permasun

Although the addmission is a bit pricey, the mansion is very cool. Its own bowling alley and indoor swimming pool(amazing since this was back at the turn of the 20th century). The view on the terrace at the back of the mansion is beautiful with the North Carolina Appalachians off in the distance. Great historical antiques inside as well. I remember a chessboard that belonged to Napoleon. They have their own winery on the property as well. The Grove Park Inn nearby is a pretty swank place to stay, with dignitaries names around the doors of the rooms in which they slept. I stayed in Henry Kissinger’s room.

First visited when my Alma played In the Peach Bowl (Football). Boring. Maybe it was just the company. My second visit was when I was playing in a band while living in Charleston.

I like bar-hopping or just hanging out at a cool bar but they seemed few and far between in this town. The exceptions was the Chameleon Club.

Tended bar all four yrs. Most of my time behind the bar was at a music venue called the Music Farm. Great memories. The kind of bar where the bartenders could drink all they wanted (so long as they kept their “edge” and kept the cash receipts in order. Heard a lot of great band there.

Besides all that the beaches are fantastic. My favourite is Sullivans Is, an island that borders the Atlantic. No major commercialization ( I think not allowed by the town). No high rise hotels with a*shole tourist. Its basically a neighborhood with a public beach. Now and again you see these huge tankers barrelling in from the deep ocean to drop their goods at the Charleston Port. They move so fast – they’re on the horizon, you blink and they’ve already past Sullivans into the Charleston habor.

My best memory is waking up before the sun and driving the 10 minutes to the beach with my dog Gus. When it was still dark at the beach we’d settle on our rears next to each other (I think he was scared of the dark with the loud sound of the surf seemingly coming from nowhere to his dog ears).

Once the sun rose, with no one on the beach he would set off chasing the myriad of birds that had come for a morning feed. I swear, he ran like he KNEW this time he was going to catch one. He’d close in on one “vulnerable” bird and invariably the “prey” would vear off into the deep water, Gus spashing, not giving up till the last minute. We’d walk a while when he got tired. Then I’d go home and wake up my then girlfriend.

Outside those memories, Charleston has a great downtown with market shops, art galleries, bars, resaurants all packed into an intimate little peninsula. Lots of old historic buildings to match its developing moderness.