I spent a week in South Carolina visiting the southerner and we decided to head on over to Charleston. I had never been before and only hear great things about the city. About a two hour drive, a hotwire hotel for 2 nights in the heart of the city and tons of places to eat, we were ready to go. We did our fair share of eating in three days. There are a ton of restaurants all over.

After checking into our hotel, The Fulton Inn, we were hungry and headed to Jestine’s Sweet Shop. This is a true southern food restaurant that really hit the spot. We started off with fried green tomatos with sweet peppers and oil on top. The peppers were a nice little touch.

We shared out main dishes. We played it say with some traditional dishes. Shrimp Po’ Boy sandwich with fried okra (see pic above) and pecan crusted fried chicken breast with sides of mac and cheese, okra gumbo and coleslaw.

Everything was delicious and real southern. The southern hospitality was great as well. There is nothing like service with a smile. It really makes your food taste that much better.

We were about to get the check when the waitress came by and told us the desserts. Lets just say we were both instantly hooked when she mentioned the blueberry and blackberry cobbler. Jestine’s was not a sweet shop for nothing.

I went down to South Carolina to visit the southerner. I really wanted to eat some southern cookin. One of the things I learned in my last stay in South Carolina was there are three types of BBQ. You have your ketchup, mustard and vinegar based BBQ. Last time I was down in South Carolina I didn’t get to try mustard and vinegar based so today was the day.

We went to Farm Boy’s BBQ to get my southern fixings. This is a buffet style restaurant with all the typical southern food you want. I tried everything I could until I was super stuffed and could not eat anymore.

Plate 1 consisted of collard greens, lima beans, green beans, cabbage, hush puppies, pork rinds, a fried chicken leg, corn, baked beans, and vinegar based pulled pork with a side of cole slaw.

Plate 2 consisted of hash and rice, baked macaroni and cheese, more baked beans, another hush puppy with white gravy on top, mustard based pulled pork with a side of vinegar cole slaw and a Brunswick Stew.

I really wish I had a bigger stomach to get another round of food but I just could not fit it all in. I got two servings of the baked beans. They were so good but I finally had mustard and vinegar based BBQ and I have to say they were both really good. I could not tell you which I liked better. It really has opened my eyes to two more types of BBQ. We are all used to Ketchup based and they didn’t even offer it at Farm Boy’s BBQ.

When we were leaving Farm Boy’s we picked up some pork rinds for dinner later that night. I also noticed they even have a drive through window to pick p your buffet. Ah, you have to love the south.

Diabetic Blood Sugar Count
Pre-meal: 94 | Post-meal (1 hour): 107 | Insulin: 4 Units

I am down in South Carolina to visit my girlfriend Kelsey. I have never been down in the Carolina’s before. I like it down here. It’s quiet, about 15 – 20 degrees warmer than New York, and there is a lot of great southern foods for me to try. Kelsey’s family are big fans of Forking Tasty and know I am going to be looking for some typical southern food that I am not used to up north.

On the first day I got to South Carolina it was Kelsey and my anniversary so I am going to have to keep those meals private. The second day I got a tour of the neighboring towns and city where Kelsey and her family live. Some towns are small and some towns are really REALLY small. If you close your eyes for about 10 seconds while driving through you may miss the town. Columbia is the near by city where the University of South Carolina is. It’s a big school and there are lots of restaurants and bars all over the place. After checking out the city for a while we got thirsty and a little hungry. We stopped off at The Flying Saucer.

This place has a ridiculous beer menu. They had a wall about 50 feet long with beer taps. There were plaques all over the walls of people who have tried over 200 different beers that they offer. We all got a beer and sat outside to enjoy the weather. Yes, outside for all you northerners reading this. Kelsey’s brother came and met us at the bar for a drink and suggested we get an appetizer, a Saucer Bratzel. This is a big pretzel with Swiss cheese and sliced beer brat with spicy mustard. It was really good with the cold beers we were drinking. I’ve never had a pretzel like that before and I don’t think the pretzel guy on the streets of NY will be cooking up something like this

I had a really good time hanging out with the family and finally meeting Kelsey’s brother. They are all fun to be around and definitely know where to go for a beer. They have all taken me in and will be having many meals together while I am in South Carolina for the week. Look for the next few posts to have a lot of southern hospitality in them.

Ya’ll come back now…

Diabetic Blood Sugar Count
Pre-meal: 96 | Post-meal (1 hour): 188 | Insulin: 6 Units

I have been home just under a week and I finally got around to having dinner with my good friend Josh. We were both trying to figure out where to meet for dinner and we came across the typical story when it comes to figuring out where to go to eat. Even though there are literally thousands of restaurants in Manhattan we both couldn’t figure out which one to go to, same ol story. We are always looking for the perfect storm when it comes to choosing a restaurant, Good food, not expensive and not to many people. After about an hour we still couldn’t come to a conclusion.

My girlfriend Kelsey is from South Carolina and she has always talked to me about really good southern food. I thought about her favorite thing to eat, fried Okra, and it dawned on me, Acme is a southern comfort restaurant. It’s the perfect place, good food, not to expensive, and its located in a perfect middle ground for both of us to travel to.

I ended up with the sausage, chicken and crawfish jambalaya, a southern staple. I loved it but couldn’t eat it all, way to much rice for me and my diabetes. We also filled up on some apps. I had to try the fried Okra and see if it would be up to Kelsey’s standard. It was delicious; I could stop eating them and ended up binging home the scraps in a doggy bag along with the catfish sticks. I haven’t been to Acme in a really long time and they are still serving up some great southern food. In about two weeks I will be in South Carolina to compare.

Not the greatest meal for my numbers, but I limited how much I ate. Rice is not normally what I eat because it turn into sugar instantly but every once in a while it’s ok if you keep it in proportion.