St Johns Yacht Harbor in Charleston - We do downtown

We love the large shopping mall in the middle of Charleston

Ann is really eating grits and smiling!

I was born in Alabama but grew up in Ohio. Ann was born in Massachusetts and lived there all her life until she met me. How we met would be a study in improbabilities, but that's another story. Our dietary preferences were, at first, rather divergent. I liked grits but Ann thought they had the consistency of library paste. When asked how I wanted my steak done, I would reply, "Done." After much give and take, she came to understand that anything red left showing in the meat meant that it was not "Done." After many years of trying each other's cuisine, we converged. I now like my steaks rare and even my hamburger on the rare side. Ann came to appreciate proper barbecue, Alabama style, and southern ham baked the proper way (at 450F) became a staple at all our gatherings. She even appreciated boiled peanuts to some degree (which I love). However, there was one last holdout, grits.

Today we may have put that final disparity to rest. I took Ann out to Hyman's Seafood, a famous restaurant in Charleston for lunch. Ann chose Carolina Delight (see description) but only the appetizer size as did I. It had plenty of grits and so much so that I couldn't imagine eating the full dinner of the same title. Along with the free boiled peanuts, the hushpuppies, and fried green tomatoes - it was enough to feel stuffed. Ann even had the sweetened iced tea (we usually just have the unsweetened tea and add a little sugar). The sweetened tea gives you an overdose of sugar if you're not used to it.

Charleston is famous for its baskets

So now Ann has crossed the last hurdle, she had grits and thought they tasted good, at least the way Hyman prepared them. It only took 50 years but that's progress! On the other hand, I like my steaks rare now so we've both moved from our initial likes.

We took a rental car and explored downtown Charleston, which has become our favorite city along the ICW. The downtown area is compact and easy to negotiate although the parking is more like NYC, $25 to $30/day unless you can find a street parking space (bring lots of quarters), unlikely during the day. Ann got her shopping fix at Chico's and I bought another iPad at the Apple store (you can never have too many iPads...)

But don't park where you're not wanted!

Then it was a quick stop at Harris Teeter, Ann's favorite supermarket and home we came. I'll drop off the car tomorrow morning and do some boat chores to get ready for our departure Saturday morning for Isle of Palms and the Awendaw anchorage. So far, the dinghy seems to be holding air enough, although I have to pump it every day now.