Invaded!

George St., Charleston, SC   

I spotted this fella last weekend when I was rewarding myself with lunch at Caviar & Bananas on George St. Not sure what he is exactly - a giant locust?

I got a late streak of ambition this evening and burnt up my hand mixer trying to make divinity candy. It requires a lot of beating and boom * spark! Apparently you can only get 10  to 15 years out of a $7.50 beater.

Thursday Night

George St., Charleston, SC

The College of Charleston has such a pretty campus. On Mother's Day this is where graduation is held with the gentlemen wearing white suits and the ladies wearing white dresses and carrying red roses. Tradition.

I am loving the late light. I worked late this evening and still had time to march around the neighborhood before dark.

I've been watching Grace & Frankie a new Netflix series with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. I imagine it is designed to appeal to people of a "certain age" - their seventies. I am all for a drink now and then but these folks are swimming in it - booze, pot, peyote, cocaine. There isn't a single episode where they aren't slinging bottles around. They all look great, healthy and spry and they didn't get that way drinking and smoking for seventy years - or heck, they are actresses so maybe they did. 

I ran out of titles. Maybe I will start naming the posts after the night of the week. I am stumped.

Sculpture Garden - George St.

George St., Charleston, S.C.

Sometimes when I am traveling and delighting in huge art installations in other cities I get cranky about how little we have here in Charleston. As much as I appreciate the historic preservation it is a sad loss not to have more of the glorious creative and modern sculptures that cities like Chicago, St. Louis and New York city have.

Every time I stop by Caviar & Bananas I detour through the little garden across the street to see what the College of Charleston students have been up to. This is the current display.

Up, up and away!

There's No Place Like Charleston

There Is No Place Like Charleston, Charleston, S.C.

This is cool! Fess up artists, who did this? I did a looooong walk (10,291 steps - thank you smart phone step counter) about town in the drizzle this afternoon. I  took a detour on George St. to pick up my favorite "naked kale" salad at Caviar & Bananas and spotted this poster in the now closed Jack's Restaurant. I'm not the only one who stopped in my tracks.

It was a baking and cooking day. I made a pear almond tart and the stew for wee pot pies. My house warmed up with delicious smells. I even made more pralines - for gifts, I promise!

Edit: I tracked down the artist. The internet is a wonderful thing. The artist Jeff Fitzharris who already had a fundraiser for the Charleston Autism Academy.  Jeff will be selling shirts with the image as well as framed prints for $100. He is on Facebook and setting up his Facebook store this week so stay posted. I suspect the poster will be a big hit for a good cause! Good luck Jeff.

The boys are back in town

College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C.

To be more accurate, the girls are back in town but I happened to catch a shot of the gentlemen. Considering the ratio of males to females I am surprised the word doesn't get out and attract more men.

Student Life

College of Charleston has a total undergraduate enrollment of 10,506, with a gender distribution of 37.5 percent male students and 62.5 percent female students.

I have had to try to control comments again folks, sorry about that. For awhile I took off most controls but I was loaded up with spam comments to handle and I simply don't have time to control them all. I hate the little word to enter as much as everyone else but can't think of another way to take care of it. Feel free to join me on Facebook if you prefer.

George St. bike pump

George St., Charleston, S.C.

Caught downtown and need a little air in your tires? Stop by the catchy window free air pump on George St. As a bonus I'll toss in a link to the map of Charleston Bike racks.

The Alien has arrived

George St., Charleston, S.C.

I popped in Caviar & Bananas yesterday morning at the end of my walk to treat myself to their naked kale salad. Mmmmmm. I took a look over the fence in the little park across the street and spied this recent addition.

Hello there! Is it cooler where you live? Will you take us back with you? 

According to the sign it isn't an alien but a Subterranean lizard by Austin Abt.  Silly me. Thanks for making me happy Austin.

Anniversary Brick

George St., Charleston, S.C.

Awwww. Isn't this sweet?

I'm still trying to figure out how they did it. There are no other inscribed bricks in this area. The bricks here were laid before 2012. Did they pay enough to have a brick removed to put theirs in? It matches perfectly. Inquisitive minds want to know and to with them a happy anniversary.

