Brunching around town

Queen St. Grocery, Queen St., Charleston, S.C.

This scene at the Queen St. Grocery looks just about right. Comfortable but not packed. So many brunchie places I walk by have long waiting lines curling around the corner. Hominy Grill, Jestine's Kitchen, Triangle Char & Bar. I can't do it. I don't mind waiting a while for a special dinner with complicated ingredients and cooking skills but I can't stand in line for breakfast. I can make decent pancakes myself and even mimosas are a breeze. When my kids were little that was family eat out time and we knew every good brunch place in town.

Are you a brunch eater? Where do you like to go and what do you like to order?

New Year's Eve at Husk

New Year's Eve, Husk, Queen St., Charleston, S.C.

This first picture makes me laugh! I do have tall friends and for a change we didn't make them hide at the back of the group shot. Heheh. Thanks to everyone at Husk for making our New Year's Eve so special.

It was a grand way to end the year feasting at the "best new restaurant in American" according to Bon Appetite Magazine. None of us argued with that title last night as we licked our plates clean. So many lovely platters of taste treats - fried chicken skins, crispy pigs ears to wrap in lettuce were sent out for us to try  before our chosen entrees arrived  that we could have proceeded directly to desert. But. We didn't. Thanks to Chef de Cuisine Travis Grimes and the staff for a wonderful evening and my friend Andre' for his connections to these talented folk.

Look at that catfish! I ordered the pork chop and I just remembered that I didn't lick that plate clean - I brought some of it home so I could enjoy my Maple Pana Cotta desert. I am off to take care of those leftovers right now.  The menu is still posted today if you are inclined to drool on your keyboard. Happy New Year, kids!

Chef Travis Grimes & Andre' Guillet

Tea Time

French Huguenot Church, Queen St., Charleston. S.C.

The French Huguenot Church is one of the most beautiful churches in Charleston. Even the roof looks like an elaborate wedding cake. I feel like I should take a pictures every time I go by, so I almost do.

Long day. After work I was invited to tea - a proper British Tea hosted by the tiniest little Scottish lady who cracks me up every time she opens her mouth. It was absolutely perfect. We had cucumber sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and mincemeat tarts. It was BRILLIANT.

I mentioned that when I was a kid, an aunt in Scotland used to send us the "Oor Wullie" cartoons and she pulled one of the annuals off her bookshelf. Wow....talk about a trip down memory lane. Oor Wullie is the Scottish version of Denise the Menace and the cartoon dialect is in Scottish.

Wullie's adventures consist mostly of unrealistic get-rich-quick schemes that lead to mischief, to the despair of his parents Ma and Pa (Dave), and the local policeman, P.C. Joe Murdoch. Wullie's friends are Fat Boab (Eng: Fat Bob), Wee Eck (Eng: Little Alec), and Soapy Soutar, and he is the leader of their gang, a position which is frequently disputed by the others. He used to have another friend called Ezzy, who stopped appearing in the strips, along with Wullie's little brother. He owns a pet mouse named Jeemy and a pet hedgehog named Hamish, and in later years has gained a Highland Terrier named Harry and a "sometime-girlfriend", Primrose Patterson. Characters from The Broons occasionally feature, particularly Granpaw and the seductive Maggie Broon. Noticeably, in the change of artist, Wullie likes Primrose more and Harry and Jeemy are rarely seen. Wullie is nine years old, and his height has been specified at four feet, six inches tall. His catchphrases consist of "Jings", "Crivvens","braw"and "Help ma Boab".

 Anyone else familiar with the series?

Through the glass window

Queen St., Charleston, S.C.

Rain, rain and I walked for over an hour in it. My house is for sale. Friends know that although I haven't spoken of it here. It's time for me to find foster parents for my tenants and downsize to something more suitable for the lazy, little old lady I aspire to become.

My house is a quirky Charleston house though and not suitable for everyone so I'll wait for the right person and it's not a bad place to do my waiting. I got an email this morning saying someone wanted to traipse through the house from 5:30 to 6 pm. I was at work of course and couldn't magically and remotely whisk piles of papers away or cram any unfolded laundry back into the dryer. So, I squeaked home just early enough for a fifteen minute spit and polish and then headed out into the rain.

