Best of Charleston

My mom and I met up for a girls’ weekend in Charleston recently. I highly recommend you plan a trip to Charleston as well. The city, which is surrounded by water, is pedestrian friendly and very European in feeling. The spring weather is phenomenal, the locals friendly, and the food amazing. As to what to do, Charleston is filled with historical sites, old plantations and homes, and tours galore. We spent five days but could have easily spent five weeks.

As we sat at the airport waiting for our respective flights home we played a little game of “Name Your Favorite”. But we quickly had to sub-categorize and re-categorize in order to give due recognition to all the things we loved in Charleston. Without further ado, our best of Charleston list.

Best Hotel: Fulton Lane Inn
True, we only stayed at one inn during our stay, but this was top notch without costing top dollar. Continental breakfast is delivered to your door, the rooms are clean, and staff is wonderful.

Best Breakfast: Toast! Of Charleston
Go for the Eggs Meeting Street which is a fried green tomato topped with a crab cake topped with a poached egg. Served on the side were the obligatory grits and biscuit.

Best Lunch: Hominy Grill
A very popular restaurant but turnover is quick and service is great. Be sure to check the specials board which is where we found our soft shell crab po’boys. You must save room for the coconut cake.

Best Dinner Overall: Cru Cafe
Don’t judge the exterior of this restaurant or you will miss a real gem. Each and every course was spot on.

Best Standout Main Course: 39 rue de Jean’s lamb shank
This is course that my mom dreams of and will be talking about for years to come.

Best Restaurant Vibe: Husk
Each and every ingredient right down to the salt and olive oil is sourced in the south. The menu varies each day depending on what is available. They have also turned the old kitchen building into a fantastic bar. We suggest you start your evening there.

Best Historic House: The Nathaniel Russell House
You will not believe the amount of detail put into this house when it was built. The whole house is wonderful but the staircase and music room are amazing. The story of the man who built this house is also pretty great too and is fantastically told by the knowledgeable tour guides.

Best Tour: Ghosts and Graveyards
A rich and colorful storyteller guides you through graveyards at night. It will send shivers up and down your spine. By the end of the night you will believe in ghosts.

Best “Get your Bearings” Tour: Charleston Strolls
Start your trip with this tour. It is the perfect way to see the city on foot and figure out where everything is.

Best Gardens: Magnolia Plantation
Located 10 miles outside of Charleston this former rice plantation is rightly known for their gardens. Azaleas were plentiful and in full bloom. Also plentiful was wildlife including alligators, snakes and birds.

Best Way to See the Water: Sailing on Schooner Pride
If forced to pick only one highlight from Charleston it would be our 2 hour sail. Beginning on the Cooper River you head to wherever the winds take you. We ended up on the Atlantic before returning to dock. Sun, wind, and water, it was a perfect combination.

More Pictures of Charleston: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5

The Experiences

1. Visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
2. Attend a Seane Corn workshop (done!)
3. Take the Ben + Jerry's tour
4. Visit the ICA (done!)
5. Take a European vacation
6. Play putt-putt
7. Visit a new (to me) U.S. city (done!)
8. See Mary Poppins (done!)
9. Go to an outdoor concert
10. Head to the beach

Part of the 2011 in Lists Project

What I Did on Summer Vacation

-tried a new to us restaurant
-grilled some great food
-read five magazines, cover to cover
-built some great (well-contained) camp fires
-ate a lot of s’mores
-hiked
-beat the dudely in 9 out of 12 Yahtzee games
-read two and a half novels
-started a crochet project
-finished a quilting project
-listened to seven episodes of This American Life
-spent a rainy afternoon with hot chocolate and a movie

And now it's Monday and it all seems so long ago already.

A weekend at the beach in Maine

This is what a long weekend at the beach in Maine looks like. What the camera doesn't capture is how time seemed to slow. It didn't rush by unrembered like so many minutes of the work week. There was space in those minutes to sit and just be. Maine and its beaches are truly magical. Get there if you can because their motto really does sum it up: The Way Life Should Be.

On the road again

I bring you the fourth and final installment of my San Francisco travel diary.

