“Hmm, hmm, Chaaarleston …”

After a fun filled weekend in Charleston, SC for my mother’s birthday, I can sufficiently say that I’ve eaten my body weight in animal fat.

You know you’re missing something health-wise when you think back on all your meals and realize that in every dish you ate, bacon was a main ingredient … but come on, everything tastes better with bacon, doesn’t it?

If you think New York has way to many menus offering pork belly, think again. Charlestonians don’t even mention it on a menu, pork essence is law in every dish that runs down a restaurant line. Vegetarians beware, this is not the city for you.

Among the colonial architecture, old grave sites, ghosts, and people walking around in either too much Lily Pulitzer, Civil War Rebel Uniforms, or fanny packs (obvi the tourists) you begin to realize that this city is a place that attracts all walks of life.

Tips for Charleston Visits:

• Visit the Farmer’s Market early Saturday (the only day it’s open) mornings at 8 am. Southerners are not early morning people, that or they’re at church, so the crowd is minimal. With all the fresh low-country growers this market rivals Union Square Farmer’s Market.

• Stay away from King Street between the hours of 11 am – 2 pm, this is where tourists come to shop, and although it does have good shopping, for people from the Northeast, it’s more of a cluster-fuck trying to walk past strolling Southerners.
• Happy Hours are the way to go. Most restaurants offer happy hours that begin at 3 pm (Southern people love their booze) and last until about 7 pm. Drinks and appetizers are cheap and very good. Make a meal of it. Favorite picks; Pearlz Oyster Bar, Carolinas, and King Street Grill.
• Have BBQ while you’re in town, Jim and Nicks offers great BBQ with fresh out of the oven cornbread muffins (obviously infused with bacon fat) with pimento cheese.

• Wear flats, the old sidewalks and roads are not stiletto friendly, you’ll also get dirty looks for all Southern women and be dubbed the “Yankee Bitch” that attempts what no Charlestonian would … booze + heals + cobblestone = danger … or a way to get rid of tourists …