Well dear readers, I admit it, I love this city. I will always extol the virtues of this beautiful city. It’s hard to say what it is, the romance of the downtown area, the rich history, or just the comfort of familiarity, but our stay was heartwarming for both of us. Which is good, because we were there for the cold snap that hit the country. We had so much fun driving around town, reliving our time there ten years ago. It was alarming how vividly we remembered stores, restaurants, parks and roads. We had A LOT of fun during the time we called it home, and it obviously left a mark! For this visit, put together a “to do” list that included things we had done before, and a few new things to try.
We set up “home” at the campground at James Island County Park, just west of downtown Charleston. We were county park pass holders back then, and I would rotate through them a couple times a week with Tucker, on a walk other than around our neighborhood. For a special treat, we would trek across town (we lived n Mount Pleasant which is east of downtown) to James Island, home of the best walking trails and the BEST dog park in the city. We have very fond memories of this park, so there was no question that we wanted to stay at the campground there. And the very first thing we did was take a walk! And it’s still as beautiful as we remembered.
We discovered, to our delight, that the drive into downtown was incredibly convenient from the park. SO much better than the drive from our home in Mount Pleasant. we parked by the battery, and three miles later we had toured the Battery, Rainbow Row, The Market, and King Street. We had a few events planned in town for the week, so we were able to scout parking opportunities. We were delighted to see that all our favorite fancy restaurants were alive and kickin….and then proceeded to go to none of them! But more on that later.
Other items on the list of “we’ve done it before” was a driving tour over the Ravenal Bridge, over to Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms, and past our old neighborhood. Its a gated community and we were never lucky enough to be there when someone would let us in, but we could see our old home and all the changes they have done to it.
We visited the Charleston Tea Garden (formerly the Tea Plantation) and stocked up. On the way back we visited the famous Angel Oak, happy to see it continues to survive the crazy hurricane weather of the southeast. We had a botched attempt at visiting the Marsh Hen Grits factory (formerly Geechie Boys), home of Dale’s favorite grits. Unfortunately the address Apple Maps guided too was completely wrong, taking us to the beautiful Kiawah Island area instead. As a crow flies, we were 10 minutes away, but to get there was an hour drive. One of the bad things about life in the Lowcountry (or swampland). So we found those grits at Harris Teeter at a much better price!
I also had to visit one of the plantations in town, and as it turned out, I was able to visit Magnolia Plantation and Gardens on the last day of Home for the Holidays. It was a cold, rainy day so I was there with about two dozen other people (perfect crowd control!). The home tour was lovely, a last blast of holiday cheer, and I learned a few new things I either had never heard before, or have forgotten. I had time to walk the beautiful gardens, and beside it not being bloom season, I managed to get myself lost. So I got a much better view of the gardens than I intended and doubled my steps goal for the day as well!
We did visit one other county Park, Palmetto Islands, this one closest to our old home. It was fun to go down memory lane again, but served as a great reminder of why we love James Island so much!
The restaurants that we really wanted to visit were Holy City Brewery, Red’s Ice House on Shem Creek and Xiao Bao Biscuit. Holy City was Dale’s regular after-work hangout. He enjoyed the company of some of his old team there one evening, and while he had a good time catching up, the beer and their merch selection left him a bit disappointed. Red’s, a very fun outdoor bar is not the best choice when the weather never breaks 45degrees, but at least their merch was a bit more fun. Xiao Bao is just as fabulous as we had hoped. This is not one of the many “dress up for a night out” place, its a converted gas station with outstanding asian fusion food. If you ever visit, do yourself a favor and try the OKO.
And the new things? Well first we needed to day trip to Congaree National Park, just south of Columbia. It was cold, which made it a GREAT time to visit a swamp….NO MOSQUITOES, GATORS or SNAKES. We walked the 2+ mile boardwalk trail, even hopping over the storm damaged closed section to complete the loop, stamped my Passport, and now I have 40 of the 63!
We spent an evening at a Murder Mystery Dinner – I did manage to determine who dunnit, but missed the fact they had two accomplices. Darn it, but we had a good time! We also spent one evening at a Candlelit String Quartet playing old rock hits. Dale and our friends Brian and Sandy Scheele did this in Phoenix while I was home recovering from Covid several years ago. So it was a first for me and as fun and beautiful as I had hoped. Here in Charleston we had the extra benefit of attending in one of the many beautiful churches that led to Charleston’s nickname of the Holy City.
We also spent an evening at Professional Bull Riding Competition being held in the North Charleston Coliseum. Honestly, what possesses those young men to destroy their bodies for an 8 second ride?!? I used to feel bad for the bulls, having to be toyed with like this. But after seeing the athletes they are, and how obviously well cared for they are, I started to feel bad for the riders! Some of those twenty year olds walked out of that ring looking, well, older than all of us, dear readers!
We also enjoyed two new restaurants (i swear you could spend months eating your way through this town and never have a bad meal.) The first was King’s BBQ. Another Asian fusion experience, recommended by Dale’s friends – wow was that worth the visit! We even ran into Cory and Lauren Jacik (Dale’s friend/ former Boeing team member and his beautiful wife) who were there celebrating his 35th birthday. And finally we brunched at Virginia’s on King, where I indulged in probably one of the best Chicken and Waffles dishes I’ve had. We learned ten years ago that you must be controlled with dining out here. Everything is terrific, because everything is made with cream and butter. Yes, some intestinal distress was experienced, but I have to say, it was TOTALLY worth it! And fortunately, I had a daily 3 mile walk to counteract a fifth of those calories consumed…..
Oh, and we did manage to golf! It is hard to believe, but we were not golfers when we lived her ten years ago, so we missed our chance to play at some fabulous places. So we were pretty tickled to get out there this time!
And with that, dear family, friends and other special readers, I shall close up this love letter to Charleston. We are off to Orlando for a couple of weeks, and cross your fingers we finally find a little warm weather!
Regards to you all, Lady Wanderingwise
Weise's Wanderings 
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