a grown-up night away

On Thursday, Jimmy's mom picked up Mac, and Jimmy and I escaped for a night away in Charleston. We ate sushi for lunch on King Sreet, wandered in and out of the shops on King Street and down some of the smaller streets of Charleston, had afternoon drinks on the rooftop terrace at the Market Pavilion Hotel, and checked into our lovely room at the HarbourView Inn before enjoying their late afternoon wine and cheese selection.

Jimmy was supposed to be in charge of choosing the dinner restaurant, but I really wanted to eat at Oak Steakhouse because I had a hankering for a good piece of red meat and there's so much buzz about this place that I thought we should try it. We ditched "Brazilian time" and arrived promptly at 7:40 for our 7:45 reservation, to be told by the restaurant manager that we were running ahead of them and would we have a drink at the bar while we waited. The bar was packed and Jimmy had to wait a long time for service. After he'd gotten the drinks and we'd been waiting for about 30 minutes, I noticed them clearing a semi-circular table right in the bar area, and I told Jimmy that they were going to try to seat us there. Sure enough, this lovely young hostess came over and asked if we were ready to be seated. Jimmy replied "yes, but not at that table." Oak is in a lovely restored 3-story bank building on Broad Street and there was no need to be seated on the 1st floor with the noisy bar patrons when there were more civilized stories above.

Jimmy asked when we could expect to be seated upstairs and the hostess replied that there were several tables getting ready to leave and as soon as they'd left, they clean the table and seat us. We kept watching for twosomes to descend the stairs, but nobody (twosomes, foursomes, nobody) exited. So imagine our surprise when the manager came back and told us that they were preparing a table for us that he thought we'd love: it was right in the middle of things and we'd be able to see who was coming and going. I told Jimmy this didn't sound good to me and sure enough, we turned the corner to ascend the stairs and Jimmy spotted the table at the top of the staircase on the 3rd floor, all by itself like it wasn't supposed to be there.

Once we got to the top of the stairs and could see the beverage station right by our table, complete with a tray of dirty glasses, I realized this was not going to do. The manager attempted to seat us but I told him we weren't sitting there. I said that my husband was going to Afghanistan on Tuesday, that we'd left our child at home for a special night away and we'd chosen this restaurant especially and I was not going to sit in a water refilling station. (The aforementioned husband, by the way, had shrunk back and was trying to blend into the wall during my firm but controlled address.)

The manager then introduced himself as Michael and told us that he completely understood and that if we would wait a few more minutes, he would get a great table, that they appreciated people who served our country and that he would "make this right". Michael had a wonderful sense of humor and as we sat on two chairs at the top of the stairs to wait, he told me to keep my eyes open for anything I noticed wrong in the restaurant.

Michael periodically checked in and on one of his passings-by told us again that he would make this right, he was very sorry for our wait, etc. Finally an older couple left and we were seated in what Michael said was the most sought-after table for two in the restaurant. It was tucked into its own little space so we could hear and see the happenings around us, but we felt like we were in our own little world.

One waiter came over to bring menus and water, and then another waiter named Bradley came over and told us he would be taking care of us and that he was so sorry for our wait (it was 45 minutes after the reservation time by now). He asked us if we'd accept a glass of champagne as a courtesy, and we figured that was Michael "making it right" so we accepted.

We had the most wonderful meal - Jimmy started with she crab soup and then we moved on to our main courses of filet mignon for me and a cajun New York strip for Jimmy with shared Johns Island butter beans and gorgonzola cottage fries for both of us. I have eaten a lot of good meat in my life, but that filet mignon was probably the best I've ever had.

We were both too full for dessert so we asked Bradley for the bill. When he came back over, he said they were really appreciative of people who served our country and that Michael had taken care of everything on the bill. Wow. We thanked him profusely and gave him a huge tip and then before we left, the chef and owner, Brett McKee, came over to thank Jimmy for serving the country and to make sure that we'd enjoyed everything. Wow again.

If you're looking for a great meal in Charleston, I highly, highly recommend Oak Steakhouse at 17 Broad Street. If you order the filet mignon, you will not be disappointed. Check them out at oaksteakhouserestaurant.com.

We returned to the HarbourView Inn too late to enjoy their warm cookies and milk, but we had a great breakfast in our room yesterday before heading out to window-shop more and lunch at Magnolia's, which used to be one of my favorite restaurants in Charleston. The food was not as good as I remembered, and the waitstaff and young hostess left a lot to be desired in terms of ability and pleasantness. I don't know if Magnolia's is resting on its laurels now since it's been so highly acclaimed for so long, but it wasn't our best experience and there are too many truly great restaurants in Charleston to rest on your laurels.

Now we're back in our nice little house in Summerville and I'm preparing to make myself scarce. Jimmy and Mac will spend the late afternoon with two of Jimmy's Carolina friends and their children at our community pool before grilling out. Since no other wives are going to in attendance, I feel it would be better for me to excuse myself and do something like take myself to a movie that I've been wanting to see or continue my quest for the perfect living room rug or look for the nesting tables I want for the living room or drink coffee at Starbucks or something like that.

Three days until wheels-up. Time is ticking...