Noodle Night

Tuesdays are Ramen Noodle Nights at Two Boroughs Larder just around the corner from me. Here is the noodly scoop from their web site: 

Ramen is a traditional Japanese staple and is more than just a bowl of noodles. There are four basic elements to every bowl - the broth, the tare (salty soy reduction at the bottom), the noodles and toppings (suddenly that spice packet included with the pre-packaged noodles seems much less appetizing).  In Japan most major cities actually boast their own signature ramen dish. Noodles can range from thin and curly to thick and straight. Toppings include (but are not limited to) bamboo shoots, shredded pork, fishcakes, chilis, eggs and spinach.
Every Tuesday night, starting around 5pm and in addition to the full menu, TBL is planning to hook up your ramen.  Pork. Chicken. Vegetarian.  Your choice!

I tried the spicy pork broth, mushrooms, poached egg and Kimchi. They are going to do Noodle Night every Tuesday. Yum, yum and the company was even better.  Happy birthday to my buddy Dr. G. pictured with Ms. Two Boroughs Larder, Heather Keenan.  Here is the Charleston City Paper review.

Avondale Murals

Avondale Murals, Charleston, S.C.

Following up on my last post, here are some more of the incredible murals behind the Avondale shops on Savannah Highway. What a treat! More info here: Avondale Scene. Click for more details.

Hush now.....

Avondale Wine & Cheese, Mural, Charleston, S.C.

I try to stay a step ahead of what is happening around town and couldn't believe I let Pam at US 17 Coastal Highway beat me in featuring the murals behind the Avondale shopping stretch on Hwy 17. I finally got my act together and walked that area on Sunday morning.

Very cool! More info on the chART outdoor Initiative here: chART Outdoor Initiative.

I'll be back later with more images but you know I always come home starving. I can't blog hungry.

Aha! Look what your comments led me to. I love google image searches. There actually is a picture of Darwin hushing us.

Cemetery Walking - 2nd Presbyterian

Eva, 2nd Presbyterian, Charleston, S.C.

They left the side gate to the cemetery open at 2nd Presbyterian for the Gospel Choir members to practice and I slipped in along with them yesterday morning in between the rains. I made my rounds visiting the lost children, Eva, Jane and simply "Our First Born". These little tombstones are heart breakers every time but I wished I had a blanket for the Eva statue. She looked so cold and alone.

A Garden of Stitchwitchery

Quilt - Yellow Bellied Slider by Lucretia Pope

I stopped by the Cobblestone Quilters Guild show at Gaillard Auditorium this morning. I am forever amazed at the time and talent stitched into these quilts and this is the place for them to be appreciated. Dedicated quilt lovers were standing in line when I walked in and after they bought their tickets were offered a single glove in case they couldn't resist touching the masterpieces.

Quilt - Botanical by Lynne Turner Liro

Karen Comstock - quilting in a garden

Pattern Designer and teacher Karen Comstock from Quiltricks looked like she was quilting in a garden.

Quilt - Asian Garden by Jeanne Pedersen

Red Hot Baltimore - Best in Show Wall Quilt

Worshiping the Best of Show wall hanging. This quilt always had an audience around it.

Pulling Strings

Hank Seafood, Hayne St., Charleston, S.C.

It's been a full week kids and I was looking forward to relaxing over dinner with friends. We by passed the Food & Wine Festival hustle and bustle entirely and had an early dinner at Hank's Seafood on Hayne St.  Grilled seafood platter. Yum.

I was pleased to be able to introduce a few important gentlemen to each other this evening and watched their minds buzzing about projects they could work on together. From the left is violinist Yuriy Bekker Concert Master and Artistic Director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Mark Dickson, Vice President of Mission at Roper St. Francis Healthcare, Andre' Guillet and of course, lucky me.

Check the CSO calendar for performances this weekend with guest cellist Joshua Roman tomorrow evening at Gaillard Auditorium and Sunday afternoon at the City Gallery.

The Last Page

House Plants, Charleston, S.C.

I forgot to boast that Charleston Magazine used one of my pictures on their last page in February. Pretty cool since I was actually featured myself in January. They always feature one single picture on their last page each month and after spotting this one they emailed asking permission to use it. Then they asked me to bill them. Hello! How fun is that? Pretty darn fun I say.

This bit of graffiti wall is in an alley on upper King St. It is normally gated off but they left it open one day and that was enough for me.

Put all cans, bottles & trash in the trash bin

Humphrey Ct., Charleston, S.C.

Humphrey Court clean up crew. It appears to be written on the lid of a garbage can. I don't think I've seen that in Southern Living magazine.

Looks like a character lives here.

Seven things about me

Charleston, S.C.

Isn't this house a beauty? I am so lucky to live here and walk by these gorgeous places every day.
 