It was hard to believe as we awoke that our last full day had really arrived. But there was no time to sit and reflect on the bittersweet. We had a lot to see and do, but first we needed some fuel.

We started with breakfast at Blue Bottle Coffee Café. Tucked away in a square Blue Bottle is full of light, minimal décor so that you can focus on the chemistry lab they have assembled for perfect coffee prep. This is for serious coffee connoisseurs but I’m a coffee wimp who instead opted for a beautiful latte to go alongside my poached eggs. The dudely followed suit and ordered similarly.

Perfectly caffeinated and pleasingly full we walked a few blocks to pick up the cable car. We didn’t feel we could leave San Francisco without a ride on this landmark. At the end of the line was Fisherman’s Wharf where we picked up tickets for Alcatraz. With those in hand we found ourselves with a few sunny hours to fill.

We walked over to Ghirardelli Square where the dudely insisted that we enjoy Ghirardelli’s famous hot fudge sundaes. Who was I to argue with such a brilliant suggestion? They were certainly good but almost too rich. They left me in need of something to cut all that sweet. Conveniently, Crown and Crumpet was a few short steps away so we picked up some nice cups of tea for the road.

The road we were heading for was Lombard Street, the crookedest street around. It was completely amusing to see cars zig and zag their way down this tiny stretch of narrow road surrounded by hedges. It was quite like a maze, but where you know how to get in and out.

As we made our way back to the boat for the ride to Alcatraz we stopped to see the sea lions. What a lazy bunch they were. They just napped and sunned themselves, completely unaware of the gawkers snapping photos.

Alcatraz was unlike anything we’d expected. They had an amazing audio tour of the cell house that put several years of history into a perfectly presented 45 minute tour. As we made our way through the cell house we learned of various escape attempts, the most violent being the Battle of Alcatraz. The most clever escape attempt used fake walls and heads to fool guards. This proved to be the only successful break. But there is a lot more to Alcatraz than just its prison history. Look into it sometime. It’s a remarkable story.

For our last dinner in San Francisco we chose B44, a Spanish restaurant. Cold and starving after our Alcatraz trip we showed up almost an hour early for our reservation but they graciously showed us our table. We started with cocktails, of course, and followed that with appetizers. I had the most perfect salad while the more adventurous dudely chose grilled local sardines. The appetizers were delivered with a galvanized bucket of bread and the best olive oil/anchovy/olive dipping sauce. For the main courses the dudely went traditional with paella while I had steak chimichurri. Believe it not but we ended up having to share dessert. I guess our stomachs do eventually reach their limit.

From here it was back to the hotel to pack and get a good night’s sleep. And we slept like babies, dreaming of our next trip to this fabulous city.

On the road again

I bring you the third installment of my San Francisco travel diary.

Well rested after a packed day one and two we were ready once again to take on San Francisco. We were up fairly early finishing off our cheese, bread, and fruit from the day before and plotting out the bus route to Golden Gate Park. Our mission for the morning and early afternoon was leisurely strolls in the botanical garden and Japanese tea garden.

We entered Golden Gate Park at Haight Street. This gave us a little tour of the children’s park where you must be accompanied by a child to enter, the lawn bowling club where I would have enjoyed pretending to know how to play, and some soccer and baseball fields where I was interested in neither. Around a little bend and there we were at the botanical garden.

Neither of us is much into gardening but we certainly admire the work of others. At the botanical garden there is a lot to admire. There are more species that I could ever hope to remember. (Though we both quickly, and correctly, identified the squirrels and the ducks.) It was really jaw dropping to see so many things in bloom and so green at the end of March. I captured as much as I could on camera. I’m really glad we gave ourselves plenty of time to get lost here, both literally and figuratively. It was the best possible way to spend a Sunday morning.

Once we realized time was getting away from us we made our way the short distance to the Japanese tea garden. As soon as we entered the gate we knew we were in for a treat. But first, my stomach was grumbling and our late lunch reservation was still two hours away so we had some tea and snacks at the teahouse.

