A free afternoon in Charleston
I was in Charleston, SC, last week for a conference.
The first night, as part of the conference, I attended an oyster roast. Unless I’m blocking memories, I’ve never had oysters before, much less shucked them myself. They were better when I put Tabasco on them, but I still wouldn’t pay for ‘em…
The second night, the conference organizers gave us the opportunity to sign up for what they called, "Collaboration Dinners". There was a group for each of the conference topics. Each group, limited to ten or twelve people, went to a restaurant in downtown Charleston. The group I joined went to Tristan’s. The meal was "Dutch treat", but one of the other attendees bought wine for everyone… I had the "Hickory Smoked Lamb Ribs with Chocolate BBQ Sauce" for an appetizer and the "Kurabuta Double Cut Pork Chop". The chocolate BBQ sauce wasn’t anything special, but the double pork chop was really good.
The conference ended with lunch the third day. I poked about on the computer in my hotel room for a while, but decided that I couldn’t waste such a beautiful day. (The weather in Roanoke has been below freezing all month. The first two days in Charleston were rainy and cold but Thursday was crystal clear and in the mid to upper 60s.)
I had a convertible Mustang, so I put the top down and drove around the southern tip of Charleston. Then I parked and walked around the Waterfront Park.
I went out the little jetty in the picture below.
Some interesting views…
A container ship in the distance, coming into the Port of Charleston.
Across the water, at Patriots Point, is the USS Yorktown.
Between Charleston and Mount Pleasant is the New Cooper River Bridge, North America’s longest cable stay span. I was told that the bridge came in ahead of schedule and under budget. (Is that even possible???)
The seagulls and pigeons were buggin’ tourists for scraps. This one didn’t seem so motivated, though…
I saw a couple of dolphins* as well, but I couldn’t get my camera out and ready to click fast enough. Sigh…
*Or, maybe, I saw one dolphin twice. The second (dolphin/sighting) was swimming in the opposite direction of the first, ten minutes later.
A couple shots looking back at the marshland along the water side…
The centerpiece of the Waterfront Park…
Doing a little fishing in the marsh…
After walking around the park, I decided I had burned enough calories to "afford" a pint of beer and headed for Southend Brewery & Smokehouse. I had their Bombay Pale Ale. Not too bad. Realizing that I still had plenty of time before meeting with a customer for dinner, I had another pint, this time the chocolate porter. Nice, but not nearly as good as my own chocolate/vanilla stout…
The main spot for fleecing tourists is Market Street, capped at one end by the old US Customs House.
There were a lot of folks making sweetgrass baskets, using coiled sweetgrass held together with palmetto leaves. The baskets are really cool, but awfully expensive. Next time I’m in Charleston, I’m going to try to find a place to buy them that isn’t in the heart of the tourist trap area…
Here are some for sale so you can see them a bit better…
Horse-drawn carriages are EVERYWHERE in downtown Charleston…
Finally, a shot of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church. Just ‘cause it looks cool…
But then I ran out of time and headed back to the hotel to doll up for dinner.
We had dinner at Magnolias. I started with a wonderful bowl of "Elwoods Ham Chowder" followed by an excellent "Shellfish over Grits" (shrimp, sea scallops & lobster). Beautiful presentation as well as fantastic taste…
You really can’t go wrong having dinner in Charleston, but it ain’t cheap…
All that fancy eatin’ and you’re going to gain back all that weight you lost! Sounds delicious, though!
Comment by Donna — 26 February 07 @ 11:50 pm
Sounds wonderful. I haven’t been to Charleston for years. Actually it was more of a drive through Charleston. We’ll have to make a trip some day.
Comment by Kelleigh — 27 February 07 @ 8:54 am