Tag: Charleston

Coastal Carolina Fair begins TONIGHT!

On By Barbara StroudIn HOMELeave a comment

Image: Coastal Carolina Fair

Well, it’s that time of year… the cool weather has arrived and to celebrate the Coastal Carolina Fair rolls into town! The fair opens today, October 25th through Sunday, November 4th, 2012! Hey, did you realize that the fair will be open TWO Sunday’s this year? First time ever! So get out and enjoy!

Here’s the Entertainment Lineup (via Coastal Carolina Fair’s website):

Lakefront Stage

Day Date Performer Time
Thursday
Oct 25, 2012
7:30
Friday
Oct 26, 2012
8:00
Saturday
Oct 27, 2012
8:00
Sunday
Oct 28, 2012
5:00
Monday
Oct 29, 2012
7:30
Tuesday
Oct 30, 2012
7:30
Wednesday
Oct 31, 2012
7:30
Thursday
Nov 1, 2012
7:30
Friday
Nov 2, 2012
8:00
Saturday
Nov 3, 2012
8:00
Sunday
Nov 4, 2012
4:30

 

With plenty of rides, food, entertainment, as well as a host of competitions (horse, art, pageant) I think you’ll find yourself quite entertained! Check out their website for Gate Hours and Ticket Prices!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Charleston, SC voted #1 tourist destination in the WORLD as well as the United States!

On By Barbara StroudIn HOMELeave a comment

Readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine have awarded Charleston, SC the number one tourist destination in the world as well as in the United States… Here’s a blip from an article written by Warren Wise in our local Post & Courier newspaper, click HERE to read the entire article:

Charleston on top of the world in tourist ranking

Last year, Charleston was flattered. This year, it’s on top of the world.

Readers of Conde Nast Traveler not only named the Holy City the No. 1 tourist destination in the U.S. for the second year in a row, but also the top travel city on the planet.

“It was a giant surprise for us,” said Helen Hill, executive director of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It’s an honor to be in the Top 3, but to be No. 1 twice in the U.S. is unbelievable and to be named No. 1 city in the world, you can’t do any better than that.”

Last year, Charleston came in third in the world, behind Sydney, Australia and Florence, Italy.

KUDOS Charleston! This is a great place to live, with plenty of restaurants, art galleries, beaches, shops, you name it, we have it! If you’re looking for a vacation destination, look no further!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Image: CondéNastTraveler.com

Photo Weekend: Charleston… a walk downtown…

On By Barbara StroudIn HOME6 Comments

For those of you who aren’t from Charleston… these shots are taken near Hominy Grill. Now if you’ve been to Charleston, SC you’ve most likely been to Hominy Grill. Nice restaurant, great breakfast, haven’t been there for dinner, but I’m sure it’s all good! If you take a walk around that area you can see the most amazing things. For instance, this house. You wouldn’t believe how narrow it is, but how incredibly charming is it? It’s quite like a treehouse! And lucky for them, they can walk to Hominy Grill!

This also happens to be very near the Ashley Hall Private Girl’s Day School. A prestigious school in Charleston that dates back over 100 years! Their grounds are beautiful from what I could see!

Look at this unique building on the Ashley Hall campus! I believe it’s called the Shell House? Very interesting! Take time to walk around and see what YOU discover!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

39 Rue de Jean, a fabulous Charleston restaurant!

On By Barbara StroudIn FOOD3 Comments

My birthday was back in August… it fell on a Sunday this year, so Fred and I went to Rue de Jean for brunch. Let me tell you. WE. WERE. IMPRESSED. The service, the atmosphere, the food, the experience, it was all fabulous. We had the BEST coffee, wonderful food, and they brought me a dessert with a candle for my birthday! Oh, not any ole dessert, this was so special I can’t get it off of my mind, ha ha… POTS DE CRÈME AU CHOCOLAT  – when you go, order it! Trust me, you will have a big smile on your face! I mean LOOK at this! Pure delight in every way!

Even the simple things had that classy French twist…

A glimpse into the restaurant… they also have an upstairs. Check out their website, and their MENUS! I know where you’ll be soon!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Shrimp Boats at Shem Creek Park

On By Barbara StroudIn HOMELeave a comment

Shem Creek Park is a wonderful place to take a stroll. Located right at, well… Shem Creek (Mount Pleasant Seafood, Vickery’s, all the seafood restaurants, etc.) it’s a lovely dock and it’s long enough to take a nice stroll and snap LOTS of photos! Especially at sunset!

