Good Eats Southern Style

We just got home from Charlotte and the beach. It was an amazing trip. Very relaxing, very nice to detach from work and regular life. And we had lots of help with the kids which was really fun and refreshing. At the same time, I got to spend a ton of time with the kids, which I really really enjoyed. And good time with Kelly too. And great time with family and friends in the Southeast. Thanks Andy and Leta for all that you did to make our trip special!

I might blog on some other aspects of the trip later, but one highlight for me was the food. Here’s where we ate while in Charlotte, on the way down to the beach, and in the Charleston/Wild Dunes area:

• Chick-fil-a – I ate here four times (!), including once for breakfast. Chick-fil-a really cannot be beat. It is the best fast food around bar none. The girls are big fans of the nuggets here and Kelly is a big fan of the lemon pie. I am a big fan of everything on the menu and I always prove it when I walk in.
  
• Starbucks – old faithful. 'Nuf said.
• Caribou – Kelly likes Caribou and we only went because the Starbucks down the street was closed for a late night remodel. Caribou is a little bit “theme-y” for my taste, but not terrible.
• Deejai Thai – this was a new place that I tried with my good friend Jay Mink. Great food, atmosphere and very reasonably priced. Bye Bye Thai Taste.
• Manzetti’s – used to love this place when I lived in Charlotte, but literally have not been there since I lived there eight years ago. It was really nice to be back. Mama Manzetti’s Chicken is amazing and the bruschetta was great too. It will be even nicer once they ban smoking in restaurants in Charlotte (“Hello! Get with the program!”) as this place has a big bar and lots of smokers in it.
• Taipei South – another old faithful. Enjoyed my usual, Sesame Chicken with wings and a Diet Coke, while catching up with my good friend Robbi.
• Thai Orchid – No one else wanted to eat this with me, so I nearly gorged myself on an entire order of Mee Crob and Panang Curry. Amazing amazing place – best Thai food I have ever had anywhere. Especially that Mee Crob.

• Hank’s Seafood – During the Charleston portion of our trip, we had dinner at this very nice restaurant with Tyler and Court (and Salem and Jake). It probably was too nice a place for the babies, although Kel and I didn’t really love our meals either. I had shrimp and grits and she had broiled something or other. I think they were trying to be too high-brow.
• Sullivan’s on Sullivan’s Island – While at Wild Dunes, we hauled the whole family down to beautiful Sullivan’s Island to eat at perennial favorite Sullivan’s. I had my all too yummy favorite there, shrimp over a fried grit cake over country ham. Side order of fried Okra. I resisted the french fries this time and had a baked potato instead. We had an amazing load of hush puppies to start us out though (accompanied by honey butter), and the real highlight: fried green tomatoes. Amazing! The lowlight was that I could count seven tiny shrimp on top of my grit cake. Seemed light. I mean people, I am in shrimp country here, load me up! And yes that is a lot of use of the word fried for one meal sitting. Welcome to the South and the Low Country. Seriously, do you ever watch Paula Dean do her thing?
  
• Coconut Joe’s – Kelly and I had a fun little date night down on the beach at Coconut Joe’s. We both had more hush puppies (although these were actually coconut fritters) and shrimp po’ boys. Yum. It was nice to get back to this place because I can remember eating there with so many different friends, including Andrew and Amy, Nick and Jessi and Josh and Katie (you guys remember that?), as well as Tyler and Court. Lots of good memories. The lowlight of this dinner was the 45-year old biker dude who kept making out with his girlfriend/wife right next to us, including lots of lip-smacking noises. Made me want to toss up my dinner before I even finished it.

So, yes, now I really have to get back to my running schedule because that is a fat-filled eating schedule, huh? Ugh. But it was tasty and I would do it again (and will next year!).