October12 – 13, 2024

Our drive to Charleston would last a little under four hours and take place mostly on the road we’d taken to Bonnie’s place at Sunset Beach.  Soon enough we landed at the Best Western Airport Inn and Suites, our home for the next two nights.  We’ve accrued quite a few reward points with the chain and thus I think we were honored with a large two room suite on one of the top floors, a nice perk when you can get it.

After some downtime and a glass of wine we drove twenty minutes to the Ashley River side of Charleston to Costa to meet Susan and Shawn for dinner.  I’ve known these two for many years, meeting Susan through my regional involvement with ACUI when she worked at the University of San Diego and later when we served at the same time on ACUI’s Board of Trustees. 

Joanna and I both enjoyed a glass of wine while we attacked our starter dish of Scallop Crudo (with passion fruit, avocado and finger lime).  Shawn had us sample his Beef Carpaccio as well, which while it looked unappetizing, was anything but that.  For entrees we went for broke, Joanna delighting in the Chicken Porchettato while I savored the Grilled Cherry Point Swordfish.  We all shared bites of the Crispy Potatoes with Taleggio Fondue and finished with a unique Tiramisu. 

All in in all it was a steep tab but well worth the expense.  We bade Shawn and Susan goodbye knowing we’d see them again later the next day and returned to the Best Western for a good night’s sleep.  At around 5:00 am we were both shaken awake by a large crashing sound coming from the wall on the other side of our room.  At first, being native Angelenos, we thought it was an earthquake but quickly realized that was highly unlikely and upon taking a look in the bathroom, found the large mirror there had fallen off the wall, crashed into the sink and landed on the floor in a million pieces. 

We went downstairs to notify the night clerk but found the front desk empty and just one individual sleeping in a chair in the lobby, who we thought might be homeless.  We must have made some noise as she roused herself and we realized that she was the clerk.  When advised of the situation she followed us to the room, examined the damage, and bringing us back to the front desk gave us the key to a smaller, but still large room, on the same floor. 

Mentioning she would move us a room the same size as the original on a different floor, we decided to stay where we were so we wouldn’t have to move again.  In the meantime, she started cleaning up some of the glass but failed to notice that in her trips to the trashcan in the corridor outside the room she was leaking bits of glass, which we had to maneuver around as we moved our stuff to the new room.  The day would brighten later as we drove into downtown to meet Leigh and James at Poogan’s Porch for brunch. 

Erected in 1891 as a private residence, in 1976 the character of the neighborhood had changed suitably to allow for the conversion of the house into a restaurant.  The last residential owners of the site sold their home and moved away, leaving behind the neighborhood dog, Poogan, thus providing a name for this cool restaurant in the heart of Charleston.  Starting with house Bloody Mary’s to sip while we quickly eliminated the complimentary buttermilk biscuits we were served; we moved on to Pimento Cheese Fritters with Bacon jam that really hit the spot. 

Next up we split a bowl of the She-Crab Soup (Seasoned blue crab, chives) which was very nice and to put the finishing touches on our meal, we closed out with a large serving of the Cast Iron Apple Cobbler (Biscuit streusel, vanilla bean ice cream, caramel sauce).  Not exactly your typical brunch fare, but it was just what the doctor ordered after the crashing start to our morning.  We happily paid the $87 tab, including tip, for a nice meal in a unique environment. 

With an afternoon to fill before meeting Susan and Shawn again, we drove 30 minutes to Sullivan’s Island to visit Fort Moultrie.  Now part of the National Historic Park that also includes Fort Sumter, it is a series of fortifications built to protect the city of Charleston.  The first fort, formerly named Fort Sullivan, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and nickname of South Carolina, as “The Palmetto State”.  The fort was renamed for the U.S. patriot commander in the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, General William Moultrie who took command in 1776.

During the Civil War, Southern forces captured the fort and held it until April 1863 when Federal ironclads and shore batteries began a bombardment that lasted twenty months, and reduced Fort Sumter to a rubble pile and pounded Fort Moultrie below a sand hill, which protected it against further bombardment.  Confederate artillerymen continued to man Fort Moultrie but in February 1865, as General Sherman marched through South Carolina, the Confederate soldiers finally abandoned the rubble of Fort Moultrie and evacuated the city of Charleston.

The fort continued to be upgraded and used during the next century and served during WWI and WWII, but in August 1947, the Army lowered Fort Moultrie’s flag for the last time and ended 171 years of service.  After the war, due to changes in military technology, including submarines and nuclear weapons, seacoast defense of the United States ceased to be a viable strategy and in In 1960, the Department of Defense transferred Fort Moultrie to the National Park Service.

With a map in hand, we spent a couple of hours touring the grounds under blue skies and in the dim recesses of ammunition bunkers and radio rooms.  Once finished, we returned to the car for the drive to the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of Charleston for drinks and food with Susan and Shawn at Maybank Publick House.  We ordered our first round of beers and settled in for a continuation of the conversation we started the night before. 

Just in time for our second round, Joanna and I, still a bit full of our breakfast, split the interesting sounding Fried Green Tomato Napoleon (Fried Green Vine Ripe Tomato, Goat Cheese, Pesto, Balsamic Reduction).  It was a massive tower of fried goodness, and it took some doing to eat it without spreading it out on the table.  It definitely did the job of soaking up the beer we consumed and sent us off, after a fond farewell to Susan and Shawn, to the Best Western where we managed to make it through the night without any mirrors breaking.  We had a short drive to Jekyll Island scheduled for the next day so we were glad to catch a few moments of down time. 

Links

Best Western Airport Inn and Suites: https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/hotels-in-north-charleston/best-western-airport-inn-suites/propertyCode.41092.html

Costa: https://www.costacharleston.com/

Poogan’s Porch: https://www.poogansporch.com/

Fort Moultrie: https://www.nps.gov/fosu/learn/historyculture/fort_moultrie.htm

Maybank Publick House: https://maybankpublichouse.com/