Over the weekend, G and I joined some friends in a beach house on the Isle of Palms, near Charleston. It was a birthday weekend for one of my friends from college, and we were prepared to eat a lot, drink a lot, and have fun catching up. The weather was a bit overcast, but it was still lovely and warm. The first thing we did was grab a couple of beers and a snack at the Banana Cabana. If you have never thought of putting Old Bay Spice on chicken wings, do it now! They are amazing. Banana Cabana calls ’em “Crab Wings.”
The first night we did a huge Low Country Boil at the house, and chatted over several glasses bottles of wine. If you’ve never had a Low Country Boil, you are missing out! Here’s what you do:
- Fill up a big lobster pot with water and put it on to boil
- Add a bottle of beer and a bag of “Crab Boil” spices (or a ton of Old Bay) and some crushed red pepper
- Throw in some potatoes and let them cook a while
- Add several ears of freshly shucked corn, cut in half, and let those cook a while
- Throw in some big chunks of smoked sausage, halved lemons, and lastly, fresh shrimp
Don’t let the shrimp overcook! You will be rewarded with this:
On Saturday, we set off to visit the incredible Angel Oak Tree on St. John’s Island. After stopping to debate the best way to get there,
Should we follow the map, the GPS or the iPhone….?
Hurry up, I’m hungry!
we decided to stop at Shem Creek to get a drink to fortify us. The Water’s Edge Restaurant makes a mighty fine Bloody Mary. The Little Ninja was determined to try oysters on the half shell, so to shut him up oblige him, G ordered a dozen.
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- I don’t know if I can do it!
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- Okay I’ll do it!
TLN wasn’t sure about them, but he finally gave it a go – on a cracker covered with hot sauce! I doubt he’ll ask for them again, but I assure you, they were awesome! When a passing bird dropped a present on our table (and on some of us), we decided it was time to go.
Was that bird sh**?
The Angel Oak Tree was just amazing – it’s more than 400 years old, over 66 feet tall, and provides shade over an area of around 17,000 square feet!
After visiting it, we drove over to Kiawah Island. It wasn’t what I expected at all…just a huge golf resort really….but very impressive. We were going to get a drink somewhere but decided on going to Charleston instead. The birthday girl in our party (love you Christie!) wanted to go to The Library Rooftop Bar.
It was fabulous. I highly recommend the White Grape Martini and the Red Curry Mussels! In fact, we enjoyed ourselves so much that we stayed until it was standing room only and time to go to dinner. Fortunately, the restaurant we had booked was almost directly across the street.
Just inside is an old photo of Charleston hanging on the wall ….very cool!
And the pizza oven:
The handsome couple sitting near us looked so “Charleston” I just had to take their picture.
Ane who is THIS handsome guy?
What to order….? Everything looked good. We decided to all choose different entrees to share – duck, mahi mahi, scallops, grouper, fried chicken, fried shrimp, and steak. Thumbs up! And the calamari and fried green tomatoes (appetizers) were to die for.
The night ended early for most of us, but there was some discussion of wine and the stock market…
a little snuggling…
…and yet another photo bomber!
Although I didn’t get a photo, I must tell you about a great Sunday Brunch spot: Charleston’s Cafe.
We waited a good 45 minutes to get in, but it was worth it!. There is free coffee outside and plenty of chairs to sit on while you read the menu (over and over, because it’s pretty much impossible to decide what you want. Everything looks good!)
The manager gave us a deep fried cinnamon roll for being so patient, and OMG was it delicious! The menu items all had some kind of twist on the typical breakfast food – instead of hash browned potato bowls there were home made potato chip (“chippers”) bowls, Eggs Benedict on fried green tomatoes and French bread instead of on English muffins. The chicken and waffles were great and the omelet The Little Ninja ordered was oozing with Swiss cheese. If you ever find yourself in Mount Pleasant for your first meal of the day, don’t miss Charleston’s Cafe!
Now it’s back to green smoothies and hot tea for a while….
sigh
What the Focus 