El-pants and I-gulls

Some friends of ours kindly invited us along to the B-List circus over the weekend.  Olivia has never been so excited about anything for a prolonged period of time!  I think she is getting to the stage where she is beginning to understand the concept of past, present, and future.  

She talked about the el-pants (elephants) and i-gulls (tigers) all day.  I asked her what elephants eat, and she confidently replied, "dog food."  She did also inform me that tigers eat grass.

They had several extra tickets, so we invited Giga and Poppy along for the show.

I'll admit, it was all a bit overwhelming.

Jed arrived and they checked out the elephants for a few more minutes, and then we went inside the big top to wait, wait, and wait some more.  We arrived at 3:45 p.m. as suggested, and the show began 30 minutes late at 5:00 p.m..  Uncle Buddy gave Livi some spending money, so we thought it would be a good idea to upgrade our free seats.  It was.

While we waited, Giga thought it would be a great idea to introduce Livi to cotton candy.  She is a very skeptical child, and was nervous about her first bite, but then she couldn't get enough.  She thought it was so funny that she got to rip it off in pieces.  

 This is what I looked like in middle school, plus 100 pounds and really jacked up teeth.

We made it to the intermission and then were too restless to continue, but I think if we hadn't waited so long for the show to start, she would have made it.  She was enthralled by every act!  This is such a fun age!  Thanks again Knights for the awesome day!

Oh the Places We'll Go...

Remember our vacation plans?  A few weekends ago, we took our first trip out to Beachwalker Park, sort of.

Kiawah and Seabrook Islands are fancy schmancy islands off the edge of the Lowcountry.  One of my favorite things about this destination is the 45 minute drive, lined with gorgeous oak trees which drip with spanish moss over the two-laned road.  Ben was a worship leader at a church out there when we first met, so there were lots of Sunday morning sunrises taken in down that road.

There is a really fantastic retail center between the two islands called Freshfields Village, with lots of fun shops and a great little green space in the center where they hold concerts and what not.  

We milled around in a fabulous little toy store called Wonderworks.  I think it is a local chain.

We had so much fun just walking around and seeing what was there, you know, by some off chance that we will ever have money to burn.

We found these very expensive ice cream cone nick-nacks.  If my husband didn't despise clutter I could imagine them placed prominently in my kitchen.  (Sidenote: I am actually very thankful he hates clutter.  It keeps me in check...)

Seriously diggin' this bedroom set.  See the walls full of fabric swatches?  Custom = PRICEY.

We left the home store since we were both getting twitchy, and headed to where else but the grocery store.  You can always afford something at the supermarket!

We decided to grab lunch there, and we were so glad we did.

Total spent: around ten bucks.  We split that HUGE sub and got lots of refills on our drink.

And then got ice cream because breastfeeding women need dairy to produce milk like to eat.

Look at my little five week old sleeping beauty.  Stop this train.

Needless to say, we barely made it out to the actual beach.  I don't even have a picture to prove that we drove in and drove out.  Oh well.  The weather was kind of jankety anyways.  Next time!

Oh, and thank you Rebecca P. for your suggestion to hit up Freshfields!

OPA!

I used to have a fear of Greek food. My dear husband introduced me to our now favorite restaurant, Continental Corner when we were first dating, and I have never looked back.  I don't know what it is about certain cultural foodgroups (aka Indian Food) that still terrifies me, I think I need to go and try it with someone who is experienced and willing to point me away from the spicy stuff.

All of that to say, we couldn't possibly miss the Greek Festival, regardless of the pending downpour not so friendly skies, well really the pending downpour plus three week old, pending downpour, plus three week old, plus Mothers Day.  Confused?  So am I.  Let's move on.

I went to the Charlotte Greek Festival with my college BFF, Aimee, way too many years ago.  I had a chicken pita, which I distinctly remember to this day.  I also recall gaggles of people and really fantastic Greek dancers.  The Charleston Greek Festival is a bit smaller-scaled, but all of the essentials are accounted for nonetheless.

First of all, those of you with kids know that when traveling, they require a literal caravan of things to make life "easier".  Ben is Mr. Efficiency Packer.  This does not please him.

As we got off the shuttle, a very nice lady handed me these two tickets!  Mothers get in free on Mothers Day, so we passed on the other ticket to Ben's dad when he arrived.  An extra three bucks saved for more Greek Food?  Score!  OPA!

After his parents arrived, we got right down to business.  Nothing out of the ordinary, just the Gyro and fries.  Probably not very Greek-like, but whatever.

