Gold Bug Burger

I left work early today to head to my doctor's appointment. My original 3-month follow up was at the end of January but I moved it up since I have been having a couple of issues. Since being back in South Carolina my allergies have been out of control. My eyes water so much that I have not been able to wear eye makeup for over a month and the post-nasal drip is enough to make me gag... literally. Also, on the right side of my neck, toward the back, is a knot. At first I thought it was a swollen gland but the more time went on the larger it got. For the last month the skin over it has been red and itchy and sometimes it throbs. I simply call it "my tumor" but Dr. Eads seems to think that I am not going to keel over from cancer, BUT he did use the word "benign", which kind of freaked me out a bit. Initially he wanted a CAT scan but changed his mind and put me on a round of antibiotics to see if that would take care of it. Fun!

After my appointment it was time for lunch and we were trying to figure out where to go. We always end up at the same old places and we were trying to think of something different. Neither of us could think of any place we wanted to try! I need to keep a list of places that seem interesting, or have been suggested by friends. Like I have mentioned before, since being gone from Charleston for so long I have lost touch with what's out there as far as dining choices. I used to bitch all the time when I was in Ohio about the lack of independently owned restaurants. It seemed all the restaurants in the greater Dayton are were chain restaurants that you could experience in any town in the U.S. - Boring! Charleston has a HUGE amount of great, independently owned restaurants that I need to rediscover!

After tossing around dining choices I remembered that we have always talked about going to Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island. Poe's is named after Edgar Allan Poe who was, at one time, stationed at Fort Moultrie on the Island. He is said to have written many of his stories here. Friends have said that Poe's has the best burger in the Charleston area so we decided to head to the beach!

First off, when you go to Poe's in the Summer you might as well bring a tent to camp out because it is packed! This is probably the main reason that I have always ignored it before. I don't mind a wait, but I do mind a crowd. In the past, when I have driven by, the patio looks cramped and elbow to elbow. When you are in 100+ degree heat that's not so much fun, really. Today there was no wait, but as soon as we sat down the restaurant seemed to fill up quickly!

The burger of the day sounded very promising since it was VERY similar to my favorite burger of all time from Red Robin - the Whiskey River BBQ Burger, so I ordered that. When Robin and I first started dating I really wanted my favorite burger, but the nearest Red Robin was in Columbia, which 1 1/2 hours away... we drove there anyway! Cheese, onion straws, BBQ sauce... soooo good! My high hopes were quickly shot down when my burger came out and I cut it in half. The burger that I ordered to be medium-well was cooked to a mere (and gross) rare. Ugh. When the server came back I told her that my burger was supposed to be medium well and she then picked up the plate to examine it as if I was not telling the truth. I guess she agreed with me because she took it back to the kitchen.

After a bit of a wait, my burger - round two - arrived and I cut it in half. When I did this, I realized it was actually the SAME burger that I sent back. Because I had cut it in half initially and then cut it in half the second time, my burger was now cut into quarters and held together by the bun. I started laughing and showed Robin. The inside of my burger was still very red. When the server came back I pointed it out. She said "How exactly do you want it to look?" I told her "I want it medium-well" but what I really wanted to say was "Ummmm, NOT RED!!" She offered to take it back to the kitchen but I knew that just meant I would be eating spit later so I declined. I still can't believe they cooked the same, cut in half-cheese covered burger that I had before. Wow!

So, Poe's Tavern... well, it's out of the way to go to, so MAYBE if we are in the neighborhood in the middle of winter we MIGHT give it another chance!