Cootie Shot

"Circle circle, dot dot,  Now you've got a cootie shot!"
"Circle circle, square square, I don't have them anywhere!"

Gosh, how I long for those simpler times!  Remember out on the playgrounds when Boy "X" would touch, tag, hit Girl "Y"?  There would be the collective groan of the other girls...and "she has boy cooties" until she received the magic upper arm cootie shot....usually administered by the self annoted "girl leader".  Of course, the boys would dissolve into laughter, until they were the one being chased and given the Cooties.  Then, the game would reverse flow and begin again.  We all survived numerous exposures to Cooties, lots of cootie shots and eventually decided that opposite sex probably were not so bad after all.  How I wish the solution to our problem could be that simple.  

As we are all staying at home these days, it gives you way too much time on our hand to  collectively worry about the Cooties that are outside of the four (be it comfortable) walls.  I have tried, not successfully, to not look at the News feed on my phone, nor on television, more than a couple of times a day. Pressing Refresh  buttons does not count as exercise.   So, that leaves a pair of idle hands... my, my, my...some how our current game of Cootie keeps sucking me back in.  So, here  I am currently googling what to do with 5-7 organic browned speckled bananas (thanks, HEB pick up, twice) and how to make a homemade ventilator from a CPAP machine.  CPAP for those who do not snore or have sleep apnea is a bedside friend that provides continuous positive airway pressure (hence, the acronym CPAP) while you sleep.  "Snuffy"(think Mr. Shuffleupgus from Sesame Street) for short at Pickle World.  Eddie has been sleeping with me and Snuffy for almost 20 years. It is this love triangle that keeps me in the bedroom at night.   Traditional insurance provided for a new one every 3-4 years, Medicare 5 years.  As technology changes in CPAPs about every 4-5 years (glacial, I know), we have a current model and a back up.  Prior to Harvey we had 4 old Snuffy's in the upper most reaches of our bathroom storage cabinet.  Post Harvey, we are fit and trimmed down with to 2 models.  Rats.   If James Dyson can figure out in 10 days how to marry his fan and vacuum cleaners into a CoVent (yes, that is the name) ventilator, surely, there is some way to take a CPAP and make is both blow and suck....I have an old vacuum, medical hoses and duct tape, this should be a piece of cake, right?  The browning bananas after you have made ice cream, cookies and banana bread are proving to be more of a problem.  Brown bananas and/or homemade ventilator, GO!

Two Eddie moments, as I would not call them stories.  Before Baby County Judge Hildago (we miss you, Ed Emmett) announced a stay at home order---she did not like the sound of the word "lockdown", Eddie had completed his shopping list for the furniture that will be part of his CoVid Collection...lots and lots of wood.  Fearing that hardware and lumber yards would be part of the "lockdown" he has been up late at night finishing the plans and list.    I told him to just order it and have it delivered from Lowe's or Home Depot.  He said he need to look and feel his wood---all "Wood Whisper" kind of thing.  Of course, to get wood here in the vehicles we currently have, my car is the logical choice.   (yes, there have been pick up trucks -rental and to own googled in the last few days)     3 children's car seats would have be disengaged from the frame of the car and put into their storage bags.  Guess who---see Harvey division of Labor for a hint. Two are easy, Lucy's typically stays in places as it take lots of wrestling and advance yoga moves to get it out.   Two of three rows of seats down...  I gave him a mask, disposable gloves--not for the wood but for the keypads to check out, duh, lysol  and told him to be careful...cooties live on wood for x amount of time---and don't even ask about metal screws and knobs.  Off he goes, no cell phone, no mask, no gloves---3 hour, 2 trips and 3 different stores, Eddie returns home and begins unpacking all of the wood.  My neighbor's sewing room and long arm quilting machine overlook our driveway...she sends me a text asking what Eddie is building.  I told her he was planting a toilet paper garden.  Stay tuned...

