A LawtonFest, Of Sorts

Sugar has had a hankering for She-Crab Soup.  So, today Sugar and I headed to Charleston.  Our plan was to go to the Hominy Grill for brunch (can you say She-Crab Soup?), and then on to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.  Charleston proper is about 1 1/2 hours away, and we set out without breakfast, unless you count the peanut butter and crackers I ate from the gas station and the peanuts he brought from home.

It’s been quite a while since we’ve had a day off together except for Sunday, and that’s the day we do our exciting PetSmart run and/or Garnett animal rescue project.  We were looking forward to a day trip in Old Yeller.  Then I missed the turn going into Charleston and we found ourselves headed toward North Charleston, which actually isn’t north Charleston, but North Charleston, a city in its own right.  After a few twists and turns and an impromptu tour of the Charleston city, we found ourselves at the intersection of Cannon and Rutledge where probably 20 people were waiting to get in the restaurant.  I ripped another circuit around a few blocks, and found those same 20 people.  Still.  Waiting.  In.  Line.

Sugar was getting a little twitchy, and I think his blood sugar must have been dropping, and I was developing a twitch in my left eyelid.  Charleston was packed, and we circled a few more circuits.  Lots of places were open for breakfast, and they all had lines forming.  He suggested that he stop to discuss what to do, and I said if there were a place to stop, I and my plummeting blood sugar would park in it. 

I found a public parking garage that just so happened to be across the street from Poogan’s Porch. We hadn’t done any homework on this restaurant, and, in the spirit of come-what-may, we made our way inside where we found *She-Crab Soup* and a fried green tomato BLT! For starters the wait staff brought coffee and a basket of biscuits. Before we left, Sugar slid an extra biscuit into his cap, and I tucked one into my glove. Honestly, you’d think we’d lived through the Depression, although we did leave one lone biscuit in the basket.

Sugar suggested that we drive on down to the Battery. 

Sugar rolled down his window to take this photo. Now I've got him doing it.

He got out of the car and got into the spirit of picture-taking. You can see the faint outline of a bridge to a barrier island in the distance.

Sometimes he gets all sentimental, and he wanted to see his Cousin Margaret’s house.  Cousin Margaret died about ten years ago.  Her mother and Sugar’s mother were Lawton sisters. 

He spotted an older couple in front of Cousin Margaret's house, and attempted to get this photo without them.

We pulled up at the stop sign in front of Cousin Margaret’s house right at the corner, and saw an older couple on the sidewalk in front of the gate, acting like they owned the place.  And then we realized, as he tweaked one of the bushes and she went through the gate, that they DID own the place.  I made another circuit around the waterfront, and pulled in again in front of Cousin Margaret’s house, threw the car in neutral and jerked on the emergency brake faster than Sugar could say waitwaitwaitwaitwait, and went up to the gate.  I could see the couple off to the right of the house, and called out, and introduced myself and Sugar, and asked if it would be alright if we took a picture of Cousin Margaret’s house? 

Well, they actually invited us inside the gate and chatted with us like we weren’t looneytunes and let us take pictures of the outside of the house.  Sugar talked about visiting there, and they talked about the renovations, and it was all very pleasant in the garden.

Side porch and the house next door.

Cousin Margaret's house, built about 1825, was once a three-story house until a hurricane blew off the top floor.

 We left there and putzed around a little more, then headed to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, whose post I’ll save for another day, because my internet keeps going out and I took *144* pictures today…

(I keep saying “today” when actually I started this post 2 days ago, which was the same day we went, but the internet here at the Swamped! Plantation and She-Crab Soup Eating Emporium keeps failing.)

Tags: Enjoying the day, Lawton, SC