Charleston Chatter

Our friends tied that wedding knot into a nice little bow in Charleston this weekend! We had a great time celebrating their big day and also enjoyed our time in Charleston.

The ceremony and reception were held at the Charleston Maritime Center. The ceremony was held water side and, although scalding, it was beautiful! Our favorite parts about the reception: FOOD/drinks, BAND and CORNHOLE. Are there any other parts to a wedding? No if you're this couple. When I asked the boyfriend what he thought about the wedding his reply was, "It was totally them." It couldn't have been described any better. Their personalities truly came through on this day.
Side note: The bride came to meet her groom from the opposite direction as the wedding party and I was absolutely into that. It was a nice way to change up a traditional wedding ceremony. She also had her brother stand on her side instead of the groom's and I thought that was a great way to honor family.

We wish this couple all the best things in their marriage and hope to see them again very soon!

I had no idea there were so many rooftop bars in Charleston but apparently that's their thing. The night before the wedding we went to Vendue which is a great (and breezy) multi-level rooftop bar near our restaurant. We also went to Stars (a restaurant and rooftop bar) after the wedding. They both had a great atmosphere and it was a nice little treat to see the sky line at night.    

 We decided to stay in town most of the day Sunday since we had not been able to do the touristy thing too much during our first two days. We kicked off the morning/afternoon with brunch at Hominy Grill. We were initially pretty disappointed because we saw the long line waiting outside but they seated us in about 15 minutes and it was well worth the wait. A direct quote from our meal, "This is the best biscuit I've ever eaten." And it was. See that omelet to the left? It had spicy rice in it. That sounds a little weird but it was amazing! It's topped with a creamy shrimp sauce that gave it that extra flavor. I know the other is difficult to see but it was a duck hash with some kind of Portobello sauce. I did not taste it but I can attest to the fact that he LOVED it. Overall, go to Hominy Grill!

Next stop, Rainbow Row. We made the mistake of parking and getting out of the truck to walk around. The heat index was 102 degrees and we had no business being out of the air-conditioning. We promptly returned to the vehicle and proceeded to wipe our bodies off with fast food restaurant napkins. Hey, we used our resources wisely.

It probably goes without saying that Charleston has some of the most beautiful homes in the south. Many of them are now split into multiple units and rented out to tenants but there are still a few which are lived in by single families. Many of these homes also have wonderful gardens and big front porches. The typical Gone With the Wind antebellum homes. BUT I do want to point out that you would not catch me dead on the front porch in that heat. Well, maybe you would because I would literally be dead from a heat stroke. I'm thinking I could enjoy a nice glass of lemonade on these porches in mid to late October. No sooner please.
It was fun to walk the streets among these great old homes and think about how it was to live in them back in their hay day. They must have enjoyed the big thick curtains on the windows, silk fabric furniture, big skirts and HEAT...there was no AC! I can enjoy a night by candle light just as much as the next guy or gal but I think we can all agree that everyone must have been a little smelly back then.

"No Matter How Dark The Nights, The Day is Sure to Come."
"Mother Emmanuel, We Love You."
"Love...If Not US, Who? If Not Now, When?" -JFK

These are just a few of the banners we saw hanging from buildings around downtown Charleston. As everyone in the country knows, nine people were murdered in the Mother Emmanuel church Wednesday night. We arrived Friday afternoon to a busy and somber street filled with people showing their respect to those lost in this terrible act of racial violence. Our hotel was across the street from the church, which initially worried us. We were not sure how Charleston would react to the murders and whether or not we would be in any danger when we arrived. It was quite the opposite. News crews swarmed the street but people were otherwise simply there to mourn. For me, that speaks louder than words. Many cities have recently reacted in violence due to racially based killings but Charleston has been a light to follow through this dark time in our history.
I am not interested in voicing my opinion about the shooter on my blog so I will simply leave this post by saying that Charleston has proven to the nation that we are capable of reacting in a positive and uplifting way. It has shown others that violence is not the answer to violence. We must love our way through this tragedy and make CHANGE because of it.