Charleston | OUR LIFE IN 3D

Archive for the tag “Charleston”

Well my friends, we have been singing a lot of this song below in the car this week, going Back To School (que the music)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3nDBo5Iw_M

(sigh)

Yes Domino College…Back To School

C’est la vie!

Tell me, where did the summer go?

So with my girls going back to school on Thursday it had me thinking about,

“Did we do anything fun over the summer this year? it seems to have come and gone too fast.”

waiting for the bell to ring

I don’t know why they look so sad, I have to get up 45 minutes earlier everyday now! Geez! 🙂

Good bye summer vacation!

Well they were a little happier than they appear above. It looks like poor Skylar is dreaming about her time zip lining this summer..

While it looks like Dylan wishes she would rather be hiking and exploring new small streams…

Can you hear it?

She also did some hiking and camping that week.

That same week we did some white water rafting down the Nantahalla

After we took a train ride to the top of the Great Smokey Mountains

And that was after we saw some big old house…

that had gargoyles

and exotic palms

and fancy trees

The girls also met some good friends at Bible School this summer.

And caught butterflies on their toes too.

Truth is we had a hard time keeping up with the girls this summer.

One day they were here and the next day they were gone…

But you know what?

Summer vacation isn’t quite over yet!

You see next Monday they tell us we are getting a Total Solar Eclipse in our town?

I mean, come on!!

Some people will think up ANYTHING to make some money in this town!!!

Yes a “once in a lifetime” “chance of a lifetime” TOTAL solar eclipse is rolling through our state next Monday. The hotels are packed from stem to stern.

And I hear they are all coming HERE to watch it!

Some 2 million visitors are expected this weekend.

The place will be packed!

Malls are advertising it on their marquees, to what, watch it in their parking lot?

Well that is all well and good.

Schools are closed. Banks are closed. Beaches are closed (sorry NJ)

And leave it to someone (or one hundred) to try to make some money off this event.

Yes there are Solar Eclipse parties, specialty drinks, grocery store displays (Moon Pies and Blue Moon beer), t-shirts,

Specialty souvenir glasses (!!)

Why even a local semi-pro soccer stadium is having a band, kids and adult water slides and refreshments and

SELLING TICKETS TO IT!

Selling tickets to a natural occurring event that takes place up in the sky?

“Join us at MUSC Health Stadium for the best eclipse tailgate in the path of totality! We’ll have fun for the whole family including live streams of the eclipse as happens, astronomy related activities, kids zone, local food, full bar, live entertainment, and more! Tickets are $8 for adults.”

(le sigh) Anything to make a buck! 🙂

I guess if I were younger I would be thinking about partying there too.

But, yes, it’s a big deal in South Carolina. There are even those electronic message boards on our highways announcing it,

“Total Solar Eclipse August 21st; Be prepared!“

I guess that could be a real mess on the highways for our state police.

So what is going to happen?

Is the afternoon day going to turn dark? That is pretty neat I suppose.

I might just take the afternoon off too!

Want to join me?

While there are no hotels available in town (a fancy hotel just off of the prestigious Kiawah Island… that faces a grocery store is renting rooms for $600/nt this weekend) we DO still have one bedroom open at our house if you want to witness this event.

The standard fare for the room is dinner out and a case of beer.

Oh, and here’s one more piece of news for the event….

“Its going to rain!‘

It seems to have rained here everyday since the 4th of July. Boy, that would, ahhh, darken everybody’s spirits.

I was planning on working that day. My team should have their jobs rolled up pretty tight by noon next Monday so they can get out of the traffic.

Know what, I might just pop a Blue Moon that afternoon too (while its dark). It is a special day after all. Come join me! Celebrate with 2 million of my closest friends.

I hope to capture what everyone else is doing during the solar eclipse and report back to you sometime next week.

Deal?

As for my girls, while their school did dispatch solar glasses at orientation, they have the day off.

Thats all they care about.

That suits them just fine!

As for you, come join us!