Edit: I found out more about them. Long time College of Charleston connection. 

Bear on George St.

George St., Charleston, S.C.

Where does a brown bear on George St. go to get out of the rain from tropical storm Andrea? I'd hide out in Caviar & Bananas myself. This fella was a surprise!

A few years ago I took a picture of this giant blue bird in the same spot. It reminded me of this (slightly altered) childhood song:

There was an old bear who swallowed a bird.....

How absurd! to swallow a bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll die. 

Things I miss about living downtown....

Caviar & Bananas, George St., Charleston, S.C.

Gourmet grocery stores! Delicious treats where you can have a table for one and get a great meal and a glass of wine on a walk. Oh yum. This shot was taken at Caviar & Bananas. No worries. I left with a Duck Confit sandwich for a picnic.

Stop the press: I just noticed there are a few more days for their 5 for 5 Menu that goes through May.

Bali Coconut & Lime Sea Salt

Salt Bar, Caviar & Bananas,  George St., Charleston, S.C.

I walked up King St. this morning and detoured to pick up one of the scrumptious duck confit sandwiches at Caviar & Bananas on George St.  Wandering while waiting for my sandwich and trying not to notice if they had their giant coconut macaroons on hand (they did. I didn't get one. sniff), I noticed this display of salt. Yep. Artisan salt. Is that the new thing or am I slow?  I remembered reading about a salt related event and found this on the Post & Courier site:

Pass The Salt II

Thursday, Aug 2 6:30p at Caviar & Bananas, Charleston, SC

The evening will begin with specialty drinks and passed hors d'oeuvres for the cocktail hour followed by a hands-on salt tasting and an elegant family style dinner. Insightful, educational and delicious this is an interactive culinary adventure you will not want to miss.
Executive Chef Todd Mazurek will select salts from among Caviar & Bananas salt bar's 16 artisan salts to enhance the flavors from the bounty of fresh vegetables, seafood and fruits of the Lowcountry while Sarah Graham, author of The Local Palate's recent article "Salt" will introduce you to the art of choosing and using Artisanal Finishing Salts to enhance your everyday eating experiences. read more

I finished my walk through the Charleston Farmers Market and had to grab this funny shot from the Banana Tree booth. I love people who take the trouble simply to get a smile. :)

Dinner for one

Caviar & Bananas, Charleston, S.C.

Long walk in the rain and dinner for one. I love the three salad option at Caviar & Bananas on George St. Yum. Hello my sweet weekend.

Caviar & Bananas & Me, Oh My!

Caviar & Bananas, George St., Charleston, S.C.

Duck confit sandwich to go please! Oh yum. I am a little late to the Caviar & Bananas game but quickly making up for it. I'm a picnic gal and this is the perfect spot to pick up gourmet sandwiches to go. Duck confit, salmon, three salad sampler and.....oh, that GIANT coconut macaroon.

Danger, danger. I didn't know they delivered until I checked out the web site to set up the link.

The George St. location is handily at the end of my usual evening walk-about close to home but they have also opened a branch in the new Market building. Go get 'em kids!

Happy July 4th!

George St., Charleston, S.C.

Four days off in a row. What a gift this has been. I walk in the mornings while my brother finishes off the painting the house and then we hang out in the afternoons catching up on years of news.

Last night I invited a friend recently back from Iraq to dinner with his bride from Thailand. Between them, Andre' my favorite Frenchman and my brother Jim from India I had the world well represented. I made a big pot of chicken and sausage gumbo and rice and sat back and listened to hours of international adventure stories. It was wonderful.

Happy July 4th kids! Eat, drink and appreciate your freedom. I bet I can find some flag pictures for the occasion.

Yo Mom!

George St., Charleston, S.C.

Awwww....I didn't know my kids were so sentimental. I found this while walking down to Caviar and Bananas for picnic sandwiches. I assume they did it for Mother's Day and just left it as a surprise. Right?

Heheh. I take what I can get.