Triple D in the Low Country (Charleston, South Carolina) - Part 2

After finishing up at my 308th DDD location I headed into the historic area of Charleston.  There is an outdoor market area where the famous carriages rides originate from.  I spent a little time in this area because there is the Moon Pie General Store in this area and I wanted to check it out.  The store is a throw back to my childhood.  The store is filled with candy, drinks and collectibles of items that have seem to be long gone today but that I used to see in the stores, especially the old Ben Franklin store in Fairfax.  I didn't get anything on the visit but planned to go back later as the heat would have melted or ruined anything I bought.  This is the type of place that you have to make at the end of your visit and that was my plan.  I headed to the Charleston Maritime Center to get on the 1130a Charleston Harbor Cruise on the Carolina Belle to see the sites of Charleston Harbor.  Although it was hot, there was a really nice breeze and the water seemed to create a natural air conditioner and it made the cruise very pleasant.

Cruising Charleston Harbor

Captain David at the helm of the Carolina Belle

Charleston Customs House built in the 1800s

We sailed out for about 90 minutes and saw many of the buildings, barrier islands, and forts that make up the Charleston waterfront.  The most famous place being Fort Sumter, where on April 8, 1861 the Civil War began when the fort under the command of United States Army General Robert Anderson came under fire by the forces of the Confederate State of America Army led General P.G.T. Beauregard.  After over 24 hours of bombardment Anderson surrendered the fort and the war had begun.  The walls of the fort are now quite small, but at the time they stood over 25 feet tall.  In 1864 the US forces bombarded the fort and in early 1865 the fort was surrendered to the US Army. 

Fort Sumter

Where the Civil War began April 8, 1861

As we made our way around the harbor we saw the World War 2 aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, which served our Navy World War 2 and the Korean War and was a victim of Japanese Kamikaze attacks, but survived and is now at home and at peace in Charleston Harbor.

USS Yorktown

As we made our way back to land we cruised up to the new bridge that leads to the Mt. Pleasant island area from downtown Charleston.  This bridge which opened in 2004 improved the traffic flow in the area and is quite a visual site.

Harbor Bridge

After a very pleasant cruise I headed out to my next place.  This is one that I wanted to try.  The place is built from an old Gulf Gasoline station and is aptly named "Fuel".  The place is unusual because it really celebrates it's heritage as a gas station with paintings and memorabilia of gas pumps and cars but the cuisine is Island Caribbean.

Fuel in Charleston

An Art Deco style former Gas Station turned Caribbean Cafe

Inside Fuel, celebrating it's heritage

As I was not all that hungry I decided to try an appetizer and a side item, both of which were featured on Fuel's DDD episode.  One thing I noticed as I sat down, Fuel really likes to promote spicy foods.  On the table there were 4 or 5 bottles of hot sauces.  All of them looked good and hot, and featured the very hot habanero pepper. 

Fuel's added heat on each table

I chose the Ho Cakes, 4 corn cakes mixed with mild spices and served with a pepper spread and topped with a Key Lime sauce and sour cream.  My side was the Fried Sweet Plantains.  The Ho Cakes were pretty good, they were a little bit drier than I had anticipated but the sauce and pepper spread really accentuated the cakes.  The Sweet Plantains were probably the best I had ever had.  They were sweet and delicious.  I was able to get my book signed my the chef and owner but was not able to meet him as it was pretty busy for a late lunch crowd.

Fuel's Ho Cake appetizer

Sweet Plantains Side Dish

From Fuel I headed back to the hotel to get out of the heat and humidity.  It reached 99 according to the thermometer in the car and I think that may have been low!  I caught up with Barry and his relatives and they asked about my travels and told me about the reason they were in Charleston which was for a wedding which was just hours away.  The wedding would be held on a paddle wheeler river boat on the Charleston Harbor. When they left for that I left for m dinner stop which was in the town of Summerville about 20 miles west of Charleston.

In the late 1970s the Summerville High School football team had a star quarterback named Perry Cuda.  The team known as the Green Wave won the state championship and Cuda went on the play for the legendary football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant at the University of Alabama.  After a stellar career at "Bama" Cuda's pro football aspirations were ended with an injury and he returned to Summerville to run the family business, "Perfectly Frank's" simply put a "Hot Dog Joint"! 

A Summerville, SC landmark

Perry's dad name was Frank and he opened the place when Perry was young.  Perry has named all of the meals in honor of his father and all of them begin with the name Frank.  They have dozens of different types of hot dogs and also have other items, but the real specialty here are the dogs!  I chose the Frank Sinatra, a hot dog covered with Perry's special Bleu Cheese Cole Slaw.  I also chose the Frankie Cucumber, a hot dog with Fried Onions, Salmon Cream Cheese and fresh cut cucumbers.  Both were awesome and delicious!  After finishing off those I went up to get another dog (in my opinion give me another dog, I don't need a dessert!)  While waiting Perry came out to meet me and sign my book and he gave me a refund on my extra dog!  WOW, I got to meet him and get a free dog!  He was impressed with my travels and thanked me for coming in,  I just wish we had a Perfectly Frank's in Leesburg!  As I left I had to ring the cow bell by the door to give them my approval for a great meal!

