Beaufort 2018 | Part Two.

aka "the one with the food and a cocktail". and note I am writing this post on Friday afternoon, to be sure it lands in your feed reader at just the right time 😉.

As I shared last week, our dining routine has been fine-tuned over many years. We did add in two new meals this year and we're planning to repeat them:

First, Thursday night - I picked up a ready-to-heat pasta/spinach/sausage casserole and a caesar salad from Costco (before we left). It was nice to settle into the house, visit with Charlie and not have to think about going out. Also, the meal was delicious!

Second, Friday's lunch at Lowcountry Produce. I'm not quite sure how we managed to miss this one for so many years - except that there are lots of great restaurants and we only have a few meals there! We all shared the housemade chips with blue cheese and bacon to start

and then Lydia and I shared a slice of tomato pie and the pimiento cheese trio.

This is hands-down the best tomato pie I've ever had. Of course lunch out with four foodies (three of whom actually cook ... um yep, all but me!) means trying to deconstruct the recipe and all I can say for sure is that it was chock full of tomatoes and cheddar cheese and maybe no mayonnaise. It might be next year before I get to have it again since all my recipe searches have yet to turn up anything that looks close. If any of y'all have a suggestion, please share!

...the rest of the weekend followed in the steps of previous years...

Friday night's dinner is Emily's. for tapas. Here's our first course - oysters, bruschetta, smoked salmon and tuna tartare

it was followed by two more, with lots fewer dishes ... and sadly no photos, but I think we all have very fond memories of the single plate of soft-shelled crab that was the most perfect "dessert".

Saturday's lunch is Wren's. because of the big round table in the back, I think. This year I had the fried green tomato stack - the tomatoes are layered with goat cheese and that's bacon onion jam drizzled (?!) over the top. This is a recipe I would never even try to make at home!

Saturday's dinner is Old Bull Tavern. because lamb shanks, which are my mom's favorite. We started with cocktails (see below) and smoked mullet dip. Then Lydia and I shared this delicious gnocchi with shrimp and a pizza (they have a huge brick oven and the pizzas are A-mazing).

and somehow, we all managed a few forkfuls of tiramisu for dessert.

Sunday's brunch is takeout from Blackstone's. because crab cakes benedict. Only on Sundays, they make crab cakes and the crab cake benedict is (for those in my family who love eggs) the best. Charlie told us that the original owner had retired and sold the restaurant, but we certainly couldn't tell from the food or the service. We did arrive a little later than normal this year to place our to-go order and they'd just run out of crab cakes! Still, I had a tuna salad (not pictured). Lydia had Saturday night's leftovers (also not pictured). The rest of the crew had good reports about Eggs Benedict (without crab cakes - also not pictured). I do however, have a photo of my mimosa and knitting.

Sunday's dinner is Saltus River Grill. Charlie is friends with the restaurant's owner and we are most jealous he gets to dine here more than once a year! The menu is a seemingly odd mix of sushi and low country dishes; I guess it all works because it's fresh and predominately seafood. We shared a round of specialty cocktails

and two sushi rolls to start.

We were midway through that first course when we learned the kitchen had run out of shrimp (?!?) Lydia, Karen and I had all planned to order shrimp and grits so we had to re-group. We landed on the crab cake, with a side of grits. It was a great choice.

Beaufort is not a big town, but it's a very popular destination. If you go - and I hope you do! - be sure to make dinner reservations. We saw folks turned away all three nights. Lunch isn't quite as necessary - unless you have a special table and/or time in mind!

And now the cocktail. Saturday night, I ordered "Snoop Juice" from Old Bull Tavern's specialty cocktail menu. It listed grapefruit juice, gin, cocchi american rosso and rhubarb bitters as ingredients and of course it had me at grapefruit juice and gin. It was delicious; I had two (and then of course thought "I can make this"). I got home and googled "snoop juice" hah! (clearly not in my comfort zone). But I have the four listed ingredients in my liquor cabinet and with my sister's help, I present

Gin and G-juice 
(inspired by Old Bull Tavern)

1-1/2 oz gin
1 oz amaro
3 oz grapefruit juice
rhubarb bitters

Fill a double rocks glass with ice. Add the gin, amaro and juice and stir well. Top with two dashes of bitters and a squeeze of orange peel.

Cheers and Happy Friday!

Beaufort 2018 | Part One.

