The South in my Mouth

Returning from my food adventure in South Carolina, I had a hard time deciding what was my favorite Southern dish. This was my first time in South Carolina and I vowed to taste all the local food and then some. I highlighted some of the best meals and dishes that I had. This is a long blog because the South had so much to offer.

Southern hospitality is alive and well. Everyone was so nice and extremely friendly. Although, I did learn the phrase "Bless your Heart", really doesn't mean that. I was fearful crossing the Mason Dixon Line and thought The South might still hold a grudge. I was pleased that not once did I hear the word "Yankee". It was pointed out to me a few times that I have a heavy accent, "Y'all not from around here?" I responded a few times with, "No, New Jersey" and after saying it multiple times, it got shorten to "Jersey".

South Carolinians were eager to share their favorite restaurants and wanted to make sure I enjoyed the meal. Let me say, NOTHING is close or down the street. Everything was at least forty-five minutes away from where we were staying. I have to admit, I made the wrong turn somewhere and hours later found myself in North Carolina, but that's a blog for another day.

Shout out to Panera's for having the same menu and set-up from state to state. This saved lunch the day we were on our adventure and needed to grab lunch.

One of the best meal this food blogger has ever enjoyed, was at The Fat Hen on John's Island, SC. (https://www.thefathen.com) We chatted with the bar keep who explained all the infused vodkas and gin they make in house.

He was very knowledgeable with the different kinds and how long they would need to absorb the natural flavors. I realized after talking with him that we were in for a great meal!

My friends and I had a hard time figuring out what to order since everything sounded amazing. We noticed the sign that said "farm to table - and local sourcing", which made us very happy.

The French flair and perfect cream sauce on my escargot made me realized there was an experienced chef in the kitchen who had an eye for detail. The crispy bread was a perfect vessel for me to get every drop of the garlic cream sauce. If they brought it out by the glass, I would have drank it! My friends pointed out the I was saying "MMMMMM" with every forkful that went into my mouth.

The bone marrow was drizzled with a port wine reduction. It was rich and decadently delicious.

We finished our meal by taking key lime pies home to eat later in our PJ's. We toasted my friend's Dad (who had passed recently) and enjoyed this meal in his honor. We rolled ourselves to the car and chatted all the way home how wonderful the meal was.

Later that night, I had blue cheese coleslaw, cheesy grits and the best key lime pie. Don't judge.... I ate it all at once! The Fat Hen is a must if you find yourself on John's Island.

Carolina BBQ was on my radar and when you want the best, you go to Rodney Scott's BBQ in Charleston, SC (https://rodneyscottsbbq.com/). It was lunchtime and the place was jumping. We placed our order and was handed and number. We sat down in the small dinning room with picnic benches. where our number for our order was proudly displayed.

Waiting eagerly for our lunch, you could look around the room and see a diversified crowd from businessmen to locals. We fit in the group of hungry tourists.

The lunch, served on a plastic tray lined with a paper, was abundant. I'd venture to say borderline obscene with HUGE portions. I had a combo of BBQ ribs and BBQ chicken. My sides were mac & cheese and potato salad. Yes, I was on a carb overload at this point. I think the sweet tea I was drinking, altered my decision of having a healthy side. I realized after my second large glass of sweet tea, I needed to slow down or contact the diabetes clinic when I got home.

Rodney had his homemade BBQ sauce on the table along with the "other sauce". His BBQ sauce was spicy with a heat that snuck up on the back of your tongue. I'm sure they were use to the heat, but this whimpy women needed to use the other.

A gentlemen came to our table to see if we were enjoying the meal. I had to ask, "Is this your BBQ Sauce?" I knew it was Rodney Scott from seeing him on Food Network. He laughed and said, "YUP, that's my sauce!" In true Southern fashion he was a gentlemen and we posed for a fun picture together.

You'll notice, I cut myself out of the picture because he was much better looking then I.

There was no way we could finish all this food and they gladly gave us "to go" containers. This was the best BBQ lunch I've ever had and the leftovers made a great snack the next day.

Rodney was beyond kind and truly an expert in his field. Trust me on this one, Rodney knows BBQ! (https://rodneyscottsbbq.com/locations/)

The day of our adventure (200+ miles driving), found us at an adorable Country Store. This store reminded me of the store from Little House on the Prairie and was expecting to see Laura Ingalls around the corner. We sampled a few different types of fruit ciders and I brought home a delicious blackberry cider.

