The Donut Experiment

The Donut Experiment

January 13, 2016, Greenville, SC

Filed by Femme au Foyer

I.             Problem

A new boutique-style shop is in town

II.            Hypothesis

IF we visit the Donut Experiment THEN we shall have a delicious experience

III.          Materials

a.    Directions to The Donut Experiment, located at 2123 Augusta St. C

b.    Topping and icing checklist, available upon entering the store

c.    Pencil/pen, wallet

d.    An appetite

IV.          Safety Information

a.    Various donut/icing/topping combinations may be TOO delicious to survive the trip home – please plan accordingly

b.    Deciding on flavor combinations while small children are tugging on your pants can be frustrating – sit them down at the small table with the offered donut-themed coloring pages and crayons instead!

c.    Eating while driving can result in not only crumbs, but distracted driving. Femme au Foyer always recommends pulling over in a safe location to eat your donuts

V.           Procedure

a.    Arrive at the Donut Experiment and enter the establishment

b.    Find the 'donut form' and take a look at the menu for daily specials

c.    Select a quantity of donuts, then choose toppings and icings for each

d.    Hand your selection to the employee who will proceed to fill your order right in front of you, dipping each donut into the icing of your choice before covering it in chosen topping

e.    Pay for your purchase, hopefully keeping the box closed until you have reached your chosen destination

f.     Enjoy your personal donut collection!

VI.          Results/Data

     With combinations including caramel icing/sea salt, maple icing/bacon, chocolate icing/peanut butter drizzle, vanilla icing/raspberry drizzle and glaze/M&Ms, everyone got to choose a couple of combinations

     Because of the endless combinations available, we ended cutting most of the donuts into quarters so that we could try multiple combos – encouraging extended snacking

     Think bacon doesn’t belong on a donut? The maple/bacon combination was a favorite served with coffee (which is also available on location)

     The kids preferred the candy toppings: M&Ms, Reese’s, Oreo

     Specialty donuts are available, including key lime, sriracha and a daily special

     With a dozen donuts priced at $13, a dozen designer donuts are only a few dollars more than the typical DD or KK experience – worth it for the experience? You decide…

VII.         Conclusion

The Donut Experiment is a great place to go for a special treat. A nice spot to meet a client for a meeting, meet a few moms for a morning coffee, or to pick up donuts to take to that staff meeting full of co-workers trying to maintain New Year’s Resolutions – we give an enthusiastic thumbs up to TDE. Who knew science could be so satiating!

Greenville Swamp Rabbits!

So there’s this thing in Greenville, it’s called the Swamp Rabbit Trail. It’s more than a thing, actually, as the 20 mile greenway following the Reedy river here in the Upstate has triggered the rebirth of an entire town (Travelers Rest), and spawned multiple businesses and even a sports team that want to share in the glory of a marsh rabbit. The SRT is a model we’ve seen work countless times across the US, of transforming a former rail line into a community resource; the phenomenon is common enough that top ten lists of the best rail trails are appearing, such as this one in Travel + Leisure. (When thinking of a similar success story, the High Line in NYC comes to mind despite the differences in use, as it is primary for foot traffic while the SRT is for bicycles and pedestrians.) I’ve previously written a little about the history and a small portion of the trail in my post The Swamp Rabbit: from the Falls to Cleveland Park, and about some of the businesses that have popped up around the greenway such as Swamp Rabbit Grocery and the Swamp Rabbit Brewery and Taproom. However, the most recent Swamp Rabbits in Greenville are a hockey team!

The Swamp Rabbits are the second East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) franchise to play in Greenville, the Greenville Grrrowl being our hometown team from 1998 to 2006. After four years without a hockey team the Johnstown Chiefs were relocated to Greenville in 2010, becoming the Greenville Road Warriors until they were rebranded last year.

