March 20th, 2012 
LeeAnn On St. Patrick’s Day, as a million people were making their way into Savannah for a gorgeous day of drinking and revelry, my husband and I … left town.
Am I getting old or what???
I didn’t even give it a second thought.
Instead, we drove to Charleston, to go to two of my favorite stores.
Five years ago, those stores would have been Saks and Gucci. No more. My tastes have changed (plus, to be honest, Saks closed. Otherwise, I probably would have had to stop there).
Our first stop was here:
We are getting a Whole Foods in Savannah. I cannot wait!! So many good things to choose from and their prepared foods are incredible! I could walk around this store for hours.
Stop number two:
Trader Joe’s is not as aesthetically overwhelming as Whole Foods, but it has some items that I love. I have blogged before about their peanut butter with flax-seed. The almond butter is just as yummy. Their pumpkin butter is also delicious.
The above picture is from my pantry. Please don’t tell the people from Hoarders.
I have also become a huge fan of the Trader Joe’s boxed soups – especially the Organic Creamy Tomato. It is much healthier, tastier, and less caloric than the canned versions, such as Amy’s and Campbell’s. It still has too much salt (there is a low salt version that I have not tried), but because of the amount that I exercise and also my low blood pressure, I don’t worry too much about salt (yet).
Our final stop in Charleston was on somewhat of a whim. I have lately become intrigued by Great Harvest bread. When I lived in the Philadelphia suburbs, a Great Harvest bakery opened and, frankly, what I remember most from it is the sweet bread.
There are several healthy living bloggers that I follow that are Great Harvest fans. I researched the bread and discovered that is very healthy, with no preservatives. The wheat is milled on site. The breads are made with five simple ingredients: fresh ground whole wheat, water, fresh yeast, salt and something sweet (like a local honey).
The closest Great Harvest to us is in Charleston, and it is not far from Whole Foods and Trader Joes. Like idiots, we arrived about 2:30 and starving, not having had lunch.
We were greeted by smiling faces and offers to taste several kinds of freshly baked bread. I tried spinach and red pepper, cinnamon chip, dakota, and Irish soda bread (I was HUNGRY). All were incredible, but the dakota is my favorite – a hearty wheat with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and millet. We left with a couple (ok, more) loaves of bread, along with two freshly made sandwiches to eat on our way back to Savannah.
As we neared Savannah between 4 and 5, the traffic leaving was at a standstill. We made it back to our island without encountering any traffic going in our direction.
When we got home, after being smothered with bulldog kisses, we opened a bottle of wine and surveyed our bounty.
We then enjoyed a delightful dinner of fresh vegetables, incredible cheeses, fresh fruit and delicious freshly baked bread. A wonderful ending to a fun day!
Do y’all have these stores and, if so, what are your favorite items to buy?
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We are Twinsies from this weekend! I went to TJs and Great Harvest in Charlotte. I got Dakota bread too, as well as Cinnamon Chip (which was turned into French Toast for Sunday Lunch- YUM!) My fave TJs things are their nut butters, blocks of dark chocolate, white whole wheat flour, organic bagged apples and cheese! We keep hearing rumors of a Trader Joes in Columbia, but no real proof yet.
MB – too funny that we were on parallel paths this weekend!! Your French Toast sounds so incredible – YUM!!!!! Love your list from TJs – especially wish I had gotten some blocks of dark chocolate. Love to you and yours! xoxo
Funny! Savannah looked crazier than crazy this year! I also love TJ soups. My favorite thing at TJ these days which I also hoard, is the frozen steel cut oatmeal. 3 mins to a delish and healthy breakfast. I add a splash of milk and a banana. I also like their all natural water flavoring packs – cherry pomegranate is my fave. I drink double the water when I add a pack to my 64 oz water bottle!
Oooh Ada – I LOVE steel cut oatmeal and had no idea they had frozen oatmeal. I am kicking myself that I didn’t pose this question BEFORE we went. The flavor packs sound great too!! Hope you are well!
LeeAnn — what a great way to spend the day. I’m surprised you had such ease getting back into Savannah but it sounds like everyone was already there? I’ve been to that Trader Joe’s!! My parents live in Charleston and when I was there over the Christmas holiday, we went there. We have one in our area but not very convenient, more than an hour away and in a direction we don’t typically go. I love their unusual and wonderful selection of foods. Now I know where we can meet next time I’m south!! 🙂
It’s been a very long time since I’ve been in a Whole Foods store, I believe the closest one is in Boston and on the infrequent trip there, we aren’t grocery shopping.
Great spots and it does sound like you had a wonderful meal on St. Patty’s Day!
Robin – next time you come to Charleston, let me know and I will definitely meet you there!! We were coming back to Savannah after the parade, so everyone was either leaving or staying there to drink. It was perfect timing to come back and skirt the downtown area. Hope you are doing well and catching up after your vacation!
I figured y’all went out of town for St. Pat’s. I guess everyone is on the mends? How’s the pollen? I know, horrible.
I’m sure you probably get the roasted unsalted almonds from Trader Joes and the Harvest Grains Blend( baby garbanzo, red quinoa, couscous etc.) I know you don’t drink coffee but we get our coffee there.I also like their steel cut oatmeal, cheaper than McCann’s.The large block of dark chocolate is good, too.Miss ya,sis!
Hey Sister!! Your brother is finally better – that is a doozy of the flu!! Pollen is at highest levels ever. I have read about that Harvest Grains blend recently, but forgot and didn’t get any!! I was not organized. I did pick up a package of their steel cut oatmeal, so am excited to try that. We miss and love y’all!