In this slip and fall case, Patricia Bonner appeals from the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to Southern Restaurant Group, Inc., owner of TGI Friday’s “Friday’s”, contending that genuine issues of material fact remain on her claim. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. Summary judgment is proper where the movant shows no genuine issue of material fact exists and entitlement to summary judgment as a matter of law. A defendant carries this burden by demonstrating the absence of evidence as to one essential element of plaintiff’s case. Should the defendant do so, the plaintiff cannot rest on her pleadings, but rather must point to specific evidence giving rise to a triable issue.1 We apply a de novo standard of review “to an appeal from a grant of summary judgment, and we view the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant.”2 So viewed, the evidence shows that Bonner and her husband, Jimmy, left New Orleans early on September 7, 1999, planning to drive to North Carolina to vacation with their son and his family. They decided to stop in Augusta to spend the night. After checking into a hotel, the Bonners shared a drink of vodka on the rocks, then drove to a nearby Friday’s to have dinner. Although neither Mr. nor Mrs. Bonner was disabled, they parked in a handicapped parking space because the car they were driving, which belonged to Bonner’s father, was equipped with a handicapped license plate. The space in which they parked was directly adjacent to the sidewalk in front of the restaurant and next to a curb on the passenger side. Upon exiting the car’s passenger door, Bonner stepped up onto the curb, walked across a small, grassy, landscaped island, and entered the restaurant. Bonner deposed that it was dusk, between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m., and that she could not recall whether any lights were on in the parking lot. However, she and her husband had no difficulty negotiating the path they took into the restaurant.
Bonner drank a glass of wine with dinner, and she and her husband left Friday’s at approximately 10:10 p.m. As Bonner walked back to her car, she stepped off the curb, fell, and broke her left ankle. Bonner deposed that she was unable to recall how she misstepped or whether the lighting in the parking lot was adequate. She testified only that she was unaware of the differentiation between the curb and the curb apron, as she had taken a slightly different route to walk around her car. She did not walk across the landscaped island but instead stepped off the curb next to the handicapped ramp.