Second Eddie moment.  Are you aware that in an effort to give kids something to smile about Elementary teachers all over Texas are having car parades going by the neighborhood's of their school and students' homes?  There have been several route posted on Nextdoor...even Waller ISD where Grace and Eli go to school are doing it, granted neighborhood is several miles, but kids are making posters honking horns and waving like crazies...typical day with the grandkids, just standing on county roads in traffic.    There are also Neighborhood "Bear Hunts" around the Houston Metro area.  It is based on a preschool/early primary book and song...Goin' on a Bear Hunt.  Well, to support the hunt, you are to place a bear (or bears) in a window visible to the street and kids and parents can walk, drive, bike by and count the bears...look for your weekend on Facebook or NextDoor.  I knew I had a bear--be it a 1987 Pink Care Bear--but while looking for it and possible other bears, I found my 60th birthday piñata (a 4 foot tall Karen Piñata).  Well, long story short, I put the piñata and bear in the large foyer window...on Tuesday, on Wednesday I moved the dynamic duo to the dining room windows, today to the upper stairs bedroom.   Actually, I was looking for the place to see it from the street without coming into the yard. Cooties can jump, i have been told.   Eddie is lost in Wood World, so every time it appears in a new place, it scares him....kinda like "Boo" got you.  Never gets old...gaslighting Eddie.  May put it in the bed this weekend on my side.  Who said "lockdown" doesn't have its laughable/teachable moments.

Hope this finds you all healthy...with lots of toilet paper.

Corona Hoarding and the Quarantine 15

There are people in this world that eat to live, and those of us who live to eat.  Big surprise that I am in the second catagory of people.  I know you are shocked!  The horror! Really, what gave me away? My Mom was a eat to live kind of gal-could never understand what all the excitement was about when you tasted something really good or different, going to a new restaurant, tickling the old taste buds. With the exception of chocolate and ice cream, she had few food vices...Me---I signed up for the Freshman 15 Program in College, the Post Pregancy 15-twice, the Menopause pooch 15 and those Holiday/Vacation 5vers.  You know those, the 5 pounds that magically appear when you are on vacation or over the holidays, that you work on losing until the next holiday or vaca to remove...then repeat the cycle. I have eaten and lost several thin people in my 65 years.   A couple of pause buttons happened in the last 7-8 years, cancer, and Harvey.  The Cancer diet is not one I would like to repeat--it worked, scared the weight right off of me.  The Harvey diet---20 pounds gone, with no exercise class, daily glasses of wine---a little less orthodox, but when you don't have a working kitchen and have to find a place to put things in an already crowded second floor, second floor steps that you climb 50 times a day, and manual labor to get your house back together, you learn to eat to live...and the weigh magically disappears.  Well 2.5 years later, we are back downstairs with storage and a pandemic.  Hmmm, guess I will pick up that extra bag of chips, snack food, chocolate and comfort food along with the toilet paper....just in case.    So, I guess there will be a Corona Quarantine 15 in my future.  I won't be alone.  Did I mention that Eddie quit smoking on Feburary 12th?  Can I tell you how many times he has attempt this?  How many toes do I have?  Hmm, need to borrow a couple of feet.  But thanks to his cardiologist who was not impressed with Eddie's silver tongue excuses, he was scared straight...keep your fingers crossed that this sticks.  Could not have been more timely as the CoVid19 seems to prey on those that smoke and have weak lungs.  So, as we hunker down in our home, Eddie is climbing the walls, literally and figuratively.  He is climbing the walls of my well stocked pantry...and bring out bowls of Dot's Pretzel.  Discovered them while visiting sister Kathy...not your average $1 bag of pretzels-terribly addictive...with a $6 a bag price tag---we do have to ration them out...kinda like TP.  Thanks, Kathy.  All this brings me to what I did yesterday.

I have always been a little be of a hoarder, I mean, planner...not in the boxes and bags of stuff purchased that you don't use, or build mazes around in a home with kinda of horder, but thinking ahead, taking advantange of specials "planner".    I am always on the look out for crafts, games, books to keep the grandkids busy when they visit. I call it "bottom feeding" at the clearance bins and Dollar Stores.   I have always got a "bag of tricks” stashed at my house....hidden from plain sight, but ready if needed.  Additionally, I always stock all the foods that they like (read: snack food, chocolate and strawberry milk, bag of donuts or two, ingredients to bake) and they were expected to be here over this weekend.  So, my pantry was really full....adult and kid treats for weeks.      This date was reserved in September when the Camp calendar was made for training in coming Counselors.  Drew would be out of pocket from Friday until Sunday, so Lauren and the kids always come these weekends.  Pickle World with heated pool, individual bedrooms, two extra set of hands and my "bag of tricks"...what is not to love.  Camp is closed for the foreseeable future-so party of 5, yeah, we can accomodate you.   Well, long story short...despite the fact that the kids have not been around other people for 14 days, Lauren has, and after consulting with numerous medical people in our wheel house, it was decided that there would be no visit---germs on little feet kind of thing.  Kinda like the strep stuff when Lauren and George were small---one could be the carrier and not be sick and your whole house kept getting strep.  Yeah, we have a merit badge of that one. I think they test everyone in the house now.  What fun is that?   So, on Friday, Lauren and I decided that I would gather the "bag of tricks" along with the 2 boxes of snack food to prevent the "spread" of our butts and waistlines and meet at a location halfway between Camp and our house...no kids, vinyl gloves, no touching.  Yeah, doing our best to flatten the curve....medically and personally.

