Backroads S.C.

Backroads, S.C.

Help me. I have to go to work in the morning. Gasp.

I hope everyone had a good long weekend. I haven't been able to motivate myself to do a single productive thing but I do feel rested with the extra day off. I had a nice dinner at Rue de Jean last night (fried goat cheese salad and truffle potato soup) and enjoyed My Name is Ruth at the Footlight Player Theater on Queen St. There is so much going on this week it can make your head spin.

Edit: I am adding this link for Beach Bum. I couldn't get close enough to get a good shot at the cars in this one. It was right down the road from the first picture.

I won't forget....

Marion Square (scene from a few years ago), Charleston, S.C.


And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
~Lee Greenwood

SRS demolishes giant cooling tower

Just down the road and yet we didn't hear a peep about this.

NNSANews — May 26, 2010 — On May 24, 2010, the Savannah River Sites (SRS) massive K Cooling Tower was safely demolished as part of the Site-wide Footprint Reduction Initiative funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

As the second-largest cooling tower to be demolished worldwide, the 450 foot-tall and 345 foot-wide tower posed a unique challenge to SRS project managers and commanded the attention of even the most seasoned industry veterans.

To Market, to Market....

Charleston Farmer's Market, Marion Square, Charleston, S.C.

Charleston's Farmers Market is always fun but the very best on Memorial Day weekend when the Piccolo Art Show is set up at Marion Square. We ate crepes for breakfast, bought peaches and real tomatoes and Pimento Giddy Goat cheese, and wandered through the artist's booths.

Talented Mother and daughter team of artists, Kellie Jacobs, Stephanie Hamlet and Melinda Lewin must have thought we were nuts posing in front of their paintings to pretend that we had all been on vacation. I believe I am in pictured below in Tuscany.

Macaroon Boutique

Macaroon Boutique, John St., Charleston, S.C.

I made my friends detour to John St. on the way back from the farmer's market to hear them say "Ooooooh..." when they walked into the new Macaroon Boutique. I brought this little sweetie home to admire before I gobble it down. I still haven't eaten it but I'm happy just knowing it is waiting for me. Yum. Isn't it beautiful?

Saturday Funny

Charleston, S.C.

Pictures taken a couple of years apart. Love it! I think it was Sires St. Sires or Ashe. I need to start walking with a pencil and paper.

Your Saturday funny from the Bike Joke file:

Two nuns were riding their bicycles through the bumpy streets and alleys of Charleston.

One turns to the other and says, "I've never come this way before".

The other nun says, "Neither have I. It's the cobblestones".

Let the Festivities Begin

Market St., Charleston, S.C.

The Spoleto Festival began today with all the usual fanfare and not so much as a note from the mayor to my CEO asking that I be made available for the day. Walking the street late this evening I had to duck and dodge the crowds.

Besides all the big ticket events there are lots of little pop up musical acts like this one that gathered a quick spontaneous audience in the market. Should be a fun couple of weeks! Let me know if there is an event I shouldn't miss.

Lowcountry Time

Charleston Beauty by Kelly Sanford

I am pleased to introduce another artist this evening. Kelly Sanford at Fresh off the Easel has found inspiration in a few of my photographs as well, and started with one of my favorite trees. This is the grand oak tree on our hospital campus.

I have taken pictures of this grand live oak tree through every season and often detour to walk under it on my way to and from work just because I can. It is a lovely treat to see an artist's interpretation. I sent the link to her blog to friends at work who I know will appreciate it. This painting is still available - for now!

Check out Kelly's blog, this and other pieces of art work. I am honored.

Off Campus

Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India

Clearly not in the lowcountry.

The family slides in my dad's old wooden box are dusty and brittle with age. It seems hardly worth the trouble scanning them in, but occasionally there is a neat effect. This is a one-horned rhino in the high grass of Kaziranga National Park in the tea country of Assam. I was riding astride an elephant with my legs spread so wide it took a day to get my knees to touch.

There are no dates on the slide frames but I was young then with braids to my waist. Good memories. It was the first real family holiday I remember taking, driving from the hills of Shillong up into the plains with ten of us squeezed into the yellow willy's jeep.

Monkeys on the roof, tiger paw prints in the mud, snakes in the lake, parrots in the trees. An English tea planter invited us in for tea. We walked down to the river one morning and all the elephants had come for their bath lounging back in the water for the mahouts to scrub their back and spraying the babies with their trunks. When friends talk of swimming with the dolphins I say, I swam with the elephants.

It all looks so civilized now. Go. Ride an elephant into the tall grass through the mist at dawn.

Me? Dance video?

Charleston, S.C.

