I don’t know what it was about this trip, but my love affair with Charleston is hotter than ever! Maybe it was being with my sister, or my friend from Monaco adding to the group, or the over the top, colorful, cascading flower boxes, or the fried pig ears whatever… it was, Charleston has made an indelible mark on my heart forever.
I think I hit the sweet spot in terms of time of year to visit: not too cold, not too hot and humid, and everything was in bloom. My sister really embraced the role of tour guide showing me and my girlfriend – who was looking for the quintessential southern experience – the best that Charleston has to offer. She gave a tour of the historic district with the most stunning homes replete with flower boxes like nothing you’ve ever seen before, gardens filled with magnolias in bloom, and Spanish moss hanging from the trees that was blowing in the breeze. She even brought us to Boone Farm Plantation! The roadway leading us to this grand home was something out of a movie with the light hitting the trees just right that made you feel like you were transported to another time. Gone with the Wind revisited…
After all of this whimsical site seeing a girl needs to eat! I have been dreaming of eating at Husk since I saw Anthony Bourdain’s TV show about this restaurant. It is next to impossible to get a table at this restaurant because the food is just that good; so we ended up eating lunch there instead of dinner. The fried chicken was juicy and absolutely heavenly, but the star of our lunch? Smoked, fried pig ears. This is one dish I had never eaten before and they were crunch in your mouth divine. We finished this low cal meal with rhubarb crumble and ginger ice cream.
Fried Chicken @ Husk
Pig Ears @ Husk
Rhubarb Crisp with Ginger Vanilla Ice Cream @ Husk
As if that wasn’t enough, we found ourselves at The Grocery later that evening. I wasn’t even hungry, but as these gorgeous little small plates passed my wandering eye I thought, “I am on vacation, c’est la vie!” I mean we went in the light-er side of things with charred broccoli with anchovy butter, huge asparagus with toasted hazelnuts, and shrimp that was beyond divine. Since we were sensible at dinner we thought we would finish our meal one my favorite desserts: Frozen lemon mousse tart.
Charred Broccoli with Anchovy Butter @ The Grocery
Asparagus Salad with Hazelnuts @ The Grocery
Shrimp with Fava Beans @ The Grocery
Frozen Lemon Mousse Tart @ The Grocery
If you think that spending a weekend staying on the water, visiting with friends and family, wandering old homes and gardens, and eating fresh and delectable food is an ideal vacation, then you will be charmed by Charleston too! I can’t wait to return.
