I've spent some of the lockdown period driving up and down I-95. I've flown plenty of times, too, but the long car drives were cool and allowed us to have a vehicle in Florida to avoid the high cost of rentals. We also brought down some stuff that is hard to fit in the overhead compartment, like a small couch. It's a long drive, but I grew up doing long car drives so I kind of liked it. And with traffic down (that's a thing of the past, by the way), it was pleasant. Nonetheless, it requires either a great deal of stamina to drive it straight through, or an overnight. We have stayed in Savannah, Georgia twice, which is a very beautiful little city; Asheville, North Carolina once; and Charleston, South Carolina once. We've also stopped in St. Augustine, Florida for a few hours, which was cool, too. Let's talk about Charleston. I've been there before, of course, but had not visited in over a decade. It remains the same charming place that has made it a southern "must see" and when we went (just after Christmas), the place was buzzing, tours were going on again, and restaurants were bumping. I got a new Nike 35mm camera, and took a ton of shots. And we got one of the greatest blue-sky days that you can wish for. These pictures are not touched up in any way. Pretty nice, huh? We stayed at a great hotel with an awesome harbor view, and it was, ahem, priced for BRP. And if you love Carolina BBQ, which the kid does, we ate at this place in uptown that brought me back to pork in a big way. I have preferred brisket for a while, but when in the Carolinas, it's pork baby, and we got some of the best pork BBQ ever at Rodney Scott's BBQ. Rodney is a James Beard award winner (for 'que? Yup), and it was fantastic. The damn sauce is almost worth stealing, it's so darn tasty. the sides were awesome, too. Take a look and get hungy: Charleston is one photogenic town. It's lovely just to walk around and chill. We had a great tour guide, and he told us all kinds of cool and interesting facts, none of which I can remember right now. I do recall him telling the story of a slave named Robert Smalls who stole a steamer, steered it past Ft. Sumter and the Confederate lines, and ran it to the Union blockade where it was turned over to the good guys. Smalls got his freedom, brought his family with him, and ended up being a congressman in the reconstruction south. It's a great story, and we ended up tracking down the book about his exploits, which is fantastic. Did you know that Patty Hearst now lives in Charleston? I didn't either but apparently it's true so be careful about the Symbionese Liberation Army down there. There's also a ton of other rich people who live there, which makes me yawn. The result of all that wealth coming in is that the city looks great, is highly regulated, super expensive, and kind of like a museum full of not-so-nice people (especially for the South). But admission is free. I'm not sure I would want to pay top dollar to live in a place where gaggles of tourists stroll by and constantly stare at your house, but there are those who do. We were walking on the riverfront when we came across this old Renault. I took a picture because I had been in France on some corporate hoo-ha, and we had to split up into teams and drive around in a bunch of these old vehicles. They're smaller than they look, and they have their gear shift on the dashboard. The French know how to live, Hahaha! This one was in pristine condition and simply sitting in some rich dude's driveway. Charleston also has a bunch of art galleries, and they were open and selling their wares. It was fun to poke around in them even if you have to wear a mask. All in all, it was pretty much back open and people were all over the place, having fun and enjoying the Christmastime look of the city. I'm no travel writer. Heck, I'm not much of a music writer. But I better get back to the tunes, right? Here's a great tune to keep you going right now. It's a band called grandson and this track is very catchy. Enjoy and I'll see you on the flipside.
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AuthorMy name is Bill, and I live in the greater Philadelphia area. I love music, and I have a lot of opinions. This site is primarily focused on music, but sometimes I get off track. I hope you enjoy. Archives
November 2020
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