The problem I'm having is that there's so much that I want to write down, I'm not sure either approach will cover it all. I'm going to go forward as best I can, and I hope everyone will forgive me for any lapses in clarity.
I've spent the past Saturday and Sunday in Charleston, South Carolina. I went to Charleston for two reasons: (1) I love the city; and (2) to visit my friends, John and Lindsay Harman. I didn't have a long time in Charleston, but I definitely made the most of it. Hopefully, I'll be able to make it back there soon.
Unlike a lot of the rest of the country, the weather in Charleston over the weekend was in the 60s and 70s. Considering that when I left Vero Beach Saturday morning, the temperature there was in the 40s, I definitely appreciated the change. (Full disclosure - the temperature in Vero returned to normal and is sitting at 79 degrees at the moment).
It's a 7 hour drive from Vero Beach to Charleston in current conditions. I got to Charleston around 1:00 pm and immediately went to John and Lindsay's house. We grabbed lunch at a place called the Original Ms. Rose's Fine Food & Cocktails. Inside, the restaurant was pretty interesting. I'm not sure how to actually describe it, and I wish I had taken a picture now. Suffice it to say that the décor was unique, but it worked. They served brunch on Saturday, and I was tempted to get French Toast. Instead, I had a burger, with bleu cheese and bacon. They did a great job with it. It was a solid burger.
Afterwards, I checked into my hotel. I decided to stay at the Radisson at the airport. Thanks to Expedia, I was able to book a room there at $55.00 a night. However, soon after getting into my room, I was reminded of the old adage "You get what you pay for." I cannot recommend this hotel to anyone. It was clear as soon as I entered that the room had not been cleaned well. There was literally a Starburst wrapper on the floor, peeking out from under the chair. There were a couple of stains on one of the headboards of the beds. About the beds, they were those Sleep Number beds, where you can set the firmness of the mattress. That would have been fine, but, for whatever reason, the selectors for both beds were broken. One side of each of the beds was set at firm, and the other was set on, well, not firm. Basically, one side of each of the beds dipped and nothing could be done to fix it. I slept in the bed without the stained headboard, if you can call it sleep. Sleeping in that bed was not comfortable. If I moved at all, I fell into the dip in the bed, which inevitably woke me up. Still, at the end of the day, the choice was economical, so, hooray for affordability. At least the wireless was free and relatively fast. That said, I don't think I will be going back, or recommending the place to anyone else. Ever.
What I like about Charleston is the variety of things to do. On Saturday night, John and I went to the South Carolina Stingrays game. It's Charleston's minor league hockey team. It was actually awesome. I love live hockey games. Below are some pictures from the game.
(The pink lines were actually in the ice for breast cancer awareness. It's not a problem with my phone's camera.) Live hockey is fun because there are fights. Granted, the guys fighting don't seem to know what they're doing. They take their gloves off and start punching each other in the plastic helmets. To me, that seems like a recipe for a broken hand. They'd be much better off throwing elbows, but they don't. Still, seeing the game was fun. The Stingrays ended up winning, coming from behind to dominate the other team.
The next day I wandered into downtown Charleston. One of the things I find interesting about Charleston is that, no matter where you start going, it is very easy to find yourself downtown. I just started in North Charleston with no real plan of where I wanted to go. When I found myself on King Street, I parked and started walking around.
I ended up having a great breakfast at a place called Kitchen 208. It's a fast, casual restaurant with a cooking area that is in full view of the diners. You go to the counter and order, and then can watch your meal being made. When I went, it wasn't busy yet, so I got a good view. I ordered eggs over easy, with breakfast potatoes, bacon, and a biscuit. The eggs were cooked well and the bacon was thick. The biscuit was light and buttery. But where the breakfast really shined was with the breakfast potatoes. Those that know me well know that I love breakfast potatoes. However, too many places seem to have no idea how to pull off breakfast potatoes. Kitchen 208's cooks definitely knew what they were doing. The potatoes were sautéed with green pepper and onion, which, to my mind, are necessary elements of good breakfast potatoes. The potatoes themselves were crisp, but not scorched. All in all, I would definitely recommend Kitchen 208.
I also took the time to go to Total Wine & More to pick up wine and beer to take to my cousins' house in Charlotte. I spent quite a bit of time just walking the beer aisles. There was a great selection.
Later in the afternoon, John and I went to a shooting range. I am not really a gun person, I am not a natural marksman, and I've been to a shooting range only once before in my entire life. However, I'm very glad that I went to the shooting range this time.
Quickshot allows its customers to rent and fire fully automatic weapons. I have never been near a fully automatic weapon before. However, while Harman and I were firing a Ruger .22 and 1911 9mm semi-automatics, the people around us were firing fully automatics. After having experienced that, I have a renewed appreciation for what our armed forces go through. Even though I was several feet away from the fully automatic weapons and had on ear protection in a completely controlled setting, I could feel it every time the fully automatics were fired. I could even feel it through the walls of the shooting stall. I can't even imagine what our armed services personnel and police officers must go through, to have that going off near them, without ear or eye protection and while someone else may be shooting at them.
Following the shooting range, I had dinner with John, Lindsay, and their son Liam. I started teaching Liam how to breakfall. By the end, I had him slapping the ground as he fell backwards onto the couch. It was definitely a fun evening, and a fun trip.
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