Bright lights, Big city

Wow. What a weekend.

I am decompressing at the airport, waiting for my flight back to Charleston from New York City. Steph, who adopted me into her family when I was in Michigan, invited me to visit her in the Big City for a few days. I had a Delta flight credit and a free weekend. Easy decision, eh?

Friday co-worker Jim dropped me off at CHS. By dinner time I was boarding a bus with a couple of Catalan tourists for downtown. We said Adios at Lexington Ave, where I grabbed the 6 train for the Upper East Side. Steph's boyfriend, Dave, has an apartment (with a very comfortable guest room) in that super sweet neighborhood. Everything you could want within a few blocks. We grabbed burgers at Bareburger and shot some pool at the East End. We were falling asleep by the end of the movie we put on when we got home, and collapsed into bed by midnight. Do you know what a treat it was to sleep without air conditioning? I don't remember the last time I slept so well!

Welcome to Grand Central!

Blurry, but you can kinda see the cool constellations on the ceiling!

After breaking our fast, Steph and I headed to midtown via Grand Central Station. I had the strongest feeling of adventure walking through the halls, like each marble arch we passed had the potential to bring me to a new world. Magical. We met back up with Dave at the PWC office (he volunteers with a mentoring program on Saturday mornings) and he and Steph showed me the skyline from their office, complete with a glimpse of the statue of liberty through the downtown skyline. After lunch with some of Dave's mentoring team we wandered past the library and Rockefeller plaza to Times Square. 

There were masses of people waiting for show tickets, in lines for matinees, waiting to cross the street, waiting for the stage in the middle to be occupied by Korean martial artists... people everywhere. We ditched the crowd and found an Irish pub (actually run by Irishwomen!) to watch the Michigan game.

5 minutes later we were cheering on the Blue and Maize :)

Dinner was at a wonderful Mexican restaurant called Mole. I didn't come close to finishing the delicious pot of grilled meats and veggies - pork, pollo, carne asada, cactus- put in front of me. Next time i visit, I'll treat it as a challenge and not let it best me ;-) it was a short walk back to Dave's place, and once again we we dozed off watching a movie.

a Walk in the Park

I appreciated the lazy Sunday start to the day, dozing in the cool and quiet before pulling myself together and heading to breakfast at the Mansion (more like brunch by the time we rolled in ;). We took coffee to go and wandered through Carl Shurz Park on the east river, then up to Central Park. If there's any place to really get an idea of how big just Manhattan is, wandering the beautiful park in the center of town is it. The colours were just starting to change, children were running around on the playgrounds, miniature sailboats were zipping over the sailing pond... all while horse drawn carriages and rickshaws and runners zipped along the highways. It felt so livable,a sort of living room for the city. People out enjoying each others company on a cool fall day. Absolutely perfect.

Sailboats on the pond

From Columbus Circle at the south end of the park we made our way to glitzy 5th Ave. Steph pointed out the Tiffany's as we wandered by, and I felt as giddy as Holly Golightly. By the time we made it back home, there was enough time for me to check my gate, shift some gear, and secure my rucksack. Steph and Dave walked me to the bus stop and helped me with my ticket ,then hugs goodbye for my wonderful hosts and i was flying solo once again. A bit of time here at the airport, then south bound and down...

I see why so many people love this city. It doesn't compare to anywhere I've been before, and I look forward to spending more time here on my next visit... hopefully sooner rather than later :-)

Sisters visit!

My sisters' birthday presents this year were tickets for a weekend in Charleston. The best part? Smalls (the youngest) didn't know that Em (middle) was coming! Em doesn't much like surprises, so it couldn't be a double surprise ;)

Anyways, I left campus a little early on Friday to pick Smalls up from the airport. She crashed for a sleep cycle or two at Hotel House while I finished up work. By the time she was showered, we were both rather ravenous. BBQ was in order! Off to Sullivan's Island for some Home Team. After inhaling mountains of pulled pork in mustard bbq sauce, we wandered our way to Fort Moultrie and the beach. It really wasn't the greatest weekend for history lovers to be in Chucktown, since all federal sites (Sumter and Moultry included) were shut down along with the rest of the government. We still saw the fort - and one of the mines that once protected the harbor!

We walked back from the south tip of the island along the beach. It was a beautiful day, especially for two girls looking forward to winter in the rainy PNW!

