Field Trip: an excursion or journey by a group of people away from their normal environment.
My husband and I are empty nesters. What do you do when your kids are gone, and you find that you are a couple again? For us, the answer was field trips!! We love to explore places close to home and usually stick to day trips, but our last field trip was a weekend trip.
We started our weekend with a trip to River Rat Brewery for an oyster roast. Our daughter, who is 22 knows how we love field trips, so she gifted us tickets to the event for Christmas. What a fun night!! The oyster roast was held outside in the brewery “yard”. There were several tables set up with everything we needed to eat as many oysters as we could hold! Gloves, shucking knives, crackers, cocktail sauce, lemons and paper towels were on each table. It was an oyster lover’s dream!! For those who weren’t oyster lovers, there was delicious barbecue with all the trimmings. It was Columbia so, of course, there was mustard based sauce to enjoy. There were two beers on tap outside along with a red and white wine choice at a cash bar. If those two beers weren’t to your liking there was a bountiful supply of choices inside. Something for everyone! We enjoyed meeting new people and would definitely do it again.
River Rat Brewery was a lively place with all of the indoor tables full of people enjoy delicious food and drinks. They have a great menu selection with appetizers, nachos, tacos, wings, sandwiches, and burgers including a black bean burger! I definitely want to try the Brisket Pimento Mac-n-cheese next time!! Man, my mouth is watering as I type!! I would highly recommend checking it out if you are in Columbia. It is very near the football stadium with a rooftop bar that overlooks the area.
Next up, we had two choices for breakfast: hotel muffin and yogurt or a gourmet breakfast?? Yeah, we chose Le Peep. Sorry Hampton Inn. Can I just say SO MANY CHOICES on their menu? It was Truly tough to make our decisions. I chose the mini Greek Goddess omelet featuring egg whites, spinach, artichokes kalamata olives and feta cheese. Let me tell you, I felt like a goddess eating it. The people in the next booth probably wouldn’t agree with that comparison the way I was inhaling my food. It also came with a side of potatoes and an English muffin. Jeff, my husband, chose the Colorado egg white omelet filled with lean smoked turkey, avocado, tomatoes, bacon and mozzarella cheese. We were thrilled that there is a location in Greenville as well. Next field trip?
On to Charleston. Our daughter graduated from The College of Charleston and still lives there so the field trip wouldn’t have been complete without a visit to see her! Of course, she is always up for a good meal on our dime and we were happy to oblige. We began with lunch at Beech located on King Street. They serve a variety of acai bowls, poke bowls, bagels and wraps along with fresh juices. Not gonna lie, I was a little intimidated. I mean, what in the world is an acai bowl?? I reluctantly chose a bowl with acai, granola, almond butter, banana, strawberry, raspberry, hemp seeds and raw honey drizzle. Sounds intriguing right? Um, I took my first bite and the heavens opened up in song. It was amazing. Jeff wasn’t as adventurous and chose a black bean hummus wrap but it was just as delicious. If you’re on King St and searching for something fresh and different, stop by Beech!
Of course, we did the obligatory stroll down King St before enjoying a wonderful dinner at Hank’s Seafood. Now we were pretty lucky here because it was restaurant week and Clare normally selects the priciest item on the menu (when we are paying). We were able to take advantage of 3 courses for $45. Sweet deal to say the least!! We feasted on She Crab Soup and raw oysters, swordfish and mahi mahi. For dessert we enjoyed pound cake with fresh berries and key lime pie. The food and service were both impeccable and it was so nice to enjoy a nice dinner and drinks without feeling rushed. I wish we could say that we went for after dinner drinks at a swanky bar but alas, I was sick so we headed to the hotel for a cocktail of Delsym and Mucinex.
Sunday morning, we stopped by The Bakehouse on E. Bay St where Clare works to say goodbye. They were bustling with tourists on that cold windy day, so we got our hot drinks, a hot chocolate for Jeff and a London Fog tea for me, said our goodbyes and headed to 82 Queen for brunch. We didn’t tell Clare that part. 82 Queen is one of our Charleston go to restaurants. It is nice and big, so you rarely have to wait and this was no exception. I had shrimp and grits and Jeff had a delicious seafood omelet with grits. Of course, I had the obligatory Bloody Mary while he enjoyed a craft beer from Asheville’s Hi Wire Brewing.
It was a great weekend field trip and we left with our bellies and hearts full! Now on to the next adventure!