Southern Season opens in Mt. Pleasant

Sampling coffee at Southern Season, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

The new Southern Season store has opened in Mt. Pleasant. It is huge! Aisle after aisle of gourmet food items, candy, flowers, coffee bar, deli, a cooking classroom and next door is a full service restaurant.

The Nespresso vendors promised us a perfect cup of coffee as a sample and then graciously took our picture. The goat mile soap lady herds her goats on Johns Island and makes goat's milk soap and lotion named Dancin' Goat after her parents Dan and Cindy. My friend Susan and I wandered the store drooling on all the fancy goods. I bought a veggie chopping knife and then we wandered next door to Southerly to enjoy dinner. See a good review of their breakfast menu here.

Never Forget

Cannon St., Charleston, S.C.

Quilts on display

Nightfall over the Cooper River by Juanita Gowder

Surprise! I knew there was a secret garden behind the Daughter's of St Paul religious book store on King St. but I didn't know there was also a gallery space. At the moment there is a quilt display by the Cobblestone Quilters Guild of Charleston. They are mostly small wall hanging pieces and you are invited to vote for your favorite. Some of them are really lovely, intricate pieces. Sadly I didn't get the name of the artist on the bottom image which is one of my favorites.

The quilt show is in celebration of the American Quilt Study Groups annual convention which will be held in Charleston 9/18-23 at the Francis Marion Hotel.

Purple Iris by Christine Taylor

Ship's Propeller - Steamship Leif Eriksson

Propeller, Georgetown, S.C.

I think this is a new addition to the waterfront in Georgetown, S.C. I haven't seen it before and it is so huge it would be hard to miss. What a great sight it is against the old textured brick wall.  The Post & Courier has the story describing how the wreck was finally identified resting in 100 feet of water off Bulls Bay.

Diver's Notes: The "Anchor Wreck" is the final resting spot of an unidentified steamer in approximately 100 feet of water off Charleston, South Carolina.  The site is noted by three large anchors aft of the bow, hence the name.  Aside from scattered hull plates and other wreckage, the site is dominated by a large triple expansion engine and two boilers.

 

After conducting research on potential suspect vessels, we believe the "Anchor Wreck" to be the remains of the freighter Leif Eriksson.  The Eriksson was a Norwegian steamer built in 1889.  The 2,218 ton vessel was 274.5 feet in length and 38 feet in breadth.  The Leif Eriksson was bound from Matanzas, Cuba, with a cargo of sugar for Philadelphia when she sunk following a collision with the steamer City of Everett in February 1905 off Bull's Bay, just north of Charleston.  The City of Everett was a whaleback with an overhanging cigar-shaped bow, which cut into the Eriksson's hull deeply and ripped her open far below the waterline.  The Eriksson sank in less than 10 minutes.  Period newspaper articles documented she came to rest upright in approximately 14 fathoms (84 feet) of water with her masts still showing.  Based on the machinery, depth, location, recovered artifacts, and dimensions of the wreck site, we believe the Leif Eriksson is the most likely identity of the "Anchor Wreck."

The Meh List

The Meh List

The Sunday NY times is an occasional luxury even if I don't get to it until a couple of weeks later. I save the magazine section insert and cram it in my pack when I travel. Concentrated, quality writing in a thin package. I leave a trail in airports that are snatched up by the next person taking my seat. 

Reading glasses on for the small print, I make my little noises of approval, acknowledging tidbits of interest, and snorts of disgust at something I disagree with. I was on the plane from Charlotte to Indianapolis when I spluttered out a new one and almost whacked my neighbor's arm to exclaim, "Can you believe this?!" 

On the top of the The One Page Magazine page is a tiny box titled The Meh List. Not Hot, Not Not, Just Meh. This one was submitted by a Susan Good to Samantha Henig. She listed Zumba, Simple Syrup, 10 percent discounts, Sidewalk seating…..so okay. These are thing she just ain't that impressed with. They aren’t hot, they aren't not hot, just Meh. 

It was #6 that blew me away. "Mom and Baby are doing great." 

Holy Cow. "Mom and baby are doing great" are some of the sweetest words in the entire universe. I can only imagine that the writer has never carried a precious child or fallen in love with a baby before it was born. She has never got teary watching the miracle of a heart beat on an ultrasound. She's never longed for a child and been heartbroken by a miscarriage. She's never felt an umbilical cord slide in front of a baby's head during childbirth, or pumped oxygen into a wee one's lungs. She has surely never reached down to welcome a slippery infant to her breast. I guarantee she has never been the resident crying in the delivery room while a beautiful young woman died or the nurse wrapping a stillborn baby in a hand knit blanket to carry it down the hall to the family. I can't imagine that she has even been an anxious family member or friend spending endless hours in a waiting room when doors burst open to a flushed and beaming new father announcing that "Mom and baby are doing great."

Who is this writer who can shrug off mothers and babies doing great? Get thee to a birth. Find some way to get invited to a real MEH - a Miraculously Extraordinary Happening.

Seriously. You don't know what you are Mehsing. Disclosure: I have two kids. I am an old labor and delivery nurse. I didn't have many meh moments in the years I spent helping mothers and babies and that is a lovely thing. 

Topiary Boat

Topiary Boat, Cross, S.C.

These folks need an award for best use of pipes in their yard. Ha!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I washed and scrubbed down the outside of my house this morning, had brunch at the Blue Rose Cafe with my son and am thinking a lazy afternoon sounds pretty good.

If you missed it on PBS (I did :) you can enjoy the Mind of a Chef with Charleston's own Chef Sean Brock here: The Mind of a Chef.

Yay for Restaurant Week! Cypress Restaurant

Shrimp & Grits Appetizer at Cypress, Charleston, S.C.

Restaurant week is such a good deal and allows you to try restaurants that might normally strain your budget.We meant to just get a snack and drink at the bar but the restaurant week menu at Cypress was so tempting we couldn't refuse. Yum. Shrimp & grits, pork belly. Oh my.

John C. Calhoun surveys the rubble

John C. Calhoun surveys the demolition of the old library, Marion Square, Charleston, S.C.

I like to mess with John C. Calhoun when I can and it can take a contortionists position to get him where I need him. Check here to see the other things he has done to keep me entertained.

Single House Reflections

Vanderhorst St., Charleston, S.C.

We had another flash storm this evening - in some parts of town while others stayed completely dry. Things have been very unpredictable lately. Sun, rain, sun, beautiful sunset. 

Check this out - a bakery called Butter Blossoms Shortbread Shoppe & Tea Party Room is set to open West Ashley. That is different! I am a shortbread gal although I try my best not to be. 

It's time to take advantage of the fall Restaurant Week. Check out the restaurants offering special deals here: Restaurant Week. 

The Charleston City Paper has a description of the Southern Season gourmet store/restaurant opening in Mt. Pleasant tomorrow. Sounds interesting.

Here another couple of shots that I have shared on Facebook but didn't make it to the blog.

A message from the Unitarian Universalist Church

Little Free Library - Charleston

Little Free Library, Logan St., Charleston, S.C.

The mission of the Little Free Library group is simple:

• To promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide.
• To build a sense of community as we share skills, creativity and wisdom across generations.

Google's image gallery for Little Free Libraries is just too adorable for words. Go look! I am not the first to feature this Charleston Free Library on Logan St. (just below Queen St. Grocery). So cute.

I love free lending libraries. I have one at the hospital so we can stock an assortment of books to offer our patients. Today I set up a shelf of books in our Operating Room Waiting Room for visitors stuck waiting for hours. I am just as pleased that the staff had discovered them. Turns out they usually leave as many as they take if not more.

Doors of Charleston - the alternate series

 

 

 

Doors of Charleston, King St., Charleston, S.C.

Why do you think this one was left off the Doors of Charleston poster? Huh, huh, huh? I spotted it on King St. and couldn't resist grabbing a shot.

Meanwhile in other news, the purpose of my walk this morning was to replace my broken Charleston Pirate Mug only to discover that the Margaritaville shop is closed. Sob. I've been drinking out of my favorite mug with no handle for weeks and this was the day I was going to take care of it. Sob. How will I drink my tea? I've already burnt my fingerprints off holding the hot mug with no handle.

I hope everyone is having a good long weekend. I send thanks to all the good volunteers who are staffing the desks at Roper St. Francis Healthcare so I can have the day off. Y'all are the best!

Here is another door for our Alternative Doors of Charleston poster. This one is in the building behind Memminger Elementary School on Archdale St. 

Doors of Charleston, Archdale St., Charleston, S.C.

On the road - Indianapolis

Indianapolis, Indiana

Honey, I'm home!

I've spent a few days at the gathering of the clans of Volunteer Program Managers in Healthcare in Indianapolis. I traveled light this time, no check-in bag, all my reading material on a tablet, clothes rolled up tightly so all I had to carry was a back pack. In the past I have often served as event photographer for this group but since I didn't have that responsibility this time I was a free spirit.