This year's trip* was maybe the most fun ... the place we stayed was perfect for the four of us, the weather was cool and breezy but dry, the food and drink were amazing (as always) and I won the weekend-long dice tournament 😉. I'm not sure if it was the fun factor, or having 1SE (movie!), or just that we are all so comfortable with each other and the place, but I have a record 70+ photos (that's the edited down number) and a video mashup #funproblems.

We love looking back on these blog posts as we plan our visits - and of course as we look back on the high (and low) lights of past years. All of this is a long way of saying that I'm going to share this year's trip in multiple posts. I decided to start with an overview - the video, my favorite "all of us" photos and a little bit more.

Here's the video

Cheers!-ing is a favorite subject (you know that if you follow my 1SE monthly mashups on Instagram), as are walking and wind chimes, but I don't often get to peek into a wedding (just as Shout! comes on) or a beautiful old church with a massive pipe organ.

One thing that I'm sure contributed to this year's trip being so fun is that we all drove together! We did have to rent a car to be sure we had enough space for everyone's luggage and knitting (and that big bottle of wine :-), but it was well-worth it.

(I promise Lydia is there in the backseat behind my big hair!)

Friday morning, we went to visit my dad. Beaufort was evacuated last September for Hurricane Irma and Charlie assured us the Memorial Garden made it through unscathed.

We thought it looked even better - there was a big (overgrown) oak tree in the middle of garden and it has been replaced with flowers and flowering shrubs.

We had lunch on Friday at Lowcountry Produce - and we found a very nice woman to take our photo.  We also had a very nice waitress who didn't seem to mind that we were there for almost two hours.

Friday night we ate at Emily's (tapas!). Here we are just before leaving.

Saturday lunch was at Wren's. We had "our table" in the back corner.

We walked from there to the Pat Conroy Literary Center. I wasn't thinking we'd have a good photo op there, but we did!

Karen is sitting in Pat's desk chair and that's his writing table. Apparently, he wrote in a similar setup on those yellow legal pads. I didn't think to ask then, but I wonder just how many yellow legal pages South of Broad was in manuscript ...

Saturday dinner was at Old Bull Tavern and we did not get a photo. Sunday night we were at Saltus. As we were leaving, I approached a group of strangers at the bar and asked if anyone would be willing to take our photo. One woman enthusiastically agreed - phew!

My last photo is one I took Sunday morning, just after sunrise, on a walk by myself.

The low country at its best!

Next week, I'll share more about the food and drink. and who knows what might come after that.

Happy Friday, y'all!

*Katie shared this article with me last weekend and I read it out loud to my housemates. We all agreed that it was a trip (family, in-laws, packing the car, groceries, dishwasher, ...) but in a most acceptable way. Maybe we're all at the age when a getaway with family is just more special.

Smile | Beaufort 2017.

We really had a wonderful time.

from last night's dinner

I'm sure you can't tell.

I took this parting shot this morning on the drive out of town. The road makes a hard turn to the left just after this and that turn always signals the end of the weekend. 

...and now back to reality.  

Katie called on the drive home to say they had the keys to their new home (Monday closings are wonderful, I think!); and earlier she texted that her drive from the office to the new house was only 12 minutes. The moving vans come Thursday. Tomorrow is my last Tuesday with Charlie and Thursday, well... 

I did not watch last night's Homeland finale, but I peeked at the spoiler threads after dinner. I told Sara I would watch this afternoon, so I need to get on that!

More soon.

Amazing Grace.

Our family gathered in Beaufort, South Carolina this past weekend to celebrate my father's life and legacy. With a nod to poem-in-your-pocket day (and a big thank you to Kym for the reminder!), I'm sharing a few of the photos along with the words from Amazing Grace. My hymnal notes that the first four stanzas were written by John Newton to accompany his New Years Day, 1773 sermon; the fifth was added a few years later.

view of the low country marshes...one of our favorite things about this part of South Carolina

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that
saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but
now am found, was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and
grace my fears relieved. How precious did that
grace appear the hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I
have already come. 'Tis grace has brought me
safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

looking up in the memorial garden - what a view!

The Lord has promised good to me; his
word my hope secures. He will my shield and
portion be as long as life endures.

Mother with her grandchildren and great grandson

When we've been there ten thousand years, bright
shining as the sun, we've no less days to
sing God's praise than when we'd first begun.

