Charleston Trip Recap

So even though I’m about two weeks late, I want to post a little recap of the anniversary trip that Joe and I took to Charleston. From the history, to the food, to the shopping, it’s by far my favorite destination. This trip might have been our best one yet because it was by far the most relaxing. On previous trips we’ve tried to pack in as much as we can because there is so much to see, do, and eat. Leading up to the wedding we also had to try and cram in as many vendor appointments and tastings as possible. This time we enjoyed tons of delicious food and spent a lot of time just walking around, but some of the highlights of this trip were:

King of Pops – since Charleston was hot, hot, hot we enjoyed several gourmet popsicles from King of Pops. We tried the coconut-lemongrass, grapefruit-mint, chocolate-banana, and pineapple-habanero. All of them were fantastic and very unique. My favorite was the pineapple-habanero since it was refreshing with a little kick at the end when you bit into a piece of habanero. A close second was the chocolate-banana . King of Pops is in Alanta, Athens, Asheville, and Charleston and they tweet each day to let people know where their cart is parked.

Husk – Joe and I have been wanting to eat dinner at Husk since we first read about Sean Brock’s concept for a restaurant that uses only Southern-sourced ingredients. After reading countless rave reviews about Husk, we had high expectations and it didn’t disappoint. In fact, I’d say our dinner was one of the top 5 meals we’ve ever had together (with other top meals being our engagement dinner at CityZen in D.C., our meal at FIG in Charleston, and a couple of our meals at McCrady’s). We went to the bar first for drinks and bar snacks. Joe was in bourbon heaven since they have an incredibly extensive bourbon list. He tried a new bourbon, a Southern beer, and was then given a free sample of Pritchard’s rum, which is a rum aged in bourbon barrels. We shared the Giddy Goat Pimento Cheese appetizer and made a pact to start making our own pimento cheese at home because it was so delicious and inspiring. We then moved over to the main restaurant for dinner. Everything about dinner was fantastic, but the highlight of the meal might have been Joe’s cornmeal crusted catfish entrée. It was served with summer squash, zucchini, and tomato broth and as he put it was the “perfect Southern bite”. I also give Husk rave reviews for their pecan pie. I generally consider my pecan pie to be the best I’ve ever had, but Husk’s matched mine in that the inside texture was perfectly smooth without the slightest hint of graininess from the sugar.

McCrady’s – as in past visits and during our wedding, the food and service at McCrady’s was spot on. We went early and enjoyed some of McCrady’s bar snacks, drinks, and bar ambiance. The deviled eggs were the highlight of the bar menu. We then moved to the dining room for dinner and once again Joe ordered slightly better than I did. His appetizer of butter poached octopus with squid ink potato puree had the perfect texture and brininess. I started with a chilled English pea soup with smoked trout and yogurt that tasted like it has just come out of the garden (which it had since Sean Brock has his own farm a few miles outside of Charleston). For dessert we shared a strawberry rhubarb clafoutis. Clafoutis is one of my favorite desserts and I thought this one was perfectly executed.

Shopping – Joe and I tend to do a lot of shopping each time we’re in Charleston since some of our favorite clothing stores are there. This time Joe got some new clothes at M. Dumas and Sons, where we had a lengthy conversation with the sales clerk about what a quality brand Southern Tide is. Another store we found that we had previously never been to was the Heirloom Book Company. Although our suitcases were too full to purchase anything on this trip, we will definitely be going back. The Heirloom Book Company specializes in cookbooks. They had everything from Grant Achatz’ tome Alinea to Martha Hall Foose’s “Screen Doors and Sweet Tea”.

Baked – I think we made 4 visits to Baked during our 4 day stay. From iced teas and coffees to delicious baked goods, a visit to Baked is a must on any Charleston trip.

Kayaking – our hotel concierge suggested we go kayaking in Shem’s Creek since it’s something we hadn’t done on previous Charleston visits. Joe and I are big fans of kayaking so we headed over to Mt. Pleasant and rented kayaks from Coastal Expeditions for Sunday afternoon. We spent two hours going up and down the creek and out into the harbor. We saw several dolphins and tons of birds and fish. It was nice to see an alternate view of Charleston and Arthur Ravenel bridge.