Saying Goodbye to Morels

In the kitchen

A bunch of rowdies...

As everybody knows by now, Mark and I made the very difficult decision to close Morels. Our last day was Saturday, February 28th. We publicly announced the closing after the New Year. We would like to thank everyone for giving us so much love and support during this trying time. It was truly amazing how our family and friends rallied behind us. I would also like to say thanks to those people who have been very patient in regards to us "falling off the radar". I'm afraid I haven't been very good about keeping in touch recently.

Some servers, past and present

The Trifecta of Aarons

I still don't really have the heart to talk much about it right now. That being said, I will say that Mark and I are fine and that we believe everything happens for a reason. The pictures are from our final game feed and our last night; this is only a handful of great photos taken...

Mark with Donna and Susie

Marko and Jill

Skotty, Kurt and Mark

Cooking a slew of ribeyesMe with Billy and SydMichael, Renee, Alejo and Cassidy The Valaskeys

Charleston Trip, Part III

Slow and steady wins the race, right? I just needed an extra month to finish this...

Our last full day in Charleston began with a quick drive to the Atlantic Ocean. It was a cooler, more overcast day, but we still enjoyed taking a few minutes to stroll along the beach of this mighty ocean.

Judy & Renee

We had also decided to skip making a day trip to Savannah, Georgia. Although we all were disappointed about not going there, we agreed that there was still a lot we wanted to see and do (and eat!) in Charleston and we just didn't want to spend 5-6 hours traveling in the car to get to and from the two cities. Perhaps some other day.

The back of the Aiken-Rhett House

An old carriage in one of the stables

Aftere the beach, we went to the historic Aiken-Rhett Home. Built in 1818, this townhouse showcases urban life in antebellum Charleston. Wealthy William Aiken Jr., was a successful businessman, rice planter and governor of South Carolina in the 1830s and 1850s. He ahd nis wife, Harriet, traveled Europe and furnished their home with many objects which have remained or been returned to the house since. The Aiken-Rhett House actually ramined in family ownership until 1975! Today, the omnipotent Historic Charleston Foundation (which Charlestonians seem to either love or hate due to their current rigidity in building regulations) has adopted a conservation approach to this townhouse and its outbuildings, which include slave quarters and stables.

Slave quarters

Harriet Aiken? Note the chair next to the portrait for scale.

Historic Charleston Foundation is conserving this landmark, not necessarily restoring it to look like it once was.

This tour was outstanding. It was self-guided, but we all had our own headset to control as we listened to information about the place. We were fascinated by the elaborate decor and grandness of each room in the house, but were also definitely humbled while walking through the tight corridors and rooms of the slave quarters.

They jazzed this room up for the holidays

We spent quite a bit of time merely walking the Charleston streets, looking at homes and piazzas, gates and gardens, commercial architecture and the ever-present horse drawn carriages pulling groups of people about.

Horsey!


A couple of these little "homes" were actually built as large playhouses for wealthy Charlestonian youth

Pretty flowers in the Nathaniel Russell gardens

Another historic home we toured was the Nathaniel Russell House. Located near the High Battery area, and an example of American neoclassical architecture, the Nathaniel Russel House has lots of embellished plasterwork ornamentation and a truly magnificent free-flying staircase.

I just loved this iron detailing found on a bench outside the Nathaniel Russell House

Charlestonians decorate during the holidays with LOTS of evergreen garlands and wreaths

This tour was guided by an old French woman who, although difficult to understand, really conveyed the dedication Charlestonians have for their many landmarks. That being said, because this woman had not been born in Charleston, she will never be considered a true Charlestonian, even if she loved the city so much she left her homeland to live there and to spend her senior years giving tours to a bunch of tourists like us. Nope, you have to be born there to be "legit".

Renee and Greg touring the town

We also spent time at the very popular market area. Judy was interested in purchasing one of the handmade sweetgrass baskets that the area is known for with its Gullah heritage connection. Although the baskets were beautiful and we were told that one should really barter with the vendors, we were a little taken aback at the original prices and cowered at the thought of haggling. Our midwestern shyness won out...

Judy inspecting one of the lovely baskets at market

Gorgeous detailing!

We ended our sightseeing that day by visiting the Old Slave Mart. This building was small and had just recently been converted into a museum. This was the place where slaves were brought after their arduous journey across the ocean. This was the place where families were torn apart and destroyed. Although small, this stop on our trip was quite moving.

Our final meal had to be seafood, of course, the last type of cuisine we thought we should experience while in Charleston. We were lucky to get a spot at Hank's Seafood Restaurant. Mark had an unbelievable boullibaise and Judy ordered a cheesy grits and shrimp meal that was out-of-this-world--and I don't care for grits!

