Home, Humidity & Skin's Hot Dogs

So I finally got home to South Carolina for the first time in 2 1/2 years, to the home I grew up in and where my parents still live. Much had changed -- including the floor in my parents' house, the paint on the walls and our old kitty cat who now walks with a limp and is missing some teeth. But much had not changed including my mom and dad with margarita and beer in hand respectively, bunking up with my sister (her arm firmly placed on my face) and of course the mosquitos and humidity. The South Carolina bugs are sneaky -- you could play connect the dots on my legs right now but I never knew I was getting attacked. And the dryness of LA had never looked so appealing until I walked out of my house in SC and my sunglasses immediately fogged up from the humidity.

Out of all the wonderful nostalgic things I did this past week though, one of the highlights was all of us piling into the car and heading over to Skin's Hot Dogs for lunch - the original location. Skin's has been around since before my parents were born and it's one of those places where you can see both the affluent and the impoverished belly up to the lunch counter to share a dog and a coke. Skin's now has 10 locations in SC but there's nothing like that little shack in the old part of town. Pay 'em a visit if you're ever in that neck of the woods and enjoy a little history as the old wood floor creaks beneath your footsteps. I'm so happy to have seen my parents, my sister, my nephew, my old kitty cat and some old friends. Thanks Anderson, SC for a trip down memory lane. And for all my readers out there, go to my blog comment section and share your favorite place to eat in your hometown and why...