Southern delights, part b - a lil' mo' Charleston

We love our afternoon sweet treats.  A lot.  Firmly believe in embracing that vacation spirit and indulging in treats we might otherwise attempt to resist.  So after some relaxing porch swing time, we stopped at the oh-so-convenient Charleston Candy Kitchen for REAL Coke in glass bottles (there's really nothing quite like it) and chocolate refreshers.  Oh, and free candy corn and free spiced pecans.  They sure know how to suck you in with those samplers.  At any rate, we needed to chocolate up before...our big sailing adventure!  Another great way to beat the heat = put yourself on a boat, get out in the harbor, and let the cooling breezes do their thing.  Don't mind if I do.

Knowing how ridiculously hot the afternoon would be, we'd made reservations for the 3:00 sailing of the Schooner Pride.  Thank goodness we had that chocolate stop to provide us with a burst of energy, because it was a little bit tricky to figure out where the ship was docked...oh, oppressive heat, quit mocking us as we walk back past the aquarium...must...reach...boat.  Oh, good, we're there!  After a few painful minutes of sitting docked in the sun, taking in the required safety spiel, we were off.  Given an infinite supply of sunscreen and beverages, I'd like nothing more than spending endless afternoons on a sailboat (you know, with someone else doing all the work).  Just look how refreshed Carolyn is after some sea breezes, out there on the open water!

We SAW A DOLPHIN (who knew those hung out in Charleston's harbor??  Thank goodness for Kami, who with her laser eyes and complete animal awareness was the first to pick out the ocean creature), sailed between Fort Sumter (first shots of the Civil War!) and Fort Moultrie, admired some beautiful beach homes, and made passes by the USS Yorktown and Charleston's fancy new-ish bridge.  It was so great to spend a couple of hours out on the water, soaking in the sun and enjoying the breeze.  Those quiet, relaxing vacation moments were exactly what we needed.  No need to go go go all the time.

After our delightful sail, we muscled our way home in the heat with a quick stop at Harris Teeter to pick up wine and cheese...you know, because every pre-dinner "shower, change, relax a bit" break should involve wine and cheese.  At least it does for us.  Although when you go somewhere as tasty as Magnolia's for dinner, I wished for a little more room in my tummy that was occupied by aforementioned cheese.  Caesar salad, and then the amazingness that was blackened catfish over Carolina dirty rice with fried green tomatoes, habañero chutney, and tomato butter, followed by a slice of pecan pie with bourben-caramel sauce and vanilla bean ice cream.  God, I love food.  After dinner we were craving some rooftop time, so we made our way to the Pavilion Bar and enjoyed the city and harbor views with a few beverages...even if we did have to brave a few raindrops.

You know what a good way to start the day is?  Breakfast on the rooftop terrace at your hotel.  You know what a nice follow-up to that is?  Leisurely getting ready to face the day, walking a few blocks, and putting yourselves in line for what promised to be an amazing lunch at Jestine's Kitchen.  Food followed by food...my kind of day.  Yes, a bit of a wait, but I didn't mind at all when the iced tea and cornbread with honey butter and fried green tomatoes and fried chicken and okra gumbo and broccoli casserole and macaroni & cheese and peanut butter sandwich (Carolyn looooves peanut butter - good to be true to yourself and answer your cravings) graced the table.  Freakin' yum.  And as if that wasn't enough, we polished everything off with some tooth-achingly sweet Coke cake and meringue-topped banana pudding.  I'm not sure how we managed to walk after that.

Ok, yes, a heavy lunch...but it was sooo gooood....

Somehow we did summon the strength to walk, back down Rainbow Row and along the Battery to the Edmondson-Alston House for an informative tour from sweet old Fred.  The home was built in 1825, has great views of the harbor from the side porches and balconies built to catch the sea breezes, and was really pretty interesting to walk through (plus...air conditioning!  glad they've made that upgrade, even if it wasn't around in 1825).  We were also introduced to the jogging board - a long wooden plank anchored at each end on rockers, supposedly first thought up so that some old woman could bounce around on it and pretend she was riding a horse.  If this is their idea of exercise, sign me up.

Speaking of exercise...we've been doing a lot of walking.  A lot of walking in the oppressive heat.  What say we head on over to Budget, pick up our rental car, and go to the beach in air-conditioned comfort on wheels?  Yippee!!  The next installment of vacation recap features wind surfers...get ready for it.