A hurricane escape to South Carolina.
"but the hurricane projected a disastrous path, and we decided to go out of the state while it did its thing."
Hey everyone, I hope you are doing good. Today's post wasn't in the schedule, but after an adventure to South Carolina that was inspired by survival, I was compelled to share. Remember to hit like, leave a comment and if you haven't done so…
Running away from hurricane Milton’s path through Florida (USA) we ended up as refugees at (my brother) Moisés’s home in Summerville, South Carolina, which is always awesome. He and his wife (both amazing cooks) received us with a Puerto Rican meal of white rice, stewed beans, and fried pork chops with a taste of home that made us feel calmed right away. Perfect after an anxious almost eight-hour drive.
We had made that trip before, but the hurricane projected a disastrous path, and we decided to go out of the state while it did its thing. The visit to South Carolina, while extremely gratifying, comforting, and heartwarming wasn't one that was planned for fun, and even the dog wasn't having a good time at the beginning. A lot of stopping; hunting for gas, dog needs, food, and heavy traffic. Like us, great part of Florida residents decided to flee.
On the way there we stopped at Buck-ee’s (a mutant combination of gas station/convenience and travel store/food stop). No pictures but I got the fried chicken sandwich, a bite of their brisket sandwich, and a few spoons of their banana pudding and they didn't disappoint.
Next day, we went to celebrate Laura's (my brother's wife) birthday at a Mexican restaurant in Summerville. So, the day after, Betsy and I decided to thank them for hosting us, with a meal of our own. Betsy made her Greek Rice (didn't make it to the pictures) and I did a version of my fried chicken (which due to the situation I ended up calling Refugee Friend Chicken).
The following day my wife, kids, and I did a little escape to downtown Charleston (our second time there). We ate at a local Irish Pub called Tommy Condon’s, and where I had the best fish and chips ever.
Generally, I get served a thin over crusted tasteless fish with wannabe chips (fries), but here they were both stupendous. The taste, textures, meatiness, seasonings, and the beer(s) on the side, were amazing. Great service too. Btw I don't know why I made that face in the first picture, and my daughter decided to be “cool” and not show her face. I tried to take another, but it came out a little blurry.
There is something about South Carolina that I am intrigued about, and (besides visiting my brother) I want to keep finding out more. There is an air of history and taste that is unique. So far, on all our trips there, southern hospitality has been nothing but exemplary and inspirational. At Charleston Market we bought my daughter a cookbook that she got fixated on, and I got myself a book full of old local recipes and folklore.
In Charleston, one of the favorite things to eat is the delicious Benne Wafers. Originating in the low country with sesame seed coming from Africa, these wafers are worth the visit. They are crunchy, sweet, and you can taste and smell the roasted sesame. This is the second time I tried them, and I am extremely motivated to make them myself.
There was a lot of physical activity involved in this trip. My brother's son, son's wife, and kids live there too, and I spent a lot of time jumping around with the kids, imitating their movements, and wrestling them. I love playing with kids, because they take movement out of the comfort zone and off the standards generated by society. They just move, and if you want to play with them, you must move like them (joyfully, curiously, and tirelessly). I also played a lot with my dog and enjoyed amazing conversations with everyone. Not bad for an unplanned hurricane escape.
For us there is no trip to Summerville, South Carolina without stopping at a place called Charleston Bakery & Delicatessen for breakfast. This time we went there twice. This is where we stop to start our drive down to Orlando, Florida. We always get breakfast and something for the road. It is a local Jewish bakery ran by lovely people, and incredible flavors. Only one picture made it.
There is also no trip back to Florida without stopping at Georgia Peach World for a jar of their sweet Georgia Peach Tea, and some of their sweet Peachy BBQ Sauce. And there is also no trip without stopping at the Georgia welcome center to say hi to Forest, Fores Gump.
The drive back was easy, and Trix (our dog) wasn't as anxious. And I enjoyed it too since I love long drives. Arriving at home we had a chance to look at the damage that the hurricane left in our neighborhood, and at our house. Nothing too much. We had a few plants broken, minor structural scratches, and some spoiled food.
It's so funny how a hurricane would freak out many people, but you people from that area are quite used to them, so it's just risk management and getting everything together and wait. I was living in Holbox, Mexico, for a while, and I remember a storm one time, many people evacuated the island and one of my besties there, who's from Puerto Rico, was just like "hey, we'll do what we do in PR, let's get some rum and chips and go play cards by candlelight all night until it's over!" It soothed me right away, haha, no big deal for her. Thank God it was minor!
I went on my first trip to the US a couple months ago, to the South too, and I loved it. I was worried that people might be racist or xenophobic or something, and I felt soooo good, everyone was so incredibly nice and genuinely curious about me, my home country, our life in Peru, etc. I can't wait to go back and do some road trips to Georgia and South Carolina in the future, and of course, stop by a Buc-ee's hahaha! It was on our plan last time and we didn't have the time to do it, but it sounds very interesting haha.
Yeah. That's what we do in PR. I miss that. However, in PR most houses are made of concrete, and have concrete roofs. But here in Florida (in the US in general) roofs are made of wood, even in most concrete houses, and they are not necessarily hurricane cat 3 proof. To that, add up the tornados that rip the wood roofs as if they are paper. Not worth the risk. We moved the rum and chips to South Carolina.
I like South Carolina, Love Texas (lived in Austin and I would live there again), and have been to Tennessee and love it too (love Nashville and the drive through the Smokey Mountains). I also like Georgia.
Buc-ee's it is surreal (I didn't get to go in due to walking the dog), it is a monster of a gas station. It is huge and my daughter said that it is like a Walmart store in size inside. But the food wasn't bad for what it was. In fact, it was better than I expected.