Lauren has been getting her food from curbside at HEB in College Station, lately.    With lots of the A&M students gone, it is a pretty good place to get a time slot for an every 5-6 day food order....except HEB has adjusted their curbside selection to reflect our times...minimum selections...you can forget about fussing over this brand or that---organic or regular, gluten free, vegan friendly.   HEB's own popularity has led to major empty shelves if you go inside, but Scott McClelland keeps explaining that they have gone to core selctions to simply the process...yeah, that is our new reality.  However, those of us that "sleep" around-as in shop all the stores specials know that Kroger has been better stocked than HEB at the present time.  Their online selection is broader, but you have to commit in a three day window...insider tip...Valley Ranch Kroger (and Walleyworld) has a good selection, and their times open up a little bit more than others.  Lauren determined a rather new Kroger's along the 99 corridor, 8:00 AM Saturday morning would be our meeting place.  Granted it was gray out, but the roads have never been so wide open.  A trip that should have taken 40 minutes, was 24 minutes.  When I arrived at the parking lot, with my gloves and ever so cute handmade mask, I waited for Lauren to complete her "in store" grocery run.  She was gloved up and out of the store a little after 8:00.  Since traffic was light, I was early.  I sat in my car and observed.  There were more men than women, no older people, no children, small or big, few cell phones for list (old fashion, disposable paper), gloves on everyone and lots of washing down the grocery cart with purcell wipes.  As I sat in my car, I could not help feel a tad guilty for being out of my house.  Always have been a rule follower, so this seem a little like "not coloring in the lines" for me.  Was it my imagination, or was there a glare stare from those going back and forth---obviously my early morning look said "over 60-with pre-existing conditions"?  With the road so clear, I came back via 45 and 1960-once again, few cars on the road...The airport runways visible from 1960 were empty.  The Amazon warehouse, WalMart and other shipping facilities in that area were humming---The Indian Smoke Shop (yeah, as a former smoker, Eddie knows where that is) had a line around the building for the drive in window that extended on to 1960-Police were there to direct traffic at 8:30 in the morning!  Most of the eateries were dark, with a 8x10 sign posted on the door.  Could not read from my car, but we all know what they said.  There is already lots of empty retail space along that 1960 corridor, when this is all over, I know there will be more.

So, I return home before Eddie was fully up...and ready for breakfast.  I know that my trip out will provide hours of activites for the kids---a reminder that we love them...and hopefully, without the kids snacks,  we can limit the Quarantine 15 to a 5ver.  Will have to put "new bag of tricks" on my to-do list when this is over.
Be safe out there!

Twilight Zone-Corona Virus Version 2020

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone."  Rod Sterling

Yup, that would were we are right now, and we have asked everyone to come along.    Usually, when I am blogging, we are traveling.  No, we did not have cruising plans for Spring.  We pushed pause last spring, but are scheduled to be in Alaska in August-time and temperatures (bodily, not land) will tell.  So, in that spirit, I am spending time writing.  Add in the fact that we are practicing social distancing...like on the second floor, while Eddie stays on first..doing whatever he does, putter, make stockings, read, drawing plans for Lucy and Grace's new dress and nightstand and vanity he is going to build...he has to have a pass to come upstairs and invade my world.  He wants to start practicing the piano and working on his spanish language software---both have not been touch since before Ike...No, I have enough unwanted noise in my own little head.  Me, I have my diversions---I have made face masks---there will be no more sewing project for the foreseeable future...no Etsy store.  Can sew, but don't love it.    Read...heck, we have the Book Ark on the second floor.I have my genre, Eddie loves them all.  Right now, murder is the word of the day.  We do have the Dean Koontz book on the a similar pandemic out of China book written in the 1980's...not quite sure if I will dip my toe in that pool...little too close to home.  Work on my Ancestry tree---will there be a "*" for those that catch the Covid19 Virus? Attempt to stay away from the News feed, etc. that is online.  George has already called me out passing along bad information. Reminding me that during this time it is prudent to practice social media distancing...and if it is BS, say something.   Sorry, to the 30 or so of you that received my "on good authority email" . We have never watched TV during the day, except on weekend--so, we aren't turning on to carpet bombing coverage of Coronavirus, CoVid 19, Trump, Trump, Trump....poor Bernie, he is barely a footnote these days...until 5:00.     Lauren has put us in lock down, since we kept popping out for just one more little thing---Toilet paper comes to mind.  We are not to leave the house except to pick of our standing Monday at 3:30 order--60 items only, no additions 3 days out, thanks for shopping HEB.  I will be allowed to go to Target/CVS on Wednesday morning during Senior Hours (8:00-9:05-pharmacy does not open until 9:00) to pick up any medication orders.   Decisions, Decisions. Bottom line I am getting antsy bored, and you simply can not organize and clean, take naps, or sit in a hot tub of Epson salts all day every day.   So, here I am on the  second floor which I might add is a relative safe distance from my hoarder stash of chocolate, but not the toilet paper that I have gathering.  Priorities, priorities.  