The garden is a lot smaller than we imagined it would be but that gave us plenty of time to explore every nook. Of course the plantings were beautiful with azaleas in bloom and cherry blossoms just passing their peak. My favorite parts of the park though weren’t the plantings. The pagoda was just amazing if not a bit in need of a spruce up, though the peeling orange paint was pretty fantastic. I also spent quite some time staring at the peace lantern and the Buddha. Both just gave off such a sense of tranquility. Finally, there was the koi pond with a great little stone pathway that passes near the waterfall and leaves you looking directly at the great Drum Bridge.

But enough of nature we had to eat! And eat and eat! Our late lunch reservation was at Zuni Café. If I lived in or near San Francisco Zuni Café would become a regular stop. I had read in many places that their roast chicken with bread salad was a must have and have it we did. But that takes an hour to prepare so we had to fill the time. We filled the time and our bellies with a lovely half bottle of wine, a half dozen west coast oysters, and a salad. Everything was delicious and took the edge off our hunger as we sat back and awaited the arrival of our bird. The next hour left me staring into their open kitchen watching salads, pizzas, and desserts being prepared. And the chicken came. I’m not sure we said anything more than, “Do you mind if I take that piece?” right up until the point it was all gone. It was magnificent. Then the dessert menu came out and the waitress jokingly said she’d be surprised if we still had room. Little did she know I am, and the dudely has become, a serious consumer of dessert. So it really was no trouble at all for us to have a rich, chocolatey flourless cake dolloped with whipped cream and ice cream truffles. Oh, and coffee to wash it all down.

We waddled back to the bus stop and returned to our hotel for a quick refresh before we headed out for another night of jazz. (The dudely tells me it was a very big deal back in the day to have recorded your album in San Francisco. People had tried to fake it on albums only to be found out.) This time we went to the Palace of Fine Arts for a performance by the Branford Marsalis Quartet. You’ll get differing opinions about what the best part of the concert was. For me it was the slower songs but for the dudely it was the fast, almost out of control songs. Whichever way you call it, it was a perfect end to a perfect day.

On the road again

This is the second post in a series of four about my trip to San Francisco.

Our second day in San Francisco was another bright and beautiful one. From near our hotel we caught the bus to the Ferry Building for the farmers’ market and some general food grazing of the great vendors inside. The farmers’ market was wonderful. There were so many things that I would have bought if only I had a kitchen in San Francisco. We saw big bunches of beautiful carrots, greens, and flowers. I made three rounds of the market just to make sure I didn’t miss ogling any of it. We did pick up some glorious deep red strawberries along with a few blood oranges for our breakfast.

Inside the Ferry Building we picked up a big round of sourdough bread and two rosemary rolls from Acme Bread Co. There are so many gorgeous loaves to choose from here. It was a small miracle we didn’t walk away with more. We then slipped next door to the Cowgirl Creamery for some cheese to round out our breakfast buffet. Again great restraint was required here, especially being a bit of a cheese freak. We picked up their very own Mt. Tam triple cream and some locally produced San Andreas and Midnight Moon gouda. At this point our stomachs could take no more so we found ourselves outside soaking in the sunshine, gorging on our purchases, and people watching.

There was one last stop at the Ferry Building before we said good-bye. We just had to stop by Ciao Bella Gelato for a little something sweet to fuel our upcoming walk. I went with two selections of gelato (a hazelnut mascarpone and chocolate) while the dudely was swayed into two selections of sorbet just by the mention of “wine” in the description. I’m sure it’s hard to pick something bad here.

From here we set out on foot for Coit Tower. Our intention was to take the Filbert Street steps up to Coit Tower but somehow ending up missing those. Somehow though we made it; just keep heading up! At Coit Tower you’re rewarded with great views of the surrounding city. On the way down we managed to locate the Greenwich Street steps and took those, landing in the North Beach neighborhood.

We wandered a bit around the North Beach area and a shop or two before eventually landing at Washington Square Bar & Grill for a very late lunch. It wasn’t a planned stop on our San Francisco tour but they had opened their front windows wide to enjoy the great weather and they served up a good omelet and corned beef sandwich along with plenty of water for our dehydrated bodies. At this point we were refreshed and had enough energy to wander to Chinatown where we took in the sights and sounds of one of the main streets. It was lots of window shopping but no buying. It was fun just to look.