From Sullivan's Island, we swung by Shem Creek for another view of the Low Country.

finally, we made it to downtown and heard BlueBilly Grit, Cranford Hollow, and the Grasscals at Charleston Music Hall. They were all a lot of fun - it was the sort of concert where you just lose track of time. Where BBG and the Grascals were more traditional bluegrass, Crandford Hollow was Americana. They presented some of their "Low Country Stomp," which had the entire audience bouncing in their seats.
The night finally ended at midnight when we picked up Em (surprising Smalls!) at the airport. Well, it would have ended... we spent the next 2-3 hours catching up ;)

No rest for the weary... Boone Hall first thing in the morning! The Avenue of Oaks should look familiar if you've seen Gone with the Wind...

As beautiful as the house was, the best part of the visit (IMHO) was the Gullah presentation at one of the old brick slave cabins. Our introduction to the culture of the Gullah Geechee corridor had us all enthralled by the rhythm of its oral tradition and singing along with gospel songs. It also made us appreciate how "high on the hog" we were living for the weekend!

Our timing was just right for a walk through the market before catching a ride through town with two new long-eared, four-hooved friends. Charleston on Saturday afternoon is alive with tourists soaking in the architecture and history and sunshine and good food.

Walking towards St Philip's Episcopal Church.

the Calhoun Mansion

After our carriage tour, we went back and meandered our favorite spots on foot. I love the cobbled streets and wrought iron gates in Charleston, from Longitude Ln to Chalmer's north of Broad. In between we visited Goat. Sheep. Cow., a mecca of cheeses and cured meats (and possibly Smalls' new favorite store). 

In the evening we enjoyed a wonderful meal at Slightly North of Broad (SNoB) and a nighttime wandering of the pier. And gelato. You can't forget the gelato. 

Sunday was low-key, with a short wander of King St. and another stop for BBQ before shipping the Sisters back West. All in all, it was an amazing weekend, with almost enough sister time to hold us 'till Christmas!

Pumpkins!

For evidence that summer is over, look no further than the mounds of orange squash that have invaded every storefront. To celebrate the change of seasons, my coworker and I replaced our usual midweek trip downtown with pumpkin carving at Hotel House.

My carvings had a sort of theme- think I might have a little  fernweh (wanderlust)? I wish I had a photo of Jim's Darth Vader pumpkin to share with you...so cool!!

As much fun as carving pumpkins is, it gets even better! Pumpkin seeds are one of my favorite snacks. Before and after roasting, right and left. I followed the recipe from this blog, and they turned out perfect. Boil in saltwater first- who knew??

Helen Hiking and Oktoberfest

Charleston is nice, but I have yet to find a place in it that you can't hear machines. So this weekend I drug my co-worker away to the mountains :)

The Appalachian Trail is about 5 hours drive away from Charleston where we picked it up in Northern Georgia. We parked and hiked from Andrews Cove to where it T's with the AT, and then out to a view. The humidity did a number on both Jim and myself- we were puffing worse than normal for the first mile or so. A break on a piece of exposed granite with a view of the hills marked our half-way point and turn around. Granola bars gave us the sugar we needed to power the way down. Round trip, we did about 7 miles of blissfully quiet hiking up and down the hills.

White line = on-track!

We hit the Helen Oktoberfest in the afternoon/evening. Helen is the East Coast's answer to Leavanworth (hey, WA did it first!). It's mocked up as a Bavarian village, and attracts thousands from Atlanta and across the Southeast for Oktoberfest, which goes from mid-September to the end of October. While not exactly as alpine as it claims, the hills and the Chattahoochee River are still beautiful. 

Ja!

A meal of Gulash, Spaetzle, and Wurst was a relief after driving and hiking all day - and it came with an amazing view of the Biergarten in the middle of town. Entertainment galore! Later in the evening we joined the festivities by ordering biers of our own and sharing the long picnic tables with other revelers. Jim likes people-watching almost as much as I do, so we enjoyed our evening immensely. 

Prost!

Before driving back this morning, we hit up one more quick hike. It's only a mile each way to Dukes Creek Falls, just outside of Helen. The falls were lovely!

 

I left wishing I could have driven the rest of the Richard B Russel scenic highway. It made me think of Keith Urban's song Who Wouldn't Wanna be Me. "The sun is shinin' and the road keeps windin,' through the prettiest country from Georgia to Tennessee..."