Sleep in our spare room or camp in our backyard. I predict there will be a party or two going on somewhere close that afternoon…

And watch, celebrate, photograph and blog about the day in its Totality as the day turned dark

(que the music)

Have a great weekend knuckle heads!

I will try to do a better job next time.

If there is one… 🙂

Posted in Archives and tagged blue moon, Charleston, NOT lunar eclipse, party, solare eclipse, total solar eclipse, who turned the lights off?

04 Aug 2015

16 Comments

Just another weekend in the life of a Charmed one….

Last Friday, as I was reading a new comment from an old friend, my wife got a text asking if Dylan would like to spend “an overnight trip on a ship” this (past) weekend?

Are you kidding me?

Here it turns out a small group of Girl Scouts from Charlotte, NC had a package plan that they paid for with their Girl Scout cookie money funds and one girl had to cancel at the 11^th hour. And it was a pretty sweet deal, especially to fall on the lap of a 7-year-old out of nowhere.

The trip included dinner at CiCi’s pizza Friday night, then an Oceanography class, scavenger hunts, a trip to the local aquarium (to play Shark tag?) followed by a movie in 4D, as well as a Harbor Tour around Charleston’s harbor. All meals were paid for.

Sweet!

A great weekend falling on her lap from completely out of the blue!

But wait! It gets better……

It wasn’t until a few days later that I found out the ‘ship’ Dylan and the Girl Scouts were going to spend the weekend camping on was an AIRCRAFT CARRIER!

the USS Yorktown, Dylan’s B&B this weekend.

Can you imagine?

They were staying aboard the USS Yorktown. And, after all the boat tours were finished on this retired giant by the paying tourists they had the place to themselves. This included running amuck all over the flight deck in the evenings and bunk beds 3 and 4 bunks high.

So we lost track of our little ‘Charmed’ one until Saturday afternoon (and some 300 pictures later on the spare phone) when we could accompany her and the small band of Girl Scouts on the Charleston Harbor Tour in the itinerary.

I enjoyed this tour a lot as it gave you views of Chucktown that we rarely get a chance to see unless we are playing tourist. I loved the views as well as the history of some of the forts. I am not sure if the girls got as much out of it as they just chased each other around the boat, whenever they were not looking for dolphins.

Remember this pic from the Charleston Postcard last week?

Castle Pinkney (left foreground housed Union prisoners) and Fort Sumter (right on the horizon guarded the harbor by the Union) , start of America’s Civil War

You can barely make out the two forts I mentioned. Here is a better view of the first fort, Castle Pinkney, built circa 1790. This forgotten fort was once the look out and protection in Charleston’s harbor.

the Castle Pinkney, built circa 1790.

Remember this scene from Pirates of the Caribbean?

Well the Castle Pinkney was once the end to 40 or so pirates’ lives by hanging back in the day. Hung out on an island before entering Charleston as a warning to other pirates ye say?

Our tour boat then chugged us out to Fort Sumter, the Federal fort to protect Charleston in the 1800’s.

the new and improved Fort Sumter

I heard lots of good facts about this fort, too many to ~~bore you with~~ list here. The fort has been reconstructed though after its bombardment in the Civil War. One little known fact however was that one of the commanders of Fort Sumter was a Col. Abner Doubleday, who later went on to create our national pastime, Baseball. And a view from the air shows you that Fort Sumter is in the octagon shape of Home Plate in baseball. Hmmmm…

We got to see Charleston from the sea then as well. Remember these houses from Postcard? Yes, that was / is the skyline that greeted travelers approaching Charleston from the sea.

…as well as our proud Cooper River Bridge today….

The new Arthur Ravenel Bridge, formerly known as the Cooper River Bridge. Get over it!

Another interesting sight on our tour was this:

new Beamers off the boat

Charleston is third largest port on the US’s east coast; the entering port for lots of international trade. This is a parking lot full of brand new BMW’s. If you scanned the parking lot, they seem to go on indefinitely….