At this point I had to throw in the sightseeing towel and go back to the hotel. My sore feet had gotten the best of me and and we had a big day 3 planned so rest and a good night’s sleep it was.

On the road

I alluded last week that I had spent some time away working on my list. I spent a long weekend in a new to me city: San Francisco. Here’s day 1 of 4 in that city by the bay. I’ll be bringing you days 2, 3, and 4 each Thursday over the next three weeks.

We believe it’s important to start your day with a good breakfast and, boy, did we ever! Located a few blocks from our hotel was Dottie’s True Blue Café. The guidebook warned of its popularity and potential lines down the block and this day was no exception. But the weather was brilliant, the line moved fast, and the food was unbelievable. Once inside you notice the funky yet delightful décor made up of chandeliers from old coffee pots and cups and saucers, a great little bar, and a cozy assortment of tables and booths.

From there our intention was to catch the bus to Ghirardelli Square but we ended up walking the distance. The bus transportation in San Francisco is great with many of the stops giving you minute-by-minute updates of arrival times. We kept passing stops and seeing it would be a few minutes until the next bus and deciding to just walk one more block. By the time the bus caught up with us we were nearly there and it was really no problem to keep enjoying the sun and warmth.

Once at Ghirardelli Square we began the beautiful 3.5 mile walk along the Golden Gate Promenade to the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge. On this walk you pass through Fort Mason, the Marina, and Crissy Field. Everything was green and blooming and I stopped more than a few times to capture those beautiful blooms with my camera. I also loved capturing how the Golden Gate Bridge seemed to grow and change as we got ever closer.

Tops on my list of things to do in San Francisco was walking the Golden Gate Bridge so that’s just what we did. The dudely was quite horrified that I wanted to walk the whole thing, down and back. He thought halfway was more than sufficient. You see the dudely has a bit of a fear of bridges. But we did and were awarded with amazing views of the city. I was brave enough to capture the sights down into the bay while the dudely hung back, way back.

At that point we’d walked about 10 miles in total since breakfast so we caught the bus back to Ghirardelli Square for afternoon tea for two at Crown & Crumpet. Crown & Crumpet is just fabulous. Not only did they serve us a delicious tea complete with scones, crumpets, tea sandwiches, and sweets but they treated us like a million bucks. Oh, and the décor? Divine! Bright white tables and chairs with floral tablecloths a la Cath Kidston, lots of etsy art, and a big comfy couch and chairs around the “fireplace” are what we found. But my absolute favorite feature was the chandeliers in giant white shades. I really wanted to fold up the entire place, tuck it in my pocket, and bring it home with me. I did bring home some small pieces of Crown & Crumpet: a cup and saucer complete with a witty tea related comment, a teapot perfectly sized for one, and a few ounces of tea. Splendid.

Oh, but we weren’t done yet! We hopped the bus back to the hotel to change for our night on the town. At Yoshi’s we enjoyed cocktails, a sushi feast, and a caffeine pick me up. It was certainly good but it’s not the reason I’ll be rushing back to San Francisco. We followed up dinner with a live jazz performance by Grupo Fantasma at Yoshi’s intimate little jazz club. (Be aware the club has a one item minimum per person, plus tickets, which caught us off guard as we had just gorged ourselves in their restaurant. We were a little annoyed.) The group was high energy, which was much needed after a long day. They unexpectedly, to me anyway, invited everyone to dance. Too tired for that, it was a great opportunity to people watch; there was some crazy dancing happening on that floor. That alone was worth the price of admission.

It was a very good first day.

A Cautionary Tale (with pictures)

Our desktop computer is starting to show signs of age. It makes horrific noises upon start up. It also will randomly shut itself off, typically in the middle of an e-mail the dudely has spent all morning trying to compose. It had me worried and I started thinking about moving all my pictures to my laptop. Then it died and I panicked, convinced I’d lost everything I’d been too lazy to back-up. Miraculously it came back to life three days later. That’s when I got to work moving files and taking a walk down memory lane.