I think back over the years on the national or global humps/wars in the road...our parents were called the "Greatest Generation".  It was those hardships, those sacrifices that made them more mindful of what they had and how fortunate we are to live in this country with the opportunites and freedoms we take for granted.  That generation and those lessons are slowly fading...in all (yes, even us) of our collective memories.  Perhaps this is a huge reset button for all of us.  Time--- that our adult  children complain that they never have enough of....poof, you got it.  Use it wisely.    Our grands that are plugged in for dawn until dusk...reconnect, even if it is just watching a movie together on TV.  Bake cookies, make popcorn, play a game together.    Understand the need for delayed gratification, saving rather than spending. We have all become "grasshoppers" instead of the ant(s)---please read this to your young children...fables have great lessons in them.   Family, church and a strong old fashioned moral code, rather than peer or random social influencers, guiding our decisions. Face it, everyone one wants to sit at the popular kid's table.   For those that are attempting to "homeschool" with or without technology, this a chance to realize the value and worth of a teacher...then pay them accordingly when this is over...at the very least, work with them in shaping your child and thank/respect them for the job they do.  The lesson of Compassion...enough said, there are many that touch our lives that will not have a paycheck, perhaps a job in the coming weeks...what small thing can you do.  Small things make a difference.   While this is something that will go down in the history books, for sure, and not be deleted or minimumized in the future, I hope we will lean into it and help us all to be a "Better Generation", with new lessons seeded by the old.   

I catch myself in the crazy days thinking about what my Mother would have said about this.  Of course, there would have been "you know, this is all about our lax (non-existent, horrible---pick one, cause she used them all and many more) cleaning standards" and of course, her go to "this is casued by excess sugar in your diet".  That being said, sister Kathy and I remember getting in trouble for not wearing shoes outside.  Punished by a soaking in Clorox water and a harsh scrubbing with a stiff brush.  There were no nail salons or pedicure places, so a foot and leg massage was not happening. After all, let's be honest, that is why we love to have our toes done these days.    It was dyi, mom had a green handle paring knife and pumice stone in the tub so you could buff and cut your callous heel down.  We did not paint our toe nails, only "bad girls" did that.  Along with wearing a red dress on Friday.  Good girls, simply did not do that.  Yeah, Midwesterner "no-nonsense" transplanted Southern Lady...with a backbone of steel.  Gosh, I miss talking to her about all of this her... 96 years of wisdom would have come in handy...and a little more reassuring than the daily news.   

Next, when you did wear shoes outside, the soles were to be washed with a rag in the outdoor sink that had pine sol or Lysol liquid (in the brown bottle, full strength, no bouquet here---reminds me of a diaper pail), then left off when you were in the house...usually in the laundry room if you planned on going back out, if not, straight to the closet to be placed in a tidy row.    Your purse, pocketbook, book bag, backpack, man purse or whatever item had been outside was never to be placed on any kitchen surface. Period. No excuses, I am sure it probably got a heavy dose of Lysol spray (gold can blue writing-very no nonsense marketing) when we were not looking.  Hand washing was done only in the bathroom, never the kitchen sink.  Heaven help you if use the dish rag/towel to dry your outdoor cootied hand on...because 20 seconds is not long enough, and you now have to scrub the kitchen sink, because your cooties are there.    We washed our hands in the bathroom a lot back then.  When we would come home from the grocery store, each can lid received a hot water/Lysol wipe down before it was put away.  Fruits and vegetables were soaked and washed throughly before storing. Tell me you have not heard ot the "lettuce bug" that lived on the only kind of lettuce---iceberg---that we ever had.  If you accidentially ingested it or it larva, it would eat your intestinal tract.  Mom would make it out to be this 2 inch long bug, caterpillar like....I assumed I would see something in my bowl of salad, I did not need glasses then.    So, we would carefully wash every leaf of lettuce as if our life depended on it.  No swallowing watermelon seed (yeah, they had seeds back in the day), not swallowing gum, fingernails, or boogers---there were bad bodily malfunctions lurking in all those things that are not meant for consumption.   

