This Thursday morning we awoke to rain and 42-degree temperature in Charleston. We are staying in a “Best Western” and breakfast here is included, so we headed there. Over the years we have stayed in many “chain hotels” that include breakfast, but this was honestly the best one we can remember. One reason we say this is the hard-boiled eggs offered were ALREADY PEELED…and peeled well, too. (Note to Ladd: Please do not expect this at home.) After Ladd took his hard-boiled eggs to the table the woman working at the breakfast room overheard me say I wanted a hard-boiled later when I finished my juice and “cruised” the breakfast choices. By the time I returned to the table she had already brought me a hard-boiled egg…in a cup with warm water to keep it warm for me! (Note to self: Do not expect this at home from Ladd.) They had a pancake machine and when I said I would like a pancake this kind lady told me she’d bring them over to the table when they were ready. She also brought the maple syrup, at which point I asked her if she could come home with me…<g>! The breakfast offerings are actually too numerous to list, and everything we sampled was super. As Ladd ate he was looking at a Charleston map to “plan our attack” for today, and the same woman asked what he was looking for so she could help. She returned with a computer printout of “The Charleston Museum” Ladd was looking for. (I wish I had gotten her name to include here. If she’s there tomorrow morning I will find out to thank her by name.)
Since it was still raining we decided to start our exploring at an indoor point of interest. We headed to “The Charleston Museum” and did a self-guided tour for about an hour and a half. The many exhibits and videos present an interesting and detailed history of Charleston and South Carolina Lowcountry.
Upon exiting the museum we found the rain had stopped and decided to head to Fort Moultrie. Fort Moultrie has a one-hundred-seventy-year history. It defended Charleston Harbor twice in battles during the Revolutionary War and during the Civil War. At Fort Moultrie we discovered yet another "poor" Southern State that still has field trips for students while "rich" New York does not. The fort was "invaded" and we were "surrounded" by an army of seventh graders on a field trip to the historical site. (We surrendered...LOL!) First we saw a video giving an overview of the history of the fort. We also viewed the indoor exhibits at this visitors’ center. We then headed across the street to visit the fort itself. Thinking the rain had stopped for the day, I had left my umbrella in the car…bad move! As we were outside on the “cannon walk” the rain not only returned, it returned with a vengeance. Ever hopeful and wanting to see more of the fort, we kept walking, albeit walking fast. Apparently we were not walking fast enough because by the time we got back to the car we both looked like we had taken a shower with our clothes on!
We then went into a cute little bakery for a break to try to dry off a little and warm up with some coffee. Over coffee and a yummy almond croissant we started talking with another traveling retired couple. They were from Vancouver. The husband was a retired Superintendent of Schools, and the wife was a retired school administrator. Talk about “small world” with our educational connection! We shared an easy, lively, fun conversation about educational issues and experiences. Chatting caused us to stay longer than anticipated, but at least we were warmed up enough to continue on.
“The Heyward-Washington House” was our last tourist stop for this day. This is a Revolutionary War house built in 1772. It was the town home of Thomas Heyward, Jr. He was one of four South Carolina signers of The Declaration of Independence. Thomas Heyward, Jr. was a Captain during the Revolutionary War, was imprisoned by the British, freed in a prison exchange, and returned to South Carolina after the war. In 1791 President Washington stayed at the Heyward house for his time in Charleston. I loved seeing and reading the letters from Heyward to President Washington and from President Washington to Heyward. Another favorite of mine was the “ballroom/living room” where President Washington hosted parties while staying there. I could just picture them dancing in their fancy dresses and suits. Our guide told us that these gatherings were exclusive and the invitations were hard to come by. I told her I was sure I would have been invited had I been alive then…LOL! (The invitation is in the mail, right?! Ha!) In one room we viewed a small statue of Ben Franklin that had been mislabeled “George Washington” when it was made…oops! Out back of the mansion was the cook house, stable, and pretty gardens, which we unfortunately had to tour quickly under the umbrella. What a lovely house and interesting place to visit!
"Master Researcher" Ladd found us another awesome place for dinner called
"The Glass Onion". It is a little place that cooks with local and fresh ingredients to create "soul food" entrees. When we pulled in we could not find an open spot in their small parking lot. Never ones to be deterred when trying to eat good food, we parked in the lot next door and had to wait only a short time to be seated. Ladd had a creamy, rich mushroom soup as an appetizer. He had catfish, sweet potato fries, and coleslaw as his entree. I had South Carolina shrimp with rutabaga on top of grits. We also had two sides: collard greens and sweet potato casserole. It was too much food, but every bite was AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME! We chatted and laughed with the Laffiette (spelling?) family from Maryland who were seated at the table next to us. Our waiter, Adam, was a "newbie" who worked very hard to please. We also had fun talking with the manager, Jordan, who is from North Carolina. We could tell from our visit that he is a great manager who is "on top of" the needs/wants of his patrons. This was truly a fun night with excellent food. "The Glass Onion" earns top rating from Marilyn and Ladd, the traveling food critics. Night, y'all!