Lowandslow challenged me to come up with seven interesting things that everyone might not know about me. I don't usually do these things but since he is one of my loyal readers and a frequent commenter (thank you, thank you!), I will do my best. Here we go:

1. I once won $10,000 in travel from the old Rhodes Furniture store on Sam Rittenburg Hwy. My kids were younger then and I dropped them off with my parents for the summer and went around the world. I rode a train through the Canadian Rockies, hiked on Vancouver Island, explored Hong Kong, stayed on a houseboat in Kashmir, enjoyed a lazy canal boat in France and finished off in London. I spent every last cent.

2. Although I am not opposed to eating meat I rarely cook it. I live on scrappy salads at work and simple healthy meals at home. A friend recently told me I was a "lazy vegetarian".

3. I took my own delivery pictures. Shut up. Don't picture it.

4. I grew up without a tv and had only seen three movies by the time I was seventeen: The Sound of Music, Ben Hur and Love Story. I've been making up for it ever since.

5. I walked across England from coast to coast and at the end I weighed exactly to the dot what I weighed when I started. I kept thinking I was going to walk off all those big English breakfasts. Ooops.

6. I consider flavored tea hot juice. Yuck.

7. I once failed a septic tank inspectors course in West Virginia and I'm still pissed about it. It was a rainy afternoon, I was hanging out with a couple of hippies and tagged along. I never wanted to be a septic tank inspector but they failed me because they didn't want a little gal passing the test, no one stood up for me and I didn't fight it. Grrrrr.

Whew. Seven. That's it! I am not going to name anyone but if you drop by please join the fun and come up with seven things most people might not know about you. I mean YOU. Leave a note in comments letting us know you are playing along so we can read them.

Frodo Baggins does Charleston

Frodo B. Baggins, Coming St., Charleston, S.C.

 

"Still round the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate;

And though I oft have passed them by,

A day will come at last when I

Shall take the hidden paths that run

West of the Moon, East of the Sun"
Frodo Baggins

Did Frodo have a middle initial?

D

The Shrimp King

The Shrimp King, Coming St., Charleston, S.C.

The Shrimp King on Reb's Corner. Who is Reb and how did he get his own corner?

Musical Doors

Door, 79 Line St., Charleston, S.C.

Wonder what this fellow does for a living? He has made his occupation musically clear with art work. Googling his name I found a testimonial reporting that he is the best instrument repair person in town.

More good eating coming to Upper King St.

Old Bank of America, King St., Charleston, S.C.

I walked the upper peninsula this morning and walking back down King St. grabbed a "before" shot of the old Bank of America. I am so happy to hear it is going to be turned into a restaurant by Chef Mike Lata and partners. What an exciting use of the space! Some of the best food I've ever tasted was cooked by Mike Lata.  I can't wait to see what they come up with.

Charleston City Paper has more details: FIG owners opening restaurant on Upper King and I snitched this image below from their article.

After months of rumor, speculation, and innuendo, the deal is done and it's official. Mike Lata and Adam Nemirow, the duo behind the acclaimed FIG, have purchased the vacant Bank of America building at 544 King St. with plans to open a new restaurant in the space by Sept. 1. "We are so psyched about the concept," says Lata.

"It's the perfect idea for the perfect property." Just what is the concept? Lata's a little cagey about giving up too much information, but he did confirm that it's going to be an oyster bar. The vibe will be very high energy and casual. "The general feel is a community restaurant," he says, explaining that they want to be a place that folks can drop by for a snack, a drink, or a full-blown meal. "It'll be fun, energetic, and visually striking," he promises.

Cruising Charleston

Market St., Charleston, S.C.

Most cruise ship visits seem to happen during the week when I am at work and I've barely noticed the impact. It is a startling sight to see the huge Carnival Fantasy pulled up right at the end of Market St. Usually I can tell when a ship is in town by the huddle of people clustered on the sidewalks around places that have free wifi. I don't what the arrival and departure times are but the streets were packed and restaurants were full today. Was something else big going on in town?

I had to reward myself for my morning of hard labor cleaning out my attic so I walked down and enjoyed a chicken pita pocket at Tabbuli Grill's new outdoor patio. By the time I left every table was full. 

Saturday Chores

Carolina Yacht Club, Charleston, S.C.

This is part of the Carolina Yacht Club on East Bay St. If I recall correctly this building used to be owned by the Shriners. I remember being at events there before it was absorbed by the Yacht Club.

Is everyone having a nice relaxing Saturday? I'm not. I roped my son into coming over to help me clean out the attic. Aaaaack. Why do people ever put things in the attic? We had boxes of books from twenty five years ago. I asked him if he wanted the dusty copy of Modern Electronics. Heheh.

