Heading South of the Mason-Dixon Line

We left New York City last week and headed down to Charleston, S.C. We knew that we were getting close to our destination when we stopped seeing road signs for places like Nathan's Diner and Jimmy's Sub Shop and started seeing the black and yellow signs for Waffle House.  Restaurants offerings were no longer ribbon pasta with a mushroom marsala sauce. 

Instead, restaurants were now boasting "Breakfast All Day Long" and offering dishes like homemade meatloaf with mashed potatoes and omlettes with crispy hash browns and of course,meat, meat and more meat.



I stopped eating meat a few years ago but I'm always able to find something I want to eat at a restaurant and occasionally, it's even healthy.  I have a feeling that it's going to be a little more challenging for me here in the South.  It seems that almost everything has meat in the recipe, is fried, and is served in super-sized portions. Look at the heaping amount of those hash browns!  The picture just doesn't convey the crispy, greasy deliciousness of them and despite my best intentions I ate every bite!  

Jack and I have have been in Charleston for several days and on our exploration hikes through town we've seen at least 10 restaurants we'd like to try out. (If we can only find them again!) I'm happy that there are so many non-chain restaurants to choose from but, since Jack and I hope to be able to extend our road trip for 6 -12 months we are really trying to stick to a strict budget and not let ourselves get crazy going out for dinner like we're on an extended vacation.  Well o.k., I'm on a vacation since I'm on a work hiatus but we're really trying to live like a local wherever we end up on our road trip.  Our goal is to stick to eating out once a week but we'll see how that goes. 

Yesterday, we decided to enjoy the terrific weather here in Charleston by going out to breakfast at Hominy Grill which is two blocks away from the place we're staying and has outdoor seating.  The hostess was very apologetic about a 35 minute wait which, for a Sunday morning, seemed short to us.  We stood outside in the courtyard at a high-boy table and shared a celebratory cocktail from the walk-up outdoor bar. 

We were lucky to be seated at a table next to the french doors that opened onto the patio so we could enjoy the breeze and the excellent people watching.  The family at the table next to us placed an order for several of the Big Nasty Biscuits which featured a crispy fried chicken breast on a giant biscuit with cheddar cheese and gravy.  It looked really decadent and tasty even to a non-meat eater like me.  Kind of like a KFC mashed potato bowl (oh, how I miss them).  I stuck with the granola, fruit and yogurt and Jack ordered cinnamon french toast with apple-maple syrup and a side order of grits. We topped it off with a shared order of pumpkin-ginger bread and lots of coffee.

After breakfast we picked up our dog Coco and hopped in the car to explore a little bit further afield.  The town of Charleston is located at the end of a peninsula bordered on one side by the Ashley River and on the other side by the Cooper River with the Charleston Harbor at the tip.  We hadn't ventured off the peninsula since we arrived.  We crossed over the Ashley River which was marshy and fairly narrow and found ourselves on James Island heading to Folly Beach.  Folly Beach is one of the barrier islands near Charleston and has a public beach unlike Kiawah Island which is a private island which doesn't allow visitors unless you are visiting a specific person.  (A fact we learned after a 14 mile drive on a two-lane road)  Dogs are not allowed on Folly Beach from May - September but since it was February we were able to walk Coco on a leash.  It was Coco's first time on a beach and she struggled a little walking on the dry sand since her legs are so short.  She wanted NOTHING to do with the water when we walked on the hard packed sand.  The three of us enjoyed a long walk before we headed home to watch the Super Bowl.  

Before going out to the beach yesterday I wondered if we had made the right decision by choosing to stay in town rather than renting a place on or near the water but I think that we've done the right thing.  Now that we've left New York City, Jack and I are really alone without having our kids or friends around.  With Jack working all day I will need to find things to do and have easily accessible places to go to get out of the house or we'll drive each other crazy.  By renting in town I'll have lots of options.  Luckily, people are friendly here so who knows?  Maybe I'll make a new friend.