What Happens in Charlotte..

Our trip to Charlotte ended up being quite a successful one. The hotel we landed was directly next to the stadium and in the mix of some of Charlotte's finest establishments. This relatively new city had a clean air about it despite the lack of bike lanes. I was impressed by the youthful feel and absence of bums. The drive was a quick three hours and far enough away to give you a sense of vacation and anonymity. Thus equating to an eventful evening of randomness and adventure. The game was a snore, I've been in high school arenas with better home team support, c'mon Jordan! I would literally say seventy five percent of the crowd was repping Celtic green. Which was the reason we made the effort. It was pretty cool being six rows from the action and seeing the likes of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo in person. If I only had a day off when the Bulls come into town. 

  

View from the rooftop terrace pool at our hotel. Time Warner Arena and downtown.

Me, Sean, Dugan, and Josh. Very happy dudes

Sweet seats!

The aftermath. Room service, beer, and an empty $6 bottle of water.

Coming Soon..

Road trip to Charlotte! How much trouble can 8 people get into? The highlight will be the basketball game, but everyone knows it's not the destination it's the journey. 

Saturday Afternoon

After a week of fun in the city and intoxicating by body I decided to hit the gym. What better motivation than to have the United States longest serving mayor (living) pushing weights next to you. What else do busy guys like us have going on during a rainy weekend afternoon. Thanks Joe.

Another Shameless Plug

GQ is obsessed with all things Charleston lately. Check out one local chefs guide to the city. Some pretty good shout outs here. Dellz Delli, Butcher & Bee, and The Royal American! I found it to be a legit take on the city. Nothing touristy.

The Short Order: Chef Jeremiah Bacon's Guide to Charleston, South Carolina Restaurants Bars: GQ.com

WTF?!

Last week I woke up with quite an odd patch of bites. My initial thought and blame was put on my mattress at work. Bug bites or some disgusting bacteria left from a human who sleeps in the same quarters as I. Then I thought this may have been brought upon myself. I recently washed my bedding, I use at work, in the same extractor we use for our gear. Mistake. Possibly some chemical or other nastiness attached itself to my sheets and I unknowingly snuggled up with a this disease. Wrong, wrong, and wrong. I have shingles! What is this the 1920's? Am I eighty years old? Apparently the chicken pox virus I so fondly remember being mutated by has reared it ugly self again. The dormant virus that remains, similar to herpes simplex, can pop up unannounced. Poof its here and not really sure why. Its a lot different than chicken pox where this time around it attacks a specific nerve region to cause painful swelling, ache, and fever. Hence the large red area surrounding those beautiful blisters. It typically only occurs once and usually to people over 60 or those with weakened immune systems. Hmm.. The doctor actually was laughing at me for putting up with this for almost a week. He said with a smile, "You look quite comfortable for someone with shingles.", and then went on to tell about his late mothers bout with the virus towards the end of her life. Thanks Doc. I think I'll survive this time.

Glowing Review!

After reading the City Paper write up, I have chose to defer my review. I feel Erin did a nice job of summing up what I shared as a fantastic night. Kudos to Hailey and I hope to scoop a hard copy to share with all. (However, photos are mine)

Down-home crowd celebrates The Garden Summer premiere 

Farm Friends

by Erin Perkins

As soon as we walked into the American Theater for The Garden Summer premiere, we noticed the attention to local details — rosemary-bourbon cocktails from the Belmont in glass jars, movie posters hand-printed by Sideshow Press, and Charleston photographer Sully Sullivan at the photobooth helm.

The evening was a celebration of the first public viewing of Hailey Wist’s independent film, a documentary focused on five young people, practically strangers, surviving a summer living off of what they could produce from a farm in Arkansas. The locavore theme of the film influenced the community feel of the fête — I wouldn’t be surprised if the rosemary sprigs in the cocktails were from a friend’s backyard.

The crowd was buzzing with anticipation to see Wist’s two-year endeavor come to fruition. Much of the creative crowd — filled with local artists, designers, musicians, and models — first learned ofThe Garden Summer project from a presentation Wist made at a May 2011 Pecha Kucha in Charleston. The intimate setting of the American Theater and the familiarity of the crowd gave the screening a feel of sitting down with family to watch an old super 8 — even everyone’s favorite patriarch Bill Murray showed up as the lights dimmed.

The film was as lovely as expected and the crowd gave a standing ovation to Wist and her farm friends before everyone headed off to the after-party for a few more libations from the Belmont.

Outside the American Theatre

Nothing beats a free drink. Even better when it's Bourbon with homemade ginger beer. 

Q&A Session after the show

Bring Your Gun, Girl, and Dog

Another weekend came and went and of course it was spent working..kind of. I was conned into working the South Eastern Wildlife Expo (SEWE) with Patrick. We got this gig through a friend of his who is in actually pretty important to Charleston. She is the lead coordinator for all the major events that take place at Marion Square; Food and Wine Festival, Fashion Week, Movies in the Park, and obviously SEWE. So after a ton of paper work and a piss test later, we were all set to work one entire day of manual labor. We were assigned to Brittlebank Park where the majority of the festival took place. Our task? We were in charge of recycling and food waste management, but no one used our supplied receptacles. So we just drove around in a golf cart, took in the days activities, and made friends with all the vendors. Pretty much it was hillbilly heaven and I was able to witness it first hand, and get paid! It was comparable to a state fair. A state fair that really loves hunting, fishing, and string music. They offered fly fishing demos, a speed boat simulator, and camper tours. The highlight for everyone is the dock dog competition. Overall it was a good day in the park. I left with a full belly of kettle corn and fried alligator.  

Is that Chris Cox!! Sure is and he's showing off his chainsaw sculpting skills. I bet you didn't guess he would turn that log of wood into a perched pelican. 

Holy grizzly bear! The left guy stood at an incredible 10 feet. 

The dock dog competition. A true ESPN event. These pups can jump. The winner leaped a whopping 22 feet 7 inches!