Charleston – Day 6 – Birthday

Once again, I’m writing about the day on the day after the event. Funny how vacation causes you to worry less about time — even when you’re sharing it with people. Sorry about that. Sorta.

Yesterday was my 50th birthday.

My first thought about that?

“Fifty years old. Hmm, feels a lot like forty.”

One thing I love doing is reading a good book, and my darling husband sat back for a while and let me do just that. As lunch time grew closer, we headed out on that search to find lunch.

Our friend, Erik Swanson, had told me about Poe’s Tavern on Sullivan Island and thus we set out to investigate it. Sullivan’s Island isn’t really huge, especially the “business district” of it. However, I managed to drive through it several times and never see this legendary eatery. Probably had a lot to do with the fact I was looking to the left of the road instead of the right.

This restaurant is themed around Edgar Allan Poe — even the ladies room’s wallpaper is pages from Poe novels!  The hamburgers were wonderful and Mr. Swanson’s recommendation reputation remains intact.

Several years ago we had explored Fort Moultrie, but there was part of the outer areas that were not open for us to walk around. That was different yesterday. We were able to walk all around Battery Jasper — well, as much as the NPS has open. From there, we walked around the outside of the main fort, and toward the harbor entrance.

This is a new experience for me, to stand on a beach and observe a huge car-carrier ship pass by within mere yards of where I stand! Talk about feeling small!

After this adventure, we headed south of Charleston to Folly Beach. Another friend, John Palmer, told me about the Morris Island lighthouse and told me that the journey that it takes to get there is worth the time and trouble. I had no idea really what he meant until we got to the dead-end area that prohibited parking — and the poles and fence that blocked vehicular passage to the lighthouse viewing area.

Well, before I get too far ahead, let me tell you about Morris Island lighthouse. This lighthouse was completed in 1876 and was one of several buildings on the island — about 15! Because of erosion, the land around the lighthouse is gone. There is an effort underway to preserve what’s there.

The walk to the beach that is only 300 yards from the lighthouse is fairly long. You can see where buildings stood and life existed that is no longer there. You can also see birds and butterflies and lizards and miscellaneous flora.

When we left the seclusion of the beach, we decided to head back to the downtown area for our evening meal. There is a continuing discussion of what we call that meal — our grandson, Nicholas, told us that it is supper. This was said in correction of his Papaw calling it “dinner”.

We wend our way to the Visitors Center on Meeting Street where we’ve learned one can park all evening for only $3. Since many of the parking lots charge $1 per 20 or 30 minutes, this is a steal! From there we walked towards the Frances Marion Hotel to go to the Swamp Fox Restaurant. We decided, though, that we might not be dressed business casually enough to grace the establishment, so we turned back up King Street. For some reason, in this land beside the sea, I decided I wanted beef.

Halls Chophouse was on our horizon. You have to wonder when the owner of a place mans the door, then when greeted by the hostess, you’re asked if you have a reservation. They had a spare table, and we followed the hostess to sit by a window looking out over King Street.

I confess, I nearly choked when I saw the prices. I was ready to jump up and leave. The prices were much more than I’m used to paying! And, it included terms I’d never heard before, such as “wet-aged” beef and “dry-aged” beef. For Pete’s sake, they even charged for side items! Jack told me to sit tight and enjoy my birthday dinner.

Just to help you understand this place a bit, the service is beyond service! The customer need do nothing more than feed himself. No laying out of his napkin. No moving a bread & butter plate. No choosing forks. No moving a floral arrangement out of the way. Simply be and enjoy.

Kara was our server and she was awesome. She put up with these two hillbillies-come-to-town and explained very nicely what those aging terms meant. When she delivered our meal to us, she required that we cut into the roasts — err steaks we’d ordered to be certain they were prepared as we desired.

The food was awesome. The service was delightful. And upon finding out that it was my birthday, the gift of a dessert was wonderful. I even got a hug from the owner as we left. Hall’s is now on our list of not-to-be-missed places to visit when in Charleston.

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