Pimento Cheese Withdrawal - Our Charleston Trip

Two weeks after our trip to Charleston, I'm still suffering a bit of pimento cheese withdrawal. Since my when-not-on-vacation diet prevents eating it, I shall blog about it.......

Over the Memorial Day week, Dan and I flew to South Carolina.

"Lowenstein, Lowenstein"*

My parents, who'd driven down from Knoxville...

photo credit: Leanne Trodeau Photography

...scooped us up at the airport and we rode off into the sunset.

photo credit: LeAnne Trudeau Photography

This trip proved to be one for the record books as:

1. PR + I avoided our infamous mother/daughter love spats

photo credit: Leanne Trudeau Photography

2. The weather was perfect, every day

3. I became one of those bitches that actually loses weight on vacation

 

Maybe it was all the morning strolls around the Battery, shuffling magnolia leaves underfoot, dreaming about living the highlife in the Low Country.....

...that countered the calories from my daily pimento cheese intake. Though back on my diet** hardcore now, I am still very much nursing a PC hangover that, quite simply, will not be cured til I eat it again...on crackers, atop a filet, or as I love it most, on plain, white bread.

Now....because I'm not one of those Bs that is pretty with fatface, I'll just be candid: the South will rise again before you see most pictures of me from this trip, save those shot by professional photographer, Leanne Trudeau.

photo credit: Leanne Trudeau

Because without the tricks and skills of a trained professional, despite grand progress from my diet (and having trained Dan, when posing for side shots to "belt me" in an effort to create a waist; see above)  I still photograph like an old Civil War canon these days....

Inside Fort Sumpter

....short and round.

So, it's all-tourist-pics, all-the-time for this recap:

Save one daytrip to Fort Sumpter, and one afternoon shopping on King, then carriage riding South of Broad, we spent our days reading on Folly Beach, then breaking for lunch at Taco Boy.

At night, we'd head downtown for drinks + dinner.

Dan and I went to HUSK, voted Southern Living's best new reastaurant. I LOVE the HUSK concept: farm-to-table and NOTHING served, down to the salt + olive oil, comes from above the Mason-Dixon Line. Magnolias, however, remains my favorite place to eat in Charleston, and we dined there twice! A new place opened up on Queen Street called Petticoats - it's adorable, casual and the food (especially the pimento cheese!!!) is really good, too.

Charleston is among my favorite cities. Its Southern coastal vibe is unmatched. Now that Southwest has a direct from Baltimore, I hope we can get down that way more often.

If you're planning a trip to Isle of Palms/Hilton Head/Folly Beach/Kiawah/Charleston anytime soon, I couldn't recommend Leanne more if you want to schedule a beach photo shoot.  She is SO fun to work with, she is so quick to respond to questions via email (before + after the shoot)....she even brought water and towels and all kinds of extras along during our session. Visit her photography site here!


* If you get this reference, we are soul mates
** I'll eventually*** talk more about my diet
*** By "eventually" I mean when I've lost a crazy amount of fatface and can report significant skinny strides