Charlotte and Charleston

Last weekend, I flew back east to visit J in Charlotte. He'd only been gone a week, but since we had a 3 day weekend (and the office closed early on Friday), it just worked better to schedule a visit when I could take advantage of that extra time for travel.

Friday night we had dinner at a surprisingly good Indian restaurant, Maharani. When I think of North Carolina, really authentic Indian food isn't the first thing that comes to mind. But it was delicious... definitely one of the top 10 Indian places I've ever been to. Then J showed me around the town a little bit and we hit the hay early.

Saturday we got up and started our weekend adventure down to Charleston, South Carolina. Neither J or I has spent much time in the Southeast, and it turns out that Charlotte is perfectly situated to drive to many of the top destinations in both of the Carolinas and Georgia in 4 hours or less. Because it was only 3 hours away, we picked Charleston for our first little road trip, and off we went!

We stopped for lunch in Columbia, SC, to try out some South Carolina "Midlands" style barbecue. South Carolina barbeque's unique element is that its sauce is made from a mustard base instead of the traditional tomato base. It was interesting... not amazing, but since we seem to be getting a pretty thorough education in regional BBQ styles, I was glad I tried it. But, it was a buffet style restaurant, and the best item by far was the fried chicken. Mmmm.

We arrived in Charleston on Saturday afternoon, got settled in, and then took a carriage ride to get oriented to the city. What amazing architecture and history! It was one stunning mansion after another, all with gorgeous secret gardens and courtyards peeking out in between. Such a romantic city. It reminded me a little of Venice... the water, the huge mansions, and the ancient patina on everything. Charleston has a rule that nothing over 70 years old can be fixed or updated. It can be restored to its original look or it has to be left as is, so lots of buildings look like they're kind of decaying a little bit, but in a very charming way. We capped off Saturday evening with an awesome dinner at High Cotton, where I had my very first shrimp and grits experience.

On Sunday we woke up and decided to walk down to the South of Broad neighborhood that we had toured by carriage so that we could get a better look at everything. We also toured the Calhoun House, which is a huge mansion, restored to its full 1870s glory. It is said that the original owner of the house was a Civil War blockade runner and the inspiration for the character of Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind.

We spent the rest of the afternoon browsing shops on King Street, followed by a nice long nap. For dinner, we ventured out to Hank's Seafood Restaurant, which J's boss had recommended. I had an amazing roasted flounder on a bed of sweet corn, shrimp, and lobster risotto. Delicious. After that we rolled ourselves over to a nearby bar where we sipped drinks on a rooftop deck until the big fireworks show over Charleston's harbor.

On our final day, Monday, we got up early and headed about 30 minutes outside of Charleston to tour the Boone Hall Plantation-- as a total history dork (who was obsessed with both the book and film versions of Gone With The Wind from ages 12-16), this was my favorite activity of the weekend. Boone Hall is the oldest working plantation in the United States. It was founded in the late 1600s, and they still grow numerous crops, including pecans, berries, pumpkins, onions, etc. They drove us all around the property recounting its history, and then we were free to tour the old slave cabins, which now house numerous interactive exhibits on African American history. Finally, we toured the plantation house-- the exterior of which was used as Allie's parents' home in The Notebook. (The interior of the Calhoun House I mentioned earlier was also filmed as part of Allie's parents' house.)

Finally, we drove back to Charlotte and had some real North Carolina barbecue at Mac's Speed Shop. North Carolina barbecue with its more traditional sauce and mouth watering pulled pork is definitely more my taste that its mustardy cousin in South Carolina, but it was fun to try both out. (I have to say though, I'm becoming more and more of a Texas girl everyday and would still pick Texas BBQ over anything in the Carolinas. You just can't beat the Salt Lick!)

Our last stop was the airport, where Jason dropped me off for my trip back to Austin. It was a fantastic weekend, and a very memorable fourth of July. I'm hoping I'll be able to make another trip out there in a few weeks to explore a little more of the Southeast. I hope you all had a fantastic 4th as well!