That’s my rather lengthy way of saying, “Hey, take a look at these really cool pictures I found from my trip to Geneva in 2005.”

Now might I suggest you take my story to heart and back-up your really cool pictures? They’re too good to lose.

Baby, light my fire

Phase one of my basement makeover project is underway. I checked in at lunch to see how Dave the friendly electrician was doing installing the recessed lighting and was simultaneously amazed and horrified. Amazed at the amount of illumination provided by seven lights (I'm thinking we only needed five) and horrified at the pile of mouse droppings that fell from above when he removed the ceiling panels. Believe me, if there was an actual mouse on the premises the cats would have cornered, tortured and then presented it to us for approval long ago. We've been blissfully carcass-free since we moved in, which means that we've been living with mouse crap under our feet and above our heads for four years. Ewww! I shudder just thinking about it.

To distract you from that lovely image, I present you with a few photos from my recent trip to visit my family. Life doesn't get any better than being four and two and having an uncle who is a fireman. Enjoy.

Day Tripping - Portland

MA to NH to ME

Benny's for lobster rolls

Mid-day gelato snack

Hours of peaceful views

Outside dining on the water

When in Bosnia

I'm just back from an unexpected week in Sarajevo. It wasn't a pleasure trip (a funeral unfortunately) and I had rather a lot of time to sit and reflect. I thought of a few things that you will want to know if you are considering a trip to the Balkans. Which you should totally do because it is beautiful, steeped in history and inexpensive.

Pack slippers
When entering someone's home you will be required to remove your shoes. Your hosts will have slippers for you and insist you wear them. Bare feet are not an option. On occasion an exception will be made for an elderly person, but if you can bend down, your shoes have to come off. I noticed that a lot of women actually packed lightweight slippers in their purses.

Hostess gifts
All visitors come bearing gifts. Specifically, a pound of coffee, a box of sugar cubes and a liter of juice (optional variation includes a box of sweets).

Coffee, juice or cigarettes?
As a guest in someone's home you will be offered coffee and juice. Bosnian coffee is strong: I can manage half a cup once a year. Also, there is a good chance that there will be tray of cigarettes available for your convenience (very 1950s).

Smoking or smoking?
There isn't a non-smoking section in the entire country.

Cafes
Cafes are everywhere. At one, you will be able to order coffee, juice, soft drinks or mineral water. Smoking is always allowed, but if you are there in the summer you will find an outdoor cafe every 20 feet in the city.

Ice cream (Sladoled)
It is good, people, very good. Similar in texture to gelato and served in a glass dish with a square-shaped spoon. If you happen to be in Sarajevo, there is a terrific ice cream shop just up from the eternal flame that was reputed to have the best ice cream in the city.

All tea is herbal
I am a serious black tea drinker and I have to say that this is one area where the Balkans lets me down. While there are countless varieties of tisanes lining the supermarket shelves you will have to hunt for that single box of "India tea" that, when brewed, will taste like it is left over from the Raj. Can't live without your tea? Take your own.

Speaking the language
Written Bosnian is phonetic, so learn how to pronounce a few different consonants and you will be able to read out of your phrase book like a native.

Hospitality
I have never been treated with more kindness from perfect strangers than in Bosnia. On my first trip I came down with Norwalk virus and fainted on the street. A complete stranger took me to her apartment, let me use her bathroom repeatedly (it wasn't pretty) and called a doctor who gave me some fluids by IV and didn't charge me a cent. Another time we were trying to buy water in a convenience store but didn't have any small bills. So the store owner gave it to us for free because it was a hot day. Good people, Bosnians.

Need more convincing?

Refreshed

That was a good vacation. It was my first visit to the desert in the spring and I was surprised by how many shades of green it was. So inspiring. We were cut off from the internet for most of the trip and it was awesome. Somehow we managed to get where we were going and find what we needed without Google. I've already made a resolution to take a step back and be more conscious of my internet usage.

