Loquat Bombings in the City

Yes. Loquat (click it for more info on loquats than you ever knew existed.) I was hit in the head by one while dining at 82 Queen today and I still have a large crunchy sticky spot on top of my head to prove it. Our lunch was actually a pretty amusing experience. We were seated out back in a lovely little patio area surrounded by old brick buildings and great old trees, statues, arbours etc. it was very quaint. Until the loquats began to splat and bounce off the table and my head. When I looked up to get a look at where my assailants were descending from I immediately spotted a 5 foot long giant snake directly above my head in the tree. After a 1.7 second spike of pure panic I realized it was fake. The restaurant had placed it there in an effort to keep birds and squirrels at bay... nobody wants poop in their soup. Although sooner or later some poor woman may have a heart attack when she glances up and sees the fat serpent in the tree above her head and does not realize it is plastic. Our food came and wow....WOW. I had fried green tomatoes over grits and Billy had barbecued shrimp and grits. I ate 3/4 of mine and immediately felt like I had consumed a quart of warm mayonnaise. It was good food but entirely too fried, rich and indulgent.


After lunch we wandered around downtown on foot for about three hours poking our noses into galleries and reading the menus posted outside at all the shmaltzy restaurants. Charleston is really a great place to explore on foot... I would recommend avoiding the Market Street area though. It was over the top touristy and kind of gross. My general rule of thumb is when you encounter a Bubba Gump Shrimp Factory head in the opposite direction.



Charleston has a lot of nooks and crannies...little alleyways and gardens you can get a glimpse of down courtyard corridors. You can really feel the age of the place and it is very well maintained in the French Quarter. The parks are beautiful as well...



We capped off the day with a fat slice of Toll House Pie from a place called Kaminsky's Cafe. It was in the heart of the creepy Market Street tourist district but it was dealing out mean looking desserts so we grabbed one to go and took it out to the Waterfront Park to devour it. Then it was HOME PLEASE....I think I am gonna be SICK. Another piece of advice... Tollhouse Pie on top of fried green tomatoes and cheesy grits is just not a great idea. I have a long way to go before I can hang tough with some hard core Southern eatin' I think.