send your mother home your navel

There’s a title that will make no sense at all – Obscure Captain Beefheart Reference!! I’m kind of giddy – and quite overcaffeinated-  because I’ve been sitting in the Christian Coffee Shop for something like TWO HOURS, trying to get caught up with everyone (and not completely succeeding either) and uploading Charleston Pictures to Flickr. And mourning the fact that instead of sitting on Bay Street drinking microbrewed stout and watching all the tourists go by, I’m sitting in the Christian Coffee Shop drinking coffee and watching the parkinglot, where it’s pouring down rain. I was going to go to the nice pleasant campus library and do this, but thought I may as well try these guys out since I’m apparently going to be a Wireless Regular and need a variety of spots. The Christian Coffee Shop is not the most comfortable atmosphere, and they tend to play horrible music (today it’s country – often it’s christian pop. Or, worst of all – Christian Country!) but the people who work here are very nice and the coffee is excellent. And I’ve got my iPod glued to my ears so I’m not having to listen to their music. Or the cellphone yakkers or the Megaphone Mouth Woman who was in here a few minutes ago.

I miss Charleston. I keep reminding myself that I live in a prime vacation spot where zillions of people would KILL to live, and how everyone who comes here probably mourns having to leave like I mourn having to leave Charleston, and I’m even off for the rest of the week AND next Monday so at least I’m still on vacation, even though I’m back home –  but… I MISS CHARLESTON!!!! We had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect – hot as absolute total and complete hell, just the way I love it – with only one sprinkle of rain. We walked and walked and walked, went to the cool ancient cemeteries, drank beer, went to the beaches, walked some more – the only thing I wanted to do and didn’t was walk over the bridge. The new bridge has a pedestrian walkway all the way across, and great views, but we kept doing other things and then realized yesterday – our last chance – that it was WAY too hot. Yes, it was too hot even for me to walk across the bridge! It was in the 90s and very humid, and the sun was blazing down and I’d actually started feeling really dehydrated walking around the gargantuan cemetery without any water. So  we’ll do it next time. And Baker B, the Bad Traveler, was just as pleasant and happy and fun to be around as he could possibly be. He never even got the slightest bit cranky. He’s actually been like this for the last three or four trips we’ve had. So that made it extra fun – no crankiness from the spouse!

Well, I really need to get out of here and go do something vaguely productive – I keep seeing lightening which makes me a little nervous as I’ve been here long enough to run my battery down and am currently plugged in – so here are some Charleston pictures! I took about ten million, as usual.

The Southend Brewery, aka The Smokehouse, aka the Shiny Thing Place where they brew excellent beer in big shiny copper vats you can sit right beside. While gazing out at the city. We always spend considerable time here.

A carriage horse. I loved his braided mane. In the spring they often braid flowers in the horses’ hair.

Cool old building. One of the zillions.

And a Weird Arty Shot in which you can see me and Baker B with naked people flying over our heads! Time to go – the coffeeshop is filling up and the lightening is getting worse!