Weekend Getaway NC

Joe and I flew out to North Carolina to visit my brother and his girlfriend this past weekend.

We spent the first night just hanging out and went to a nice dinner at The Steele Pig in Sanford, not too far from Will's house.

True Story:

Dad: "What are y'all doing?"
Me: "Heading to Will's house from the airport."
Dad: "Ask Will if he's still smoking."
Me: "Um, no Dad, he quit a while back."
Dad: "He said he had two briskets..."
Me:  "Oh! You mean smoking..."

The guys spent all day Friday smoking a brisket in Will's new custom smoker.  He's very proud of said smoker, and he has the whole process down to a science.

Envision Will hauling this behind his Range Rover. LOL

Needless to say, we had some delicious food that evening.

Saturday we got up and headed out to Charleston, SC.  I'd never been, so I was excited to check it out.  It's only about a 3 or 4 hour drive from Will's, and he'd made us a reservation at The Peninsula Grill for that evening. But we killed some time at a local Charleston wine bar called Social. If I lived in Charleston, I would be there all the time.  They had a great beer and wine list and cheese and meat menu, so we drank and snacked for our lunch. 

Will and Holley at Social.

Me and Joe and some old guy.

Joe enjoying a beer after his 8 mo self-imposed "no beer or liquor" stint.

 It was Bell's Oberon.

Just a cool truck outside a Gelato shop.

We walked around a bit before dinner.
 

There were functioning carriage houses everywhere!

 Apparently Bobby Flay did a Throwdown at the Peninsula Grill over their coconut cake, which was ah-mazing and huge.  We split one slice 4 ways and still had some left on the plate. I'd go back to eat there alone, but there were so many other fantastic places I'd have to try first.

The famous coconut cake. Yum!

After dinner we met up with one of Will's AF buddies and his girlfriend and danced the night away. I don't know what got into me, but I was a dancin' fool.  It must have been all the good food and wine, because Joe busted out some really interesting dance moves, including one we all dubbed "the chair hop."  No one caught it on film, so the next time you see him you'll have to ask for a demonstration. You won't regret it. Trust me.

The next morning we got up and strolled through the market. I was feeling pretty rough after my night of debauchery, but everyone else was 100%. I guess I'm just a wuss. We had brunch at High Cotton where there was a Dixieland Band playing (so cute). I mostly picked at my omlet, which was absolutely delicious, but my stomach betrayed me and threatened barfage if I ate more than a few bites. So I mostly drank water and was miserable while everyone else enjoyed their meal.  Hopefully I didn't ruin it for everyone.

Thinking about starting their own charter fishing boat.

We loved Charleston, and can only describe it as "like New Orleans, but cleaner."  After swinging by Ryan's place to hang out and eat (he also owns a smoker and smoked pork loin!), we drove back to North Carolina in the blinding rain.  I was going to take a picture, but I figured it would just make everyone here all depressed and jealous. We got back Sunday night and lounged around and then packed up and headed back to Dallas the next day. Joe and I had a great time, but we missed our dogs terribly and were beginning to suffer withdrawals. I think they missed us, too!