I am a pretty solo operator at these huge conferences. I participate in all the educational sessions but as soon as they are done I am out the door zipping around town trying to see everything I can in my limited time. I'm not sure I could find a partner who was interested in walking as far and as fast as I do. I took the elevator to the top of the Soldiers & Sailors Monument, checked out Massachusetts Avenue neighborhood, watched the paddle boarders at White River State Park, I walked the canal walk (great murals!) all the way to the end and ate dinner at the Celebration Cafe (yay for Devour Indy Restaurant Week). I hailed a cab to take me to Crown Hill Cemetery to look for John Dillinger's grave. I'll save the cemetery shots for another entry.

As always it is nice to be home. As I waited in the Charleston Airport last Wednesday I overheard a conversation that went this way, "People are so nice here. I wonder why they are so nice?" Thoughtful pause. Then, "Maybe WE should try being nicer."

Charleston is good to come home to!

View down Washington St., Indianapolis

Canal Walk murals, Indianapolis

Gondola rides on the canal

Murals - Indianapolis canal walk

Soldiers & Sailors Monument, Indianapolis

Kurt Vonnegut mural, Indianapolis

Paddle boarders catching a smooch!

Feeling blue

Bottle Tree, Cypress Gardens, S.C.

I have a better shot of this bottle tree enlarged on my wall hiding my fuse box. This one is at Cypress Gardens. Sunday was such a lovely day that was a perfect destination for a picnic.

While I was at Cypress Gardens I discovered an upcoming event you might be interested in. Yup - a Ukelele Festival!

Blackwater Ukelele Festival

Saturday, September 14, 2013
The Blackwater Ukelele Festival is put on by local ukulele enthusiasts. They kick the festival off with a workshop appropriate for the beginner through intermediate players. The workshop is taught by local ukulele legend Donald "Noodle McDoodle" Whitley, one of the best ukulele players on the east coast.
A free concert will be put on by the Charleston Hot Shots, a "Skiffle" band and The V-Tones, a unique ukulele swing band. Another unique feature is the Boat Jams, where ukulele players man the Bateau boats, 10-12 to a boat, and are rowed around the swamp singing and jamming together. Even the non-ukulele playing visitors to the park get a real kick out of it.
There is open mic where the local ukulele crowd gets to perform, some for the first time. For the non-uke playing members of your family there are the regular park attractions a gift shop, island vendors, craft vendors and food vendors. Admission: $10 Adult, $9 Seniors, $5 (6-12 yr), 5 and under are free. For more information visit: http://festival.charlestonhotshots.com/

Signs of Charleston

Signs of Charleston, S.C.

May we have a drum roll for the Board of Architectural Review hearing. Tadum!

I am packing for a conference in Indianapolis. Since I just got back from a longer trip to Iceland this seems too easy - in the same country, same currency etc. Do I even need a suitcase? I can roll up some leggings and shirts and cram them in a backpack. All my books are on my tablet now and it is light. I'm not the event photographer for a change. Watch me forget my ID or something :).

Where the deer and the buffalo roam.....say what?!

Buffalo, S.C.

No. This is NOT something I am accustomed to seeing in the Lowcountry. Deer roaming maybe, but buffalo? A herd of buffalo? Friendly monsters they were. They thought my camera might be a tasty treat and ambled over my way. Wow.

It was dusk out but I couldn't miss the chance to get a quick photo. I spotted them on Hwy 311 on the way back from Eutawville this weekend. What a great sight!

Googling around I see we do have a couple of Bison ranches in South Carolina but none listed in this area. This was my first sighting and it was pretty impressive.

I don't always rush, but when I do...

College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C.

I was finishing my walk yesterday by popping into Caviar & Bananas on George St. for their extra scrumptious Duck Confit sandwich when I heard such a roar of activity at the college cistern that I had to check it out.

I probably wasn't supposed to be there but couldn't resist spying for a few minutes on the fraternity pledge announcements. Wow! Each fraternity group wore identifying shirts. Someone with a megaphone walked out with each candidate and to announce what fraternity they now belonged to. There were shouts of excitement and as group rushed up to escort/carry their new member down the steps. Each group had loud celebratory sound effects and what I had heard were the engines of motorcycles roaring.

I believe the college year is now in session.

What a glorious day! Yesterday it was gray and raining as I walked and this morning I opened my windows and doors to the fresh cool air. We must get outside and enjoy this unusual August gift. 

King St. scene today

St. Mathews Church, King St., Charleston, S.C.

This looks like one of those historical "after the earthquake, after the hurricane..." shots but I took it half an hour ago. Wow. This is the rubble of the old library at Marion Square. Times they are a-changin' kids!