gone fishin': part 3

gone fishin': part 2

gone fishin'

I'm not really fishing, but I am on vacation in South Carolina, in case you were wondering. Here are a few photos to keep you interested.

packing for vacation: part 1

I'm leaving for my 10 day trip to South Carolina on Friday after work, so naturally I started to pack today. I'm driving down with my family, but on the way back I'm flying, so I need to fit everything into a nice carry-on sized suitcase. I'm a textbook overpacker, what if i want to wear that shirt? what if we go hiking? if i wear those shorts i might want to wear this tank top and those ankle boots. what if we go to a ball and i need a fancy dress? what if i suddenly get the urge to go running? so starting today allows me 4 days to think about my outfits and edit it down to (what I think is) a reasonable amount of clothing and shoes.

scenic views

Although my trip to Charleston wasn't really about seeing Charleston, I still managed to do a little sight seeing while I was there. We spent a day at the Magnolia Plantation, and another day at the beach. I took about a thousand pictures, but I managed to narrow it down to a few....

charleston chew

The last time I was in Charleston my stomach was acting up, and I didn't get the chance to experience some of the great food that the city has to offer. This time I let loose a little (as much as you can when you have IBS) and ate some delicious food. Charleston has so many great restaurants, from French to Korean to Mediterranean and everything in between, but what I was really interested in was the Southern low country cooking. We went to the famous Hominy Grill (as seen on No Reservations & Man vs Food) and I had the hard decision of choosing between shrimp and grits and the Big Nasty biscuit w/ fried chicken breast, cheddar cheese and sausage gravy, but ultimately I chose the Big Nasty, since I saw Anthony Bourdain eat it once. Before they brought out our food, they gave us a little basket of boiled peanuts. I've never heard of boiled peanuts, but this was the 2nd place that I had been in Charleston where they served free boiled peanuts. The first time I ate one, I accidentally squirted water/peanut juice all over one of Ryan's coworkers. Since they were boiled, the nuts were soft instead of crunchy, almost like a bean. They were alright, but I definitely prefer plain ol' crunchy peanuts. 

Along with eating out, we decided we'd try to cook something Charleston-esque. Crab cakes! I love me some crab cakes.  I found a recipe on Foodnetwork.com by one of my other favorite tv chefs, Robert Irvine I'm still praying for the return of Dinner: Impossible. I forgot to take a picture of the outcome, which makes me sad, because they were beautiful and tasty. Here is the recipe, if any of you want to try it at home!  

 

stay tuned...

For the past 5 days I've been in Charleston visiting the boyfriend, but I will be back in good ol' Des Moines at 10pm tonight. Here's a preview of what's to come in my next post[s]: