Grits Gone Wild!

11.04.2009: Our dear friend and South Carolina native, Athana, gave us many recommendations of places to eat and things to do while in Charleston, SC. One restaurant that she recommended, Hominy Grill, was also in both our Road Food book and our 1,000 places to see before you die book. So of course this was a perfect way to start our day. Hominy Grill claims that "grits are good for you!" If all grits were as delicious as the ones we ate at Hominy Grill we would probably eat more. The homemade biscuits were no joke either. A small clay pot of berry jam along with our biscuit and we were close to heaven!



David is a bit of a history nerd and needed his Civil War fix for the day. When it comes to the Civil War it all starts with Fort Sumter, the small Army fortress on an island near Charleston, SC. With Fort Sumter plugged into our GPS you can imagine our surprise when we arrived at Fort Moultrie, SC.



After cursing Karen (our since fired GPS personality) we wandered in to find out what Fort Moultrie was all about. The National Park Service attendant offered us a personal tour of Fort Moultrie, SC with Larry, a volunteer who served in Vietnam for ten years. Larry took us on tour of the whole fort, including weaponry and canons from the Civil War up until World War II. It turns out soldiers at Fort Moultrie, SC were among the first to fire upon Fort Sumter, SC thus beginning the Civil War. Below are some of the canons on display at the fort. It was a quite fascinating tour and we really enjoyed all the stories (including the one where a canon ball burned the pants off of a British General - some where Larry is giggling), as well as all of the knowledge Larry shared with us.

After Fort Moultrie, SC we headed into historic downtown Charleston, SC. We grabbed a bite and a beer sampler (which, to note, half of their beers are made with hops from the Northwest) at the Southend Brewery.

We also enjoyed some Charleston She-Crab soup and some fried green tomatoes with goat cheese and fresh local veggies. Out of all the beers, the darker beers were better than the lighter, although we both did enjoy the Pale Ale. Katrina also really liked the Brown Ale and David really liked the Wheat Ale.

After walking around the historical district for a few minutes, and seeing the Custom House and some really neat alleys, we headed to Kudu for some tasty coffee. David had a meru mocha and Katrina had an iced house blend. Both Kudu and the Southend Brewery were also recommendations from our friend Athana, and to her we say - "two thumbs up!"

With the energy from our coffee, we headed down Ashley River Road to the Magnolia Planation and Gardens. Owned by the Drayton family for more than 14 generations, Magnolia Plantation is now a historic house and gardens offering tours and insight into plantation life during and after the time of slavery. After arriving, we walked through the enormous garden area, and came upon the house, which is pictured below.



Magnolia Plantation was a rice plantation, with the skill of rice cultivation being brought to America by the slaves that came from the west coast of Africa. In the beginning, the plantation tried to grow many crops unsuccessfully, and eventually found that rice was the most lucrative. It was only through the skill and knowledge that the slaves had for growing and harvesting rice that the plantation was able to profit and thrive.

The plantation offered a tour called "From Slavery to Freedom" for which we purchased tickets. Since it was later in the afternoon, we were the only two people on the tour. Our tour guide was young and passionate about public history and educating people about the lives of the slaves on the plantation. He told us that much of Southern culture was brought to the US by the enslaved Africans. Originally, there were 47 slaves on the Magnolia Plantation, and our tour guide took us through the 4 existing slave cabins. Each of the 4 cabins was restored to a different time period from the 1860's until the 1950's (after the 13th Amendment, people still continued to live in the cabins through the 1960's as employees of the plantation). Below is a picture of one of the slave cabins which our tour guide believes that up to 16 slaves once lived in. It was a very enjoyable and informative tour.

We had hoped to eat at Bowen's Family Restaurant, out on Bowen's Island. Sadly, after driving down a dark and curvy road, which was unfinished as it was beyond the county maintenance lines, we found the restaurant to be closed. There were many people around, and upon asking learned that a movie was being filmed on the island and at the restaurant. The restaurant answering machine confirmed this, as a gentleman with a heavy Southern accent informed us that the restaurant was closed through November 20th, as "uh, well, we're a shooting a movie here, and uh, well there's just not enough room for us to shoot a movie and serve y'all at the same time."

We consulted our Road Food book for a back-up plan and found the Old Post Office - most noted for it's fresh local seafood. We enjoyed and OPO salad and then fried oysters and shrimp, both served along with cheese grits (yes, more grits!) and black eyed peas. The bathroom signs were cleverly labeled "Mail" and "Femail" which we enjoyed.

With full bellies, we headed toward the South Carolina border where we stayed in Hardeeville, SC for the evening.