The other day I got to add several new stick-on rhinestones to my world map shower curtain. One for ANS conference in Boston last year, one for ANS conference in State College, PA this year, one for spring breaking in Paris Mountain State Park, and two for my Post-Graduation Mother Daughter Carolina Tour.
The day after graduation, my mom and I headed out from Atlanta to Charleston, South Carolina. It was great. We were both first-timers in Charleston, but going off of several spot on recommendations. We drove in pretty late Sunday afternoon, and after checking into our hotel walked up and down King Street a bit before stopping in the Black Bean Co. for a quick bite. The next morning we hit up a bike rental shop first thing and rented some cycles for the day. They were serious cruisers. Mine was lavender. With our newly acquired transportation we took the scenic route to Hominy Grill for brunch. Y'all, this place was tasty. The special that day was buckwheat pancakes with strawberry butter - yes, please. Those pancakes were heavenly. I've been interested in baking with buckwheat flour here recently but haven't acted on it. I might have to after those pancakes. After brunch we cruised along the Battery and the historic district, taking in all of the pretty houses and waterfront views. We stopped in a few parks along the way and ran through a few fountains. (One of us might have run straight through a fountain and into a jet of water, but I won't say who or show the video of her because I promised not to.) We walked up and down Market Street, ooed and awwed over the goodies and wares, purchased a few souvenirs, ya know. We went back to the hotel and took some relaxation time out at the pool, with books and iPads and a snack picnic. We biked some more through the historic district and every so often found ourselves on very busy streets or going the wrong way on one-way streets, but eventually safely made it back to the bike shop and returned our equipment in time to clean up for dinner. Dinner was tasty. I had grouper atop sunchokes in tomato sauce and Mom had a grilled vegetable medley on hominy. Like every meal of the trip, we halved each plate. Pretty perfect! And left just enough room to stop in the gelato shop on the way back to the hotel. Our second morning in Charleston was spent being girls and shopping. Then we went on a carriage tour. After the tour we stopped in a tiny little coffee shop for lunch. The proprietor was a South African man who carried on a conversation with everyone in the shop. I like to go to coffee shops, and sometimes you get really good ones and sometimes you get sort of snooty ones. This one was really good. City Lights Coffee, if you're ever in Charleston.
From there we packed up and headed to Asheville, North Carolina (yes, Asheville was included in my spring breaking and the rhinestone was not technically for this trip, but it kind of was). On our first morning in Asheville, we set out along the Blue Ridge Parkway to find the Craggy Gardens. Everyone and everything warns you about how few signs and turn-offs are on the parkway, so I think I ended up taking every single turn that had a sign with the word "Craggy" in it just to make sure we didn't overshoot the gardens. We made it there on our fourth try, and headed up the pinnacle to the summit. It was a short hike, but it was neat. It was rugged enough to make you feel like a hiker, but manageable enough to let you keep your dignity, aka minimal huffing and puffing. And what views! It took us straight to the top. We enjoyed the scenery for a bit (and some Smucker's Natch, of course) before heading back into town. We ate lunch at the Early Girl Eatery and putzed around through little shops and made sure to stop by The Chocolate Fetish for truffles. Y'all. Mom chose dark chocolate + wasabi and dark chocolate with a white chocolate + honey + lemon + lavender center. I chose the darkest option available and dark chocolate with lemon + ginger + saffron. So good. (When are we going back, Mom?) We savored these in another cute little coffee shop where we got to sit on a little stage in the front window. That evening we headed to Hendersonville to a quick dinner at West First Wood Fired Pizza (best. salads. ever.) and a showing of The Fantasticks at the Flat Rock Playhouse. So fun. The next morning we hit up the famous Tupelo Honey Cafe for breakfast. It lives up to the hype, folks. We did our splitting business like we do and each had some sweet potato pancake and some goat cheese grits + over easy egg + bacon + black-eyed pea salsa. Asheville is the place to go for breakfast foods. Every single restaurant seems to be a breakfast recommendation. I am very okay with that. After fueling up we toured the Biltmore, which was beautiful and huge and fantastic. We Downton Abbey geeked out a bit. My favorite room was the walk-in refrigerator.
