The other Charleston

Charleston has been my home for four years now. I will never tire of exploring streets and neighborhoods and love playing tour guide when my friends come to town.

Saturday mornings are for aimless wandering down dead end streets and occasionally past the No Trespassing signs.

Ooh! Events, I can't make a U-turn in your parking lot without taking a picture of that 3D wall of yours.

Spanish moss adds to the macabre facade of abandoned Marine barracks on Truxtun Avenue. Even in the bright sunlight, this place is forbidding. 

Seriously, don't they look like The Minions mingling at a cocktail party?

Today's trip was a reminder of my childhood. Charleston, much like Baltimore, where I grew up, is a port city. My parents were both photographers, and in fact met in a darkroom. My father worked in the shipping industry when I was a teenager and used to drive me to the docks to take pictures on Sundays. This morning, I kept driving until I found my way to the water.

 

A wind turbine blade looks like a beautiful sea creature, resting on the beach.

The Clemson University Restoration Institute is located in North Charleston.

The Power House used to provide steam power to the Charleston Navy Ship Yard. It now sits empty, and happily there are no plans to tear down this neoclassic beauty.

5 Days 6 Cities

And if a 5 hour layover in Atlanta counts, 7 cities. The stoplight in Broken Bow, Oklahoma would make 8.

Charleston
Atlanta
Dallas
Jessieville
Hot Springs
a brief drive through Oklahoma
Paris
Dallas
Austin
Dallas
DC
Atlanta
Charleston

I didn't set out to cover 4500 miles in less than one week, it just worked out that way. 

Rain delayed my afternoon arrival, til late night. No worries.
I'd rather sit in the Atlanta airport than fly through storms. And did I mention?
Dave and Joelle served me spaghetti and meatballs when I arrived at their place. 

It started as a weekend trip to see Joelle's new house. A roundtrip ticket from Charleston to Dallas. Our only agenda – just hang out on her patio and drink our morning coffee.

As a proud member of The Hat Ladies of Charleston,
one's hat and gloves must always match, even in an Arkansas crystal mine.

The plans changed somewhat while I was visiting Arkansas a few weeks before. I was there on a crystal mining trip and constantly thought of how much Joelle would enjoy it, too. So, we added a little day trip to our weekend. Just a 5 hour drive.

One of the numerous Hot Springs abandoned buildings. Is that an alien communication device?

On the road by 6:00 a..m., we spent the day digging and decided to spend the night in nearby Hot Springs. (fun details in the previous post)

Oh no, we missed Nikola's birthday.

The things you see in storefronts

Next morning, we began meandering back to Texas.

A place to tie up your horse and pray

Must be lots of cowboys in De Queen, Arkansas.

The road from Hot Springs to Paris took us through Oklahoma, home of perfect clouds.

After looking at the map, we saw we would be within spittin' distance of Paris, Texas, on the road home. My father told stories of stopping in Paris while traveling on an Army train at the start of his service in World War II. From there he was shipped to Europe. Joelle googled and discovered they have their own mini Eiffel Tower.

First stop in Paris, the town square, which boasted 3 banks in the early 20th century. Did my father have a chance to get off the train and see this town square? Did he stand where I am now? 

I love you Texas, but not everything is bigger there.

As we pulled up to the Eiffel tower, just outside of town, we saw this beautiful Veterans Memorial right next to it. Soldiers from every U.S. military campaign are honored here and we visited the World War II monument and reminisced about Joelle's grandfather and my father. We paused at the Vietnam monument to honor Darryl.

Beautifully designed and moving tribute.

After a good night's sleep in Dallas, we were back in the car the next morning, adding one more side trip, heading South toward Austin. We enjoyed walking the streets of Austin, even though the thermometer was wavering around 100.

The quirky details of a town delight me.

On Monday morning, we actually took the time to have our coffee on Joelle's patio, which adjoins this beautiful park.

Joelle's backyard

Plans had changed once again, I rerouted my flight, and by that night, I'd landed in Washington, DC to speak at a marketing conference. Lucky me had a balcony.

Getting a feel for the room.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time speaking with the attendees of the non-profit conference. Everyone was polite … and reticent. Other places I speak, folks ask questions and offer up anecdotes during the presentation. 

I was struck with the difference in personalities among people from different parts of the country. In Arkansas, every single person we encountered struck up a conversation. Even in the elevators. With only a moment to share, people would ask where you were from and how long you were in town. 

I bounced onto the elevator of the Fairmont on M street in Washington, greeted the only other person on the elevator, and she turned her head and shrunk into the corner.

This seemed a very fitting symbol for our politicians, and possibly people in elevators.

Two hours before my flight leaves? You won't find me in the hotel bar. The concierge stowed my bags, and I took off on a brief walking tour up Pennsylvania Avenue.

Inside the World Bank, turning hand grenades into flowers.

It will be interesting to watch this play out.

Everywhere I go, they name buildings after me.

One lonely picture of an actual tourist attraction. How mainstream of me.

I can find a skeleton anywhere.

Back in Charleston the next day for a board meeting and a photo shoot.

I tiptoed back into the house at nearly 3:00 a.m. After a few hours sleep I jumped right back into business as usual.

Sundays are for Austin

"We're going to Austin." Joelle has spoken.

A 14-hour layover in Dallas is apparently enough for the Gypsy Sisters before they climb back in the car. 

Dave – the Patient, Understanding, and Delightful spouse of Joelle, took us out to a delicious, relaxing dinner during our brief rest in Dallas. He listened with genuine interest as we recounted our tales from Jessieville, Hot Springs, and Paris, TX. It is worthy of note, that, feeling adventurous, all three of us tried the lobster bisque. Yes, the lobster bisque, in the midst of landlocked Dallas, was the best I've had since tasting it for the first time in Ogunquit, Maine. 

Next morning, fortified by a delicious, nutritious breakfast, served up by Dave the Patient, we hit the road for a quick 3-hour jaunt to Austin … or as I have come to think of her, Our Lady of the Bananas. Austin is every bit as quirky as promoted. 

Our approach to travel is: drive in, drive around, get a feel for the place, park the car, and explore. 

The dancing dead

Street artist confession

South Congress Avenue caught our attention. After strolling around, hunger set in. We walked past each restaurant, peered in the window, read the menu, and chose the place with the best vibe. Guero's. The food did not disappoint. I was too busy shoveling the best nachos I've had in years into my mouth to take food pictures.

I totally stole this picture off their Instagram. And the next one.

Who can resist those patina-d doors?

Joelle struck up a conversation with our server about travel. Turns out he is from North Carolina. Did you know Jo used to live there? He also has family in my neighborhood in Charleston, and he and I have been to the same neighborhood bars. What a small world.

More meandering and my first henna tattoo.

Near 6th Street

We turned over our splendid parking space to a waiting Toyota, gratefully cranked up the AC, and headed toward Rio Grande.

West 9th and Nueces

The temperature danced around 100 degrees, so we kept our walking to the shady side of the streets. Each corner we turned, revealed an unexpected visual delight. The beauty of unplanned communities reveals a mix of architecture that spans a century within one block. 

Determined root

Near Rio Grande

Time to head back to our home base for the night, Dallas. A little rest before hopping a plane to DC the next day for work.