I walked in and out of shops to stay dry, drooled on jackets at Half Moon Outfitters. I turned off East Bay onto Queen and spotted this face looking at me from the RLS Gallery. Ending up at Caviar & Bananas I took advantage of their salad sampler deal and got a tiny dab of almost everything in the deli case to finish putting in my time. There is no sign of anyone being in the house, no agent's card left. My guess is that they cancelled but I'll probably never know. 

Curiosity

Thomas Elfe House, Queen St., Charleston, S.C.



Curiosity. I didn't go in. I was afraid it would be full of dead cats.

Signs of happy times

Mills House Hotel, Queen St., Charleston, S.C.

I love the look of colorful towels drying on a porch railing. It speaks so much of summer fun even when it's in a snazzy downtown hotel. I hope this family is having a wonderful lowcountry vacation.

Back from jury duty. I don't have to report each morning until 9:30 a.m. which almost feels like a day off in my world. I may get lazy and fat on this jury business since I've been eating out each day instead of my usual scrap of hospital cafeteria salad.

Today a few of my fellow well labeled JURORS walked down to G & M for their lunch special and I kicked myself for not going there more often. It was so yummy. I'll be back! Maybe tomorrow ;). Meanwhile, you know the drill - I can't talk about it.

Evening Light

Dock St. Theater, Church St., Charleston, S.C.

This has been a rush, rush, rush week but the one advantage of ending my days with meetings in town is that I get home in time to walk while the light turns Charleston into a sparkling jewel box. These were taken on a Queen St./Church St. route but you can't go wrong lately, everything is so beautiful.

Bloggers get even better looking! A Picture a Day is off on a European adventure and left her sister in charge as guest blogger. Her sister happens to be Valarie, Miss South Carolina US. I met Valarie a few months ago when she graciously visited the friendly little hospital across the river, on Valentine's Day as an honorary volunteer and posed for a million photos with all of our staff and patients.



Queen St., Charleston, S.C.

Deep South & Husky

Husk, Queen St., Charleston, S.C.

My birthday week festivities continued with my first visit to Husk Restaurant on Queen St. Chef Sean Brock from McCrady's opened Husk in November and after the recent publicity in the New York Times I felt lucky to finally have a chance to dine there. I'd been watching the progress that transformed the building that used to house the Gibbs Art Museum studio into this classy southern restaurant. I once took a calligraphy class in the main dining room.

Happily, I know good people who know good people and thanks to my friend Andre' Guillet, Debby and I never even saw a menu - Chef Travis Grimes simply sent out one delicious dish after another. Look at all this incredible food! It was amazing. My favorites were the clams and oyster stew in the most wonderful broths and sauces. We stopped by McCrady's after dinner to sneak into the kitchen and let Chef Brock know how much we enjoyed it. Thank you, thank you!

Sean is quoted as saying, “If it doesn’t come from the South, it’s not coming through the door,” but a Frenchman, a Canadian slipped in last night with a Lowcountry friend and we enjoyed ourselves immensely!

Video camera envy

Queen St., Charleston, S.C.

Queen St. is one of the prettiest streets in Charleston in my opinion. There is always some sweet new/old feature to notice and I never tire of walking it.
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Last year when I went to Kenya I bought a video camera. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and seemed the right thing to splurge on. It was compact and handy and even though I wasn't used to using it I took some very effective film that was included in a documentary video of the trip.

When I came back I was having work done in my home with people I didn't know coming and going while I was at work. I scrambled around tucking away the small tempting easy to take items like my ipod, camera lens and the video camera. I am ashamed to say that I haven't laid eyes on the video camera since then. Aaaaargh. I am an idiot. I've hidden a brand new camera from myself for over six months. I can't buy a new one because I don't deserve it.

Someday when all it's features are completely out of date, I'll find it tucked behind a book or in a scarf drawer but I'll be damned if I have any idea where it is. Did I mention "Aaaaaaargh!" I wanna, I wanna, I wanna video camera.