Charleston

I realized in my last post I did not really get a chance to talk too much about the city of Charleston itself. I am really liking it so far. Though I technically live in North Charleston, it is only about 8 miles from the city. One of the reasons that I like the city is because it's so small! Charleston is actually a peninsula. There seems to be two or three streets that most of the action happens. King Street is the big street with all the fancy shopping and some of the touristy restaurants. Meeting Street runs parallel to King and has a lot of nice restaurants and bars. East Bay Street runs on the other side of Meeting, and has some of the more swanky places to eat and hang out at. Market Street is another cool street connecting King and Meeting. Market Street has a cool indoor/outdoor market running through it that draws a Great American Weekend type crowd. Vendors have tables and they sell everything from jewelery to art to food. It is fun to walk down on a nice day!

If I could describe the city of Charleston in one word it would probably be charming. Many of the buildings downtown are protected by the historical society, and maintaine an old style of architecture. The city offers a horse and buggy ride if you wish to skip the taxi and hear a little bit about the city from a tour guide. The city definitly embraces the charming vibe and entacts certain laws to keep it that way. For example, my friend Jen, a charleston native, told me that a year ago she wanted to get a tattoo and had to travel 90 miles to Savannah, Georgia because Charleston had outlawed tattoo parlors. Liquor stores are closed on Sundays. On that note, just about everything is closed on Sundays- even chick filet!

The majority of people I have met while in Charleston are very nice. I am still getting used to be addressed as "mam" and I haven't been able to call people "sir" and keep a straight face. Store Clerks are very friendly and genuinelly want to know how you are when they ask, rather than just saying it like a robot. Not that people are any meaner up north, it is just differnt. An example of this is last week when I went grocery shopping at Piggly Wiggly. I had a full cart and had just opened my trunk to start packing the car. The employee who was gathering the carts came up to me and just started putting my bags in my car. My initil reaction was, "why is this man stealing my bags?" But he was just being nice! He even put my purse in the front seat of my car and then just told me to have a great afternoon. I am not used to that kind of service!

Probably the best thing about Charleston is the weather and how close it is to the beach. Currently, it's Septemeber 20th, and still feels like August - a cool 82 degrees. The beaches are all free and the weather has just been perfect. There are about three beaches to choose from. I have bene to all of them, and they are all great. My fellow VISTA Becky lives on the Isle of palms so we went out to visit her the other day. It was so Beautiful! I can already tell that going to the beach will never get old!