82 Queen

Friday - 25 October 2002: Charleston, South Carolina - We took the morning off from touristing and stayed home, watching the rain. Early afternoon we drove into downtown Charleston. We looked at a few homes we had somehow missed, and then went to 82 Queen for lunch. 82 Queen is the premier Low-Country restaurant in Charleston. It is impossible to get a table for dinner, but we thought we would try our luck for a late lunch and were seated immediately in one the "living rooms" of the restaurant. The entire restaurant is built around a brick courtyard, with a giant magnolia tree in the center. There are four old homes on the courtyard which form the restaurant. Very interesting, and it makes for an intimate, and unusual, dining experience. Tables are in rooms of the houses, upstairs and down, porches and even in the courtyard. We tried two 82 Queen signature dishes - Fried Green Tomatoes and Shrimp Gumbo. We also tried Cajun chicken with red beans and rice. The Fried Green Tomatoes came on a bed of white grits that were incredibly rich - probably because they included heavy cream and butter! DT said his gumbo was perfect and nicely spiced. Everything was just delicious and elegantly served. I purchased the new 82 Queen Cookbook!

It never did clear-up, but we had no rain in the afternoon. The remainder of the day was spent returning to shops we had visited before to actually purchase items. I wanted to buy some of the famous South Carolina rice, and benne wafers, so we visited a few food and kitchen shops and then walked over to another needlepoint shop. The Needle Nook had a nice selection of canvases and fibers, but we found a miniature and extremely light-weight task lamp. I was so excited with my discovery - and the owner explained she keeps these lights and collapsible needlework stands because she gets a lot of people in RVs and boats coming into her shop! Imagine that! (I already have a collapsible stand - with me, of course.)  The lamp was only $12 - such a find.

By early evening, we had seen everything we wanted to see in Charleston and came back to Goldie. No room for dinner after our late, lovely lunch, so we will stay in this evening. Shabbat Shalom from James Island!

RV Park: James Island County Park