Well, now that I have made you rethink how you enter your house, my work for today is done.  I guess it is time to wander downstairs and check on Eddie---in coming days, I am sure there will be Eddie stories. Meanwhile, I am filling my wash tub with Pinesol water and grabbing my rag for the bottom of my shoes---when I get to go outside.  Until, stay healthy, remain positive, and pray for this to be over soon...and finally, laughter is absolutely the best medicine...do it daily.  

It’s a Wrap

Well, it is Saturday morning.  Sleeping beauty is still getting his beauty sleep, after all it is only 10:00, and as Eddie reminds me daily, that is only 9:00 at home.  I am in the dark, composing my what will be probably my last travel update for this trip.  

The hotel we are staying in is big on southern hospitality and believes that cookies and sweets can cure anything.  By 4:30 everyday there has been a cookie fairy in our room with an assortment cookies (always), cakes and brownies, served on a plate with a doile and sprig of parsley (have not seen that in years).  I am sure this is meant to be a tea time snack.  When we return to our room in the evening, there are biscotti cookies on yet another doiled plate.  Right out side our door there is a buffet servers with coffee, tea, juice and in the mornings pastries and fruit.  Your coffee or tea is in a cup with a saucer, no mugs here, this is the south, we do things properly...cloth napkins that I assume have been used long before we got environmental aware to the use of paper napkins and plastic straws.  While I dress to dart in and out of our room retrieving coffee, most other guest don the plush one size fits all white terry robe to shuffle back and forth to the spread.  FYI-one size does not fit all.  I have to wonder if the camera monitors in the ceiling of the hallways are catching the show.  It is an early morning eye opener.  Eddie has his gym short uniform, but why do that when I bring him his morning coffee and paper. ...and here you thought there would be an Eddie story..in a too small robe...maybe next time.  Here again, this is a quintessential Southern town, you read a printed paper, we can select from one of four.  Bless the hotel industry, it is keeping the print papers in business.  Kinda of like the holiday catalogs, election crap and Amazon is keeping the Postal  Service afloat.  

Being from the Deep South, Ed and I like to visit a sampling of the Plantations when we come to southern town...that and Civil War battlefields and forts.  Typically, just as in Europe, the finest homes or plantations are along the rivers adjacent to port cities.  New Orleans, all along the Louisiana coastline, Natchez, Memphis, If there is water to navigate, there is usually rich soil to plant crops of some sort, the big homes follow.  Charleston is no exception—-it is surrounded on three sides by water, the Ashley, Cooper rivers and the Atlantic Ocean.  Talk about PTSD, they have hurricanes and flooding storms more often than we do.  I got butt tingles just thinking about  it.  All I could think about when looking at the homes in Charleston is the fact that they on the banks of the rivers was how vulnerable they were to those waters.  They must be from hardier stock then I am.  While the Civil War destroy many of these fine homes, some remain intact from Before the Revolutionary War-Drayton Hall.  As in England, holding on to this much land for centuries with an increasingly multiplying number of relatives is difficult.  Most properties along the River Road are in Historical trust or Foundations and generate income to preserve the home and gardens.  We walked the grounds of 1,000 year old oak trees, century old camellia bushes, azaleas, magnolias and sculpture gardens...like Houston Fall does not mean bright colored leaves-the trees were still leaf covered and green.  The camellias were about a month from blooming, except for some sunny spots in the garden area...I assume that springtime is beautiful. The homes had furnishings, silver, China and paintings that survived the war as they were elsewhere or buried in trunks or were returned by Yankee soldiers families generations after the Civil War.  Each place has been restore to an era that no longer exists...and some would like to erase from history books.  I am glad these foundations and such are passionate about their protection of these things and sharing it.  

Once Sleeping Beauty arises, we will gather our belongings and make our way to the boat launch were we will hope to take the ferry to Fort Sumter.  Hope—well, you see that tar baby known as Tropical Storm and Pickle travel is alive and well.  We left home with Tropical Storm  Nestor and are return with Tropical Storm Olga.  If the skies are threatening, or seas choppy we will probably rethink our plans.  It could even be a bumpy flight home...and I so enjoy that...not.  We will be home before the end of the 4th Astros game....and will be able to watch it on TV...finally.  While the Hotel carries FOX, it is blackout during the World Series.  Looking forward to another winning evening tonight!  Go ‘Stros.  Until the travel bug bites us again....or our Christmas tree needs more ornaments—-five new ones this trip.  Just for the record, I think that Houston food is more “happening” than the Foodie stop of Charleston.  Every Chef here want to be considered special, all want to elevate their style, cooking show or whatever....they are overthinking the “local ingredients”...a butter bean or a pod of okra just that...I had no idea you could charge those prices for those ingredients...talk about elevated/inflated.  

