December 20, 2005
Quick notes on the Carolinas
A couple days into our tour of the Carolinas. The flight(s) to Raleigh/Durham were a bit painful -- we had a four hour wait at O'Hare, for reasons unknown.
We didn't do much in Chapel Hill besides sleep, eat biscuits, and drink coffee.
Most importantly, we visited Theda Wilkens:
Oh, and her dad.
Then we drove to Charleston, SC. We tried "quaint country roads" at first, but that just lead to strip mall hell and traffic, so we made our way to the 95. We then cut over on the 52, and that proved good, until we got near Charleston. The 52 drives through North Charleston, and is dingy and unappealing. It was good to know that this exists just outside the quaintness of Historic Charleston, but I don't need to do it again.
Last night we had a good meal at Poogan's Porch. They had a special $40 dinner for two, where she got a whole Maine lobster and I got a Delmonico steak, and starter, and dessert, AND cava. Must have been a Tuesday special, trying to get people into the place. Can't complain!
This morning we had breakfast at the Bookstore Cafe, which has no books. It does have wallpaper of books.
We got in the car and headed to the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site and poked around the grounds for 30-45 minutes. Not much to see, but it was pleasant.
Nature trail on the Pinckney Estate
That was followed by an excellent all-you-can-eat buffet lunch at Gullah Cuisine in Mt Pleasant. It's a place you might miss if you're not keeping your eye out for it -- which is surprising, because when you get inside, it goes on forever. The fried chicken, succotash, bbq pork, and beans were all excellent.
Here's Stacy after the meal:
I took that picture because I couldn't figure out what was happening behind that door behind Stacy. People were heading in and out of there, as if they knew what was going on, but the door had no markings, and it wasn't clear just what lurked behind.
And I'm writing this up from Kudu, an African-themed coffeehouse, that has *excellent* coffee. Excellent.
Tonight we're heading to the Holiday Festival of Lights on James Island. More later!
