Today was partly a housekeeping day -- we went to a laundromat to do some laundry and then did a few other errands. In the afternoon we visited the Old Slave Mart Museum, which is where slave auctions of domestic slaves (slaves that were born in the US or had been in the US for several years, not newly off a slave ship) were conducted. The museum was full of information but oh, how difficult it is to read about it and to stand in the exact room where all those business transactions took place. Afterwards, we decided to take another leisurely drive around some of the older neighborhoods to take photos, passing up the opportunity to visit the Museum of Dental History (what a shame to have missed all those historical dentist drills). By that time it was tea time so we sat outside in the lovely January weather, sipping coffee and nibbling pastries, and watching the people go by. Interestingly enough, we have all noticed that we are hearing very few southern accents here in Charleston, which is quite a switch from Savannah where everyone had a delicious southern drawl.
At last! We finally had a really good meal in Charleston. So far we have not been favorably impressed with Charleston food. At best, our meals have been adequate. However, tonight we dined at 82 Queen, which is restaurant’s address and name. They serve fabulous southern food, specializing in seafood but they also have dynamite other dishes. Of course you know that the south specializes in grits, but did you know that pimiento cream cheese is also a big thing here? I’ve had soup garnished with pimiento cheese-stuffed celery, I’ve seen all kinds of pimiento cheese appetizers on menus, and tonight I had fried green tomatoes on a bed of pimiento cheese grits. Thought I’d died and gone to heaven. My two traveling companions rated the she-crab soup as the best they’ve had so far. And one of us had salmon served on a bed of cheese grits with chunks of crab in it, which received a very high rating. (Nope, no hush puppies. I just may have to give up on that goal.)
Today was our last day in Charleston and the three of us agree that we liked Savannah much better. This is a very different conclusion than we expected to draw, especially because each one of us had been told by several people that we would find Charleston to be the much more interesting place. Charleston is larger and more metropolitan than Savannah. Charleston has more people, traffic, fine art galleries, historical buildings, shops, and everything else. But even in January, there are an awful lot of tourists, tour busses, horse-drawn carriages, etc. The service people in Charleston -- shop keepers, hotel and restaurant staff -- are polite and respectful, but not outgoing or especially gracious or friendly. In contrast, practically everyone we interacted with in Savannah was amazingly friendly and chatty and inviting. People sitting at the next table would start up a conversation with us and ask us if we were enjoying our stay and did we have any questions. Savannah is more relaxed -- the whole atmosphere is different. If I was going to run away from home for a month or two, Savannah would definitely be one of the top possibilities -- not to mention that practically every bite we ate in Savannah was amazingly wonderful.
Tomorrow we hit the road and drive all day to Kentucky, so I’ll post a blog in a couple of days.
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