16 Things About A Trip To Charleston

  1. It turns out that RVs sometimes decide that they want to be the lane you’re in. And they don’t care that you’re in it. My first experience with being run off onto the hard shoulder, everybody!
  2. Horse-drawn carriages sound so romantic, don’t they? Nobody really seems to think about the consequences of having lots of horses in 30˚C+ weather and high humidity. Always work out where downwind is, and don’t stand there!
  3. At some point in the mid 1980s, an architect stood in the middle of Middleton Plantation and said: “FATHER, IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS LUSH SCENERY, I WILL BUILD A BRUTALIST HOTEL!” And fair play to the owners for not having said person carried off the grounds. I’m now trying to work out if I can replicate part of the bathroom design at home.
  4. Apparently, I can detect a Library Book Sale from miles away (though I did have help in this one, so you can blame the second upcoming bookcase on Tammy and Robert)
  5. SO HOT. SO HOT. AND HUMID. OH GOD THE HUMIDITY.
  6. Okay, technically, I had pancakes at Hominy Grill. But then a fusion chicken biscuit at Xiao Bau Biscuit and more fried chicken at Cru Café. I had to restrain myself at Husk the next day. And the fries at The Glass Onion tasted like fried chicken, too.
  7. I like to place all the blame for hating audience participation on the time I was abandoned as a small child in the middle of London and taken in by performers who tried to get me to beat one of them over the head with a plastic hammer. (this really happened, though my parents dispute how long they were away. They still left me in the middle of Covent Garden, though.)
  8. It’s odd walking through a lovely planned garden knowing that it’s very existence is due to slave labour. And that the family who owned it went from signing the Declaration of Independence to signing the Declaration of Secession within a hundred years. Also, apparently three-year vacations to Europe were a thing.
  9. Jeni’s Ice Creams are indeed quite splendid.
  10. If anybody knows just why there was a three-float parade in the middle of downtown Charleston on Saturday afternoon, do let us know. We were quite surprised.
  11. You’d be surprised just how much it can rain in an hour. Especially if you’re outside at the time.
  12. Steve Mcmanananananananananan is during the commentary for ESPN’s World Cup coverage. On the one hand, things like ‘HYUNDAI HALFTIME!” On the other: no Phil Neville.
  13. The trip ended up being focused on a very small part of downtown but with lots of circles around it. But great company on the Saturday!
  14. THE BRIDGES. WHY DO THEY GET HIGHER? WHY? WHY?
  15. Stingrays get quite animated when taken out of the water.
  16. There. Are. Snakes.