Tuesday, June 21, 2011

charleston girls weekend

here's a few words to describe charleston, south carolina - historic, lovely, hot, bright, charming, hot, considerate, hot, relaxing, fun, hot, culinary, humid and beautiful.  oh wait, did i mention it was hot?

netter, doc and i headed southward to celebrate the amazing accomplishment of doc in earning her doctor badge and the all important white coat.  we chose the first week in june to hit the streets of charleston and guess what, it was hot!  i mean melt your face off hot.  coming from new york i thought the south couldn't be worse but i was wrong.
dear aunt jan-baby, uncle john b and my NC tar heels loving cousins, i truly admire your ability to be outside for longer than 15 minutes during the summer in your hometown of charlotte, nc without wanting to throw yourself into the nearest body of water to cool down.  i'm sure you know this already, but i can teach you that the modern day inventor of the air conditioning unit is a lovely man from albany, ny named willis carrier.  i think we will all be in a line in heaven to give that man a hug. love, me
our first destination was to dive into the southern cuisine at the waffle house.  very filling and so cheap!  afterwards, we headed to boone hall which is the home of the amazing oak drive.  the trees are exquisite as was the homemade key lime ice cream with crushed graham crackers.  our house tour guide was in full hoop skirted glory.  we had a great time but were completely ready to feel the glorious a/c blasting in our faces.  the evening ended with a stop at the local piggly wiggly where we got the piggly wiggly card and saved some dollars off our choices of bagels, strawberries, animal crackers, granola bars and bottled water.  then we headed for a scrumptious meal at my cousin jess' recommendation of jim 'n nick's BBQ.  since it was around the corner we were game to give it a go.  that's where we fell in love with the cheddar biscuits and lemonade as previously blogged. 

next day was all about more plantations.  we started at magnolia plantation which is renowned for it's gardens.  highly enjoyable to walk around the grounds, see the home's interior, get lost in a hedge maze and see quite a few alligators and other wildlife up close.  after magnolia it was off to the formal gardens of middleton place.  the grounds reminded me of the beauty of the gardens in places like london, paris and budapest.  loved the dairy, reflection pool, small chapel and animals on the farm.

did i mention that through all of these activities it was in the mid 90s and super humid?  oh i didn't; well it was very hot and very humid to the point of pure exhaustion from being outside in the sun.  while eating lunch at middleton place at 3:30pm i located a local water park that unfortunately closed at the very early hour of 6:00pm on a saturday.  but we were desperate so after lunch we packed up and headed there to use our recently acquired piggly wiggly card to get a $3 discount on the price of admission for a total of about 85 minutes of water sliding, wave riding and most important of all, lazy river lounging.  we were literally the last people out of the lazy river.  they had to ask us to leave.  one of the most refreshing moments of my life and worth every penny of the $16.99 price for 85 minutes of pure happiness.

sunday we slept in.  ate breakfast together while chit chatting.  changed into our swimwear and followed the masses to the beach.  found a free parking spot in the shade of a tree (very important!) and hiked to the coast.  slathered on the sun screen and began the melting process.  after about 10 minutes of laying out we couldn't take it anymore so rushed for the water.  the water was amazing!  very warm and clean.  at one point dolphins swam right by us about 20 feet away.  it was fantastic!  so relaxing and it helped me maintain my summertime glow.  might have left with a severe left forearm sunburn.  kids, always wear sunscreen and reapply after being in the water.

that night was the dinner celebration of doc at husk restaurant.  all of the food was amazing except the bacon corn bread.  never thought i'd say this but there are some things that bacon shouldn't be added to for "enhancing" the flavor.  corn bread is definitely one of them.  and we all looked really cute in our sophisticated skirts and sandals.

monday we slept in.  ate breakfast.  doc and i headed to the slave mart museum for a little history lesson.  picked up a little lunch from the very cute bartender at another fabulous restaurant called 82 Queen.  doc had the best suggestion of all to stop at jim 'n nick's to pick up the addiction inducing lemonade.  then it was pack up the jeep.  stop at walmart for large bottle of aloe vera gel with lidocaine for yours truly.  drop off car at airport.  get through security and wait for flight.

doc and i had a little stop over in atlanta where we grabbed some chili's appetizers for dinner and then boarded our flight to la guardia.  and then the trip ended and we sent doc to utah for her trek to her new home and life as an intern at the university of michigan.

love my friends so much.  love my friends who will travel with me.  love to see new places.  and love to learn the name of the modern air conditioner inventor - willis carrier.  i love you willis carrier and wish you a magnificent mansion in heaven fully equipped with central air.

boone hall plantation

doc enjoying the refreshing taste of homemade key lime ice cream

slave cabins at boone hall

jumping with glee on the oak tree drive to boone hall

this is what absolute heat and exhaustion looks like

magnolia plantation

swamp at magnolia plantation gardens

famous bridge of magnolia gardens

hugging a very large tree

magnolia's historic places plaque

magnolia garden

formal gardens of middleton place

middleton place plantation

1 comment:

Laura said...

ohhh. You make me want to visit......when it is cooler!