Moving Already

To my one or two readers: I will be moving this blog shortly and will post the new address here. I hadn't realized that you could group several blogs at one sign-in area. That will make my life a lot easier. I'll keep you posted.

A Gustatory BLOG

http://amylovestoeat.blogspot.com/

My daughter's BLOG about one of life's most wonderful pleasures: FOOD! Check it out, comment, follow, and tell your friends about it. Thank you.

Jestine's Kitchen

Good timing and sheer desperation brought me to discover one of my favorite cities in the Eastern United States. Invited by my father and step-mother to stay with them and my other siblings and our families in a small condo for a couple of days in the summer at least a dozen years ago, I soon needed to get out on my own for some breathing room.

I borrowed my Dad’s pickup truck and headed off down the highway, just driving to drive. It was a warm day, I had the windows rolled down, and the music up, and I knew if I drove long enough I’d run into a beach or something. Starting at Myrtle Beach, I traveled down the coastline, stopping to admire a pristine marsh around Murrell’s Inlet.

At Pawley’s Island, I stopped to check out the shops (http://hammockshop.com/). My favorite shopping experience was across the highway from the hammock store with small shops full of crystals, bikinis, fun bumper stickers; you know, those tchotchke kinds of shops. Can’t remember the name of the complex, but they had a little river and bridges and birds of all sizes flying or swimming around. Fun place.

Continuing down the road, I saw signs for Charleston. Had never been there, but wondered about it, so I continued driving. Made it into the city and found parking and started walking. Instantaneous love! The homes are beautiful and kept up so well; the gardens lush and full of flowers and inviting you to “set a spell.” The verandahs set with comfortable furniture to catch the breezes. The mansions along the Battery area are a sight to behold; regal guardians of the southern point of the city, they sit tall and strong behind Battery Park, a good place to view Charleston Harbor and Fort Sumter.

The park was not always such a family-friendly, oak-tree shaded gathering place. Earlier in its history, it was the scene of many hangings at a public gallows. Would not be surprised if a few of those ghosts popped up, but during my time there, a calm and serene afternoon was spent walking and resting under those grand oaks.

I also discovered a beautiful cemetery behind a church there; didn’t realize until a few years later that it was a Unitarian Universalist Church (I belong to one in my hometown now). A few years later, my husband and I came here to recover after I suffered a miscarriage; we stayed at the Hayne House B&B, which was the perfect antidote to the sadness we’d been carrying around. We stayed in the suite over the garage which was still tilted a bit from an earthquake that hit the area in 1886.

After walking, shopping, and sightseeing on my first trip in Charleston, I realized I need to stop for a food break. But where? Charleston is known for its famous low-country fare and many of the restaurants have garnered five-star ratings. After almost missing it, a small down-homey place on Meeting Street caught my eye. The specials posted on a chalkboard, the windows full of 1950s-style kitchen memorabilia, ladderback chairs, and checked tablecloths all beckoned with the welcoming aroma of fresh-baked pie.

Jestine’s Kitchen is a place for which I would drive eight hours just to get a meal. Jestine’s Kitchen is the reason I’m addicted to sweet tea today and it’s one addiction I don’t regret for a minute. Inside the door, I was warmly greeted and shown to a window table. Salt and pepper shakers of all shapes and sizes were on the windowsill, along with old cheese graters and food grinders. But, it wasn’t until they brought me a HUGE glass of the best sweet tea I’ve ever had (called “Jestine’s Table Wine”) AND bread-and-butter pickles for an appetizer that I was absolutely hooked. Now THIS was my kind of place!

The amazing amount of sugar in the tea whet my appetite: I ordered the fried chicken plate, with sides of mashed potatoes and collard greens. I also ordered some fried green tomatoes. The food was superb and was the perfect home-cooked way to refuel myself for the drive back to the chaos at the condo.

I still have their menu today to remind of that first visit to Jestine’s Kitchen. For a little history, Jestine’s Kitchen was named for a family’s housekeeper, Jestine Matthews. Jestine was born in 1885 and lived to be 112 years old. Her mother was a Native American and her father the son of a freed slave who was farming land on Rosebank Plantation on Wadmalaw Island. As Jestine said, “I don’t know if I was born there, but when I first know myself, that’s where I was living.” She is remembered as a woman who shared her home cooking and warm atmosphere with generations of friends and family.

Where else can you find a menu that lists as one of their salads an “iceberg wedge with mayo,” or a “YooHoo” as one of their standard drink-in-the-bottle offerings. Their “Blue Collar Special” is a peanut butter and banana sandwich with potato chips for just a few dollars.

And what I said earlier about driving eight hours to have a meal there? I really have done that (and even rerouted a trip back from the Bahamas to dine there) and will easily do it again. Don’t even get me started on their homemade coconut cream pie!!!

Jestine’s Kitchen
251 Meeting Street
843.722.7224

Hayne House B&B
30 King Street
843.577.2633

Favorite Haunts

I am working on the next blog which is about a city I absolutely love here on the Eastern side of the United States. Should be up in a day or so. In the meantime, be thinking about your favorite cities in the world. Hope that those thoughts will bring up good memories for you and I'll be writing again soon.

Traveling on the Cheap

Hotwire, Expedia, TravelZoo? Which one of these services do YOU use when planning your travel arrangements? Do you find you save money? Is it more hassle than it is worth?