..and more new cars

While on the water we saw other types of fun, relaxing traffic illustrating how others spend their weekends. Besides the speed boat traffic in and out of the harbor and up the bordering rivers we saw…

Sailboat traffic…Nice!

As well as…

Sea Kayak traffic

And even several pods of dolphins on a sightseeing harbor tour.

Dolphin traffic ~ Skylar thought they were Sharks

It was a great way to get a glimpse and some colors of ‘the Lowcountry’, and an entirely enjoyable afternoon.

some of the colors of the Lowcountry

At the end of the tour Dylan made her way back to her aircraft carrier, while the rest of my family sought out some grub. Just coming off the water we were in the mood for some sea food. Opting for this rustic and scenic seafood restaurant, advertised by this beauty…

A cute little model to ‘lore’ you in

Shem Creek is a stream that flows out into the harbor and the sea. It is the home, or destination for many of the local fishing and shrimp fleets in the area. The ‘advertised’ views are nice and we had a great seafood dinner while the sun slowly set.

The sun going down on Shem Creek

It looks almost ‘frame-able’ doesn’t it?

Dylan had her aquarium trip on Sunday, complete with an educational show on Sharks. I hear it was OK.

Hopping on a Shark

We gathered her up, fed her, bathed her, and sent her off to nap (do you think the girls got much sleep on a rolling, empty air craft carrier without their parents?)

All in all, this ‘Charmed’ girl has had quite a summer including Disney World to radio stations and stairclimbing to aircraft carriers. It’s going to be hard to beat!

And let’s not forget about our youngest child following in Dylan’s wake.

Exploring some new things too

She is making a splash herself this summer.

My summer? I can’t seem to get my modeling career off the ground.

Don’t ask….

Have a great week everyone! I’ll try to do better next time!

Posted in Archives and tagged Castle Pinkney, Charleston, Dylan, Fort Sumter, seafood, Shark!, Shem Creek, the Charmed one, USS Yorktown

25 Jul 2015

12 Comments

Post Card: Charleston, SC

Charleston, SC has become known as one of America’s top tourist destinations as well as a Top destination in the world (sorry Nat). I fell in love with the town 30 years ago. Funny, now that we have moved here, we don’t do all the touristy things anymore. But with the help of Dylan’s cousin Nikki and her family, who came down to visit and see her climb stairs, we had an opportunity to be a tourist this wonderful Saturday afternoon and go for a walk downtown.

Historic Charleston is a peninsula, at least the downtown historic part is. It is bordered by the Cooper River to the north and the Ashley River to the south. Both rivers converge with the Atlantic in Charleston’s Harbor. The tip of the peninsula is called the Battery. Here is where cannons aimed at a Union fort in the harbor, Fort Sumter, fired on it, starting America’s 4 year Civil War. But that is only a smidgen of the history that has took place is this beautiful historic town.

Charleston was home to much of the South’s super wealthy plantation owners, and cotton tycoons in the 1700 and 1800’s. Charleston was often a mecca for these rich families to live or ‘summer in’ where they can meet and socialize with much of the other upper crust in this new nation. Accordingly, the Charleston peninsula, was described to me as “2000 mansions side by side” on my first trip to the Holy City, or Chucktown as it is called locally.

So without further commentary let me take you on a walk from the historic Charleston Battery up East Bay Street on a sunny summer afternoon.

First, the Battery has always been one of my favorite places to run.

the Battery is the home to my favorite running course(s)

White Point Gardens at the Battery

the Battery Gardens and another wedding

So let’s go out to the water and take a left up East Bay Street and take a look at some magnificent houses..

Let’s take a walk up East Bay Street from the Battery

Virtually all these houses have some historical significance. If you like history you would find this place very interesting..

A nice little number with all the Square footage you could want

As I said, about 2000 mansions side by side…

..where the mansions are literally side by side downtown

They range in all types of architectural styles….

Various styles of architecture to appreciate

..and colors!

