Tea Party Themes - March 20, 2013

I recently learned that we are near the Charleston Tea Plantation, which is supposed to be the only Tea Plantation in the Continental US.  So I decided that since we have a local tea here, we should have a Southern Hospitality Tea Party at the RV Park.  I made two pots of the tea served it with some Southern classics: Cheese Straws, Pralines, and Old Fashioned Ambrosia (all made by Randy, of course!).  Southern Ambrosia is nothing like the Ambrosia I used to have in Illinois.  That was a fruit salad of crushed pineapple, mini marshmallows and mandarin oranges in whipped cream, and always topped with maraschino cherries.  Southern Ambrosia is a lot simpler - less ingredients and never any whipped cream.  I used the oldest recipe I could find, which was just oranges slices with a bit of sugar and fresh coconut sprinkled in, and marinated overnight.

I found the picture frame that is on the table at the "Worlds Largest Yard Sale" last Saturday.  I couldn't pass it up, since it cost just a quarter.  So I printed a copy of the painting "Southern Belle" by Erich Correns and put it in the frame as a centerpiece.  The funny part is that although Correns called the painting "Southern Belle", it's really a portrait of the famous Swedish coloratura suprano, Jenny Lind.  I guess that just proves we can all be Southern Belles if we try!

I thought the tea itself tasted pretty good.  Not as good as my favorite, Marks and Spencer's Tea.  But enjoyable.  That's a good thing, because American Classic Tea has been the official tea of the White House since 1987.

I served my beloved Marks and Spencer tea a couple of weeks ago when I hosted a Low Tea.  Although High Tea is much more common, I really like Low Tea.  It's not as fancy as High Tea and there isn't as much food, so for me, it's a perfect little tea-time.  For that party I served miniature scones with clotted cream and jam, cucumber and mint sandwiches and frosted lemon cookies.  As always, Randy came through, making everything just the way it should be.

One Year Ago:  Perks of working near Disneyland, CA
Two Years Ago:  Family and Chinese Food in Oklahoma
Three Years Ago: Being a Tourist in LA, California

A Great Hilton Head Island Restaurant

Today we tried a new restaurant for breakfast - the Stack.  Our friends in the RV park recommended this one to us, and it was a great recommendation.  They make a Creme Brule French Toast that is amazing! 

And this is the most unusual sight around here - Shorty, not jumping, barking, chewing, wrestling or chasing the cat - just resting quietly.  Aren't they cute when they're sleeping?

Weird Plants

Back in November of 2011 I found a funny little plant in Arizona called a Lithop.  I really like it and bought one but unfortunately, being a desert plant, it didn't survive the trip to Alaska.  But since I'm going to be in the South for quite a while, I decided to try again.  While we were in Arizona this January I found some for sale at the at the Desert Museum.  I bought them and transplanted them into a cute little container I bought in Palomas, Mexico.  They look pretty good, with a decorative shell tucked in the corner.

And shortly after I bought it, they started to grow.  Lithops grow by pushing new leaves out from in between the old ones, sort of like a snake shedding it's skin. 

Now, being desert plants, Lithops need a lot of sun.  When Lithops are healthy, they stay very short, just above the ground.  But if they don't get enough sun, they grow up towards it.  Apparently mine are not getting enough sun, because they are looking unusually weird. . . what the heck?!

World's Largest Yard Sale and Hilton Head Island Bicycle Paths

Today the weather was perfect!  Much too nice to stay inside, so we started the day by going to what was advertised as the "World's Largest Yard Sale".  I am not sure it really qualifies for that title, but it was pretty big.  It opened at 9 am and by the time we got there at 9:15, it looked like half the Island's population was there.

Being Full-Time RVers, we don't have much room for new stuff.  The classic RV rule is "everytime something comes in, something needs to go out".  But I wasn't shopping for me, I was shopping for the Resort.  I have started hosting Tea Parties and I need a lot of cute stuff for that.  I also need a teapot, but nobody on the Island seems to have one.  

After the yard sale we still wanted to soak up more of the sunshine so we went for a bike ride.  It's about one mile to the beach, which seemed entirely within my ability, even though I haven't been on a bike much lately.  And once we made it to the beach we just kept going.  The sand is packed firm enough to ride on.  The amazing thing about this photo is that I am actually in front of Randy. . . but I sped up specifically to get this, then dropped behind again.

Eventually we turned off the beach and on to one of the many bike paths.  One of the cool things about Hilton Head Island is that they takes their trees very, very seriously here.  When the bike path conflicts with a tree, the tree wins and the path goes around.