The temps should be getting a little cooler now making it more bearable! Enjoy and I’ll catch you back here tomorrow!

 

Resurrection Fern – I thought I was losing it!

On By Barbara StroudIn HOME1 Comment

One morning a friend and I were walking our dogs as we normally do… we were talking about the ferns in the trees. It seems they were so lush and green and now they were dying. In the photo above you can see the top ferns are starting to turn brown. That night my husband and I took the dog around the blog. I was telling him about the ferns in the trees turning brown. We looked up, and there they were, as lush and green as ever.  Ok… did I just dream that my friend and I had talked about the ferns turning crispy brown and dying in these large old oak trees? Google saved my sanity! I Googled “Resurrection Fern”… it wasn’t my imagination WOOHOO, the ferns turn brown and appear to be dead. When it rains they’re rehydrated and turn a lush green without a speck of brown! It is the most amazing thing! I read a neat ARTICLE that explains it. Apparently there is a special protein the resurrection fern has called DEHYDRIN which allows it to become lush and green only hours after receiving rain/water! These ferns last up to 100 years!

How cool is that? Can you believe that it goes from lush and green…

To crispy and brown… and back again as soon as it rains!

Amazing! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Delicious lunch – Slightly North of Broad (S.N.O.B) – Charleston, SC

On By Barbara StroudIn FOOD4 Comments

THE DECISION…

Slightly North of Broad is a wonderful restaurant located in Charleston’s Historic District, located on East Bay Street, they are located in a convenient place for both locals and visitors alike. It has a great atmosphere and friendly people working. It can be busy, so be patient. A few weeks ago Fred and I had a delicious lunch at Slightly North of Broad, (also known as S.N.O.B. ha ha, brilliant) – I was there years and years ago. They have something called an EXPRESS LUNCH, (changes daily) which is an entree, soup or house salad and coffee or tea. A $10.95 lunch at a higher end restaurant proves to be quite a deal. However, that day we both saw something else on the menu that grabbed our attention… After much consideration, Fred ordered a Pastrami Sandwich… it wasn’t any old pastrami sandwich, their menu changes daily so I don’t have the specifics, (Google Slightly North of Broad Pastrami, ha ha… no kidding! People love the stuff!), he ordered potato salad as his side. I had a bite, it wasn’t ordinary potato salad, it was very very nice. Now this was no Dr. Oz approved lunch, however, I did the best I could! The restaurant didn’t make a mistake in the photo below, I asked for only 1/2 sandwich, and they kindly obliged.  I love restaurants who realize not everyone likes a large portion. I ordered homemade potato chips with my sandwich- THE BEST EVER! I haven’t had a reuben since I was a kid and it was SO GOOD. I had a big ole smile on my face! (Click HERE for MENU).

I cannot believe we don’t have a photo of dessert!  I think we were so excited we ate it before we thought of it! We had BOSTON CREAM PIE.

Oh heavens. Let me go eat a Quinoa Puff for lunch now… whoopie!

I can’t wait to go back! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Charleston Restaurant Week September 5- 16, 2012!

On By Barbara StroudIn FOODLeave a comment

Charleston Restaurant Week is here! Beginning today (September 5, 2012) through September 16, 2012 find out what all the hoopla is about! This is a time that both visitors and locals look forward to.  A chance to dine at the fabulous restaurants in Charleston while getting a deal at the same time! Those of us who live in Charleston, SC are so fortunate to have the cream of the crop, the top notch, the very, very best restaurants all around us! NOW is your chance to visit them! Charleston Restaurant Association has a great website. The link shows the list of participating restaurants (there are many!), along with their menu and their website. Click HERE to check it out!

Hey, if you go, let me know how you enjoyed it! Do you live here, or did you make vacation plans around restaurant week? I’m telling you now is the time to get out and visit area restaurants. That’s what Fred and I did when he took off for a staycation… it was fabulous. We went to restaurants we don’t normally frequent, and we had the best time! These restaurants have some mouth watering options… and it all starts TODAY! Check out that above link!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

MONZA… quite possibly the best pizza on earth?

On By Barbara StroudIn FOOD2 Comments

Have you been to Monza? Located in Charleston, SC it’s quite possibly the best pizza you’ll ever taste! Here’s a general blip about their pizza from their website:

Hundreds of thousands have been making the pilgrimage to Monza since 1922. They go to witness greatness and glory. Sometimes horror. Sitting in the stands, some hanging in trees, they watch Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lotus run wild along 6.25 miles of sexy twists and turns. Monza is an Italian super speedway forever etched in racing history. Catapulting drivers into heroes. From La Pista Magica – the magic track – comes our Neapolitan style pizza. 

