Toes up in Charleston

On John's last day before his residency starts, we decided to spend the day exploring downtown Charleston. We didn't see it all, because that would take days. But we saw a lot and had a good time. Walking is the popular mode of transportation downtown (for those of us without bikes) and we learned an important lesson while trying it out today: Toes up in Charleston.

The sidewalks of brick and cobblestone are so jagged we stubbed our toes and went plunging face first toward the ground several times. Hence our new slogan, toes up in Charleston.

Our first stop was Blue Bicycle Books where they sell used, rare and local books. The blue bicycle is even out front! Of course, I had a great time exploring the shelves for a while and taking home a new summer read.

Even if you're not a reader, they have books for decorating purposes, too. :)

In front of the Charleston Museum, we saw a model of the H.L. Hunley, the civil war submarine that was the first sub to sink a ship.

We took a stroll through Marion Square and saw some pretty gardens and fountains.

Then we made our way down King Street, which is pretty much a huge outdoor mall. Any shop, store or restaurant you could desire is on King Street.

We even found a running store to stop in and ask about the best local running trails.

We finally made it over to Meeting Street to the Charleston City Market. Or as one of our good Birmingham friend calls it — the gauntlet of crap. It's a mile long outdoor market full of handmade goods, tourist traps, and..okay most of it is crap.

There were so many people in the market, John was a little overwhelmed.

Some of the famous sweetgrass baskets

Once our feet were exhausted we drove over to rainbow row, the strip of brightly colored, beautiful and expensive houses South of Broad on the Ashely River.

Rainbow row is right next to The Battery, or White Point Gardens, where there's an array of cannons and cannon balls and what not.

It's also a very beautiful park.

We ended the day by relaxing (or collapsing) on a shady park bench.

Great eats: Hominy Grill

We tried out our first local food joint today when we stopped at Hominy Grill for lunch on our way downtown. I read about Hominy Grill in my handy dandy Fromer's guide to Charleston (Thanks Aunt Elaine!) and John had seen it on Man vs. Food so he was excited to eat somewhere Adam had been.

According to Fromer's, Hominy Grill is known for its low country dishes and Southern down-home cooking. John loved it because they serve boiled peanuts as free appetizers at every table. After our peanuts, we started off our meal with the okra and shrimp beignets. John made me try them and....I actually liked them! Shrimp! Can you believe it? I couldn't.

We gobbled them down so quickly I hardly had time to get a picture while one was still left on the plate.

John, of course, ordered what Adam ate on TV — "The big nasty." It consists of a fried chicken breast on a biscuit, smothered in sausage gravy. He loved it! I opted for the curried chicken salad sandwich and it too was delicious. Although we didn't eat any grits, we loved what Hominy Grill had to offer.

Chillin' and grillin'

One of the best things about our new place in Charleston is how close it is to the beach! Getting in the car and heading to the beach is as easy as heading to the mall in Tulsa (same trouble with parking sometimes.) We took advantage of the fact that neither of us are working this week and went to the beach today. On a Wednesday, it really wasn't busy and we had a great time lying in the sun, playing in the waves and collecting seashells.

Folly Beach- aka the edge of America.

Both of us are happy taking in the rays.

We are shell pickers of the pickiest kind.

We both enjoyed the beach chairs my mom got John for his birthday this year. They even have nice little face and arm holes for when you're laying on your stomach.

The other best thing about our new place in Charleston is the grill!- in John's opinion at least. John has missed our grill terribly the past year as the evil state of Alabama would not allow us to use it at our apartment. I took these pictures the other night (it's storming tonight = no grilling) when John grilled us up a delicious meal of steaks and corn on the cob.

The steak chef is ready to take on the grill.

Yum! Grilled corn! I think he's going to try hamburgers later this week.

P is for Palmetto

In South Carolina, everything is called Palmetto. The definition of Palmetto is as follows (yes I had to look it up when we got here.)

Definition of PALMETTO

1

: any of several usually low-growing fan-leaved palms;especially :

cabbage palmetto

2

: strips of the leaf blade of a palmetto used in weaving

Ah, so Palmetto is a tree! The palm trees that are everywhere including our front yard. Fun fact: it is also the state tree of South Carolina and Florida (but who cares about them.)

Our palmettos

So South Carolinians are very proud of their tree and use the name for almost everything. Look up Palmetto in the yellow pages and you'll find pages and pages of businesses that use the tree as their moniker.

South Carolinians also give the name to a very unpleasant friend we've made in the state... the cockroach. Here everyone calls cockroaches "palmetto bugs." I'm convinced they do this in denial because here, cockroaches are everywhere!

In Oklahoma and in Alabama, for the most part, you only have cockroaches if you're a slob or living in a dump. In South Carolina, everyone has cockroaches. You can't walk down the street without seeing them scampering along under your feet.

Unfortunately, we've seen our fair share of palmetto bugs in our new home. Craig, our exterminator and my new BFF, assures me this does not mean they've nested in our home. "They're bad in the summer," he says. "They come in from outside; come in through the pipes," he says. Either way, I hate them and have continued my chemical warfare against them. So far I am winning this battle with my right hand man, John the cockroach slayer.

I may eventually win the war against the "palmetto bugs" (and yes I'm being sarcastic there) but don't worry, the mosquitos will finish me off.

Our beach bungalow

Believe it or not, after only three days in South Carolina we are pretty much completely unpacked! We love our new rental house on James Island, especially since we are no longer living out of boxes. The location is perfect! Just 7 minutes to downtown and about 10 minutes to Folly Beach!

The view from the front window looking on to our front porch.

Our front hallway. Note the sign above the closet says "Every day should be a beach day"- so true. And we are finally getting to use the hall tree we inherited from John's grandma, Gammie. It needs a new mirror as we accidentally broke it when moving it into our last place.

John enjoys watching TV in our new living room as much as he did in the old one! Go figure!

Cute little half bath.

Our main bathroom.

Our guest bedroom is up and running! Come see us in Charleston and this could be all yours! Seriously, just let us know the dates (some dates in July already booked) and we'll throw in a free spaghetti dinner!

Our bedroom looks the exact same way it looked in our last two places :) Obviously we'll have to find a long-term solution for those windows. The bamboo shades are cute but let in too much light for sleeping in.

A whole room for dining...imagine that!

LOVE the new kitchen! Though it doesn't have an island, it does have plenty of storage space!

Other side of the kitchen with new bug-proof trash can.

The Noxie loves it here in SC so much she got a tattoo! A butt hat none the less.

The beautiful hydrangeas in my front yard! They desperately need some water as it hasn't rained here in forever. Is that what that hose is for?