How you doin' Baklava Sundae?  Don't let the two spoons fool you, I didn't share much.  Ben's dad ate a measly two bites and I devoured the rest.  Oops.  OPA!

Enter Greek pastries.  Eat Greek pastries.  Actually, I was too stuffed to go there, but I hear they were remarkable.

Finish it off with a really terrible picture of the Greek dancers, and a little baby oogling, and we packed up and headed home to try to beat the rain.

Which made for one tired set of parents, and one wide awake child.  OPA!

Restaurant Remarks...Oh Saffron.

Saffron Cafe & Bakery...off of East Bay Street in Charleston.  Get there.

(I promise I will get better at taking beautiful photos as soon as I have the energy to lug around a camera bag again!)

Bocce ball, outdoor seating.

Cases full of pastries.

More outdoor seating!

The long case: chock full of cheesecakes, tarts, eclairs, you name it.

We took our goods to-go.  We had, you know, places to go, people to see a dog in the car.

Ben had his ham and swiss croissant warmed.  I would highly recommend that maneuver.

These pastries were the size of my husband's head.

We ordered five, and our total was just over $10, including tax.  Considering a donut from a chain shop is almost a dollar, I would call this place a bargain!

The cheese danish was my FAVORITE.  I couldn't even finish 1/3 of the flaky, sweet goodness.

We also tried the chocolate pastry, almond pastry, and the parisian something-another.  All fantastic.

Gorgeous pastries.  Glamourous car breakfast.

We had leftovers.

Restaurant Remarks: The Bowens Island Experience

I have lived in Charleston for eight years, and I am sad to say I have only been to Bowens three times.  Ben took me for the first time on my birthday two years ago, and I was pleasantly surprised.  Ben's sister Sarabeth treated us to a night out last week, and we decided on Bowens Island, where the experience was exponentially enhanced by steamed oysters.  Read on. 

Bowens was originally a one-story cinderblock building, but it burned down and they rebuilt on stilts.  The current place is a super basic structure built totally out of wood, now covered in marker graffiti. 

 

People don't just come here for the food.   The view is one to write home about, especially at dusk.  There is plenty of outside seating, which tends to be more pleasant in the summertime, since there is no air conditioning inside.

It was packed on the Thursday night we went, so I was tasked with saving a table while Ben and SB stood in line to order.  Most excellent people watching ever.

They ordered a tray of oysters (!!!!!!!!!!) which we quickly shucked and demolished while we were waiting on our food.  There was a little bit of wait for the food, which seemed longer than normal, probably due to the crowds.  I was in good company though, so it didn't much matter.

My honey loves some steamed oysters.  He slips into oyster coma and savors every stinking bite.  I can't blame him though, they are salty, perfect goodness.  These were some of the best I've ever had; piping hot and juicy.

My favorite way to eat steamed oysters is on saltines, dipped in cocktail sauce, and spritzed with fresh lemon.  Which is probably what I will be thinking about during labor.  Just being honest.

They serve their cocktail sauce in re-purposed Gatorade bottles.  It is a bit runny and not horseradishy enough for me, but I still slurp it down with no complaints.   They don't have saltines or lemon, at least that I know of.

I really hope my midwives aren't reading this. 

I ordered the small (1/4 pound) shrimp platter, which I think runs for $11.  This picture is deceiving, it is so much food and I can never eat it all.  The shrimp are lightly battered, and they taste like shrimp, NOT like a fryer.  Their hush-puppies (the two round things on the right) are also really delicious.  I'm not a huge fan of their coleslaw (top right in the cup), but as you can see you only get about two forkfuls of that.  And who cares about coleslaw anyway?

SB and Ben ordered the seafood platter and fried oyster platter, respectively.  They swapped things around, and I know they both agreed that the fried oysters were out of this world.  No one commented on the crab cake, but I can tell you from past experiences that it isn't the best.  (Disclaimer: I am from Maryland).

They also have Ginger Ale in their soda fountain, which gets me excited every time.

A must-go for anybody visiting Charleston, Bowens Island is only about 15 minutes out of the city, but on the way out to Folly Beach.  Do yourself a favor and skip Hymans (downtown on Meeting).  Super-duper overrated.

For directions and a little more history, you can visit their website.  Their hours are non-traditional so be sure you check to see that they are open before you head out!

Spring is Great But...

I absolutely

positively

cannot

wait

for

summer.

Stay tuned.  

Tomorrow, I am posting about how we're saving on our summer vacation this year.