Took a family trip to Charleston to introduce our 8 month old to the beach. Charleston/Isle of Palms has been an annual trip for us, but with baby and Covid, this was our first time over since Easter 2019. There was some good, some happy surprises, and some disappointing surprises.

As always we stayed on Isle of Palms, rented a condo from Island Realty. In the past we have either been at the Sea Cabins or Dunescape, but this time we were on the 3rd floor of 1140 Ocean Blvd. Great view, great condo (3 bedroom, 3 bath). More than enough room for the two of us, baby, both grandmothers and an aunt.

We usually go in the spring for our anniversary, but have done one summer trip before. I will say that we will probably be spring visitors from here on out. The folks on the beach were not nearly as family friendly as we have had in the past. I think what surprised us was that Folly Beach has the reputation for being the home of the more unique beach goer, but IOP had its share of thongs/LGBT/PDA this trip. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just not what we are used to on the beach there.

Foodwise we finally hit two places we had been longing to try.
-Rodney Scott's BBQ on Upper King was my Charleston bucketlist eatery and it did not disappoint. The whole hog plate was amazing, and the whole hog sandwich was maybe even better. Both had shredded pork from various parts of the hog, but the sandwich was served openfaced and included pork skins. Also, the collard greens and mac and cheese were amazing.
-The Wreck of the Richard and Charlene in Mt. Pleasant. We have been trying to eat there since our honeymoon trip in 2011 and it just never worked out - either too busy, wrong night, wrong hours, etc. Finally got there. The food is amazing. We were a little surprised by the plating (paper plates, plastic cups, butcher paper for table cloth) but that does not take away from the food. Everything we tried (shrimp, scallops, oysters, flounder, grouper) was fresh and delicious. House made banana pudding and key lime pie as well.

A couple of nice surprises/discoveries.
-Page's Okra Grill in Mt Pleasant. A cute little spot on Coleman Blvd just south of Shem Creek. It's amazing how much has been developed between Shem Creek and the bridge to Sullivan's Island. Page's has a pretty good menu with a mix of seafood and other traditional southern fare. The shrimp and grits were top notch as were the crab cakes. Their appetizers were unique - redneck rolls are pulled pork bbq mixed with pimento cheese, rolled in spring roll wrappers, fried and served with mustard bbq sauce; fried green tomatoes with a red pepper peach jam.
-Café Paname on Isle of Palms. A coffee shop/breakfast place that has some of the best croissants any of us have tasted. Very small location and best for takeout, but there is some (10 or so) limited seating.

We also hit a couple of our usual haunts while there. Melvin's BBQ in Mt Pleasant for their mustard sauce, and Acme Lowcountry Kitchen on Isle of Palms. The only disappointment here is that Acme apparently no longer offers their bbq shrimp and grits, which were a favorite.

The couple of disappointments:
-Boone Hall Farms Market store is temporarily closed. They are relocating from the location on US 17 to a place on Boone Hall's property, but have apparently hit some snags, so they are closed for now. We loved stopping there for fresh peanut butter, jams, etc.
-Bigelow Tea Company has decided to join in the "words are offensive" movement and renamed the Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island to the Charleston Tea Garden. According to their website...

quote:
On June 9th, 2020 the name of this tea farm changed from the Charleston Tea Plantation to the Charleston Tea Garden®. This land has been farm country for decades so we knew that changing the name from plantation to garden represented the land appropriately. We are also sensitive to the fact that plantation is a word that carries significant pain for many in this country and throughout the world. Bigelow Tea has worked hard to create an environment of inclusion and equality but as an organization and as individuals, we know we can always do better.