Lowcountry lollygagging

Concrete Dalmatian, Central Station, Meeting and Wentworth StreetsWe day-tripped to Charleston last Saturday.

TG likes to attend Citadel home basketball games -- he played for the Bulldogs from 1970-1974 -- but that is not all. This past weekend marked the annual Alumni Game.

My man laced up his Nike Air Jordans and played nine minutes total. He even scored a goal.

Not that I was there to see it.

Erica came along for the ride and a change of scenery, and since the weather was very fine -- although not as warm as we had hoped; more on that later -- we asked TG to drop us off at Citadel Square while he went on to the games.

Patio lights, Christophe of Society Street

Besides simply passing the time, our objective was three-fold: Walk; take pictures; drink coffee.

Although we arrived at lunchtime, we didn't plan to eat out per se, on account of we were invited to dinner on Sullivan's Island later than evening.

We started out on the shadowy side of Meeting Street and quickly learned that was a mistake. The problem was not so much the temperature, which promised to top out at sixty, but due to gusty wind.

So we crossed over to the sunny side. Much more better.

We walked by a vintage "double house" fire station on Meeting Street where it intersects with Wentworth. One could spend many blissful days photographing the doorways of Charleston.

United States Custom House, East Bay Street

In due course we were in the full tourist-shopping district where caveat emptor was never a more appropriate warning.

Even so, we wandered into Sperry Top-Sider on King Street, Erica being enamored of the stylish preppy boat shoes. Just to look.

The Little Boo came away not with new kicks, but with a dressy-casual seahorse sweatshirt and coordinating shirt I encouraged her to buy.

One: I love seahorses. Two: Don't shop with me if you don't want to be told that you deserve to treat yourself. It's how I roll. Vicarious retail thrills and all that.

(FYI the folks at Sperry Top-Sider were having an epic sale. Not on their classic shoes, but on their apparel, which I didn't even know they had.)

Prudent snacking "R" us

After we had spent Erica's money, we were more peckish than ever. We began searching in earnest for a bake shop.

Where King Street crossed Society Street, there was a chalkboard set up on the sidewalk, with lots of tempting pastel-chalked words like chocolate and baguette and coffee. An arrow pointed down Society.

We followed and ended up at Christophe Artisan Chocolatier-Patissier, a fragrant establishment where we enjoyed French-press coffee with real cream and tucked in to a small brioche loaf, saving a third to take home to Audrey.

We sat on the red brick patio and tossed brioche crumbs to a fat little bird, and took pictures of the lights strung between Christophe's and a white brick house.

The sky was so blue!

Is that Davy Jones? No; it's only Erica. Do not frighten her.

Erica loves Moon Pies and there is a Moon Pie General Store on Market Street, so we swanned in that direction. 

Along the way we stopped at The Peanut Shop where one is invited to sample Virginia peanuts liberally dusted with every kind of flavored coating imaginable.

Most are delicious; some taste like Clorox. My favorite variety is Salt & Vinegar. I bought a small canister for prudent snacking at a later date.

After Erica bought -- wait for it -- a Moon Pie (double-decker) at the Moon Pie General Store, we wandered toward Charleston Harbor and the shipping terminals and Waterfront Park, pausing along the way to take pictures of random doorways and the stunning United States Custom House.

Down at the Port of Charleston, the Carnival Fantasy cruise ship was preparing for its late-afternoon departure. The passengers were all aboard and there was much loudspeaker-talking and tone-sounding and horn-blowing leading up to sailing.

Central Station, Meeting Street

We made our way out onto the pier to get a better look, and sat for a time in one of the ample swings that front the harbor. Fort Sumter is right where the Yankees and Rebels left it a century and a half ago.

But we got cold -- high temperature of maybe-sixty had been attained and lasted for approximately nine minutes, the same amount of time TG trod the boards at McAlister Fieldhouse -- so we moseyed over to the railing to be in the sun and wait for the ship to embark on its journey.

In a bid to warm up a degree or two, Erica decided to take her new sweatshirt out of its spiffy tote and tie the sleeves around her neck.

But she kept clutching at the tied ends, which she had not knotted. Finally she admitted that she was having a horrible non-carnival fantasy of her new sweatshirt flying off her neck and down into the water.

