Saturday, April 12, 2008

A Day in Charleston, South Carolina

We just had a great day in Charleston, South Carolina, and the surrounding areas. I'm tired, tanned, and totally looking forward to my last day in this great city on Sunday. The weather was perfect, the city was charming, and the people were friendly. If you've ever thought of going there for a visit, I give it 4 thumbs up. You'll love it.

So, want to know what we did? Alright, here it is.

We started the day with a trip to Folly Beach to get into the surf. It was windy and the water was choppy, so we weren't out long. I was (pleasantly) surprised to see how many college girls were out on the beach braving the cool ocean wind in their bikinis. My hat goes off to those little troopers.

After being in the water for only a short time, we tried a round of "Shrimp and Grits" for brunch at Snapper Jack's. Not bad. Always good to try a local favorite. After eating, it was back to the hotel for a hot tub down by the pool, and then off to Gold's Gym for a bench press workout.

I love working out at Gold's Gym. I know the scene is cheesy, and it's just as much as a nightclub/pick-up spot as it is a gym, but I can't help but liking it there. It's just too much fun.

Always good to see insanely strong guys throwing the weights around, and funny to watch all the cardio bunnies on the machines. Although, because it was 2pm on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, there wasn't a lot of anything to be seen at the gym. Not too worry, it let me get my muscle building workout done without any waiting. And my lower abs circuit too.

After the gym, we did a 2.5 hour walk around Charleston. My legs are still sore now.

We started down Calhoun then turned right and walked around Colonial Lake. Loving the old houses down there. Then back up Rutledge to Calhoun again, and on towards Marion Square or Park or whatever it's called. Lots of Co-eds from the College of Charlston tossing the frisbee and football around.

Then down King Street and past a lot more old, beautiful, charming homes. Felt like I was walking through the film scenes of Gone with the Wind. And along the way, I stopped and bought a glass of lemonade from two young girls who had set up a lemonade stand in front of their old Colonial Home.

Man, is this place for real? It was very cute to see them setting up shop, so I signed their international guest book and gave them $3 bucks (in case you want to know, lemonade is now going for $1.50 for a large glass...a far cry from the 5 cents you see in comic strips - probably has something to do with rising gas prices).

And so then we carried on, walking down King, where the only thing to complain about was the abundance of horsefarts...but that's what you get when you have dozens of horse and carriages on your streets.

We walked all the way down to Battery Park and then turned back up East Bay Street and walked all the way up to Calhoun. Fatigue was starting to set in, and it was starting to get overcast and looked like rain...but I got suckered in to turning back down towards Battery Park on a street (I forget the name) lined with Charleston's shopping district.

So back down, and then back up Rutledge by Colonial Lake one more time.

Trust me, when you walk these neighborhoods, you'll have a hard time getting over all the beautiful homes...with their giant pillars and grand entrances...you'd think you had gone back in time.

Finally, we made it up to Calhoun again, and then slowly, almost painfully, we shuffled back to the hotel. Then back downtown (by cab this time!) to dinner at Slightly North of Broad (SNOB). Just one of Charleston's gorgeous restaurants, and then finished off the night with a stop at one of the Rooftop bars where you could see across the entire city (because there are no high-rise buildings taller than the church steeples) and across the water to the outer islands around the city.

Heck of a day. But back to work tomorow on a top-secret Turbulence Training project that is the reason I came down to Charleston...but I can't announce what it is until the middle of September.

Sorry for the suspense, but I know you'll love it.

Charleston is officially my favorite American city,
CB

Click HERE for the program that will give you endless energy like me

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