Charleston

Yesterday morning at 0'dark hundred, my hubby kindly offered to go outside and start my car, a full 20 minutes before I had to leave.  I told him not to waste the gas.  He didn't listen.  Instead, he rolled my suitcase out the front door and disappeared into the early morning blackness.  He came back in a few minutes later and gave me a cocky smile and told me that I would be glad that he had volunteered to go out. Whatever.  After I gave him and Selim last hugs and kisses, I went out.  Oh boy.  The pathway was a sheet of ice but my car was so warm that the encrusted snow/ice layer that enveloped it was melting away happily. Clearly, he knew something that I didn't.  And I'm grateful that he didn't listen to me.

I put the car in 4-wheel drive and made my way slowly and carefully to the bus station on Pease for my ride down to Logan.  The bus was packed with early morning travelers.  The main road was ice and traffic free and we made it without delay.  The first leg of the flight to Charlotte was easy.  I lucked out and had the extra leg room that the emergency exit row provides.  I sat next to a man who heads up data trouble shooting teams for Blackberry and another guy who was not as talkative.

I had an hour to make my connecting flight in Charlotte.  I arrived in Terminal B and had to walk to Terminal E.  I'm glad I had plenty of time to make that nice walk.  As I sat down to eat my lunch, I looked out the window and saw our bags waiting to be loaded.  I'm pretty sure that my suitcase is in that shot.

The ride from Charlotte to Charleston was 35 minutes.  I sat next to a woman who was going down for the birth of her 17th grandchild.  She was very excited.  Our conversation meandered from childbirth, to the benefits of living near water to quilting.  She was fun and the time passed quickly.

The Charleston airport isn't huge and I picked up my bag and rental car in quick order.  Aided by a GPS, I found my way into downtown Charleston rather easily.  However, I was thwarted in my effort to get to the hotel by a Christmas Parade.  A long and diverse parade, if I do say so.  I parked my car in a church parking lot across the street, took my laptop and carry-on bag and dashed through the parade to the other side of the street to the hotel only to discover that my room was not available.  So, back to the car to lock the laptop in the trunk and empty my purse enough to make it light for a walk around the city.  Good thing I did that because I ended up walking for 2 1/2 hours.

I strolled along Calhoun Street to East Bay.  Then down East Bay to East Battery and the White Point Gardens, going into side alley ways and streets, admiring the architecture.  I went in and out of side streets and alley ways, in search of the post card photo shot of the rainbow colored houses.  I may or may not have passed by. They weren't as striking or obvious as I thought they would be.

The trees in the Gardens/Park area fascinated me.  The branches seemed to be growing horizontally out and not up.  They curved and looked to me as if they were dancing.  I don't know how to explain, but it looked like they were waving their arms in a dance like way.  I got enchanted.

And then there was the way that the curvy branches stood in contrast to the straight posts of the gazebo.  Who can resist that type of juxtaposition?  Clearly, not me.  I was thinking ring around the rosie as I moved around taking pictures of the interplay between the structure and the free form branches.   Then there was the way that the arch ways in the gazebo mirrored those formed by the tree limbs...throw in a light post and I couldn't get enough.

After trying to capture that feeling, I turned back towards the hotel and walked up Meeting Street.  By this time I started to flag -- hungry, tired and exasperated that I had a blister on one foot that had gotten to be pretty hurty.  Around 5:00 I checked into the hotel and discovered that I had had a blister, but it had popped and the skin rubbed raw.  I changed into sandals and went out to find a place to eat dinner and buy band aides.  I had success on both fronts.  I ate dinner at Joe's Pasta, delicious. I found a small box of band aides at the gas station near the hotel for a mere $5.41.  Price gouging, for sure, but worth every penny.