A pink flamingo colored property, reminiscent of the plantation owners in the Caribbean

The Charleston “Single House” and especially the porches, or Piazza’s. …

The front of the house is actually the side of the house

Wealthy homeowners could build massive mansions on narrow lots. But the idea for the Piazza’s is to capture the coastal breeze in the house (no a/c back then) as well as shade on their porches from the hot summer sun.

But common tourists really pass by the real beauty of these homes if they simply drive or walk by. The detail each homeowner puts into their house to make it unique is what I love. If you take the time to look down manicured allies, or backyard or front gates (I’m such a nosy tourist) the love for Charleston can really kick in!

Whether it is the landscaping…

Iron gates…

or private courtyards…

Even curious signs warning too curious travelers…

Beware Ye Butt!

Each home is really worth taking the time to see individually. It’s quite a nice neighborhood to visit!

Yea, its a nice neighborhood to call home.

Yes, it’s a nice neighborhood to call home.

Here is a building worth seeing, the old Exchange and Provost Dungeon…all those flags have flown over it.

the Old Exchange Provost Dungeon

It once was a prison (dungeon) holding American prisoners during our Revolutionary War; as well as famous (Blackbeard) and not so famous pirates. George Washington read a copy of the Declaration of Independence to Charlestonians from it balcony. And it was used as an ammunition stock pile during our Civil War as well as many other uses over its 200+ year life.

We decided to take a side street…

taking a right down a side street to the Waterfront Park

Ahhhh…. shade in the summer afternoon sun!

Lots of shade at the Waterfront Park

The Waterfront park has been made famous (check these out) through pictures from its two fountains…

a few water fountains at the Waterfront Park

Our kids found one that suited them…

The park does face the Cooper River though as it meets the sea, where you can see two forts from our Civil War…

Castle Pinkney and Fort Sumter on the right, start of America’s Civil War

More modern attractions can be seen at the port, including Cruise ships, the Cooper river Bridge, home to the very popular Cooper River Bridgerun 10K, and the retired aircraft carrier the USS Yorktown.

Carnival Fantasy, Cooper River Bridge (Arthur Ravenel Bridge), Yorktown battleship

Carnival Fantasy, Cooper River Bridge (Arthur Ravenel Bridge), USS Yorktown across the river

We then decided to get some lunch….

Something is always brewing here…

At the Southend Brewery and head back to our car. Travelers remember, this is just walking up one street in Charleston. There are many other spectacular views on the other less traveled streets, side streets, and even allies. The town is really easy to fall in love with!

It was a great afternoon with family sightseeing, topping off a great morning when my daughter carted off two great awards from our Stairclimb…

She received the medal for winning her age group (there were only 2 7-year olds there) and the giant Hershey Bar for bringing in $500 to the Lung Association (thank again to all you showing her some love and support for a great cause). All the other $500 fundraisers got a bottle of Champagne.

The Hershey bar promptly turned to soup in the car as we toured East Bay Street.

Today was a good day….

Posted in Meet Me In Charleston and tagged Charleston, East Bay Street, sc, the beaches, the food, the history, the shopping, top getaway

14 May 2013

23 Comments

Moving update….

I know some of you may be looking for pictures and updates from our new location. The truth is we are still wading through a few more boxes in most every room. We have moved in! But it is not a Home Sweet Home yet.

The good news is we have great neighbors all around us. This neighborhood is filled with kids! Dylan’s new best friend is Deidra, a nice 10 year old girl that lies beside us. They are already planning a sleep over on Friday! We still have to install some lights in these rooms….

I have to take a moment and point out my friends at Palmetto Movers. This is the company I arranged to move our possessions from one house to the next; keeping them in a truck over night while the houses went through closing.

Not only did they get started 2 hours late, with 2 employees instead of the scheduled three (one of the two was hung over), they also forgot to bring a truck with them! (!!!)

The two employees showed up at my house about an hour late then decided to go to the U-Haul center for a moving truck. They drove there in their car and returned with the truck and trailer. Only thing was one of them forgot to drive the car back that took them there, leaving the two without transportation for their ride home. It appears I paid for them to go to that U-Haul depot as they were on the clock. I guess it was a good thing I was only paying for two; to do a one person job that should have been done ahead of time, instead of all three.