And with that our tour was at an end. The weather was consistently perfect, the food was consistently delicious, the company was consistently wonderful, it was just a great trip all around!
The day after graduation, my mom and I headed out from Atlanta to Charleston, South Carolina. It was great. We were both first-timers in Charleston, but going off of several spot on recommendations. We drove in pretty late Sunday afternoon, and after checking into our hotel walked up and down King Street a bit before stopping in the Black Bean Co. for a quick bite. The next morning we hit up a bike rental shop first thing and rented some cycles for the day. They were serious cruisers. Mine was lavender. With our newly acquired transportation we took the scenic route to Hominy Grill for brunch. Y'all, this place was tasty. The special that day was buckwheat pancakes with strawberry butter - yes, please. Those pancakes were heavenly. I've been interested in baking with buckwheat flour here recently but haven't acted on it. I might have to after those pancakes. After brunch we cruised along the Battery and the historic district, taking in all of the pretty houses and waterfront views. We stopped in a few parks along the way and ran through a few fountains. (One of us might have run straight through a fountain and into a jet of water, but I won't say who or show the video of her because I promised not to.) We walked up and down Market Street, ooed and awwed over the goodies and wares, purchased a few souvenirs, ya know. We went back to the hotel and took some relaxation time out at the pool, with books and iPads and a snack picnic. We biked some more through the historic district and every so often found ourselves on very busy streets or going the wrong way on one-way streets, but eventually safely made it back to the bike shop and returned our equipment in time to clean up for dinner. Dinner was tasty. I had grouper atop sunchokes in tomato sauce and Mom had a grilled vegetable medley on hominy. Like every meal of the trip, we halved each plate. Pretty perfect! And left just enough room to stop in the gelato shop on the way back to the hotel. Our second morning in Charleston was spent being girls and shopping. Then we went on a carriage tour. After the tour we stopped in a tiny little coffee shop for lunch. The proprietor was a South African man who carried on a conversation with everyone in the shop. I like to go to coffee shops, and sometimes you get really good ones and sometimes you get sort of snooty ones. This one was really good. City Lights Coffee, if you're ever in Charleston.
From there we packed up and headed to Asheville, North Carolina (yes, Asheville was included in my spring breaking and the rhinestone was not technically for this trip, but it kind of was). On our first morning in Asheville, we set out along the Blue Ridge Parkway to find the Craggy Gardens. Everyone and everything warns you about how few signs and turn-offs are on the parkway, so I think I ended up taking every single turn that had a sign with the word "Craggy" in it just to make sure we didn't overshoot the gardens. We made it there on our fourth try, and headed up the pinnacle to the summit. It was a short hike, but it was neat. It was rugged enough to make you feel like a hiker, but manageable enough to let you keep your dignity, aka minimal huffing and puffing. And what views! It took us straight to the top. We enjoyed the scenery for a bit (and some Smucker's Natch, of course) before heading back into town. We ate lunch at the Early Girl Eatery and putzed around through little shops and made sure to stop by The Chocolate Fetish for truffles. Y'all. Mom chose dark chocolate + wasabi and dark chocolate with a white chocolate + honey + lemon + lavender center. I chose the darkest option available and dark chocolate with lemon + ginger + saffron. So good. (When are we going back, Mom?) We savored these in another cute little coffee shop where we got to sit on a little stage in the front window. That evening we headed to Hendersonville to a quick dinner at West First Wood Fired Pizza (best. salads. ever.) and a showing of The Fantasticks at the Flat Rock Playhouse. So fun. The next morning we hit up the famous Tupelo Honey Cafe for breakfast. It lives up to the hype, folks. We did our splitting business like we do and each had some sweet potato pancake and some goat cheese grits + over easy egg + bacon + black-eyed pea salsa. Asheville is the place to go for breakfast foods. Every single restaurant seems to be a breakfast recommendation. I am very okay with that. After fueling up we toured the Biltmore, which was beautiful and huge and fantastic. We Downton Abbey geeked out a bit. My favorite room was the walk-in refrigerator.
And with that our tour was at an end. The weather was consistently perfect, the food was consistently delicious, the company was consistently wonderful, it was just a great trip all around!
Charleston
Blue Ridge Parkway
~*...chocolates...*~
No comments:
Post a Comment