They were filming a music video at our hospital today as a Trident United Way promotion. They filmed dance bits in the pharmacy, operating room, cafeteria and women's unit. I was delighted that they asked to include volunteers but had no clue what we could do to be original. Me? Dance video? Everyone knows I never learned how to dance.

I had just ordered eight new wheelchairs so we took them out to the garden and improvised. I have no idea what we looked like but we were colorful! I may have looked more tipsy than in rhythm being wheeled around in a wheelchair to zippy music. Ya never know what a day is going to bring, do ya?

Many thanks to the good sports who participated! Y'all are crazy.

Please Don't Block the Drive

Ashe St., Charleston, S.C.

I arrived home with a car full of groceries to find my driveway completely and utterly blocked by a truck. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Growling and snarling I parked around the block and lugged my goodies home. A little later I heard the owners getting in the truck and went out to ask them what they hell they thought they were doing. They sarcastically thanked ME for welcoming THEM to the neighborhood.

Should be a pleasant summer. I guess they don't have driveways where they come from in Virginia.

I knew I wouldn't have to wait long to post this sign picture.

Hay!

Wentworth St., Charleston, S.C.

Hay! Here is a little gift for you - a link to the annual "What the Hay!" contest between Hobson and Utica, Montana. Apparently the Bale Trail is the biggest attraction in Montana.

People are just too funny. Thank God. Now I want a couple bales of hay.

Thanks for all the suggestions of places Kristi should see on her honeymoon in Charleston. I think we did pretty good. Feel free to add more.

Before and After

First Scots Presbyterian Church, Meeting St., Charleston, S.C.

Another before and after scene on Meeting St. I had to scramble to stay a step ahead of the storm clouds on my walk this evening. The vintage postcard is from oldplaces.com.

Helped someone with a little prank this evening that I might not have thought through. Oops. I'll find out tomorrow.

Sunset on Folly

Folly Beach, S.C.

I am enjoying so much the idea that artists are finding inspiration in pictures I've taken. It's even better than being an artist myself!

This is a piece that Gina Brown painted of a sunset on Folly Beach. I remember it clearly because it was an evening last year when my Dad was visiting from Canada. We walked out on the pier after dinner and the colors on the water were incredible.

You can find this and other pieces at: Gina Brown Art.

The Other Doors of Charleston

Charleston, S.C.

The Post & Courier recently featured a lovely gallery of Charleston door photographs by Leroy Burnell. Here are a few from my album of doors. Not all quite as glamorous but appealed to me in their own quirky way for one thing or another. A few have changed since I snagged the shot.

Advice Requested - Romantic Weekend in Charleston.

Chalmers St., Charleston, S.C.

Not for me. Sheeesh. Nice thought though!

Charleston is a perfect romantic destination. Fellow blogger Kristi from Alabama is planning her wedding and is coming to Charleston for her honeymoon.

Honeymoon destination: Yes, we will be traveling northeast to visit the great state of South Carolina. We'll spend three nights in Charleston and two nights in Hilton Head.

Neither of us have been to either city before, so I need your advice! please

Are there any places (restaurants, shops, museums, landmarks) we should see while visiting these two towns? I love to shop and we both love to eat. I would LOVE to hear your suggestions if you have traveled to this area.

What shall we tell her? Let me know how newlyweds should spend three days in the lowcountry and I will add them to the post. Where shall we send them to eat and what should they see? I think we can assume that she will write about wherever we send her. Let's plan Kristi's honeymoon.

Advice so far:

Stay at: Charleston Place or Battery Carriage House Inn
Romantic Big Treat Dinner: McCrady's
Breakfast: Fast & French (G & M Broad St.), Hominy Grill
Beach: Sullivan's Island with lunch at Poe's Tavern.
Plantation: Magnolia Plantation, walk the romantic garden but don't miss the Audubon Swamp Walk.
Picnic: Battery Park.
Churches & Cemeteries: Gateway Walk
Sunset Sail: Schooner Pride
Comedy Improv: The Have Nots
Evening Dessert Treat: Kaminsky's
Saturday Morning: Farmer's Market

Keep 'em coming! This is fun.

Museum Mile Detour

Museum of Dental History, Ashley Ave., Charleston, S.C.

How can Meeting St. be called the Museum Mile when the Macaulay Museum of Dental History is on Ashley Ave.? Quick. Redo the maps. Take the tourists on a detour. Who doesn't want to see dental equipment.

It was probably all used on me. When I was a kid in India, the dentist used a foot pedal drill like an old sewing machine. Yikes. It took me years to go back to a dentist.

Tugboat Love

Charleston Harbor, Charleston, S.C.

One more from Wednesday morning because I can. Gotta love tugboats.

I am supposed to be cleaning my house but I keep awarding myself breaks.