I had to keep pumping them full with Mountain Dews and Protein Bars so they could get the job done in a timely manner. They were paid by the hour after all. I tried to set the pace as I became the (missing) third man to pack up our things on the truck. If I slowed down, they slowed down I noticed.

The next day the unloading got put off as it appears the paralegal for the buyer of our home forgot to put in the closing statement where our loan was being paid off by the sale of the house. Yes, 30 minutes before we are to go to close to buy our new house, my mortgage guy says the previous sale of our home was invalid due to this error. A new HUD statement needed to be drawn up and signed by both parties in order to transfer any type of funds in the sale.

Well, it’s a good thing we were living in our car at the time! We made it to that attorney and signed the forms and made it to the attorney’s office for our new home purchase on time at 2:00pm. The trouble was the buyer of our old home had to work until 4:00pm and could not sign the statement any earlier.

So we sat on the curb at our new house, our trusty movers by our side, waiting for the word we were allowed to move in. Tick, tick, tick. Finally at 5:00pm we got word “the closing was going to the banks.” It was over. We should be able to move in….

And that’s what we did. We didn’t have keys to the house but I did know the combination to the garage door opener. So, pumped full of Mountain Dew, my trusty team kicked it into gear. We had minimal damage, scratches or breakage moving in. I ordered some pizzas as we were getting close.

Our Realtor finally called and asked how we were doing. She’s says, “Oh no, the money didn’t transfer yet. Your house hasn’t cleared the closing yet.”

“You are kidding, right?”

We went ahead and started filling the house up with our belongings, the entire time waiting for a “Yay” or “Nay” on the move in, wondering if or when the police might show up. We kept going after all, these trusted movers were on the clock! They did OK. They only broke a leg or two on some chairs and sofas and scratched some end tables and washing machine. I bought them a pizza at the end of the move. Then the head mover handed me a bill for $90.00 more than what we agreed upon….since we got done so late and they couldn’t return the truck that day. Never mind they showed up 2 hours late the day before, they were a man short day 1, broke some stuff, and I fed and hydrated the them. I was so tired I wrote the check and tried to put the whole experience behind me insted of arguing the point at the end of the day. I just wanted to be done at this point.

Between them and the certain Paralegal it made me wonder how some people survive in the business word. Such mistakes or errors in customer service would not last that long in my company; or that of my wife’s.

Breaking news….before I get too nasty on some people the blows here keep coming.

If you have a garage you most certainly have to step ‘up’ into your house when you enter your house. This suggests your house sits on a cement slab. Well last week I noticed water seeping out between the top of the cement slab and beneath the floor of the house. Think about that for a second. There is water coming, sitting somewhere beneath our floor and on top of the cement slab it sits on. …in a brand new house!

Can we catch a break?

So the builder’s plumber comes out. He gives me some lame excuse why. Meanwhile the water keeps seeping out. Another higher-up builder comes. He says the water is coming from a shower drain. The problem is we have never used this specific shower.

So they are going to tear out the back wall / sheet rock in my garage to dry the area and try to find the source of the water. AND…open up a hole in our laundry room and probably tear up the marble floors in the master bathroom …and said shower and more than likely the scallop shaped tub..in order to find and fix this drain.

Should I get a lawyer? My past experience of selling a house says termites like to chow down on wet wood. Should I get the termite people out there?

Last month I tried to take these setbacks in stride. After all we were selling our clunker and buying a new one. Now, I’m afraid, I feel like I am becoming not such a nice guy. And I am sorry for sounding like such a whiner here (continuing)). I think I need a little more break until things improve.

PS..we found another great nanny (in a long line of great nannies) to take care of the our little gems while we are at work. And today Dylan is taking a tour of her new school that she starts next fall. I turn 29 on Saturday…and my parents are travelling down to visit (to spoil the grandkids not really for my birthday)…after I travel up to there section of PA on a business trip this week. And life goes on…