While we were in Phoenix we visited Taliesin West which was very cool, though I was left with the impression that Frank Lloyd Wright was quite the tyrant. And who knew that Anthony Quinn was an apprentice at Taliesin before he made his break in film? Speaking of celebrity artists, I happened upon an exhibition of Anthony Hopkins' paintings at a gallery in Sedona. Not my thing, but see what you think. We liked Sedona so much that we made a point of passing through a second time on our way back from the Grand Canyon. Good thing, because we discovered Picazzo's, home of the most amazing gluten-free pizza I could ever have imagined. Fantastic.

The Grand Canyon: I expected to experience that mild disappointment that I often feel when finally seeing something that gets a lot of hype. But when we rounded the corner at the first viewpoint, and the earth fell away to nothing, I was speechless. Dumbfounded. Without words. There really is no way to comprehend the scope of that enormous chasm without seeing it for yourself. We stayed a night in the park and I couldn't sleep knowing that we were only a few hundred yards from the rim. I could feel it pulling me towards the edge; it was a very primal experience. The only other time I've felt that kind of energy was when I visited Viking burial grounds in Norway. Freaky.

Photos here.

Phoenix or bust

I am headed to Arizona in the near future and would love suggestions for vintage/thrift stores, flea markets, shops I must visit, cool places to eat (especially gluten-free) and any other funky & delightful things I should do while I'm there. We'll be in Phoenix, Sedona, Flagstaff and various points in between. What I really want to do is stalk have tea with one of my idols, but I'm pretty sure that's not in the cards. One can dream.

Thanks in advance!

Good-bye summer

We finally put the hammock away and brought up the winter clothes so I guess it's official, summer is over. I know, I know, it's December and snowing. It's just that this summer was so very good, I really had a hard time letting go. All through our unusually warm autumn I managed to remain in a state of denial about the fact that it was going to actually get cold here (soon) for, oh, six months or so. So what made this summer so fantastically good that I wore cropped pants well into October?

I got married, which in addition to our wedding day, ended up being a five-day long festival in our backyard. Family and friends arrived by plane and by car and sooner or later everyone turned up for a cocktail or two and something to eat. By the end of it we were exhausted, but it really was the best week ever. Then we went to Bosnia to visit my new in-laws and we had another marriage-related party at my favorite spot in Sarajevo. Amazingly good food, music and dancing. So much fun. Upon our return (no time for an actual honeymoon) we declared a summer of long weekends just for us. We discovered beaches we didn't know about, we took day trips, we ate a lot of lobster and we felt no guilt for frequently doing absolutely nothing. Labor Day weekend we capped it off with a mini-vacation to Cape Elizabeth, Maine and discovered a little beach hotel to which we hope to make many return visits in the years to come. Yes, this summer was exceptionally good. Can't wait to see what winter will hold for us.

En route

I'm wrapping up a very fun long weekend visiting the Chicago suburbs. In the spirit of the day, here is a brief history of me, as a young traveler.

6 months old: My parents move from Niagara Falls to British Columbia. I make the journey laying in a bassinet on the passenger seat of my mother's powder blue VW bug.

2 years old: We are in Norway visiting my father's family. On a long train ride from Oslo to Oppdal my mom entertains me with paper dolls that she arranges on a plastic comb.

6 years old: On a transatlantic flight I climb up the spiral staircase to the lounge to find my father smoking and playing cards. We are served smoked salmon for lunch which I refuse to eat.

8 years old: It's summer and I am sitting in the back seat of our brown Dodge Dart between my mother and my aunt. We are on a car trip to Washington state to visit my grandfather's brother who he hasn't seen for 30 years. I get a souvenir necklace at a petrified forest and develop chicken pox on the way home.

12 years old: Every weekend I travel by Greyhound bus to a riding school 45 minutes away. My mom gives me a check for $20 which pays for my lesson plus room and board for the weekend.

14 years old: I accompany a friend and her parents to their summer cabin on Okanagan Lake for three weeks. We swim every day and I get the only tan I've ever had.

15 years old: While on a month-long school exchange to Quebec City I see autumn colours and go sailing. I dream that I am saying "je ne comprend pas" repeatedly.

18 years old: Before starting university, my high school friends and I attend the Carmanah Valley Music Festival. Under starlight, we dance to Bruce Cockburn to save an ancient forest none of us has seen.