Wednesday, April 27, 2011

A Food Blogger's Vacation: Charleston, SC - Lunch at California Dreaming


The kids are on spring break this week so my husband and I decided to take a little vacation to Charleston, SC. Charleston is one of our favorite places to visit. It's only two hours away from our home in Georgia so is a nice little day trip. But, we're planning on staying for three nights if all goes well. And, you know with kids that's not always the case. You have to take one day at a time...

Charleston is a special place for my husband and me. Although we met on a blind date 17 years ago, it was in a group setting so we didn't have our first date alone until a couple of weeks after that meeting. He invited me to go to Charleston with him for the day to attend the Southeastern Wildlife Expo. I was shy, nervous, and hesitant but agreed to go. It was back in the day when neither one of us had a cell phone and now I can't imagine driving a hundred miles from home with a relative stranger with no way to call for help. But, it was a different time and, fortunately, I survived! Thank goodness! We've returned to this town many times since then and love it. Our children do, too.

This morning, we arrived in Charleston around 11:00. Yes, the kids were already hungry and asking where we would eat. We decided to eat at California Dreaming which is located at 1 Ashley Point Drive right on the harbor. The building and the surroundings are gorgeous!












Orders have been placed and the anxiety is building...


My older son decided to order the kid's spaghetti.


Poised for the feast.


My younger son stuck with his favorite, shrimp.


I ordered seafood nachos, a blend of shrimp, salmon, onions, capers and dill in a lobster cream sauce. It was messy but delicious. And, it was a definite departure from what I normally order. Eric and I shared this along with his salad. My younger son joined in, too, but only ate the plain chips.


Eric ordered the California Dreaming Salad which is probably the best salad I've ever eaten. It's a complete meal. And the croissant...drizzled in honey...is a dessert in itself. Eric and I split this salad and the seafood nachos. There was so much salad that each of the kids had a plate, too. It's huge and it's one of the restaurant most famous dishes.

We ended up eating almost all of the food on the table although no one ate all of the dish that they had originally ordered. I told Eric that we should have sat at a round table so we could turn it and sample off every plate.

We left California Dreaming full and satisfied. But, as soon as we got in the car, my older son said, "I know you're not cooking but what are we having for dinner?"

Now, to come up with an answer...so many possibilities, so little time...


California Dreaming on Urbanspoon

10 comments:

  1. *Come check out my Blog...You got an AWARD! :)

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  2. Thanks for including me, Lark! I'll start working on it!

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  3. Love, Love, Love....California Dreaming!!!

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  4. Charleston, SC is one of the best gems of the U.S.....glad you had such a great time! I haven't been there for several years and I think it is time for another visit!

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  5. Charleston is a great place to live. I encourage all to come and see what my great city has to offer I have lived here for 28 years and proud to be in the Palmetto state. The View from California Dreaming is amazing Happy to see you and the family had such a great time. there are some great places to see Down Town as well hope ya got to see that too.

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  6. Thanks Eric! We do love Charleston and go a couple of times a year. We did get to the downtown area and had a great time. It's a beautiful city.

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  7. Awesome information you have shared and these tips are really useful for use in our regular work.

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  8. Awesome pics from the vacation. I too would like to go that place and see for myself what it offers.

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  9. South Carolina is full of great restaurants – Hymans (the fish place) is fantastic, and has a ton of food that is not traditional southern food. You should try the Myrtle Beach vacation packages – it’s just a little further north of Charleston, and there is a lot of stuff to do. Try Duffy Street – it’s a great seafood place, and of course Ruth’s Chris is always fantastic!

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