My Perfectly Frank's meal - Top is the Frank Sinatra; Bottom is the Frankie Cucumber



Enjoying a Great Meal

I had one day and one place left in Charleston before heading home and really had a full day of relaxation planned before heading back into the historic area of downtown Charleston and tiring my final DDD location.  I headed into for an early dinner at a really funky joint that is decorated in a very unusual style, sort of a like a taxidermists heaven!   "The Tattooed Moose" is a neighborhood bar that has awesome food and a very interesting feel to it.  It is in an industrial area of Charleston and has a very eclectic clientele.  There were young professionals, retirees and families, it sort of reminded me of the Vienna Inn in Vienna, Virginia.

 

 



The Tattooed Moose - A Funky Charleston Bar and Restaurant

The walls are adorned with all types of signs and unusual decorations, but the most unusual decorations are the many stuffed animals all over the walls.  There are Moose, Chipmunks with firearms and Deer to name just a few. 

 



The Tattooed Moose!

 

The Funky Wall Decorations at the Tattooed Moose

 

I chose the dishes that were featured on the episode that featured this cool joint.  The Confit Duck Sandwich with the special fries cooked in duck oil.  I know that it doesn't sound too appetizing but both were delicious.  The sandwich had shredded duck on thick marble bread with fresh lettuce and tomatoes, cheddar cheese, bacon and a garlic-mayo spread and presented with a pickled green tomato and pickle wedges.  The fries were shoe string cut and had the garlic mayo on the side.

 

 

My Confit Duck Sandwich



The Tattooed Moose' Shoe String Fries

 

I really enjoyed the sandwich and again as at the Glass Onion, the duck was cooked perfectly and was not greasy as is the complaint for most people when they have duck.  I would recommend this place to anyone when they visit Charleston. 

 

Before leaving I decided to go back to Charleston's historic market area.  I went back to the Moon Pie General Store and check it out and all of the old fashioned candies and sundries that I remembered from my childhood.  the store is on the area where you can take a carriage ride through the streets of Charleston and although I did not do this on this visit, some of my friends have and they highly recommend it!

 

 

One of the many Carriage Companies in Charleston



Memories of Childhood Candy, the Infamous Bubble Gum Cigars!

 

After a great visit to Charleston I rode home headed back to Virginia via another childhood memory, Pedro and the famous "South of the Border"!  Although Pedro is n ot a DDD place it was great to see all the road signs again. 

 

As I arrived home, my DDD count had risen to 311!

Triple D in the Low Country (Charleston, South Carolina) - Part 1

My friend Barry had told me that he would be attending a family wedding in Charleston, South Carolina in June 2013.  His plan was to take a week and drive down from the DC area and back.  i started thinking about asking if he needed a co-pilot for his drive home and when he said that he would be OK with me joining him I looked into flying down from Dulles to Charleston and getting a car and checking out the six DDD places in the Charleston area while he was off doing family stuff.

I had originally planned to fly down on a Thursday after work but as the day got closer the flights got heavier and heavier and since I fly stand-by I decided to take an extra day and fly down on a Wednesday.  I was able to get on the noon flight and after a brief delay in departing from Dulles, I made my way to Charleston.  I arrived on a very hot and humid afternoon, which is not unusual for Charleston.  I got a car rental and headed to the hotel and on to my first place.  Barry was with his cousin playing gold, which I find insane in 95 degree heat!

United Express Canadair RJ - My ride to Charleston

Two of the places in the area were within 2 miles of the hotel and those would be my lunch and dinner stops for my first day in the area.  I headed off to "The Early Bird Diner". 

The place was pretty quiet on a mid afternoon Wednesday.  I remembered watching the DDD episode, that one of the things the EBD (a name that the owner uses) is that on the weekend this pace is opened until 4am and is known to be very popular to the late night bar crowd.  The menu is quite eclectic and features all types of meals and the entire menu is always available.  I saw an item that was on the breakfast menu and I had to try it.  It is actually my kind of breakfast item.  I am not a real big fan of eggs and when I saw that Shrimp and Grits on the menu I knew that I needed to try it.  The dish is served with a biscuit on the side.  The huge bowl had very creamy grits covered with huge shrimp and a brown spicy gravy.  The creamy grits really cut into the spice of the gravy and the shrimp were sauteed just right, it was a very delicious meal.

