Addenda

Savannah: we heard about a chocolate place that sounded like it might be comparable to our beloved French Broad Chocolate Lounge. We stuck our heads in to Lulu's Chocolate Bar but it wasn't even close, so we left. We are spoiled and happily so.

Charleston: In search of snacks, I did find something called the Benne Wafer in amongst the tourist tat. These tasty little sesame discs seemed like a good, if not tremendously healthy, nibble for us. The historic aspect (supposedly the slaves brought benne or sesame seeds with them though I don't recall them being given a luggage allowance on the slave ships) would surely make up for sugar being the first ingredient. I discovered too late that egg whites are also a major ingredient, so no benne wafers for Jim. Had to eat them all myself....

I guess I was hungrier than I thought. In my quest for substantial snacks, I not only loaded up on benne wafers but I bought four pounds of rice. As it was uncooked rice, it really didn't help me at the moment (and the added weight didn't make the search more fun) but I needed CPR. No, not that kind of CPR. This is Carolina Plantation Rice. Back in Colonial times, South Carolina was all about the rice but that crop had disappeared from our southern neighbor's shores by the 20th century. There is one place in SC that is growing the heirloom Carolina Gold rice again commercially. I picked up two pounds each of the gold and the aromatic. Can't wait to try it out and see how much more flavorful it is than good old Mahatma brand.

There's also a tea plantation that is the only one of its kind in the US. I didn't get there nor did I buy their tea. I think I need to visit and do a taste test before I sully my tea shelf with anything other than Typhoo. Still, I'm a big fan of people who are trying to revive crops that once were in abundance here and now are micro niches.