There was one dish that I could take or leave and was really not a fan, gumbo. Gumbo in my mind always had slimy okra and was extremely spicy. We had to try the Gumbo at the Seabrook Island Club at Seabrook Island, SC. Pleasantly to my surprise, the okra was NOT slimy and tasted really good. The spices on the other hand were a little too aggressive for me. The others loved it but this is something that I would not order again.

We did find that we all liked the John Daly. This was made with Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka and Lemonade. Holy cow did they go down easy and were ice cold. We loved them so much that we visited the distillery the next day where the vodka was made. The Seabrook Club made the best John Daly and we were thankful to the mixologist there.

As mentioned, we found ourselves at the Firefly Sweet Tea Distillery on Wadmalaw Island, SC. (http://fireflyspirits.com/distillery) I had a "dump bucket" (a bucket where you pour the remainder of your drink you don't finish) because I was driving. We sampled all the different kinds of vodkas, bourbons and of course...MOONSHINE! You have to try moon shine when you're down South. We liked the peach flavored moonshine and can picture myself drinking it by the pool.

The moon shine was strong and I was confident that if I ran out of gas, the moonshine could fuel the car! Strong but very yummy.

Side note on the distillery: my friends moved on to the wine tour and I choose to go make friends with the local cow and roosters. By the end of the day, I got the nickname of Dr. Doolittle.

Did you ever have a lunch that was so good, that before you left you have to write a review? Let me introduce you to The Krazy Owls on John's Island, SC (https://krazyowls.com/) what a hoot-of-a-time we had! Our server Kerry was even better then the food if that was possible. Here I tried fried pickles (not a fan) and mini corn dogs for an appetizer.

Kerry heard us talking about grits and unsure if we wanted to order them. She appeared from the kitchen with a sample of grits for our table to try. They were so good! The star of the lunch was the fried oyster po boy on this pillow-like bread. Again, I found myself saying "MMMMMMM" with every bite of this amazing sandwich.

Breakfast was not overshadowed by dinner or lunch. We wanted to experience a true Southern breakfast and was amazed at The Lost Dog Cafe at Folly Beach, SC. (https://lostdogfollybeach.com/) The walls were covered with pictures of adorable dogs enhanced with cute sayings. This was a laid back beach cafe at it's finest. We waited 20 minutes for a table but after tasting the food, I would have waiting 20 hours for a table! They even had bowls out front for their four legged customers.

This was the first time I was stuffed, like Thanksgiving stuffed, after eating breakfast. The quality of the food was present and the chef checked every dish before it left the kitchen.

Biscuits and gravy are a staple at The Lost Dog Cafe and we can see why. The biscuits were soft, not dense and the sausage in the gravy was finely ground. Fresh black pepper added that little bit of heat that tickled the top of your mouth. You could slather this gravy on a roof shingle and it would taste good.

So now I had a taste of biscuits and gravy and wanted to have the next most famous Southern breakfast entree.....shrimp and grits. Grits are prepared differently every place you order them. It was explained that everyone likes to put their own twist on grits and make it their own. We had gourmet grits, cheesy grits and now breakfast grits.

This huge bowl was placed in front of me piled high with grits, crispy bacon, cheese, perfectly cooked shrimp and green onions. The perfect bite had a little of everything and it was so addicting.

One of the women in our group had Crab Cake and Shrimp Cake Benedict with Hollandaise sauce. It was very rich and we all had to taste this masterpiece of a breakfast.

Frozen drinks by the beach was delightful and a wonderful way to refresh your body and soul.

The last day we realized we needed to taste a Southern Pecan Pie and ventured to Stono Farm Market and Tomato Shed on John's Island, SC (http://www.stonofarmmarket.com/) where a pecan pie was on reserve for us. This was Heaven on Earth and I licked the dish when I was done. The pie was not very sweet and the layer of pecans was plentiful.

Best pie I've ever eaten!

As you can see, I ate my way thru South Carolina, just for you! I wanted you to experience the wonderful food and inspire your adventurous spirit to explore your surroundings thru food. I'm back home and back to counting points but I have this blog to relive the rich and delicious food of South Carolina.

Enjoy y'all!!