Low Countrying

Whew!  My step counter is in shock...we walked the streets of Charleston, visiting the Museums/Houses in what is billed as Charleston Museum Mile.  My body and step meter says that their mile and my mile are slightly different.  We walked over 8 miles yesterday...then went to the beloved Oyster Roast and BBQ and stood up for 3 hours with our familiar plastic name tags hanging round our necks.  Like I said, throwback Thursday.

There are homes that are part of different Historical Society, Foundations, and independently operated homes, it is obvious that each group thinks their homes are the finest and their docent led tours are the best...one group even have the folks from the Williamsburg archeological society here taking down plaster walls to discover rats nests with fabric samples and threads to determine the color or stylings.  Good grief...and being news, if I join their Instagram accounts, I can get live feeds of the next rats’ nest discovery.  The docent was so excited she was giddy...I think I will wait until I get home.  No need to scare TSA or airline stewardess/attendants with squealing video of century old rats discoveries on our way home.  

To say that folks from Charleston are proud of their founding families, homes, history is a bit of an Understatement.  The roots of these family trees are deep, long and intermixed (as in they marry cousins).  Despite the loss of wealth post Civil War, these folks have managed just fine...the number of historical homes with the all too familiar permits tapped to the windows, various craftsmen painstakingly renewing and restoring places and the general lack of abandoned properties says Charleston economy is thriving. 

Having traveled with Eddie for so long, I know him well.  He depth of knowledge on the Foundering Fathers, colonial times, and Civil War could move him to the head to the trivia games here, or at least give him a job as a docent in one of the homes...except for the not well air conditioned part.  Thank goodness we have most of the authors or historical stuff at home....the bookstores are just full of load more books for Eddie to buy and conquer...alas, we are in small rolling suitcases, per Eddie.  

On to the Oyster Roast.  I thought I has pretty much had seen it all in eating with your fingers.  It takes the cooking equipment, tents, tables and buckets of a crawfish or shrimp boil and kicks it up a notch with protective gloves and oyster knives...add booze, country music, no see um gnats...now that is a Low Country  Roast.  So, here we are on the banks of the Cooper River Marsh lands, in a lighted tent, with my cute top that I did not Preshop for and along with 400 other plastic name tag folks, popping shells, dipping the half steamed oyster in a cocktail sauce, slurping it down and toss the shells into a 5 gallon bucket by your feet.  Not wanting to look like a total tourist, I watched and modeled after the people lined up near us. The roasting hopper looks like a fairly large commercial crawfish boiling rig, only you don’t submerge the oysters.  About two sacks to the basket, steam then throw on the tables.  The steam should be some new spa facial thing...like “organic pearl steam”or something....hair and makeup were lost out here.  You grab the oyster with your gloved hand looking for the partial popped opening, insert your knife and twist...be careful, there is water in most of the shells....stab your steamed oyster with the knife, dip in your sauce and eat, wash it down with your drink of choice.  Hmmm, I think I will wait for the bbq portion of the offerings.  Eddie was at the table for a good hour....as were most of the other native South Carolinian folk.  Sure enough, the bbq lined open and most folks moved from the tables to the bbq-queue.  Only the die hard remained as the oysters kept coming.  The bbq was from local Rodney Scott, the 2018 James Beard SE chef of the year.  Yeah, it was probably the best I have ever had.  Their fresh pork cracklings were outstanding.  All served with collard greens, Mac and cheese, chicken, salad, cornbread, and banana pudding...if that does not say Low Country, I don’t know what does.  After doing what lawyers do, talk about court cases and other lawyers, we returned to our hotel for the night, but not without pick up our party favor-an oyster knife with a leather looped belt holder...for each of us.  Guess we will be checking bags on way home for sure.  

