Boats

Last night as I was driving over a bridge to go to James Island, I noticed that there was another Marriott right on the water.  I had an idea that they might let me park in their lot and explore down by the water a bit if I could show them my parking sticker.  Oh, but why was I going to James Island?  To have dinner at the Mustard Seed.  One of the trainers had recommended it after I told her of my vegetarian diet.  It isn't a vegetarian restaurant, per se, but they did have many options.  And Oh. My. Word.  I had one of the best meals.  Ever.  If licking the plate clean had been a polite option, I would have been slurping that pasta bowl like no body's business.  The meal of the year was a sweet potato filled ravioli in a garlic cream sauce with baby spinach, nuts and Gorgonzola crumbles and a reduced balsamic sauce that they had on the side.  And did I mention with sun-dried tomato bread that came with?  It may sound like an odd combination, but it was Nirvana on a plate.  I had left my camera in the car (amazing, that it isn't permanently attached, I know) otherwise, there would be a picture of the meal instead of my receipt and the outside of the building.

So this morning, I was out of the hotel at 7:18 and on my way to the the water.  I parked in the hotel parking lot and nobody said a word.  I walked through the courtyard and on to the concrete sea wall and stopped a the No Trespassing sign.  The early morning light was soft and the water still which made for nice picture taking.  

I especially liked the reflections on the water.

As a side note, I took a boat picture on the other side of the city on Sunday.  It sounded as if they were shooting off cannons -- huge booms and lots of smoke.

This morning, I also realized that I made a good choice in my hotel because it would be harder to walk around outside that hotel as it is in a busy high way area.  And noisy to boot.

Today's training was very interesting.  We had a guy from HR/ ER give us a presentation.  It took me about 5 minutes before I could place his face.  Turns out we were in the same ConGen class in DC in 2011.  This was not a venue where I was expecting to see anybody from that class.  The morning flew by -- the information was excellent and the question and answer period was very helpful.

Tonight's activity was trying to find a souvenir, or two.  I walked through the City Market building and managed to accomplish that goal.  I might have to stop in the airport gift shop as well, since I didn't find the usual key chains and lapel pins that I often bring home.  I did have fun window browsing in the high end shops on King street on my way back to the hotel.  This area isn't a particularly cheap place to shop.  I'm glad that nothing uber expensive has jumped out at me, other than a charm bracelet made up of charms of the "Doors of Charleston" in the historical preservation shop that was $360 if I read the tag correctly.  I passed and settled for the little tray shaped in a tea pot that you put your used tea bag on -- that was decorated with the houses of Rainbow Row that was $3.  And I found some postcards of building that I have seen, that I may or may not have time to send out.