Charleston, The Perfect Weekend Getaway

We stayed at Charleston Place, the largest hotel in this historic city. While perfect for meetings, we found that the world-renowned service of Orient Express properties made us feel like we were staying in a much smaller boutique hotel. In fact our room (all the rooms have just gotten new mattresses for all mattress snobs, which includes me!) felt more like I had landed in the guest room of a proverbial rich uncle than that of a hotel. No doubt we will stay here again.

My husband and I got to meet with Garden & Gun for a future post on Behind the Scenes at Garden & Gun. Stay tuned!

Okay, a quick behind-the-scenes: here is the wrist of editor Jessica Mischner. I love this combination of stacked bracelets.

We walked by the classiest Forever 21 I have ever seen. This same spot housed SAKS before being replaced. No worries for high-end shoppers: Gucci, Louis Vuitton and more, as well as fabulous local boutiques, are all found in Charleston.

Walking back from G & G we saw FIG, the one restaurant that we really wanted to try but couldn’t get into. So, plan on calling at least a couple weeks in advance for this gem.

Dinner Friday night was amazing, just as we expected it to be in this ultra-foodie city. Macintosh is one of the newer establishments and they embrace the farm-to-table concept. Our server was so nice and knowledgeable.

Macintosh menu, which you can see changes daily. (This one is from August 3rd, as seen in the top left).

My salad was the Ambrose Farm’s Heirloom Tomato Salad with arugula, basil and smoked burrata. I had no idea what “burrata” was until this meal, so for those of you as equally in the dark, here’s the Wikapedia definition, “The outer shell is solid mozzarella while the inside contains both mozzarella and cream, giving it an unusual, soft texture. It is also defined by some sources as an outer shell of mozzarella filled with butter or a mixture of butter and sugar. It is usually served fresh, at room temperature. The name ‘burrata’ means ‘buttered’ in Italian.”

Sauteed Local Scamp Grouper served on a bed of pureed eggplant–yum!

The streets in Charleston are just beautiful.

There are walls upon walls covered in this ivy.

We made our way down to the shore and got to spend a few minutes on one of these lovely park benches. We had our phones and returned some emails… a paper back would have been better.

Ahhhh, the sea air.

We walked back through the open-air City Market, which spans four city blocks. The market showcases local artisan finds including these baskets.

We went back to the hotel to hit the fitness room, as again, we had no plans except to eat and walk the city. The fitness room is located in the spa, which houses this incredible pool. See that ceiling? It’s retractable. Yep, this pool is both an indoor and outdoor pool, with a pool side grill. Charleston Place is located in the heart of the city, but has all the resort qualities you could want (shopping, spa, pool, fitness rooms, restaurants…)

Next up was HUSK. Yes, the one that was voted “Best Restaurant in America” by Bon Appetite in 2011.

The menu at HUSK.

First up was the lunchtime Bloody Mary.

We started with the Husk Pimento Cheese (made with goat cheese), Pickled Ramps (ramps are wild leeks), Shaved Country Ham and Fried Green Tomatoes.

My Shrimp and Grits

Everyone told us that Husk’s Cheeseburger was the thing to order. It has a smoky flavor, and while we found it odd that the dish everyone was pushing from Bon Appetite Best New Restaurant in America was a cheeseburger, it was a damn good burger.

I love it when a restaurant uses local pottery as the dishes.

More of that ivy. Notice the brick street next to the stone sidewalk.

Beautiful stately doors.

The brick street flanked by white houses.

The small gardens were all well groomed.

Peaking through wrought iron gates and imagining who lived there provided lots of fun.

So many lovely window boxes.

The houses near Battery Park are impressive. And at about 6-8 million dollars a pop, they should be!

White picket fences

We found ourselves on the gorgeous campus of Charleston College.

My favorite street was this cobblestone side street. I wondered how old it was.

Half the menu at Charleston Grill. Where to start, where to start…

A little salmon nibble that came out from the chef. Don’t you love it when a place does this? For Nashville readers, executive chef Michelle Weaver trained under Bob Waggoner at The Wild Boar and moved to Charleston with Bob to continue as his sous chef. They worked together for 15 years. Chef Waggoner is now back in Nashville at Watermark.

We shared the Octopus Salad. Here is my portion. I have never had its equal.

We both had a crab cake next. I’ve eaten plenty of crab cakes in my life and this one was lighter, had almost no filling and was finished with a bright citrus dressing that was unexpected and perfect.

Next came the poached duck egg appetizer. WOW.

My meal, which I will dream about until the day I die, was the Thai Fish. You break it all up, mix it up with the broth and then eat with a spoon.

My husband’s entree – pork chop over grits and corn. He really did get misty-eyed.

When this chocolate dessert arrived, we thought we couldn’t fit another thing in. We did. Order this!

My best friend by the end of our meal was General Manager Mickey Bakst. The service, like the food, was impeccable. Mickey was featured in an article by Executive Travel as one of the Top 5 restaurant owners or hosts. “These restaurants go beyond fine food or ambiance—they exude personality because the maitre d’ or owner brings the establishment to life.” We agree 100%.