Washington Square Picnic

Last week was my ninth wedding anniversary. And while anniversaries aren’t the romantic endeavors with the Kiddo Combo that they once were, picnics are a way to celebrate in a special way without hiring a baby sitter.

Washington Square is my new favorite Charleston spot. It’s a small and beautifully landscaped park behind City Hall near the corners of Broad and Meeting Streets. But despite its busy address, the park is still, quiet, and shaded with lots of green grass and blooming flowers. In other words, it’s an idyllic location for a dinnertime picnic. (Did you see that I put my monogrammed picnic basket to good use?)

For everyone, I packed BLTs on French bread, tomato salad with onion and basil, brie cheese, herb pita chips, and blueberries. Us grown-ups drank white sangria, and everyone ate (and ate) dessert that layered cake, white chocolate-raspberry icing, white chocolate chips, and sprinkles in a Ball jar. I always wonder what the perfect picnic food will be, but I think this menu might be perfection. The kids ate everything stretched out on a blanket under the trees. We all kicked off our flip flops. And the sangria tasted like summer.

And if all this picnic goodness wasn’t enough, I have to share the ultimate picnic resource for Charleston. The Charleston Parks Conservancy strives “to increase the quality, awareness, appreciation, and usage of Charleston’s parks and greenspaces.” Their web site includes a parks directory that lets you search for parks by amenities or location. The conservancy was quick with picnic location suggestions on Twitter (them and me), and the directory was where I found Washington Square. The site is an amazing resource that every local or visiting Charlestonian should utilize.