Charleston Trip - Day One

While we were in South Carolina last month, my parents kept Drew and Maddie for us so that Jim and I could take an overnight trip to Charleston for a belated anniversary celebration.  We left mid-morning on a very rainy day and made the three-ish hour drive to Charleston.  This was our view for much of the trip. 

 We got to Charleston around 1:00 in the afternoon, so we went straight to lunch.  Jim had done a little research and had found some Charleston restaurants that had been featured on the Food Network.  We ate lunch at Fuel Cantina.

The rain had slowed down some, so we decided to eat out back on the covered patio.  The patio had some fun paintings on the walls and lots of palm trees and other plants.

 My lunch date (and husband of 11 years!).

 We ordered some hoe cakes as an appetizer.

 Jim got the Caribbean Jerk sandwich,

 and I got the braised pork tacos.  We both enjoyed our food and we were stuffed when we left.

 After lunch, we drove to Mount Pleasant for a historical boat tour.

 Our tour boat was docked right next to the USS Yorktown, so we got to get a good look at that ship.

 We chose to sit on the top deck of our tour boat, but as soon as the tour began, it started pouring!  We were all getting wet, and we could hardly hear the tour guide.  We decided to move down to the enclosed lower deck, and we ended up staying there for the rest of the tour.  It was a little disappointing to be inside and for it to be so rainy during our tour.  We were able to see Fort Sumpter, and our guide (a retired history teacher) was very knowledgeable about the history of the city of Charleston and the Civil War.  I had hoped to see some dolphins - one lady on the tour said she did, but we did not.

After the tour, it was still raining, and since we were a little tired of being wet and rained on, we decided to go check into our hotel before dinner.  On our way to the hotel, we got a little turned around, and we saw a big thrift store.  Knowing my love of thrift store shopping, Jim suggested that we check it out.  We found several things for Drew and Maddie, and I found a vintage Pyrex mixing bowl for 99 cents.  I couldn't resist!

After thrifting and getting settled into our hotel, we drove back into Charleston for dinner.  We ate at Hominy Grill (another Food Network restaurant).  Hominy Grill was right across the street from Fuel Cantina, where we ate lunch.  We thought we had put the wrong address in the GPS when we first arrived, but we realized that the two restaurants were actually neighbors!

 I loved the little flower arrangements in the Mason jars on each table.

 Jim ordered the "Nasty Biscuit," a fried chicken and gravy biscuit sandwich, and he really liked it.

 I got the Shrimp and Grits.  The Food Network had listed this dish as the best shrimp and grits in Charleston.  It was absolutely delicious!

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel for the night.  We were tired and ready to relax and get out of the rain for a while.

I will be back later this week to share the second day of our Charleston trip.