2014 Charleston Trip – Towne Center & Okra Grill Again

While not everyone grew up in a small town, like I did, nearly everyone has been through one.  Back in the 50’s, Fairmont WV was a bustling small city of 30,000 and the downtown streets were nearly always crowded with shoppers and business people.  Both sides of the two four-block-long main streets and cross streets were lined with thriving businesses most of which were local, but also contained a G.C. Murphy and F.W. Woolworth.

This was all before shopping centers, then malls, then Walmart that drove the final nail in the coffin of most towns like ours, however, Mt. Pleasant, SC has created a new one.  Rather than a mall or shopping center, their Towne Center looks like an updated version of a 50’s small city downtown area but has the stores typically found in malls and outlet centers.  Bev wanted to stop at a store she had seen so the pups and I drove around and snapped a few shots.

2014 Charleston Trip – Rally Days 4 & 5 - Angel Oak Tree & Tea Plantation

For day-four of our FMCA Rally, we headed south of Charleston for three stops on John’s and Wadmalaw Islands hoping we could accomplish a few things on a very rainy day.  The first stop was the Angel Oak Tree which is a huge Live Oak and believed to be more than 500 years old, some think maybe even 1500 years.  It shades an area of 17,000 square feet and measures 187 feet across - note the people on the right side.

2014 Charleston Trip – Rally day 3 - Low Country Boil

For day three of our FMCA Rally, I laid out of the days activities due do swollen feet but the rest of the group went off in two directions – the guys went to Patriot Point Naval and Marine Museum to see the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown and other ships and the ladies went shopping in Mt. Pleasant City Center.  While they did that I got everything ready for the evenings meal of Low Country Boil (Frogmore Stew).

This dish, plus a few others, seem to be a requirement when visiting the Carolina Low Country and we decided it would be a nice group activity to have at the campground.  I had brought my big pot, with basket, and turkey fryer burner from home so it was an easy one pot meal to cook for the group.

2014 Charleston Trip – Rally Day 2 - Downtown Charleston

Day two was a busy day in downtown Charleston, beginning with about two hours in the City Market– about 15 minutes gave me all I wanted.  The market is a three block long collection on eclectic stuff and the only thing I bought was a glass of lemonade.  Here is most of the group hard at it. 

2014 Charleston Trip – Rally Day 1 - Boone Hall Plantation

When Bev came in from walking the dogs on Sunday morning she commented that it was already getting hot so I showed her this shot of southeastern WY lifted from Wunderground.

2014 Charleston, SC Trip – Seewee

I hope all of you mom's had a great day on Sunday.

As we got ready for hosting the Tennessee Travelers Rally, we had been trying to get familiar with the area and try some of the restaurants and this day it was lunch at Seewee Restaurant, located about six miles north of the campground.  It had been recommended by several folks and got good ratings by the online customer reviews – it had also been described as a dive.

And a dive it was - we got there about five minutes after opening time and had to wait for the outside padlock to be removed from the front door.  I forgot an outside shot but was able to lift one from the web.

2014 Charleston Trip - Scallops and Shrimp Pepperoni

While doing my morning blog reading I read the recipe and watched the video for Chicken and Shrimp Pepperoni from Chef Dennis on his site – A Culinary Journey With Chef Dennis.  I’ve been following his blog since he was the chef at a private girls school, have always admired his cooking, and encourage you to stop by if you haven’t.  In addition to his blog he is a big player in the Google+ cooking world.

While exploring Mt. Pleasant, SC, we picked up some scallops and shrimp at a local seafood store and planned to grill them along with some asparagus from home, but after seeing the Chef’s meal, we decided to use it as a guide to make our dish, subbing scallops for the chicken and asparagus for the artichokes.