Thanks for bearing with me as I struggle to get caught up on the blog and my life! I hope all are well.

Charleston Trip, Part II

I definitely am not doing this wonderful vacation justice. I hope everybody understands that I've just been really busy and that is why these postings are taking an abnormal amount of time to be completed.

The top picture is of Mark and I standing next to a very scenic road by the bay. I also intended to post this picture of Renee standing underneathe a rather impressive chandelier which actually was located within a fancy strip mall in dowtown Charleston. I think the mall itself was built around some historical hotel, but I forgot the name.

Van and Judy after a yummy breakfast

On Christmas Eve we began our day by enjoying a very traditional and scrumptious breakfast at a fantastic little diner called Jack's. Our server was extremely hospitable and the cook (who was also the owner) did an amazing job making our large order of biscuits and gravy, grits, hashbrowns, pancakes, bacon, etc. in addition to making all the other patrons who came into the place. He had no help, but did it with total ease and efficiency.

Can you spot Mark?

The green water is actually comprised of millions and millions of individual plants.

A statue in the garden maze

After breakfast, we drove several miles outside of Charleston to Magnolia Plantation. One of Charleston's oldest families, the Draytons, founded the plantation and gardens in 1676. It is the oldest public public gardens in America (opened in 1870) and has survived the American Revolution and the Civil War. Although we were not there at a time when plants and flowers were thriving, we all really liked touring the home, walking through the huge gardens (where we did get to see some blooms, and walking through the Audobon Swamp Garden (which is also where the movie "The Swamp Thing" was filmed!).

Judy and Renee on the porch of Magnolia House

This is taken from one side of the porch. It was enormous!

Of course, all of the Valaskeys are immediately drawn to any animals, and there happened to be a very, very friendly cat named Sylvester who followed us about for awhile. Apparently the plantation has 7 cats, but Sylvester is the most outgoing and approachable and is allowed to go anywhere on the plantation; including in the gift shop, where there is a special crib for him to sleep in, and the old home itself. We loved seeing the white and colored peacocks strutting around and laughed at the sight of a flock of very nervous guinea hens flitting about. We did see some cool egrets and herons in the swamps, as well as some turtles sunbathing, but were bummed about not glimpsing any sleep alligators.

Renee petting Sylvester in one of the old cabins

Our Christmas Eve meal was pretty non-traditional. We opted to get our Carolina barbecue fix and ordered from a place called Melvin's. Was it amazing!! We ordered quite a large amount of food (again) and managed to celebrate this special day with a very memorable, sticky meal. We spent the afternoon and early evening talking, playing cards, eating, and, well, having a good ol' time. We attended a very inspirational and moving service at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church. The building was beautiful, the singing was phenomenal, and there was a lot of "drama" with candlelighting, bells tolling, and kneeling at the stroke of midnight.

Greg tests the depth of the swamp by dropping a stick

Van at the tree where Rev. Drayton used to compose his sermons

Part of a tomb at Magnolia

Christmas morning was a guided walking tour of Charleston. Although we all were loving being out and about on a very warm, sunny day...I'm afraid we weren't that crazy about our tour guide who was a little long-winded about things that didn't seem that interesting. I was able to take a lot of very cool pictures, however, and we all did hear some good stuff from her gabbin' too.

While we were walking, churches all around us were ending Christmas Day celebrations. Here are some joy-filled people leaving a service.
Me next to some statue

Rainbow Row

Look at this stunning ironwork!

That afternoon, we stuck around our cabin at James Island Park and had some downtime. Van took a much deserved nap ( he was the captain of the rental car and had to drive all of us yahoos around) and the rest of us took a walk together around some of the park trails. What a treat this ended up being! One of the trails led us to a large pier. While walking on the pier towards the water, we all paused because we heard this constant "popping" sound. Upon inspection of the ground which was peppered with small holes, we saw that there were thousands of small crabs cautiously peeking out at us and scurrying to and fro. It was very difficult to get a good shot of these little guys because they were so easily spooked and moved so fast! I forgot the name of these little cuties too....

Can you see the little crab next to the hole?
Renee takes cover after a blue crab came a little too close...

A little girl said you could put a blue crab to sleep by rubbing its belly

While I was dinkin' around trying to manuveur a good shot, the others had gone ahead to the pier where there were 2 groups of people gathered. A young family was at one end of the split pier doing some saltwater fishing and the set was a few young men doing some saltwater crabbing--but they weren't going for the little guys we had just passed, but the exquisite looking blue crab. These wonderful people were so nice and so very tolerant of our touristy inquisitiveness; they answered questions, showed us their catches, and indulged my picture-taking obsession. I just loved this part of our trip; it was so random but so special and felt that it was an authentic South Carolina experience.