Our dough is made using imported San Felice wheat flour, natural Neapolitan yeast, filtered and pH balanced water then kneaded with a mixer imported from Naples. Our pizza is baked in a wood fired oven at 1000 degrees resulting in a thin crispy crust, topped with fiore di latte mozzarella, and fresh local and regional ingredients whenever possible. Rev it up for Monza.

 That crust they speak of… pure heaven in your mouth. It’s thin, but not like most thin/cardboard pizza. This is so good you just won’t believe it. Everything was exquisite. The mozzarella, the crust, the fresh sauce, oh boy, did we have a great lunch! We love their butter beans. A weird thing to love, but their butter beans taste like nothing you’ve ever tasted. They’re in a word… lovely! After the beans we had pizza… the first one was VON TRIPS it has house made Italian Sausage and seasonal greens. When I asked the waitress about the seasonal greens, she said that day it was kale… they sauté the kale and put it on top of the pizza and bake it. Kale is a nutritional powerhouse… whoa, that turns this into a super healthy food, kinda… Let me say, there was the perfect amount of italian sausage on the pizza, not smothered with it, just a little here and there, it added the perfect flavor without a ton of fat. The second pizza was the Materassi, with the fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil… we split both and came home with enough for lunch! They have great music playing, which adds to the ambiance. The space itself is very cool, someone spent time figuring it out and making it really quite nice. I love the orange glass tiles on the wall. If you’re in the area, I highly suggest you stop by… Here’s a link to their MENU!

Hope to see you there!

Location: 451 King Street, Charleston, SC

843.720-8787 | info@monzapizza.com

Hours: Sunday-Thursday 11am-10pm

Friday & Saturday 11am-11pm

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Day trip… ROCKVILLE, SC

On By Barbara StroudIn HOME, TRAVEL4 Comments

I mentioned a while back that my husband took some time off work and we had a staycation…we had a GREAT time. Took in the local sights, restaurants while still taking the dog (and ourselves) for a walk each day. It was so nice! One day we ventured to Rockville, SC.  A beautiful little town. A wonderful place to take photographs. It’s a little tricky to find a place to park. I was very careful to be respectful of peoples privacy. There are so many absolutely GORGEOUS homes you just want to take photos until you can’t take them any more. It’s a short trip from Charleston, SC. It’s not a place to go shopping, or out to eat. Just to take a little drive through and enjoy the beauty.

It was a cloudy day but still the photos are magnificent because ROCKVILLE is magnificent! It really is like stepping back in time. The big old oak trees, the charming homes, the views of the water… lovely!

One downside… MOSQUITOES… holy cow, I’ve never seen so many in my life. I was a walking Mosquito Magnet! Actually I was just about running, stopping only long enough to snap a photo… must have been a sight, ha ha… that’s probably why I didn’t see a single person!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Bowens Island Restaurant Menu – as of August 2012…

On By Barbara StroudIn FOOD4 Comments

Bowens Island is a fabulous restaurant to visit. Here’s an update to my Bowens Island Menu post… a slightly new menu, so here is the latest as of August 2012!  The prices are still a deal. This restaurant has atmosphere like you won’t believe. It was fun to watch people walk in and say “WOOOOWWWW” mouths open, eyes wide. For all the notoriety it receives you would think it would be fancy (thank goodness it’s not!). The new menu has a photo of the old Bowens Island restaurant, this is what it looks like today… this place has a view that simply cannot be beat! We got there early (couldn’t wait!), but if you can hold out, the sunsets are magnificent!

Fred and I visited Bowens Island last week and had the best time as always! Fried shrimp that is so fresh and delicious it will put a smile on your face! So check out the menu, and pop on over for a quick bite, or lounge on the outside deck. It’s not health food, but if you splurge once in a while it truly is a treat!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Featured Artist… William Berra!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist2 Comments

This piece caught my eye. Artist William (Bill) Berra uses a stunning mix of color and light. I stop in my tracks at that warm golden light, with just enough of the sun hitting the landscape to make it so interesting.The light is so radiant and warm, the strokes loose and deliberate. All the great shadows from the cloudy day. THE. CLOUDS. WHOA! Amazing how light is peeking through. Very nice. I was happy to find that Bill Berra’s work is right here in Charleston, SC at the Sylvan Gallery. So if you’re in town… stop by and check it out! This painting is nothing short of amazing, click to enlarge (at least I know I can with my MAC)… hopefully all computers can??

