Girl’s Weekend in Charleston

June 8, 2015June 8, 2015 ~ atastytrip ~ 1 Comment

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! My typical MO on a Monday is to share a breakfast recipe, but alas, for the first time in recent memory I did absolutely NO cooking this weekend…none! Instead of (joyfully) slaving away at the stove, I enjoyed the most fabulous girl’s weekend in Charleston, SC with my best friend Anna! You may recognize her as my wonderful traveling companion from all of my China posts.

I met Anna in college when she became my “little sister” in my sorority and we have been best friends ever since! She lives in Charleston, about two hours away from me and we try to meet in the middle for lunch or dinner every few months to catch up. Each time we meet for a meal we talk non-stop and never seem to have enough time to catch up as much as we’d like, so we decided a weekend reunion was a must. Charleston is a fabulous city, and one that I have had the good fortune to live in for short periods both post college and post graduate school. It is rich in history, full of fun things to do from museums and horse drawn carriage rides to pirate tours and designer shopping, a total foodie destination, and last but not least it is absolutely one of the most beautiful places in the south. There is literally something for everyone, so if you are traveling to South Carolina for the first time, Charleston is a must see destination!

I arrived at Anna’s around 7:30 on Friday and we caught up over a glass of wine as we got ready for dinner. Anna lives close to East Bay Street, which is one of the two main destination streets in downtown Charleston (at least in my mind), the other being King Street. King Street houses the majority of the shopping downtown while East Bay is home to many different restaurants and bars. We decided to try Minero for dinner, a new Mexican restaurant opened by Sean Brock. Sean Brock is a very well known, James Beard award winning southern chef who has appeared on Top Chef several times and has several restaurants in Charleston. I had a feeling the food would be delicious and we were not disappointed.

We started with guacamole and margaritas and each ordered several different tacos. I tried the grouper and the green chorizo, both of which were delicious. I was actually inspired to come home and attempt a homemade green chorizo recipe which I am planning to try later this week, wish me luck!

After dinner we called it an early night in anticipation of a big day on Saturday. Saturday morning we woke up early and headed our for a brisk walk around The Battery. The Battery is a seawall around the Charleston Harbor that is lined by breathtaking antebellum homes. I say homes but they are really more like mansions and each is stunning, unique and VERY expensive. Since it’s safe to say I’ll never be able to live in one of these homes, it’s nice to be able to enjoy them as the backdrop to a morning run.

the-battery-charleston — Image courtesy of Trip Advisor since I only took a picture of the water…

The day quickly heated up and we walked back to Anna’s to cool off and enjoy a light breakfast before heading over to King Street for a little retail therapy. King Street has everything from Louis Vuitton to Forever 21 so there is lots to see at every price range. Anna and I both made a few purchases before deciding it was time for lunch. King St. has LOTS of restaurants, Burgers, BBQ, Pizza, Lebanese, Greek, Mexican, Asian, ALL THE FOOD! It’s a foodies dream and an indecisive girls nightmare. Luckily Anna suggested Vietnamese early on in her extensive list of everything available and I remembered how much I LOVED my banh mi in Atlanta a few months ago. We ended up at CO, a Vietnamese restaurant I remember seeing when I lived in Charleston but had never tried. We were seated immediately and decided to split a few things so we could both try a lot.

*Side Note* Is it just me or is one of the best things about girlfriends the fact that they love to share? My mom and I do this too when out to eat but Robert HATES to share. Is this a man thing? Or just a mental thing? Like maybe he doesn’t feel like he’s getting enough to eat if we split things instead of having an entire full meal to himself? He doesn’t mind sharing dessert or appetizers but anytime I’ve suggested splitting a salad or entrees I get shot down immediately and he tells me I should just order both/all of it. Maybe I’ll wear him down eventually.

We ordered the edamame dumplings, pork belly buns and a Korean short rib banh mi. It was all tasty but we both liked the banh mi the best. The lunch prices at CO were surprisingly inexpensive for a sit down restaurant, we both left full but not stuffed and only paid about 10 dollars each! I’ll have to remember to add “cheaper” to my list of reasons to convince Robert to start sharing

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California Part 4–San Francisco! From Lombard Street to Fisherman’s Wharf

May 21, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

We arrived in San Francisco around 8:00 after a full day at Pebble Beach. Once again we were reminded how vast California is and how unique her major cities truly are. San Francisco felt more like New York than it did beachy Los Angeles, earthy Big Sur or ritzy Carmel. So many different types of people and places, all in the same HUGE state!

