So, we had visited our favorite restaurants and thrift stores and said our “goodbyes” to Hilton Head Island. The real estate agent was secured and the condo was getting ready to go on the market.
Then the in-laws got a long-term visitor for the summer. Their teenage great-niece, Sarah, came to stay for a few weeks to help them get around and run errands. After a few weeks, my mother-in-law thought it would be a great idea for us to take Sarah to see Hilton Head Island.
Of course, we gladly agreed to take her! After all, her mother and father spent their honeymoon at the condo almost twenty years ago. What a nice treat to have Sarah get to visit as well.
And how to show Sarah the Hilton Head area? Hubby and I were on the same page: visit all the thrift stores AND get over to Savannah one more time!
Our first thrift store stop was The Church Mouse. I haven’t been there in a while because their cookbook selections are usually small. Just as they are again during this visit. But I did find this really cool shopping bag:
It’s made from leftover/remnant upholstery fabric and put together using sewing machines donated to the Allendale Correctional Institute. A volunteer at the prison wanted to start a quilting class for the inmates. The warden agreed and The Church Mouse donated the sewing machines and fabric. There are now more than thirty machines being used for making quilts and shopping bags. It was only a few dollars, it looks fantastic and it helps support a project that is changing lives while also providing a vocational skill.
Our next stop was the Osprey Thrift Store. The back left corner has all the books and I was able to find these two local cookbooks pretty quickly:
Presenting Belfair… (Belfair Community, Bluffton, SC) and Overtures & Encores: Symphony of Savories and Sweets (The League of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra).
Not bad, but I know we can do better.
We headed over to my new favorite thrift store on the island: St. Francis Thrift Store. And they did not disappoint!
She Speaks in Sauce (Michele Wilber), The Hali’imaile General Store Cookbook (Beverly Gannon with Bonnie Friedman), The Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant Seafood Cookbook, and 150 Best Breakfast Sandwich Maker Recipes (Jennifer Williams).
Brennan’s New Orleans Cookbook (Hermann B. Deutsch), The New Orleans Restaurant Cookbook (Deidre Stanforth), A Kitchen Collection: Sconset Café a Village Café on Nantucket Island (Pamela A. McKinstry), and Cottage St. Bakery Cookbook (JoAnna Keeley).
Nice!!
On the way to Savannah the next day, I did drive by Cassandra’s Kitchen again but they didn’t appear to be open. Remember the two signed Ina Garten cookbooks I got? I didn’t even get the one I intended to buy when I was there! Oh well…maybe I can get them to ship it to me?
We hit River Street and got caught in the rain. We found a spot for lunch and dried off while filling up with amazing food. Hubby and I ate fried chicken, fried pork chops, collard greens…Sarah just ate mashed potatoes and mac & cheese. LOL!
After lunch, I was able to drive over to The Book Lady and check out their latest selections. I didn’t have to wait to get in this time…so yeah!
Usually, I walk out of this store with at least two bags or a heavy box. This time, I walked to the register with a relatively light load!
Nibbles & Scribbles (Martha Giddens Nesbit)—autographed! Mastering the Art of Southern Vegetables (Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart). Barefoot Contessa Family Style (Ina Garten)—remember the cookbook I wanted to get from Cassandra’s Kitchen? It was this one!! It’s not signed, but it is in great shape and it’s much less $$. Bress ‘n’ Nyam: Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth-Generation Farmer (Matthew Raiford with Amy Paige Condon)—I snagged this as I was reaching the register to check out. I need to figure out how to get this one autographed….
Bayou Cuisine: Its Tradition and Transition (St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Indianola, Mississippi), Louisiana’s Fabulous Foods and How to Cook Them (compiled by Lady Helen Henriques Hardy and Raymond J. Martinez), Laura’s Quick Cajun & Creole Cookbook (Jeannine Walsh) and Apple Pie: An American Story (John T. Edge).
As a former member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, I’m a huge fan of John T. and all the work he does to help shepherd, collect and record the history of southern cooking as well as it’s continual evolution as the “South” absorbs more flavor via new groups/cultures calling the area “home.”
Our day in Savannah is done and we head back to the condo. I think Sarah bought something at every thrift store we visited! And it was nice to be able to show her around the island and over the bridge to Savannah. This summer has definitely been a multi-state adventure for her.
And I’m so glad to have been able to make the rounds at the Hilton Head thrift stores and the used book store in Savannah one more time! But the sad reality was setting in. The photographer was scheduled to take photos of the condo for the listing.
We did a lot of vacuuming, dusting and cleaning to get everything “photo ready.” It was another great weekend back in Hilton Head but as we closed the door as we left, we knew it meant the reality of the condo’s sale really was one step closer.