The Hood Food Lion!

I regularly shop at the Food Lion near my house. It is always an experience and I thoroughly enjoy taking newcomers to Charleston on a shopping trip here. On a typical day you will encounter countless forms of entertainment or frustration, depending on your mood.  Zombie-like crackheads aimlessly loiter out front and are never afraid to ask for spare change. Some even give spiritual advice. Since I do not attend church regularly (or at all) giving donations to these individuals gives me a strange sense of fulfillment. Efficient checkout lines are a rare occurrence and I feel cheated of my experience when I do not have to wait fifteen minutes behind a handful of food stamps. Produce selection may be the worst in the country, cheese always seems to be hours away from sprouting mold, and deli meats have a unique glazed petrified look. Please refer to this picture, which will forever crack me up, and the wall of natural light they keep in stock, then refer to your local grocer and you will probably count the "natty light" inventory on one hand. I do shop here often and most days more than once, but I sure can not wait for the farmers market to open back up!

Classically Hilarious

Alright, I feel like total dog crap, but this made me smile and I had to post it here. James Blase posted it to facebook and I may have cried laughing at some of the comments made by people.  "Milking the Competition" hahaha, how did we get away with that?

I'm Sick

Go figure, the weather turns absolutely beautiful this weekend and somehow I manage to get sick.. lame. Posts will continue once I'm my spry self again.

Zocalo in North Chuck

This was the City Paper Write up a couple months back.

We'd heard that a new Mexican restaurant was being planned for North Chuck, and we got excited. Then we heard that John Marshall, the former owner and chef of Al di La, was involved in the project and that really got us pumped. The well-regarded and much loved Marshall sold his West Ashley restaurant to right-hand-man Marc Kohn several years ago and beat it out of town, headed to North Carolina to start a farm and perhaps a new restaurant. We hadn't heard much from him in the intervening years, but he recently popped back up on our foodie radar.

An all-too-brief e-mail exchange recently garnered some information about his new venture Zocalo. The restaurant is going into an old gas station, which most recently housed Duke's Garden Center at1049 E. Montague in the heart of Park Circle. The interior will have a 20-seat bar in addition to 40 seats inside and a huge outdoor patio with seating under a pergola.

The menu will specialize in Mexican street food with regionally authentic tacos. Marshall says they will have a vertical spit for cooking al pastor, and they'll serve a Sonoran Hot Dog (a dog traditionally wrapped in bacon and piled with toppings like beans, grilled onions, fresh onions, tomatoes, mayo, cream sauce, mustard, and jalapeño salsa) and paper cones of chili-spiced chicharrónes (fried pork rinds).

Marshall and his business partners Robert Holzel and Richard Harris (who will serve as general manager) have tapped Cameron Caruso from Fleet Landing to run the bar. They'll be focusing on traditional handcrafted cocktails with fresh ingredients, lots of tequila, mezcal, and American whiskey. Expect a complete selection of cold Mexican beer too.

Not sure when we can expect to see Zocalo open, but we'll keep you posted.

Shepard Fairey Street Art!

Shepard Fairey, Charleston native best known  for his Obama "Hope" image, was in town visiting family for the holidays.  He's an amazing graffiti/street artist and put up this image downtown next to Eye Level Art. Great stuff!  

DA BEARS!

Definitely woke up dressed and ready for the game! My friend Josh was in town last night from Roanoke, VA. He and his fiance we're checking out wedding locations and stayed out with them a little later than I wanted. The good is that I awoke fully clothed ready for a Packer ass kicking. The bad I don't feel as well as this picture projects.

Dealers' choice: Job or jail: New program for entry-level drug sellers announced in North Charleston | The Post and Courier, Charleston SC - News, Sports, Entertainment

Dealers' choice: Job or jail: New program for entry-level drug sellers announced in North Charleston | The Post and Courier, Charleston SC - News, Sports, Entertainment


This is such a joke. Again in my first run..we run a ton of calls in this area. Lovely place to live  :)

Morning Commute

Another Chilly Ride

Bonobo Tune

Went to this DJ show the other day, Bonobo - is the guy's name. It was an incredible show! He mixes original tracks that are all pretty chill. He played at the Pour House which gets descent shows and is a nice intimate venue. The place was packed out. It was nice he made his way to Charleston since, he's from the UK, he usually only plays larger cities.  My friend Cortney knew the guys from Athens, GA that booked him and showed him around town, so we were able to get back stage, hang out, and meet him. 

Burning body found at Westvaco Park | The Post and Courier, Charleston SC - News, Sports, Entertainment

Burning body found at Westvaco Park | The Post and Courier, Charleston SC - News, Sports, Entertainment

How did you spend your Christmas?

Who needs a christmas tree? My favorite watering hole, The Tattooed Moose, or simply "The Moose".  They serve amazing bar fare here and even fry their fries in duck fat!!  A basket of duck fat fries with melted blue cheese crumbles and an entire bulb of roasted garlic on top is the most amazing creation.

[Scott, Meaghan, Emily, Santo, Garrett]

Out for drinks during Santo's visit.  I believe this was day number nine of my binge :)  We had so much fun that night I even sang karaoke at this bar. 

This videographer arranges performances by famous musicians that play their music in the streets of France.  Every video I've watched of his are incredible. This one was simply done in a courtyard but he captures a mother and her children walking by and films as the children stop to dance.  It makes them completely happy and it's pretty great.

Snapped this photo while out riding my bike a few weeks ago. Cruise ship in the harbor. Counting down the days to Jenn and Chuck's wedding.

Welcome Mom

I was trying to figure out a way that you can stay connected to my life without constant phone conversation and email. I know I do a poor job of staying in touch sometimes so hopefully this will satisfy the void that gets created from our long distance relationship. Obviously this will not take the place of any communication we have, but give you an insight to my day to day activities and random thoughts. I've never dabbled in the blogoshpere world but I will learn as I go. My intentions are that this will become your new favorite website as I maintain frequent posts and updates to the extent that it will entertain you enough to check often.  So cheers to my new creation and hopefully some artistic release. Enjoy.
Love your son Garrett