Of all the cities we had visited so far, San Francisco was the one I was most looking forward to with all of its historic sights and plethora of famous tourist destinations. We checked into the Hilton on Union Square which proved to be a great central location for touring the city by foot as we planned to do. The room was fantastic and Robert was thrilled to be done with boutique hotels. Perhaps someday he will try another one when he doesn’t have food poisoning and develop a better outlook…. poor guy. The view from our balcony was beautiful and definitely made me feel like a country mouse in the big city!

Since it was already late, we hit the streets in search of dinner, armed only with the yelp app on our dying cell phones. In hindsight, it probably would have been smart to ask someone at the hotel for a recommendation, but I think most of the food options around Union Square are fast, tourist driven and not the best San Francisco has to offer. After a fruitless search for Clam Chowder and walking in circles for a while we finally ended up at Lefty O’Doul’s.

Part kooky pub, part Hofbrau, Lefty’s was a true experience! I always thought a Hofbrau was a German restaurant/bar, but as I was soon informed by the Lefty’s staff, it is actually a specific type of restaurant that was developed in Northern California… not even Germany! A Hofbrau offers cafeteria style food service and although the name comes from traditional German breweries that served food in their beer gardens, the ones in the US don’t even usually serve German food, focusing instead on carved meats and sides. Robert and I both got corned beef sandwiches and a cup of their famous chili. Not the best of either that I’ve ever had, but it was decent and plenty to fill our bellies before bed.

The next morning we woke bright and early, ready to hit the streets for a full day of exploring by foot. The view from our room was equally as stunning by day as it had been by night.

Our first stop was the Westin St. Francis on Union Square. We had heard that their glass elevators offered a fantastic view of the city for free! The lobby was still decorated for Christmas so we stopped for a few photos.

Unfortunately, they have recently installed a security feature on the elevators and you must have a room key to ride. We hopped on anyway with a group of people staying at the hotel but only managed to catch a quick glimpse from the top floor and no pictures We had too much to see to be sad for too long so off we went again in search of Lombard street.

I should note that this was when we first discovered just how hilly the streets of San Francisco truly are….holy slopes! I loved this as it made every day feel like a workout, word to the wise…wear comfortable shoes as you trek up and down through this city!

We finally made it to Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world! I was excited about seeing Lombard Street since my California dwelling Uncle Derek had gifted me with an aerial picture of it as a child. I used to love to trace the hairpin curves with my finger and always displayed the picture proudly on my bookshelf. My uncle passed away in September, before our trip, so it was nice to finally see the street I had always associated with him.

Lombard street is a must see (or must drive on) if you are in San Francisco, but it is quite difficult to get a decent picture of it….I did my best!

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California Part 3–Carmel By the Sea, Big Sur & Pebble Beach

May 8, 2015May 8, 2015 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

After a disappointing In-N-Out experience and a late night arrival in Carmel, w e woke up bright and early the next morning to a lovely (and complimentary!) continental breakfast delivered to our room.

Since we had missed much of the beauty of Big Sur in the dark the night before, we decided to backtrack before driving back to Pebble Beach. Of course we couldn’t leave Carmel without exploring a little, so we finished our croissants and left the Carmel Lodge on foot to check out the town.

What a quaint, whimsical little place Carmel is, just like it’s name, Carmel By The Sea. Of all of our California destinations, Carmel is the one I would most like to return to. It’s quiet, the people are friendly and it is so beautiful! Between the gorgeous shoreline, the tree lined streets and the magical looking shops and homes, it’s absolutely one of the most picturesque places I’ve ever been.

Each little shop had unique architecture and a beautiful doorway, each unlike the next. It reminded me of the trip to Italy I took with my sister two years ago and all the different doors we saw in Rome. One thing I dislike about living in Hilton Head is that many neighborhoods have such strict codes that all of the houses look exactly the same. I know some people prefer this aesthetic but I find it so much more enjoyable to walk down the streets and see different colors and designs everywhere you look.

It was too early for any shops to be open, which was fine by me since we didn’t really have time to shop, but Carmel is the sort of place you could easily spend a whole day wandering from store to store and browsing the day away. We walked down to the ocean and took in the views for a bit, making guesses about how close we were to the golf course before jumping in the car and heading back towards Big Sur.