I said, give it to me, and she reluctantly obeyed, beg-warning me NOT to let it fly off the pier, and I fixed her shirt real cute on her back and tied it securely in the front so she didn't have to strangle herself with either worry or her own two hands.

Je Suis Charlie

Then she admitted she was terrified I was going to drop my camera (I have a tendency to hang my arms over railings with my Nikon in my hand, not strapped to me in any way because I can't stand stuff hanging around my neck.)

We pretty much cracked up at how paranoid Erica is. Her own shadow -- of which, yes, she is afraid -- laughed at her.

Still and all, we were so cold, we decided to walk back up the pier to Vendue Range. More refreshment was needed and besides, TG would be coming to collect us soon.

At Belgian Gelato we resisted both the gelato and the waffles they put it on. Erica bought me a Diet Coke and herself a black coffee. She broke open her double-decker Moon Pie and had her second grand snack of the day. Third, if you count the nutty samples she scarfed at The Peanut Shop.

Sitting outside once more in the sun beside a giant ice cream cone, we met Charlie.

Society Street entryway

He is a rescue dog who is clearly part long-hair Chihuahua and part Papillon, and the most precious little guy, sweeter than all the moon pies and waffles and gelato in the whole world.

His lovely owner sat and talked with us and it turns out she is from Columbia too, so we had a nice chat while Charlie let us alternately stroke his soft fur, exclaim over his ridiculous cuteness level, and take his picture.

While we passed the time with Charles and his human, the cruise ship left the dock and made its way to the sea lanes. We missed the whole thing. How something that big could get away a mere stone's throw from us, and escape our notice, is testament to how much we love dogs.

Then TG called and said where y'all at, and we divulged our geographic coordinates, and we walked to the corner where Vendue Range segues into Concord Street. I was shivering violently by then.

We hopped into the car -- well, Erica hopped; I more or less tumbled -- and I turned my seat-warmer on and tried to get my core temperature back to normal. I think I was teetering on the brink of hypothermia but there is no way we will ever know for sure.

Pastry stand and banners, Christophe Chocolatier-Patissier

Across the Ravenel Bridge (from which we spotted the Carnival Fantasy well underway) and onto Sullivan's Island we went, to the mind-bogglingly beautiful one-street-off-the-beach home of one of TG's college coaches, a man whose name I could drop because he's a minor celebrity in the world of college basketball, but which I won't because I just won't.

I will say that he and his wife are perfectly charming people and marvelous, un-fussy hosts and along with them and maybe six other couples, plus our Erica, we enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by our hostess.

In the lap of all that lowcountry luxury and southern hospitality, I finally got warm.

And that is all for now.

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Happy Monday

Comments

[Mari]

This sounds like a wonderful day! Except being cold - I hate being cold. (And even though your cold might feel warm to me, it's all relative, right?)
Yay for TG scoring - he's still got it!
I laughed at Erica's paranoia, because I am so like that! I always worry about my camera or my purse, or whatever falling into the water when we are on the pier.
Charlie is adorable!
I'm intrigued by the coach, but I don't know why. I don't know any college coaches. :) So glad you had fun though. I'm sure you fit right in there!

[irene]

what a great day, and so warm, I'm really freezing, it's -20C here with at least 16inches of snow on the ground.

[Barb Behmer]

Wow - I loved this trip from beginning to end, especially the parts about the treats. I was hoping for a photo of the Moon Pie, but I can imagine... Can you believe I've never been to Charleston? You'd freeze in Breckenridge, Jenny! PS Believe me, you weren't even close to hypothermia.

[Jennifer]

@Mari ... I fit in to the extent that I ate, I got warm, and I found myself wishing they'd go away for a week or three and ask me to house-sit! I'd be adorable at that.

@Irene ... If you ever get warm, it has to be a miracle.

@Barb ... I lived in Northwest Indiana, 30 miles from Chicago, for 17 years so girl, I know from cold. The problem here in South Carolina is that when you try to read the weather tea leaves, sometimes you miscalculate. That's what happened to me on Saturday. Normally I'd dress much too warmly and be complaining about that.