Being a relocated Yankee, I get more excited about hockey than I do about NASCAR. Although the closest I’ve ever gotten to playing were my years as the Baltic Club’s broomball goalie at UIUC (which isn’t very close!), I had thought to take the boys to a game last season, especially as the boys were owners of Road Warrior Jerseys through the franchise’s participation in the LiveWell Greenville Park Hop. Mikus can be sensitive to the noise of large crowds and so we didn’t make it – however I wasn’t ready to let another entire season pass without catching a game!

The 2015-2016 promotional schedule is pretty impressive. We opted to attend on the night they gave away jerseys to all the kids, and although Star Wars night and the cap giveaway are in the past, there are still over a dozen games to attend including scout night and $5 ticket Thursdays.

Among the 28 teams in the ECHL our Swamp Rabbits are in the South division along with the Florida Everblades, the Atlanta Gladiators, The South Carolina Stingrays (North Charleston) and the Orlando Solar Bears, the opponent on the night we attended. It was a close game, decided in overtime after a nail-biting third period.

GOOOOAAAAAL!!!!!

I was blown away when I looked at the roster; the Swamp Rabbits have an international team with Canadians, Russians, Finns and Czechs playing alongside Americans. Currently 27 year old Jack Combs from St. Louis, MO is leading the stats with 15 goals, and although we’re #4 in the standings, we still have a couple of months left in the first season!

Local blogger (and sons) on the jumbotron!

 

The Greenville Swamp Rabbits are affiliated with the NY Rangers of the NHL and the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. You can catch their home games at "The Well" (Bon Secours Wellness Arena, schedule here) and see the team stats here.

Sullivan's Island: Edgar Allen Poe and lifesavers

It’s just one big party at our house, from November to the end of January! Starting with Halloween, a birthday, Thanksgiving and the holidays, and ending with another couple of birthdays and a name-day, today we are celebrating the birthday of the homme au foyer himself! Although it’s not quite the adventure of last year in Costa Rica, I hope you will all join me in wishing Roberts a happy birthday and all the best in the coming year – and while you’re at it remind him I’m waiting on the present from that party-kick-off birthday in November…

So a few final notes on Sullivan’s Island, the destination on our Charleston trip that included a stop at Patriots Point and Fort Moultrie.  We ended our visit to the Fort with the boys earning Junior Ranger badges, a fantastic program that encourages exploration and curiosity during visits to our National Parks. Luckily Roberts snapped a picture; we’ll pretend Lauris isn’t barefoot while being sworn in…

A few blocks east of the Fort is the Sullivan’s Island Life Saving Station, the boathouse and quarters built in 1895 when coastal shipping was the primary means of transportation. The eight men and two rowboats housed there were tasked with protecting the lives of those involved in maritime trade. In 1915 the US Coast Guard took over the Life-Saving Service, and the complex remained in use until 1973. The beach was actually much closer to the boathouse than it is today, the shores of the coastal barrier island constantly shifting with the waves. In addition there is also the signal tower (1938), the buildings together forming an “L” shape around the bunker/sighting station. Today the structures are part of the US Coast Guard Historic District, incoporated into Fort Sumter National Monument. 

Then we hit the beach.  Many of the SC beaches are pretty similar – smooth, soft sand with currents and tides that keep parents on their toes. This one was no different, the best part about the low tide being the tide pools that kept the kids in the water without the waves and jellyfish of the ocean. 

Two blocks from the beach is Poe’s Tavern, named after Edgar Allen Poe and famous for its burgers and drinks. The author was stationed at Fort Moultrie under the pseudonym Edgar Allan Perry for thirteen months beginning November 18,1827, and it was this time on the island that was the inspiration for “The Gold Bug”, a story about a mystical beetle that led to buried treasure. The restaurant is worth the visit, if for the décor alone – what better way to spend some time in the bathroom than reading Edgar Allen Poe? A great spot to catch up with friends, a casual and laid-back beach atmosphere and mouthwatering food – the trio a winning combination.

  

When I went to photograph the interior of Poe’s I was wondering how my camera battery was already dead, but later upon reviewing my pictures it became clear; there were no fewer than 120 selfies taken by a certain 5yo with ketchup on his cheek. Robert, as my birthday present to you, here they are in no particular order…. On second thought, maybe I’ll stick to the best 4+1!