The drive back through Big Sur was breathtaking and we stopped for lots of photo ops of the beautiful cliffs and scenery along the way.

There are several areas along Highway 1 where you can pull over and hike down to the beaches which we made sure to take full advantage of. In December it was too cold for swimming but just right for exploring and photographing.

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California Part 2 – LA Farmer’s Market and Highway 1

April 24, 2015April 24, 2015 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

If you missed the beginning of our California trip, catch up HERE! Our second day in Los Angeles began much better than its predecessor (thank goodness!). Robert woke up feeling 100% better and both of us were starving after no dinner and an early bedtime the night before. A quick Yelp search landed us a few miles down the road at Jacks and Joe in downtown LA. I loved the cute name (you know how I feel about pancakes) and we hit them just before the breakfast rush and were immediately seated at the end of a long communal high top that snaked through the center of the restaurant.

The menu was full of delicious sounding pancake combinations with adorable names, my best/worst nightmare.

Although I consider banana pancakes to be manna from heaven, I had seen a yelp photo of the most delicious looking breakfast burrito I’d ever laid eyes on and couldn’t get it out of my head. I was bummed out and confused not to see it listed on their menu, so I asked the waiter about it. Apparently California has a thing with “secret menus”…I’m looking at you In N Out…and Jacks and Joe was no exception. I don’t really understand this whole secret menu phenomenon, but it makes me both excited and nervous all at the same time.

The server explained to me that regulars sometimes ordered said breakfast burrito (and or loaded hash browns) since the kitchen had all the ingredients on hand, even though it wasn’t on the menu. I got the impression that the kitchen staff found the secret menu orders kind of annoying and he didn’t really want me to order it (maybe because I was clearly not a local and only a sneaky yelper) but you guys…that photo…I had to have it!

I can’t even remember what Robert ordered (probably french toast) because I was way too into my burrito. It had Portuguese sausage in it which was absolutely divine, chorizo, bacon, hash browns, cheese, big chunks of avocado and an OVER EASY EGG! This basically made the burrito have it’s own delicious sauce that ran out all over it when you took a bite. So. Good. It was also the size of my head which made lunch unnecessary.

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California Part 1–Los Angeles

April 14, 2015April 14, 2015 ~ atastytrip ~ Leave a comment

Remember back in October when I was planning our trip to California? Well we went… in December (and had a fabulous time!) and here I am in April finally getting around to writing about it…insert embarrassed emoji face here.

Robert has the week between Christmas and New Years off every year which lines up perfectly with my Christmas break. We decided this was the perfect time for a trip, and California was not only a destination on both of our bucket lists, but it was also far enough away and big enough to justify spending an entire week there. In true Laurin fashion I had planned our trip down to a T, we would fly into LA, spend two days there and then drive up the coast to San Francisco, stopping in Carmel for a night to break up the drive.

We headed to the airport the day after Christmas, said goodbye to Renly and boarded our flight to Atlanta. We were both hungry when we landed in Atlanta and decided to grab some lunch before boarding our flight to LA. We unknowingly cut it a bit close which ended up working out in our favor. When we arrived at our gate, the flight attendants were in a tizzy trying to accommodate a group of French teenagers who were flying standby. Only one of the group spoke English so they didn’t want to be split up. When Robert and I arrived, they had already given our seats away to some of the group and ended up putting us in the only two available seats left, which just so happened to be in first class. Win!

After a second lunch, some wine and a delightful nap since our seats laid completely flat, holla, we landed in LA, well rested and excited to start our trip! After waiting in line at the rental car company for the better part of forever, we made our way to our hotel, the Figueroa in downtown LA.

The boutique hotel had a lovely lobby.

The rooms were small and somewhat sparse but clean, decorated in a sort of boho-chic theme. Robert is used to larger, more traditional hotels and didn’t love the Fig, but I thought it was quaint.

The staff recommended a local Mexican restaurant for dinner, El Cholo.

Robert and I both enjoyed our meals and went to bed early, full from dinner and ready to hit Hollywood the next morning! I woke up bright and early the next morning only to find poor Robert had been up vomiting the entire night. He is convinced it was food poisoning, but before you cross El Cholo off your list you should know that ALL of Robert’s family had the stomach bug prior to us leaving, so who really knows. He was a pitiful sight so I walked a few blocks to a grocery store to buy him some gatorade and a few slices of toast. After a few more hours of sleep, Robert rallied and we headed out to Hollywood Boulevard.