A friend and I were discussing using these types of "savings" services to make our travel arrangements. He had found some good deals, but more often than not, calling the airline directly netted more savings than going through these purported budget traveling sites.

What has your experience been? Do you have any advice to share on which service to use and when?

Aloha from Pahala

The flight from Baltimore to Phoenix, Arizona (the first leg of our trip to the Big Island of Hawai'i) left at 7am on Saturday, December 20. We stayed at the Sheraton near the airport Friday night so that we could just roll out of bed in the morning, hop the airport shuttle, and leave the car until we returned in a few weeks. Much easier than getting up at 3am and driving in the hopes of making it to the airport on time; I'm always eagerly happy to alleviate any amount of stress during the adventures of travelling.

Made the flight on time, but was sad to find out that when the refreshment carts rolled around, we were asked to PAY for drinks and food. This was so different from my flights to and from France; on those flights, everything was gratis (yes, I know I probably paid for it somewhere, but still . . .). We had delicious meals with bread and cheese and wine and even Champagne on the return trip. And now, here I'm finding I am asked to pay $7.00 for a half sandwich and a few pieces of fruit. Sad, sad, sad. Guess I'm easily spoiled.

But I digress. The first leg was a little over six hours, with the second running about seven hours. Elliott was surprisingly easy to keep busy as he had just received a PSP game system from his grandparents the night before for Hanukah. I found it hard to sleep in those cramped seats and wished the whole row would clear out so that I could stretch out and snooze. A little stress arose when the pilot announced that we were running a bit late and that those of us going on to Hawai'I may have a run to make the connection.

Run we did, and we made the connection with just minutes to spare. On the next flight, I thought about how we had gotten to the point of taking such a big trip as a family. A friend from my Fellowship owns a house in Pahala, on the K'au side of the island. (After being there for a few days, I called it the "wild" side because it was so far away from the resort side and we could drive for miles and not meet another car. That, and the fact that the Kilauea volcano exploded again as early as April of this year validated the “wild” moniker.)

Anyway, my friend mentioned the house, she had taken a friend with her, and he showed me a picture of the steam rising out of the volcano and the seed was planted in my head. I do things rather spontaneously, though I do like some planning, but for some reason, I knew we had to go to Hawai'i. The fact that the house was off the beaten track helped; I love staying at a resort as much as the next person, but you really don't get the flavor of where you are visiting by staying in a hotel or resort. You're shown only a certain side of the place unless you choose to travel outside the resort. By staying in a village with mostly permanent residents, we would be in the mix. I liked that idea.

So, almost as soon as I got back from Europe, we worked on getting this trip together. Quite a few people were surprised that we opted to bring Elliott along, thinking it would be a romantic getaway, but it was never a question for us. We knew he would love it; he's a beach boy at heart and also loves adventures.

When we got to the Kona International Airport, we were happily surprised to find an almost quaint airport; we disembarked via air steps (the last time that happened was in Mexico) and the airport was mostly open air. What a refreshing change from endless glass walls and monotonously long hallways!

When we went to retrieve our baggage, I jokingly asked where the Hawai'ian girls were with the leis who are supposed to greet us when we land. Too many viewings of Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawai'I" have jaded me, I fear. Alas! That tradition is no longer.

After our bags had been fetched, Elliott and I grabbed lighter shirts and went to find a place to change because we were hot—it was 81 degrees when we landed. In cooler clothing, we turned the corner to meet up with Gary and the baggage; there he was smiling happily with beautiful leis for the both of us. How wonderful and sweet! The beautiful aroma of the flowers washed over us as he ceremoniously draped the leis over our heads and I realized we had arrived.

We rented a convertible car for the trip, so, with top down, we started our trip to the house in Pahala. We drove by coffee plantations, art studios, surf shops, macadamia nut plantations, rain forests, and too many flowering plants to count. Up and up we went and our ears popped. The scents were delicious, the sun warm, and the surf was up.

The house in Pahala was perfect; we pulled in under the carport, and settled in. A large yard surrounded the house, with springy, yes, springy, grass in the yard. It felt like you could bounce on it. Flowering and fruiting trees in the back yard drew us in with the colors and aromas. The plumeria was heavenly!

Pahala is a small town, with a mixture of folks, but since Hawai'i is made up of a variety of people, we were not surprised.

The house was open and airy and just perfect for our holiday stay. We had done some grocery shopping just south of Pahala on the way to the house and suffered from a bit of sticker shock until we realized that most of the items we picked up had to be shipped from somewhere else. The fresh fruits and some meats were very inexpensive, surprisingly.

We made sure to pick up a loaf of Hawai'ian bread, which proved to be the beginning of a sweet addiction. The local bakery there in Naalehu, called the Punalu'u Bakery, bakes fresh every day a wonderfully delicious bread that they shape into long loaves, rolls, or buns. They also bake buttery shortbread cookies enhanced with amazing flavors of banana, coconut, coffee, ginger, guava, passion fruit, and pineapple. Here's their website in case you're interested in some of their goods: http://www.bakeshophawaii.com/

That night, groceries unpacked, and luggage stowed, we snuggled down in our beds. We all had a hard time sleeping, not just because we were in a new place, but because we knew that we were in a very special place and blessed to have the opportunity to spend time here discovering the Big Island's rugged beauty and sultry charm.

Question for the Day

Where is your dream or favorite travel destination and why? If you've already been there, tell a little about how it went. If you have not gone yet, when do you plan to go and what do you hope to see/do when you get there?