Creatures of habit

Old habits die hard.  As I sit here in our lovely room on E Bay Street over looking the cruise port, I realize that we do have a pattern when traveling.  Eddie has been here, done that, so I let him select the hotel.  When we travel within the US, he prefers smaller boutique hotels, bed and breakfast homes or historically significant properties...road trip, anything that Priceline has when we get ready to stop is fine by him.  He had previously stayed at several of these type places in the past here in Charleston but most were booked for the weekend, which would have meant a change of location mid stay-nope, nope, nope...Eddie tends to nest when he settles in...cruise style, unpack bags...no living out of suitcases.  He selected a smallish hotel, centrally located with a 5 star rating..old habits die hard...he still likes his powder puffing.  Since I did not look at an overall map, I was surprised when the GPS led us down the road marked “cruises”.  It is right across the street.  However, 5 star comes at a hefty prices, even with Expedia discount points, I am doubtful that the cruise folks that may board in Charleston are staying here pre or post cruise.  However, the adjacent Charleston Market has cruiser bait written all over it.  The Charleston Market is converted warehouse buildings that stretch from E Bay Street to Meeting Place Street (main drag through town).  You can get your shop on as each stall/area has something to look at and buy, clean, well lit, out of the weather, fairly cool and not too crowded.  Figure Friday to  Sunday are the big days...or when the ships come in...so we decided that now rather than later was good.  As we are in small suitcases, our purchases were smallish...to include Christmas ornaments that are flat.  

As Eddie is our restaurant snob, his job is to plan for dinner each night.  We tend to eat a late breakfast and early dinner and skip lunch...cruise/old habit.  I select breakfast place, based on what and where we are going, he selects the dinner location based on the top rated restaurants.  He had done zero preplanning prior to our arrival Tuesday afternoon.  So,to light the fire under him, I exclaimed “there is an IHOP next door and Burger King just across the street” when we arrived at 4:15....not the tacky freestanding, but understated in old renovated buildings.  Guessed it work because by 4:45 he had reservations at the top three restaurants in Charleston.  Speaking of food snobs, according to “they” Charleston has replaced New York as the food capital of the US.  Hmm, with New York, New Orleans, San Francisco always in that conversation...”they” maybe just making that up...could this be the Fake News we hear so much about?  After two nights of #2 and  #3, pretty sure they are making that up.  Crab cakes are good, not much filler, honest fresh lump crab meat, no sauce...have been to several places in Houston-with sauce that could better these in a blind taste test.  Fish-flounder and grouper...dry enough for Eddie to say something.😐Beef dishes too much sauce.  Vegetables too much garlic.  The meals start strong with good soups (she crab with sherry) or salads Fried Green tomatoes with greens but only manage to get a “B” rating on the Pickle scale.  The one thing Charleston has managed to do is match prices with New York.  Talk about eating your money...BK and IHOP are looking better all the time...would you like fries with that?  

The original 13 colonies have a rich history that has a true European feel to it.  Older buildings or sections, tales of the Revolutionary or Civil Wars-people, places and things which does not really extend westward.  Yeah, the rest of the states have totally different histories with unique favors, but for history wonks like us, Charleston has it all and has kept it intact.  Not sure whether it was the plantations (rice and indigo), the people who settled here (Charleston College is one of the oldest in the country) or something else, but the entire peninsula that is Charleston does not have a bad side of town.  Preservation is still alive and well.  It is a well run money making machine.  As Eddie is keen on saying Charleston is what New Orleans aspires to be.  Carriage rides, you betcha, (yeah, we did that) with 5 different companies and a bingo machine to determine each of the carriages route.  Random, controlled, city provided poop patrol with GPS location technology for the horse waste. Yeah, New Orleans could learn a few lessons here.  The Holy City aka Charleston has 1 church for every 250 people, the skyline is more about steeples than tall buildings so you can see everything from a roof top bars (yeah, we did that, too).  Yesterday was overview and museums, today is touring homes here in Charleston and the Oyster Roast.  Hope it is as good as Eddie remembers it...being it is Throwback Thursday and all.  

Oh yeah, Eddie decided to get a haircut yesterday while wandering around since between the College Campus and the Citadel there are plenty of old fashioned barber shops—-well, can you say Baptist Preacher?  Eddie fits right in here in the Holy City—-maybe today we will pick up that seersucker suit and straw hat.  

Charleston-Birthplace of Sweet Tea, y’all

🎵🎶On the road again🎵🎶Just can’t wait to get on the road again🎶🎵yes friends, your gypsy wanders are at it again.  Of course, I am waiting for Fast Eddie to get hisself ready and out the door, which at before 10:00 AM is a tough job.  Me, I hit the floor ready to roll.  Fast Eddie becomes his mother, Maxine, and shuffles, groans and otherwise farts around for a good 3 hours...don’t even get me started about packing....and there was an early morning (8:30 in school traffic) trip to Lowe’s as we have a worker bee on the patio painting the ceiling.  