I found the dolls I mailed home to my daughter from Hong Kong before the British turned it over to China. They were copied from the Cabbage Patch dolls and called Rice Paddy dolls and instead of birth certificates they came with British passports to get them out of Hong Kong before the change. Cute.

I think I need a long soak, a cuppa tea and a Klondike bar as a reward.

Don't cut the wires

Don't cut the wires, Charleston, S.C.

Found message:

Please, If you don't want it or not going to donate, don't cut wires on electronics. They are those who are less fortunate that TV could have been an update for someone. Thank you. "God loves you, and so do I."

Churches of Northeast India

Presbyterian Church of India, Arunachal Pradesh, NE India

I am taking you off the Charleston peninsula this evening for a tour of Christian Churches in Northeast India.
The first one was far north in Arunachal Pradesh and in a military encampment area. I nodded, tried to look innocent and showed my camera to the Indian Army soldier guarding the remote border area to let him know I simply wanted a photo of the church.

Meghalaya, India

I am not sure about this one. Any ideas? Certainly a surprising sight on a country road in the hills of India. The wording above the entrance is the latin "Venite ad me omnes" which means "Come to me all". I am guessing it is a Catholic Church.

Meghalaya, India

Meghalaya, India

This is an Anglican Chapel in the old British Cemetery in Shillong. There were relocated tombstones from the years of British occupation here.

Meghalaya, India

I spotted this one perched on the side of a hill on a hike up to the Khasi Sacred Forest.

House of Prayer, Arunachal Pradesh, India

This House of Prayer was in the mountain area far north and on an Indian Army base.

I thought this was in interesting collection and reminded me of many of the village churches I worshiped in as a kid.  No worries - I have albums full of Buddhist Monasteries as well!  You should be able to click on the image to get a higher resolution view.

Mushroom Run

Mepkin Abbey, Moncks Corner, S.C.

When PETA harassed the Franciscan Monks of Mepkin Abbey into giving up chicken farming they turned to mushroom growing. I had no complaints about them taking up mushrooms although I originally hoped they might decide to be the Fudge Making Monks of Moncks Corner. You must admit it has a ring to it!

The gardens are so beautiful it is worth a drive (check your directions) any time of the year and now you can pick up mushrooms. Here is the mushroom story and a link to the online store.  The monks are pretty high tech.

Okay kids. I need to get my shower and get to bed. Another day ends.

Heart Healthy Tips Circa 1972

Just for fun, these are some heart healthy tips from the Farmers' Almanac 1972 sponsored by J. Henry Stuhr, Funeral Chapel.  Truthfully they seem a little dated even for 1972 but perhaps they kept reprinting year after year without updating. I can live with these! Hi ho, hi ho, it's the lazy life for me!

Heart Healthy Tips - Circa 1972

 Don't run or walk fast to catch anything - train, bus, streetcar of any other vehicle.

Don't walk against a high wind as this throws an extra strain on the heart.

Don't do anymore climbing than is necessary.

Slow up - use moderation in everything you do. 

Get out of bed slowly.

Cut down the speed at which you work or work for shorter hours is possible.

Go to bed early. Take a nap, or at least lie down during the afternoon.

Maintain a serene, optimistic outlook on life. Accept the situation and adjust to it cheerfully.

The loneliest man no longer

John Doe, Charleston, S.C.

I imagined John Doe to be a solitary, lonely gentleman but perhaps not. Married to Jane Doe?! Who knew?

According to Wikipedia, in the UK, Australia and New Zealand they use the name Joe Bloggs as we use John Doe? These are other "place holder" names: Average Joe, John Smith, John Q Public, Joe Shmoe and Tommy Atkins.

Below, I guess we can imagine what the Deaconess' favorite expression was.  "Do Jesus." May she rest in peace. Do Jesus.

Rainbow on a gloomy day

Rainbow Row, Charleston, S.C.

There are so many trees on this stretch of East Bay St. that it is hard to get a good picture of the row of houses that make up Rainbow Row. It is a little easier during the winter with some of the trees bare. Check out all these google images: Rainbow Row.

Rainbow Row: After the Civil War, this area of Charleston devolved into near slum conditions. In the early 1900s, Dorothy Porcher Legge purchased a section of these houses numbering 99 through 101 East Bay and began to renovate them. She chose to paint these houses pink based on a colonial Caribbean color scheme. Other owners and future owners followed suit, creating the "rainbow" of pastel colors present today. The coloring of the houses helped keep the houses cool inside as well as give the area its name.

Common myths concerning Charleston include variants on the reasons for the paint colors. According to some tales, the houses were painted in the various colors such that the intoxicated sailors coming in from port could remember which houses they were to bunk in.

 This vintage car happened to come by at just the right time!