My Early Bird Diner Shrimp and Grits meal

The staff was very friendly and accommodating.  The server went and got the chef and owner of the diner to come and sign my book.  He came over and talked to e for a while and took my book to sign and and I was give an sticker of the diner.  The owner is also an artist and he not only signed my book but also drew a picture of one of the EBDs signature dishes, Chicken and Waffles.  I really felt special that he did that.

The signature and art work in my DDD  book

Off I went from EBD, full and satisfied.  After returning to the hotel and meeting up with Barry and some of his relatives, I found out that there were more family activities for Barry, so I decided to have dinner at the other DDD locale near the hotel. 

I headed off to dinner to a small but very neat place called "The Glass Onion".  This place calls themselves "Soulful Southern" cooking.  I was seated at a small table and looked over the menu.  The server explained that their menu is known as "Farm to Table" and specializes in organic cooking. 

Everything on the menu looked great and I decided on the 2 Deviled Eggs for and appetizer and the Comfit Duck Gnocchi for my dinner.  The Deviled Eggs soon arrived and were accompanied with a bowl of Boiled Peanuts.  I had never had boiled peanuts and always wondered what they tasted like.  I was very surprised, they weren't crunchy, but had the taste and texture of beans.  It was very unusual taste that I really enjoyed, not sure if I would have them often but it was great to have tried them.

Deviled Eggs and Boiled Peanuts

While waiting for my meal, I talked with the server and the manager about my DDD travels.  The manager said he would return to sign my book and as the meal arrived, I was surprised with an extra side dish.  The server told me that the chef made an order of Pimento Cheese with crackers and pickled vegetables.  The cheese was delicious and both the cheese and the vegetables were very spicy, I used the crackers to lessen the burn of the spices.  The main dish of Comfit Duck Gnocchi was presented in a gravy broth with oyster mushrooms and Parmesan cheese.  It was delicious!  The duck was tasty and NOT greasy.  That is the one complaint I always hear about duck and this was great. 

Pimento Cheese and Pickled Vegetables

Comfit Duck and Gnocchi

I was very impressed with both of my stops on my first day in Charleston, South Carolina and I also realized that this city is a real "foodie town"!

The next morning I headed into the historic area of Charleston on a very hot and humid morning.  By days end it would reach 99 degrees but I needed to get to a few more places.  My first stop was a tiny place just off the famous and historic Charleston Market.  "Dixiw Supply and Bakery: is a iny place that is located next to a mini market.  There is seating for about 20 and it does a very brisk business.

Dixie Supply and Bakery

I chose the meal that they made with Guy on the show.  A Chicken Buiscuit with cheese and sausage gravy.  It also came with an egg, but I decided against it and then was told that Guy (who also is not a fan of eggs) got his the same way.  Great Minds think alike I guess!  I was awesome and the staff was very friendly and acommodating.  They also serve bakery goods featureing several types of pies, but I decided that the huge buscuit was enough for me.

My Chcike Buscuit Breakfast

After a great breakfast I headed out to check out this historic city and get to a few more places, but that is for the next installment!

New Book, Old Places and Friends (old and new)!

A few weeks ago in early May 2013, the third DDD book was published, entitled "Diners, Drive-ins ,and Dives; The Funky Finds in Flavortown".  I took it on my trip to Texas and got the first signatures during that trip.  As I looked through the book, there are many places featured that I have been to and have the signatures for those places, but I would love to get signatures in the new book as well.  I know that I won't be able to do that for most of them but there are two places featured in Baltimore so I decided to make the short trip to get the book signed at hose locations.

I had some plans for the weekend in the area so I made a few day trip of it and called a friend to see if she wanted to meet and go to one of the local Baltimore DDD locales.  Tammy is a high school friend of mine and she and her mother and daughter met me at one of my favorite DDD places in the Baltimore area, place known for it's Crab dishes, especially their Crab Cakes.  We met for lunch on a hot May afternoon at the "Stoney Creek Inn".

I have written several times in this blog about Stoney Creek Inn.  They serve, in my opinion, the best Crab meat meals!  Crab is my favorite seafood meal, I prefer it over Lobster and when it is done right it is awesome.  They have a saying at Stoney Creek, "It's a Crab Cake not a Bread Cake!".  All four of us chose the Crab Cake Sandwich as our main meal.  Tammy's mom chose the Crab Soup, this cream based soup was very, very thick and had crab meat in every spoonful.  I tried it and it was awesome, I used a fork to try it, that's how thick it was.  All four of us shared a Crab Toast, a sub roll opened up and topped with crab meat, cheese and Old Bay seasoning, then toasted.  Very tasty!  The Crab Cake Sandwich is something that I eat plain and usually eat the roll separately, I don't want anything to take away from the crab. 

