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.

Spend at least a month. You can’t see it all in a weekend. Take a partner, drink wine, eat steak in the best NY steakhouse you can find, I’m sure they’ve changed since I was there in 2000. I have great pics of my friend and I from across the harbor – Twin Towers directly in the background. A treasure.
It was Sept – perfect weather for NY, nice and warm/cool. Played with kids who opened a fire-hydrant in the Bronx. They thought I was crazy – the only grown up splashing in the water with them.
So much more….time moves on

Would like to HD film the climb. Not sure if I can handle a climb and a shoulder held camera.

My first alpine climb. Longs Peak by the North Face Route. 14,210 ft. It’s a great memory. When you live amongst conctrete and buildings, nature draws something out of you. Its kinda’ like being stuck at my desk in my cubicle all day and then “blink” released to when I was 6-7 yrs old and building bycycle ramps for the neighborhood kids and then heavy rolling on your bike to compete for the best jumps – childhood squeals of delight reverberating throughout the neighborhood.
Forgot to put suncreen on though and my nose got black from sunburn. Had 4 days beard growth added to my gotee. Literally came straight down from the summit. Got in my car and drove to Denver w/ wild a*s hair, unshowered, outdoor gear still on and checked into this posh hotel downtown. The staff looked at me like I was The Unibomber.
Cleaned up and met a female friend from Isreal. Beautiful and interesting woman. We had a wonderful few days in a great city. I’m sorry I lost track of her. Iris was her name. Beginning of her name sounding like “ear”….”ear”is.

My first alpine climb. Longs Peak by the North Face Route. 14,210 ft. It’s a great memory. When you live amongst conctrete and buildings, nature draws something out of you. Its kinda’ like being stuck at my desk in my cubicle all day and then “blink” released to when I was 6-7 yrs old and building bycycle ramps for the neighborhood kids and then heavy rolling on your bike to compete for the best jumps – childhood squeals of delight reverberating throughout the neighborhood.
Forgot to put suncreen on though and my nose got black from sunburn. Had 4 days beard growth added to my gotee. Literally came straight down from the summit. Got in my car and drove to Denver w/ wild a*s hair, unshowered, outdoor gear still on and checked into this posh hotel downtown. The staff looked at me like I was The Unibomber.
Cleaned up and met a female friend from Isreal. Beautiful and interesting woman. We had a wonderful few days in a great city. I’m sorry I lost track of her. Iris was her name. Beginning of her name sounding like “ear”....”ear”is.

Indescribable views as I climbed Rainier. At summit the earth underneath the mtn was obscured completely by clouds 360 degrees around the mtn. As if I floated on a sea of clouds.
Rainier Nat’l Park – Great hiking. Saw bears and deer.
Ended trip in Seattle – I highly recommend this city. Had a blast!