Sullivan's Island: Fort Moultrie

While most come to Sullivan’s Island to enjoy the beaches or eat at famous Poe’s Tavern, there’s another side to this beach resort town that is easily discovered with a visit to the west end of the island, and Fort Moultrie. Part of Fort Sumter National Monument, Sullivan’s Island is actually closer to Fort Sumter than both of the ferry ports, Patriot’s Point and Liberty Square; they depart from the downtown Charleston area while the fort is between James and Sullivan’s Islands, both forts standing guard at the mouth of the Charleston harbor to the Atlantic.

The first palmetto-log fort on Sullivan's Island wasn’t finished when it was attacked by the British in 1776. The June 28^th battle ended in British retreat, although they returned in 1780, capturing Charleston and keeping it until the end of the war. The fort was named after its commander in that initial battle, Colonel William Moultrie.

After the Revolution, Fort Moultrie was all but abandoned, and by 1791 there was little left of it. When war broke out between England and France in 1793 Congress authorized the first system of coastal fortifications and a 2^nd Fort Moultrie was completed in 1798. Destroyed by a hurricane in 1804, a third (brick) Fort Moultrie was built.

In my opinion the most interesting thing about the series of forts ringing Charleston Harbor (Moultrie, Sumter, Johnson, and Pinckney), is that they were meant to be a collaborative effort at keeping the enemy at bay, but actually ended up being on center stage pitted against one another in the Union/Confederate conflict as the site of the first shots of the Civil War. SC seceded from the Union, and the Federal garrison abandoned Fort Moultrie for Fort Sumter, deeming the former too weak and hard to defend. (More on that in my post Celebrate your wedding anniversary at Fort Sumter!)

In April 1863, the Union began a 20-month bombardment of Sumter and Moultrie. The defenses held, although both forts were basically a pile of rubble at the point when the Confederate army evacuated the city in February 1865. Moultrie was rebuilt and modernized in the 1870s and again in 1885, but eventually larger weapons were placed further east on the island and the fort became just a small piece of the Fort Moultrie Military Reservation.

A visit to today's restored Fort starts at the Fort Moultrie Visitor Center, where visitors can view educational exhibits and get a copy of the Junior Ranger program booklet. After watching the orientation film we headed across the street, entering the fort through the Sally Port entrance.

A full exploration of the fort can take a few hours as it is certainly larger than it seems, partially underground, and a comprehensive visit will also include a trip around the forts walls. Additionally visitors can take the “Cannon Walk” with artillery pieces that date from the Civil War to Battery Jasper, part of the coastal defense system.

We ducked over to the ocean, getting our feet wet on a strip of sand that lay between concrete rubble (to protect against erosion) and the water. That tiny taste of the ocean was enough to plant a seed of impatience in us all on this hot day, leading us to abandon the fort in search of swimming and sandcastles… but not before being sworn in as Junior Park Rangers, that is.

Open 9am to 5pm daily (except on certain holidays), there is an admission fee to visit the Fort: please see the National Park Service website for more information. 

Patriots Point - a naval history adventure

On our most recent visit to Charleston we spent some time in Mt. Pleasant, the suburb that bore the brunt of the massive rain and flooding event just one week later, closing many of the highways leading in and out of Charleston. Although we saw a drizzle while on the Mt. Pleasant pier under the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, it luckily held off on our visit to Patriots Point, home to the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.

One of South Carolina’s largest tourist attractions with more than 270,000 visitors per year, Patriots Point is located at the mouth of the Cooper River on the Charleston Harbor. Established in 1975, the 350-acre complex includes not only the National Historic Landmark ships, a Cold War Memorial, a Vietnam Support Base Camp, and the headquarters to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, but also leases property to a golf course, a hotel and a collegiate athletic complex. With 29 aircraft on display from conflicts ranging from WWII to present-day operations, Patriots Point advertises as being the only aircraft carrier museum in the US to have all of the top ten most significant aircraft types in U.S. carrier aviation history.