My Crab Cake Sandwich lunch

The sandwich came with Stoney Creeks, homemade Old Bay Potato Chips.  They should really just call it a Crab Sandwich, because there is little to no cake in it, and it is so delicious!  On their episode when Guy tasted the Cake, he said to  Bill, the Stoney Creek owner and chef, "Hold Me!".  I highly recommend this place, it is just off the Baltimore Beltway at the last exit before the toll to the Francis Scott Key Bridge and near the Under Armour Factory Store.  I had a great meal with a good friend, I said goodbye to  Tammy and she headed back home.

The next place I wanted to get to was a place that I had been to several years ago and to be hones really didn't think too much of it, but since it was in the book I wanted to give it another chance.  The "Broadway Diner" is in northern Baltimore and is a classic Jersey-style diner, lots of silver stainless steel, a huge menu, and run by a very Greek family! 

The Broadway Diner in Baltimore

This visit was going to be so much better than my first visit.  they staff was friendly right as I entered the place.  I was seated at a small booth near the kitchen entrance.  As is usual at a diner, the menu is huge, probably 8 pages filled with items and breakfast, lunch and dinners are always available at the Open 24 Hours, Broadway Diner.  I spent about 5 minutes perusing the menu and decided to they the Shrimp and Rice Creole dinner special that came with soup or salad and I chose the Crab Soup, which was a tomato based broth , loaded with crab and vegetables.

Cup of Maryland Crab Soup

As I waited for  y meal, I saw a gentleman come out of the kitchen and sit at a booth just a few ahead of me and I recognized him as the owner and chef of the Broadway Diner, George Kavourakis, affectionately nick named by Guy as "Uncle George".  On the episode he and Guy had a great time together and I think it was probably the first and maybe only time during the show that Guy asked for the crew to reshow a cooking procedure in slo-motion.  I knew that I had to get him to sign my book!  I got my meal and it was a huge portion!  The plate didn't look large but it was large and plentiful. 

My Shrimp Creole Dinner

Many places that have this have mostly rice and vegetables  and few shrimp, not in this case.  The shrimp were big and plentiful!  It was delicious and had a small creole spice bite.  While I was enjoying the meal, Uncle George came over and signed my book.  We talked all about the filming and his time with Guy, he had nothing but great tings to say about it.  I told him that I had been there a few years back and that my meal had been "Gouliscious" and that made him laugh.  On the episode George made Hungarian Goulash for Guy and after tasting it, Guy told him it was "Gouliscious"!.  Uncle George laughed and said he liked that, so I figured I had to work it in to the conversation!  It was a great meal and I was very full and satisfied.  As I was leaving I was able to get a photo with Uncle George and as Guy said watch out because Uncle George "would be driving the bus to the Flavortown!"

Uncle George and I with the DDD book

My last stop on the "signature tour" would be morning stop at a small diner in the city of Baltimore on Boston Street near the 'Little Italy" section of the city.  On the DDD episode Guy had a great time with the husband and wife owners of "Sip and Bite" diner.  The diner is owned by Tony and Sophia Vasiliades.  During the episode Guy dubbed them the "Greek Lucy and Ricky" of the diner industry.  I got to meet with Sophia in January when I made my first visit there and was hoping to gt her to sign the book, I didn't really get the chance to meet Tony as it was a very busy morning rush on that visit.  I got there on this visit about 830a on a Saturday morning and it was busy but not packed as it was on my first visit.  I got a small booth and since the Sip and Bite is a 24 hour operation their entire menu is always available and as I am not a big breakfast fan I decided to try to Gyro platter.  The service there is very friendly and as I waited I noticed that alot of the patrons knew all of the staff, I may have been the only one there they didn't know, but it in now way affected the service or friendliness that I got!  I was looking around as I waited to see if either Tony or Sophia was there.

Sip and Bite on Boston Street in Baltimore

My Gyro Platter called "The Zeus"

I received my meal which was called the Zeus Platter and it was a big Lamb Gyro platter.  It was great!  While I was eating Tony arrived and greeted many of the regulars and it made me think that I was in the Baltimore version of "Cheers".  As I went up to pay, Tony noticed my book and and I told him about what I do and he seemed very moved that I took the time to come and he gladly signed my book and took a photo with me.  He told me that Sophia was at home as she had recently given birth t their daughter.  I hope only the best for Tony and Sophia.

Tony and I at Sip and Bite

I left feeling full and happy that there are such great folks out there making their customers feel so welcome.  In the photo I took with Tony I am wearing a shirt I got on my visit to the Rainbow Drive-In in Honolulu.  I enjoyed my visit with Jim at the Rainbow and I think that they are almost like sister places.  I decided to send the photo to the Rainbow and put it on their Facebook site with the caption, "Aloha from Baltimore"!

It was a great short visit and I can tell you that these three places are places I will visit again.