Eating Our Way Across the Country

I always travel with a guide and a few restaurant recommendations. Always pays off. For example, in Richmond, we found a neat little Italian restaurant (with opera as background music) in a strip mall across from the motel. Bella Luna ristorante italiano.

In Charleston, we spent a long leisurely lunch hour in the garden room at 82 Queen in the historic district. The wine, the ambience and the food were all delightful. Significant Other had a fantastic shrimp dish served on grits with cheddar. Pecan Pie. The guidebook mentioned the whipped cream atop the desserts was "real." What are things coming too if one can't expect real whipped cream rather than (yuck, gag) topping? The ubiquity of "topping" makes me question the waitstaffs (hate that term) in excrutiating detail. Usually they return from the kitchen with the information that the topping came out of a bag. I don't order that item.

One night we grilled juicy porkchops with Williams Sonoma rib rub on them. Good good good. I only gained two pounds, which has to come off before mid-week. Off to the gym today.

In the south people are friendly. If you live in New England long enough, you kind of forget how nice it is to speak to others in a warm way. Makes life better. It's always startling when it first happens. We had a bit of car trouble, and the staff at the hotel bend over backward to find us a mechanic on a Saturday morning. Turned out to be nothing, but they were so accommodating. Everyone seems to have time to chat a bit and be helpful. It's so refreshing.

Back in the land of ice and soon to be snow. Good to escape winter, if only for a few days. Can spring be far behind? Probably.

The entire trip, I overdosed on seafood. The crab cakes were splendid. Big hunks of fresh crab and little filler. Shrimp fresh and tasteful. Always well prepared. Flounder! Yum! What can I saw about the flounder. The best was the blackened flounder sandwich at Gnat's Landing on St. Simons. Great for lunch. Again in the garden. Gnat's Landing has the world's best coleslaw. No mayo. Very fresh.

Friendly folks and fresh seafood and a little warmth and sunshine. Life is really good.

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