For the price of parking and admission you are allowed access to the Aircraft Carrier USS Yorktown, the Destroyer USS Laffey, Submarine USS Clagamore and the Vietnam Experience. Once you’ve paid and entered this area, my suggestion would be to start with the Yorktown; the National Historic Landmark ship is also home to the Medal of Honor Museum, the Apollo 8 Mission Exhibit and dozens of historic aircraft.

Nicknamed “the Fighting Lady,” the Yorktown is the 10^th aircraft carrier to serve in the US Navy. Named for the Yorktown CV-5 lost in the Battle of Midway in 1942, the ship played a significant role in the Pacific offensive and received the Presidential Unit Citation. During WWII the Yorktown carried 90 planes, but later was modified with an angled flight deck for jets, and finally converted to an antisubmarine carrier which is how it served in the Vietnam War.

An information desk is located at the main entrance staffed with personnel available to help answer any questions, but the booklet you will have received has 5 self-guided walking tours to make the most of your time on the ship. We started with Tour 3, as it includes the flight deck and bridge, the two areas of most interest to the boys. Following the guide we wound our way through operations and control rooms before emerging onto the flight deck, where various aircraft were situated with a grandiose view of Charleston and the Harbor.

Climbing the Bridge we toured a few cabins, the pilot house and radar rooms before descending back into the bowels of the ship. We chose to continue with Tour 1: Living and Working, but elected to take a few shortcuts as Lauris and Mikus weren’t as interested in all the displays. We skipped the rest of the tours, which take visitors to the engine/fire room, to the WWII Carrier rooms and to the wardroom and brig.

Having returned to the hangar deck we took a closer look at the exhibits there, including the Medal of Honor Museum and the Apollo 8 Mission model capsule. In 1968 the Apollo 8 was the first capsule to orbit the moon, and Yorktown recovered it upon its return to Earth.

We disembarked and headed along the pier to the USS Laffey. Named for the Civil War Medal of Honor recipient Seaman Bartlett Laffey, the Destroyer was targeted off Okinawa by a massive air strike. Five kamikazes and three bombs struck the ship killing 32 and wounding 71, but the crew kept the boat afloat and once decommissioned, the Laffey arrived at Patriots Point in 1981.

Furthest along the pier adjacent to the Resort and Marina is the submarine USS Clagamore. The 322-ft sub was commissioned only a few weeks before the end of WWII and spent thirty years in service before being replaced by a nuclear submarine. The only ship of its type to survive as a museum ship, the descent into the ship is tight and slightly claustrophobic so the boys sat this one out while I had a quick look.

Having returned to mainland the next exhibit is the Vietnam Experience. Exhibits and artifacts are accompanied by the sights and sounds of the Vietnam War, and although educational and interesting, it was overwhelming to the children.

Once you’ve exited through the ship store you could cross over to the Cold War Submarine Memorial which is located across from the Patriots Point’s main entrance, examine the various cannons and the view of Yorktown or, for an additional fee, take a 5-20 minute aerial tour of Charleston and Patriots Point via helicopter.

Patriots Point is also a departure location for one of the Fort Sumter ferries, and just minutes from the Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park and the Ravenel Bridge. While the museum does have a few food options, we elected to head to Mount Pleasant to eat, although you can just as quickly make it to downtown Charleston. And finally, while the ticket price can be steep for a large family (adults $20, seniors $17 and children 6 to 11 $12 plus $5 parking), this weekend is “Pay What You Can Weekend” at Patriots Point; visitors are asked to name their own admission price January 9-10, to help celebrate their 40^th anniversary. If this weekend isn't the optimal time to visit keep your eye out for groupon deals - the current one is a 2 for the price of 1.

The Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum is open daily from 9:00am to 6:30pm, and active military in uniform and children under six are free. See website for details on educational programs, event rentals and camping programs as well as all the details on the ships, aircraft and exhibits on site. This fact sheet was a handy reference during our visit, and the map/tour guide that comes with admission was essential in prioritizing and planning our visit.