Here’s a blip about Bill from the Sylvan Gallery website:

William Berra was raised in York, Pennsylvania and studied art there at the York Academy before moving on to the Maryland Institute of Fine Arts in Baltimore.  He left his formal training in favor of a nomadic life-style that carried him all across the country seeking subject matter for his plein-air paintings.  A winter storm stranded him in Santa Fe and he has made it his home ever since.  But the spirit of wanderlust still calls as he travels the world extensively in search of new material to paint.

William’s training as a “plein-air” painter is evident in the loose spontaneity of his pieces although he now does a great deal of his painting in the studio using his travel photographs as reference material.  His ability to make the viewer feel “oh, I’ve been there” has made him one of the most widely collected young artists in the country.

William’s work has been featured at many fine galleries throughout the country.  His work has also been exhibited at the Albuquerque Museum, at the Artists of America show in Denver, the Carmel Plein Air Competition and the Americana Museum in El Paso.  He was also the subject of an extensive article in a recent issue of Southwest Art.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Majestic Crape Myrtle’s in Charleston, SC

On By Barbara StroudIn HOME4 Comments

You don’t normally think of a crape myrtle tree as being “majestic”, but I would say these big old crape myrtles are pretty impressive! Their trunks are so interesting, the bark is such a beautiful color, almost the same as the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco! Hmmm, might be nice to color match, ha ha… wonder if the Benjamin Moore folks will come to a location and color match, ha ha…

Sometimes its the little things in life to make you smile. Don’t miss it! Catch you back here tomorrow!

The Art of the Staycation…

On By Barbara StroudIn HOME, THOUGHTS2 Comments

Charleston was voted #1 City in America by Conde Nast Traveler magazine… It’s been on the list for years, but this year it beat San Francisco! Whoa! I have to say, that’s another place that is near and dear to my heart! But since we live in Charleston, SC, I think a staycation is in order!

You’ve heard of it… a STAYCATION. Taking a vacation and staying at home all in one nice little package. A brilliant idea actually! However, the ART of a staycation may take some practice. It’s tricky to be “on vacation” while you’re at home. There are projects to be done, grass to cut, dishes to wash, and all of lifes everyday moments. BUT, life is short and you have to enjoy it while you can! So if you “take” a staycation, give yourself a break, you’ve worked hard, you need some R&R, no guilt!

A staycation has some nice benefits… No packing, no spending money on flights, no hotels, none of the other headaches that come with traveling. You can still get out and see some sites and still save money! (And what better place than Charleston, SC??) It gives you time to be a tourist in your own city. We don’t seem to get to many of the tourist attractions in Charleston and this is a perfect opportunity. So as of today, we are officially on STAYCATION. I guess I can’t say we’re “going” on staycation… we’re “staying” on staycation!

We have some ideas of places we want to go, for instance to the Gibbe’s Museum of Art to see the Mary Whyte: Working South exhibition! We’ve got so many great restaurants in Charleston, SC, that we’ll have to mull the options over a bit more!

I haven’t decided if I’m going to post photos from each days staycation or have a post scheduled for each day, but I guess you’ll figure it out. I will be posting every day regardless… haven’t missed a day since 1/1/2011, I’m heading into year two and I’m on a roll!

So stick with me! Have you been staycationing? Where do you go? What do you do? I was reading an article, it said when you staycation, you should do things differently, turn off your phone (eek), turn off your computer (double eek), plan different places to go (yay), etc. So we’re going to play it by ear. Maybe just cut down on computer time? Hee hee…

Catch you back here tomorrow… promise!

CHARLESTON image via CNTraveler.com

STAYCATION definition via Merriam-Webster.com

A Walk Downtown… (Charleston, SC)

On By Barbara StroudIn HOME4 Comments

How stately is this? Magnificent. Prestigious. Oh, Charleston is full of the most beautiful architecture dating back hundreds of years. Whenever I’m downtown I think what a wonderful city this would be to visit while on vacation… summer could prove a little humid for me, but it’s beautiful nonetheless! Everywhere you look there is a photo to be taken. So if you live here, grab your camera and head out! If you visit Charleston, bring extra batteries and a big memory card!

Catch you back here tomorrow!