We arrived yesterday and began our day at Southern Season, an enormous food emporium with a cooking school and very nice restaurant. In a space about the size of a modern supermarket, the store has sections including coffees and teas, world cheeses, chocolates, sauces, ethnic foods, pottery, cookware, etc, etc.
The Eataly chain is focused on all things Italian. I think Southern Season is a classy mix of tantalizing treats, with a healthy dose of southern charm thrown in. There are lots of things to taste and the salespeople are mostly like me--middle-aged food lovers who are just happy to be part of something great.
Later, Joe had a meeting, so I checked into our historic hotel, the Mills House, and then set off for the shopping streets around Meeting and King. Last week I was reading Oprah's magazine and saw a great jacket in her Favorite Things setion. While wandering around, I spotted the same jacket in the window of a shop called C. Wonder and just had to buy myself a present. Fabulous cobalt blue barn jacket with a black corduroy collar and elbow patches.
Dinner was at Social, a wine bar and restaurant on East Bay Street. The wine by the glass list was extensive and all the entrees are paired with a suggested flight of three wines. Joe loved his pork cheeks dish and my braised lamb over green lentils was excellent.
After dinner, we met Pat and Linda Nestor at the Thoroughbred Lounge at Charleston Place, where I had an Irish coffee and enjoyed the pianist with the Michael Bolton hair. The Nestors were in Charleston for the night to celebrate Linda's birthday.
This morning, Joe checked out early to get to a meeting and I went down to breakfast and was delighted to find shrimp n grits on the menu. Why not? Yum!
He will be back in town by noon so we can have lunch together, then we head to the airport and back home to Jamestown.
