Charleston, South Carolina

Last week I was able to spend a few days with my amazing best friend (and cousin) Rebekah. She is doing her dietetics internship in Charleston, SC, and I was lucky enough to have a few open days to explore the “most perfect 19th century town” in the U.S. It was a glorious week filled with way to much food and desserts, a little bit of walking, and no boredom. Oh, and did I mention that I think I found the world’s best cupcakes there? Just saying.

The trip was not without it’s hitches and my initial arrival time of Friday afternoon almost became Saturday morning. My flight finally landed at about 11pm so it wasn’t until the following day that I was formally greeted by the Carolina sunshine. And what a beautiful day it was! We caught the tail end of a rainbow as we made our way to Folly’s Beach.

That night I had my first taste of Charleston fare and the famous “She-Crab Soup.” I want to go back just thinking about it…  It is made from sherry and crab, but it also may have gotten it’s name from the fact that the chefs used female crab to make the soup before harvesting them became illegal.

This is the view from the restaurant in which this heavenly treat was served…

I cannot mention the soup without stating my love for the tea farm we visited, Bigelow Tea Plantation. Oh, and the delicious crab cake we ate with a goat cheese salad and lobster ravioli. Mmm… AND then there were the shrimp and grits cakes and cupcakes and…

I promise we did more than just eat… but the food was just too good to not mention. One of our other stops was the Angel Oak. Angel Oak is an oak tree that has been alive since the fall of the Roman Empire (thank you Caleb for that insight!). It is approximately 1,500 years old, but doesn’t look a day over 1,000.

Just so you don’t call the diet police on us, here are some pictures of our walking tour of downtown. (See, we did get some exercise).

I am now a huge believer in the joggling board… I wonder if I could squeeze one into my living room? Maybe I’ll wait ’til I have a garage…

Or I could just buy one of these amazing sweetgrass weavings! Unfortunately one of these precious mementos would set me back a few months rent.

And there is no way I’m ending without a food picture 🙂 Enjoy! I certainly did…