When the road conflicts with the tree, the tree wins and the road goes around - sometimes all around.

When we got back to the Resort I went looking for our alligator.  Since it's a sunny day, he wasn't too hard to find.  He's not a big gator, but I learned that any gator looks pretty serious when he's headed towards you.

Mrs. Wilkes, RVs and Alligators

One of the best things about RVing is finding great places to eat and sharing them with others.  Today we headed to Savannah to one of our favorite places; this picture of the waiting line should give an indication of where we were:

Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House!  We were here July 19th in 2011 and loved it, so today we invited a couple of friends from the HHI Resort to go with us.  They had not been here before but they gamely got up early so we could drive to Savannah and be in line by 9:30.  This time we were at the head of the line, which soon stretched out behind us.  Once again we had the good fortune to be in line with some great folks.  The 2 young ladies ahead of us had missed the chance to come here for two years in a row and were excited about making it this year.  The couple behind us were repeat customers who brought their sister and brother-in-law along this time.  That made exactly 10, so we all got to sit together with people we were already comfortable with.  A few minutes before 11:00 the doors opened and we went inside to sit at a large oval table covered with a white tablecloth and a lot of dishes.  As usual, after we were seated they brought out even more dishes.  Today we had fried chicken, BBQ pork, beef stew, meatloaf with gravy, dirty rice and sausage, chicken and dumplings, squash, white rice, mashed potatoes with cheese and onions, candied yams with raisins, creamed corn, okra and tomatoes, snap beans, cucumbers, lima beans, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, black-eyed peas, butter beans, cornbread and biscuits, plus all the sweet tea we could drink and the best banana pudding on the planet. 

At first everyone tried to have a little of everything, but after awhile we gave up and just had whatever we knew we liked, plus a few more things to try.  Every dish we had tasted good.  This restaurant is a testimony to good cooking; there is no unique, amazing dish (although they might have the best fried chicken that can be made), just a lot of very good food made with good, fresh ingredients and cooked correctly.  A Norman Rockwell dinner table, quadrupled.

After that meal we didn't really want to walk around much, so we went to Camping World to look at beautiful RVs, then back to the Resort to look at a couple of not-so-beautiful RVs.  One hasn't moved in so long that the mice have made nests in the battery bay.

This RV has been donated to charity and is being towed out today.  I am not sure what they are going to be able to do with it; the roof was damaged a couple of years ago and mold has grown everywhere.  Yuck!

But I'm glad it's being removed from the Park.  This really is a beautiful RV Park and they take excellent care of it.  I like the gator in the lake, too.  Today Randy saw him sunning on the other side of the lake, in front of an RV.  

At first he looked like a statue, but suddenly he dashed towards the water.

A moment later the family who owns the RV drove up and let their dog out.  I'm sure they don't know why he was so fasinated by the scent at the lake!

Shorty Update

Shorty is still trying to get his new sisters to play.  Julienne still doesn't want to give him the time of day but Missy will sometimes  play with him.  (Missy always did think of herself as more of a dog than a cat.)  They don't cuddle - he likes to bark at her too much for that - but she will get into slapping matches with him.  Since she doesn't have claws, it's all in fun.  And occasionally they get distracted by something and forget to act like they don't like each other.

But his very best buddy is Randy.  If Randy sits down, before he gets all the way in the chair, Shorty is on his lap.  And Shorty wants to go everywhere with him.  That doesn't mean Shorty is good on walks - he still likes to make the decisions too much - but he is learning.

One Year Ago: The Wizard of Oz - California style!

Two Years Ago: Volcanos and Petroglyphs of Albuquerque

Three Years Ago: San Diego Wild Animal Park

Is it possible to overdose on oysters?

Captain Woody's restaurant is just down the road from our RV park, and tonight they celebrated the start of tourist season with a big ol' Oyster Roast.  (They don't really roast the oysters, they steam them, but "Oyster Steam" doesn't sounds as good.)  I learned that steaming is a quick way to kill the oysters, making it easier to open the shell while leaving the oyster meat raw.  That bit about being "easier to open" is important, because after you hand over $10, they give you a bucket full of oysters, all of which are still snug in their shells.  Well, we've had a little experience at shucking oysters.  The first time was in 2010 in Tillamook, but just a few days ago we bought some fresh oysters in Bluffton, so we were in good practice. But oysters don't like to be opened and they make it as difficult as possible.  And even after they are steamed, they don't just pop open.  You still need an oyster knife, some strong wrist muscles and a little patience to get the job done.  But oh, when the shell gives a little and you know that oyster is just about yours, what a wonderful feeling!