”

Thank you 😊

The drive in was gorgeous! The trees are so tall and green…they look like giant asparagus stalks (can you tell I’m hungry haha everything reminds me of food).

First stop in town -> food. I found a forum detailing a day spent in Charleston and they mentioned to grab a hot-pressed sandwich from an old grocery store. Sweet.

Parking: Charleston County Parking Garage; $1.25 per hour

Queen Street Grocery, established in 1921, hosted a diner-like setting and fridges for cold beverages.  It isn’t a grocery store any longer, but they are known for their hot-pressed sandwiches and crepes. We sampled their Tenacious Turkey sandwich (nummy bread, sprouts, melted brie cheese, sauce, shaved turkey) and it was pretty good. 

If this place was back home, it would say it would be my other regular place that I would attend, besides from Bern Baums (which, by the way, is my FAVORITE food place EVER because of the gourmet, house-made kosher bagels, unique atmosphere and ever-changing menu. They just opened inside their new location on Broadway in Fargo. It’s a must. Go visit! The Icelantic (salmon+lox+capers+pickled cucumbers) is where it’s at). Woof, appreciation rant over.

Chad loves to go running and hang out at Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis (who doesn’t?) and today we were able to walk on Calhoun Street. Miss home much? Yes, a little. Charleston had a little lake and we stopped to rest on a bench. We took a virtual tour of a mansion, so we didn’t have to physically walk there and pay tourist prices. It was a relaxing space.

The homes here are stunning, are adorned with porches and have a wide variety of greenery in all of the yards. The streets smelled of flowers and some of the areas had crazy large mansions. The bigger the balconies and front entries, the more impressive the whole thing seemed. We walked up and down many streets taking it in.

The forum also mentioned to grab a cup of coffee from Second State Coffee and we did.  We tried their Cortado (2 shots espresso + 1 shot milk) and their drip coffee.   Now satiated with liquid after a hot walk outside, we ventured back into the heat to check out the old market place downtown.

Chad and I rested in the court yard within the University of Charleston on a bench to wear off the caffeinated thoughts. We then ventured down the streets filled with shopping centers and down to the water front.

The space was pleasantly occupied with people, not too much or too little, and it made the experience more enjoyable. We popped into an art gallery and I drew a cartoon of Chad searching for bagels (I would secretly like a bagel but I’m waiting for New England to indulge).

We made a pit stop at a local grocery store and purchased salad materials. Tonight’s meal consisted of spinach, mixed lettuce, avocado, cucumbers, and sardines accented with olive oil and vinaigrette. I run just fine off veggies and can keep my energy levels high.

Chad on the other hand, uses energy much faster than I do and we can tell when he is running out because he gets crabby, quiet, and conserves his movements. He needs more calories than lettuce can offer! Meanwhile, I am bouncing around with energy and can constantly out-talk him (scary).

Chad’s beard is getting longer!! It’s been 24 days and he is starting to look more like himself again (I’m not riding in a car with a stranger any more). We were listening to Rock’n Roll Jesus …. what appropriate timing.

We hit the road in the late afternoon and headed towards Myrtle Beach to camp out at a Cracker Barrel. We had dinner inside (yay!) and tried their meat loaf, chicken and dumplings, ham, and veggie sides. There brussels sprout and kale salad was SO GOOD.

It tastes like broccoli salad from back home. Chad always enjoys their biscuits (but Hardy’s apparently has the best biscuits and gravy) and the waitress actually gave us a ½ dozen to go! Say whattt?? Lol Chad said we will have to go find a Hardy’’s and get some gravy for these puppies. Thank you!