2025 South Carolina Trip - Week 1

 

Jake & Cora in South Carolina

Our first trip to South Carolina was all about our son Jake and daughter-in-law Cora and her family.  Cora recently retired from a 21-year Navy career. They both decided to make South Carolina their "forever home" as Cora's family lives here and they both have the real estate career situations they like.  They had several homes from relocating over the past 20+ years between Virginia and California. They came to see us in Missouri many times when they could. My husband Keith and I enjoyed visiting them wherever they were.  Now we plan to visit them in one place from now on and they promise to come back to Jake's childhood home each Thanksgiving.  I like this plan very much!  

South Carolina has much to offer!  The southern hospitality is real and can be felt everywhere we went in a comfortable, slower pace of living compared to all the other places they lived.  The food we had was really good and I wanted to try new things especially with seafood.  Jake and Cora took us to several good restaurants.  The first night was at the Kirsey House Restaurant in Summerville.  We all shared some Escargot as an appetizer, a first time for all of us!  I had the Sea Scallop Risotto and a Flaming Blueberry Tart.  The next day was the regular Saturday Farmer's Market where they bought some pork chops that I cooked for them later in the week.  I bought a pound of Italian green beans to make my recipe for buttery garlic green beans.  I also bought a couple of sweetgrass basket items that is a old popular native craft. We had a nice lunch at Sweetwater One Two Three Restaurant and I had a lovely Grilled Chicken Salad.  

Escargot

Sea Scallop Risotto

Flaming Blueberry Tart

Summerville Farmers Market Sweetgrass Basket Lady

Grilled Chicken Salad

That evening was a special event in Charleston, about 30 minutes from where they lived in Summerville.  It was a Charleston Culinary Ghost Tour that served a Variety Dessert Board as the host told us about all the gruesome history of Charleston and many of the tales of the Free People of Color.   This began our schooling on the Gullah and Geechee people who were mostly former slaves.  The FPC were a complex ethnic mix of African, European, and Native American people in the Lowcountry.  Then there were the maroon communities of South Carolina formed by enslaved people who escaped to live in secret autonomous settlements in the wilderness areas.  So many stories were related to the Civil War.

Variety Dessert Board

We returned to Charleston the next day for a tour of the city by horse carriage.  It was very interesting to see the old building and streets in this historic city.  The characters that provided the tour were very colorful and fun to visit with while we waited for the carriage and our driver. They were very knowledgeable as were all the tour guides we had throughout our trip. It certainly adds to the flavor of the Lowcountry!  After the horse carriage ride, we went to dinner at Hank's in Charleston.  We all shared some fresh oysters and I had the Sautéed Flounder and a Shrimp Fruit Salad.  There is an amazing Historic City Market Center that we shopped and enjoyed. It ended with a puppeteer show.

Colorful Charleston Character

Charleston Horse Carriage Ride with Tour Guide

Variety of Paving Downtown

Charleston streets were paved in cobblestones since the 1700s predominantly in the historic district that were originally used as ballast in ships arriving from Europe that were later repurposed.  Other materials like Belgian block, vitrified brick, and creosote planks were also used.

Waterfront view during carriage ride in the Charleston historic district

Rainbow Row in Charleston is a collection of buildings that contain the longest intact stretch of 18th-century Georgian row houses, each with a rich and unique history of its own.

Hank's Seafood Restaurant

Sautéed Flounder

Shrimp Fruit Salad

Historic Market Center Puppeteer

We came back for another Charleston Culinary Food Tour where we walked to nearby restaurants.  Such a variety of local cuisine I lost count of what I ate and how many places! It added up to more than a full meal's worth of tastes.  Then we drove to Jake and Cora's favorite Folly Beach.  It was great to finally get into the salt water! It is a quiet beach which is the best kind and has some really good seashells.  Then we got a grand tour by boat at a place called Crosby's.  The hour long boat trip showed many varieties of seabirds, a few dolphins, and a sand shark.  We were let off on an island with a shipwreck and a lighthouse nearby.  Lots of seashells here and sand to walk barefoot.  Dinner was at Edison Restaurant on the way back to Summerville.  I had the Sweet Corn and Crab Gnocchi and a Key Lime Dessert I could not finish! So good!  

The Culinary Tour Guide was from England and made the tour very interesting!

So many foods and desserts that more than made one meal on this tour!

Folly Beach

Crosby's Castaway Island Excursions

Sand Shark

Dolphin

Tour Guide shows something to look for on the beach - SHARK TEETH!

Beti, Keith, Jake, Cora

End of island shipwreck with lighthouse nearby

Sweet Corn and Crab Gnocchi at Edison Restaurant (I ate most of it!)

Key Lime Dessert (I could not finish!)

The rest of the first week was spent close to home in Summerville enjoying Jake and Cora's lovely house and gardens.  Keith and I walked to the local grocery market which included a trail through a wooded area that was nice to avoid traffic. I spent my mornings weeding their gardens for exercise which Jake and Cora really appreciated.  I enjoyed the pool across the street several times and walking the ponds close by in the wooded areas.  I cooked for them during the week a few times when they worked which they also appreciated.  I made enough for lunch leftovers.  It was such a pleasure cooking in their efficient and well-stocked kitchen. I loved that they ate healthy organic foods.  Keith had also grilled some brats outside and I made some buttery Italian garlic green beans.  I cooked the pork chops they bought at the Farmer's Market with mashed potatoes and gravy, peas, and some of my homemade sauerkraut they had left that I had given them from their last Thanksgiving visit, and some applesauce.  Of course, they are well supplied with a variety of wine for every kind of meal!  

Entrance to White Gables Neighborhood

Chameleon in Backyard

Front View ofHouse

Corner Lot View of House with Garage (rear view) 

Pano View of Backyard

Backyard Patio

Backyard Fire Pit Area

Wooded Area View Across Street

Pool Area View Across Street with Parking Lot

Beti's Home Cooked Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Peas, Sauerkraut, & Applesauce

The first week included such a variety of foods and activities but there was much more to come in the second week of our visit.  I could already see the appeal of Southern Living in South Carolina!