Beaufort 2015.

...happy to report that the weekend lived up to every expectation. My mom, sister and I stayed at the just-renovated Sarah Gibbs Barnwell house in the historic district (VRBO link here - it really does look this lovely inside!)  The location was perfect - everything we did except attend church on Sunday morning was just a quick walk away.

We arrived Friday afternoon just in time to check in and settle onto the front porch for a glass of wine and some great people watching. Then we had a very short three block walk to dinner at Emily's. We toasted the weekend and then settled in for tapas.

Six plates later (the ahi tuna tartare is still my favorite, closely followed by oysters rockefeller, but all of it was delicious) our waiter had fun with our after-dinner photo.

We stayed up talking and playing dice and I realized my carefully planned travel knitting didn't have anything suitable for late night games. Our first stop Saturday morning was Coastal Knitting. I bought a ball of Cascade Heritage Paints and a set of size one double points. We did a little shopping and then met up with my dad, brother and our friend Charlie for lunch.

We lazed around Saturday afternoon, resting up for dinner. We went to Griffin Market and had a lovely meal. There were photos...none of which I'm going to share!

Sunday morning was church. I think the last time the five of us were lined up in a front pew was sometime in the 1970's. It felt very special to share the service with my family. And then to hear Charlie play Bach's Toccata in D Minor for the postlude.

We all went back to the Sarah house for brunch (takeout crab cake benedict, shrimp and grits and a shrimp salad). Sunday afternoon weather was ... good for games. And working on my new socks (this is the first time I've used self-striping yarn and I'm smitten).

The rain was just clearing out when we walked to dinner at Saltus River. After Saturday's dinner photo failure, we asked the hostess to take our photo before we sat down.

The restaurant looks out over the river and my sister noticed the sunset. We took turns heading outside to see. I especially love the colors reflected in the puddles.

And the view over the boats.

One more after dinner try (without a waiter :-)

We stayed up late playing Yahtzee. My sister thinks it requires too much thought. I just like that everyone is responsible for their own game (and their own score).

Monday morning was overcast, but not as wet. Here's my last view of the town as we headed home.

Tired, well-fed, and happy.

Flashback Friday | Beaufort.

...my sister, brother and I are headed to Beaufort, SC this morning to spend a long weekend with my mom and dad. This is my brother's first time joining us; he and my dad are sharing the cottage we girls stayed at on our first trip back in 2007. It is crazy to think that we've been doing this weekend away for that many years (we did take off 2011 and 2013, so this is our 7th visit in nine years.)

My sister and I had fun Wednesday night poring over the three albums I've made (for 2008, 2009 and 2010).

But maybe more fun with the blog posts (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014.) I had just started my blog back in 2007 when we made that first visit. (wow!)

my dad, my mom, me, Charlie, Karen - Sea Island Presbyterian, March 4, 2007

We are definitely hoping to recreate this photo; that tree stands in front of the church and it is even more spectacular in real life.

We are also looking forward to games, drinks, walks, low country dining...and a lot of fun sharing old memories and making new ones.

Beaufort 2014.

...my sister and I spent a lovely weekend away with our mom (and a bit with my dad and a dear family friend). We started the mother-daughter weekend tradition back in 2005 and this was our 6th visit to Beaufort. and maybe the best one yet. the weather was perfect. the food (and wine) was delicious. and of course the company was outstanding.

We share the driving; Karen usually drives down (since she's faster and then we get there sooner!) It's great knitting time for the passenger. I got two repeats of Traveling Woman chart A done before we arrived.

...and the good meals begin. This was our pre-dinner toast at Emily's (which was followed by tapas, six plates!)

Saturday morning we took a leisurely walk through the historic district. Pretty views in all directions.

Saturday lunch at Wren's with all of us (my dad and Charlie join us for Saturday lunch, we attend church together on Sunday and then share brunch after...otherwise, it's just a girl's weekend)

Sunday's weather was even prettier. Slightly cooler with a nice breeze.

Sunday afternoon we pored through the contents of my mom's jewelry box. She wants to be sure everyone gets the pieces they love. Lots of memories there! I added a few prizes to my collection of pins and will share them here soon.

Sunday night we ate at Saltus River Grill and finally had a good dinner photo.

I spent some time last week poring through photos from our five previous trips. And the blog posts  (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012) - love that I six of them now!