Work has been non-stop lately and my little brain is tired. Every time I look up there are three people waiting in line to talk to me. Every time I talk to someone, three other people leave messages on my machine. If I walk out of my office, three people say "We came to see you and YOU WEREN'T THERE." If I leave for the night, three people leave notes on my door and three envelopes under the door. I need three of me to keep up.

Footprints in the Pavement

Charleston, S.C.

No elephant prints but I found an elephant footprint joke:

Q: How many elephants can you fit in a VW Beetle?
A: Four. Two in the front, two in the back.

Q: How can you tell if there's an elephant in the fridge?
A: There's footprints in the butter.

Q: How can you tell if there's two elephants in the fridge?
A: There's two sets of footprints in the butter, and food keeps disappearing.

Q: How can you tell if there's three elephants in the fridge?
A: You find it difficult to close the door.

Q: How can you tell if there's four elephants in the fridge?
A: There's a VW Beetle in the driveway.

Ho, ho, ho.....

ahcuK ahceP

Citadel, Charleston, S.C.

I've been to most of the Pecha Kucha events and still stumble over the name so this sign cracked me up.

Thanks to all the organizers and volunteers. It's great to see what creative minds are coming up with in the lowcountry. This session was held on the Citadel campus and was sold out once again. We were told to follow the bagpiper but it was the upside down sign that tickled me.

Rest in Peace

Shep Yelman, 1913 - 2010

Precious rascal. We are going to miss you.

Yesterday was tough but today all I can think of are the funny stories. Just missed his 97 birthday. The last time we talked I'd been laying plans to bring the party to him. Yesterday he mumbled, "we haven't had the party yet..."

My heart is full of gratitude to the staff at Horizon Bay Assisted Living who tended to this gentleman with kindness when he needed it most. He hated being there with his whole independent heart but they were as gentle and caring as this feisty WWII veteran deserved.

Edit: Obituary link.

Blogging and crying. Sheesh.

Entering the harbor in style!

That fake PRESS pass Chuck gave me proved it's worth once again when I was invited to join the media boat welcome as the cruise ship Carnival Fantasy sailed into the harbor bright and early this morning. How tremendously cool is that?! I joined the teams from Channel 4 and 5 at the pilot boat house on Concord St. and figured this was well worth sneaking into work a little late for.

The festivities noted the first cruise line to be based in Charleston.
Carnival Fantasy will operate five-, six- and seven-day voyages to The Bahamas and Key West, Fla., from the Passenger Terminal in historic downtown Charleston beginning May 18, 2010. Including Charleston, Carnival Cruise Lines will operate from 20 North American homeports in 2010, with 12 year-round departure points - the most in cruising.

The new year-round departures from Charleston dramatically expand upon Carnival’s decade-long relationship with the port. Previously, Carnival has operated seasonal voyages from Charleston, including two five-day departures on the Carnival Triumph this year and two on the Carnival Glory next year.

Charleston’s centralized location within the southeastern U.S., as well as the city’s strong appeal as a tourist destination, were key factors in the decision to launch year-round service aboard the Carnival Fantasy.

“Charleston is an extraordinary city within easy reach of millions of U.S. residents who will now have convenient access to Carnival’s fantastic and affordable cruise vacation options year-round,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s president and CEO. “Our past experience with the Port of Charleston, which has a very efficient and conveniently located cruise terminal, has been outstanding.”

Thanks to Captain John Cameron and Caroline Nuttall for including me this morning. I had wild wind blown hair and a grin on my face all morning. I work with hundreds of people who go on cruises every year who are delighted to welcome the Fantasy to Charleston.

More photos here.

Dinner & Dancing. Oh my!

Chef Sean, O-ku, King St., Charleston, S.C.

I was ambling down King St. yesterday enjoying Car Free King St. Day when my friend Dr. Geer called offering me his Guerrilla Cuisine tickets for the evening. Could I use them? Yessiree. Lucky me. (Thank you, thank you!)

The evening's dinner was held inside the stylish new sushi restaurant Oku on upper King St. Heard about it, heard about it but hadn't been inside yet. I'd been told about great sushi, beautiful servers with tiny black dresses and dangerously high heels. All true.

Chef Brett McKee from Oak and Chef Sean from O-ku (Oak in Japanese) alternated preparing our seven tasty courses.

We snuck in at the last minute. I told them I was Dr. Geer and took the last few seats near the door. This spot was important when the intermission entertainment turned out to be a Burlesque Show. Holy cow! They hung a tiny black drape in the window but these gals were stripping to next to nothing with their backs facing a surprised audience on King St. It was almost as much fun watching their faces as it was the dancers.

The dishes caused serious excitement among the real sushi lovers. More photos here. Jimihatt and Angel were gracious hosts as always.