Travel van inspiration.
Oyster art courtesy of Empire Oyster.
This past holiday week, my family flew down to Charleston, South Carolina to enjoy a warmer version of Thanksgiving. Having spent the past two late Novembers in the windy city, where my sister and her boyfriend were currently living, the shorts-weather was quite the surprise. We arrived to calm sunshine and palm trees along with many wet greetings from Goose, their huggable golden retriever.
Another interesting surprise was Griff’s proposal on Sullivan’s Island, the day before Thanksgiving. Words can’t describe how happy I was and still am for Sarah, I am proud to report I happy-cried. And looking forward, I’m sure there will be plenty more to say about the behind-the-scenes for their wedding plans. For now, I can only be grateful to God for bringing Sarah and Griff together.
The trip continued with a charming night visit with Griff’s family and our family to The Barrel, a dog park/outdoor bar with astro-turf for the canines and local beers for the humans. My parents enjoyed fancy oysters courtesy of the visiting Empire Oyster. While I’m no fan of the shelled delicacies, I do commend the vendor on his incredible artistic license with the oysters. His set-up was unique, a standing boat which served as his bar, where he assembled gourmet oysters before our very eyes. With all the different smells and breeds for a dog to marvel at, Goose enjoyed the place even more than we did.
Joe Riley Waterfront Park by the popular Pineapple Fountain.
The wide array of food options was quite the sight driving through the palm tree-lined streets. Plenty of brunch, seafood, Mexican, though not a lot of Italian options. The South seems to lack the Italian dining options available up north, but it certainly makes up for that in fried chicken, biscuits, and other comfort foods. Speaking of biscuits, we tried a brunch place in Mount Pleasant called Vicious Biscuit. I opted for the sweet potato biscuit with maple bourbon butter while my family tried the many variations on biscuit sandwiches. It was delicious and we plan on returning next time we visit.
We wandered along the downtown area, running past Rainbow Row for a morning workout and photographing the pineapple fountain near the waterfront park on our phones. It was a sunny, pleasant escapade, albeit a little unusual to be sitting outside in balmy 65 degrees while pigging out on turkey and watching football come Thursday evening. Charleston is so nice because everyone’s outside be it shopping, walking or running, dining, or enjoying lovely scenery and historical sites like Angel Oak or Fort Sumter. Southern cities have so much to offer and I can’t wait to visit Sarah and Griff again in their new, sunny home.