We are headed to Charleston, South Carolina-the gentile southern city that is heavy on history (think Fort Sumter, Miss Scarlett & Civil War), seafood and southern cuisine (Pass the oysters, pulled pork and fried green tomatoes and I will have the Peach Cobbler for dessert) and men in seersucker suits, ladies bows in their hair (Bowheads per my sister’s nickname) named Muffy and Sis.  What’s not to love?  A little background on why Charleston—- particularly when the Astros are World Series bound, and the weather does not get any more special than it is this morning-one of the 10 days a year the Chamber of Commerce pitches as “delightful Houston climate”.  Well, after our spring cruise to Iceland and the United Kingdom, we made a decision to press “pause” on cruising...we were paying a hefty price for Fast Eddie to come down with pneumonia...and the 6 week post cruise recovery period at home was a souvenir that we no longer need.  We (rather I)came up with a list of places in The US and Canada that would scratch our travel itch and complete all the scratch offs on our global map (thanks Toni C).  While Eddie has been to all 50 states, I lack 16 to make our map complete.  While I have driven through some of these 16 states, I have not “visited” the states.  No cheap drive through for me will make the scratch grade.  I want a bona fide visit...taste the cuisine, sleep in a bed and breakfast or nice hotel-no tents-I like the mint on the pillow and hot shower-extra points for fancy bubbler tubs, explore what makes the state unique...and heck, get the Christmas ornament for our travel tree.  Prior to pressing “Pause” we were booked on a cruise that left this week out of New Orleans that would have completed our Caribbean Island portion of the map..we planned on a couple of days in New Orleans for the cuisine part...so, pressing pause we decided a four day trip to Charleston might be a good alternative....Never want to stop wandering and exploring....we might grow mold if we stay 365 in Houston.

While I am a planner, Eddie has become a more a Last Minute Lucy...fly by the seat kinda thing, game day decision.  I repeatedly asked about various restaurants, things to do, should we get the Tour Pass questions, but he was not feeling the urge to plan.  Sunday,  during the Texans game, he looked at the various restaurant options and decided that $3 oysters were a little high, really.....especially since he holds the record at Pappas for 11 dozen in one sitting (but they were $3.95 a dozen, then).  He looked at the 10 day forecast which includes rain during a large part of our visit.  Can you feel the excitement in the air...I know I certainly did.  He also decreed that we would be using our “small suitcases” and walking them on and off...which will not happen since our tickets are on a United Express plane-read gate check, small plane no overhead bins.  Small suitcases are fine by me.  I can wear my tennis shoes, take some lightweight casual shoes for “dress up”, a couple of extra shirts, and a pair of long pants...along with my rain jacket and umbrella.  So, Monday I had my stuff packed by 10:00 and was out the door for a pedicure.  I left Eddie at home alone, unchaperoned....he  decided to “reach out” to a Charleston attorney friend that he has known and worked with for almost 40 years and see if they ( meaning lawyer and his Bowhead) want to do dinner while we are there.  4 day notice...smooth,  Mr. Eddie.  Well, by the time I had come home and go up to my office to print the tickets, get my travel folder and make last minutes notes...Eddie receives a response from said Lawyer.  Eddie was sooo excited that the firm’s annual Oyster roast —-with 5,000 free oysters—-and bbq is planned for Thursday night (and we are now invited) that he journeyed upstairs to share the news.  Side bar-Eddie has not be upstairs more than 5 times since we moved back downstairs post Harvey-PTSD?  So, what does one wear to a high Southern BBQ and Oyster Roast—Eddie says-think Blue Jean casual only nicer.  What the heck is that...reminds me of when we use to go on “business trips” (read boondoggle with golf)...they had a dress notation called Country Club Chic.  I always missed the mark-either too dressy or not dressy enough.  I always would spend days shopping prior to those trips attempting select the right outfits and shoes for the three nights (which I called “Business Rush Party”—-Ed was the corporate person (rushee) and the lawyers from the various law firms (frat boys or the more PC-Frat persons) would smooze  during the coke party (cocktail buffet with open bar) evening, theme party (another buffet and costumes affair with the food and entertainment fitting the theme) and finally pref night -a dressy dinner affair with a band and lawyers dancing -always on my list of favorite things to do.  The Frat boys would try to get the Rushee to commit (or pledge) Shell’s business to them.  So glad we hung up our Rush Week traveling.  So, this will be a Throwback Thursday event...without the Pre shopping...and as a Shell retiree, Eddie is no longer a highly prized rushee.  The afternoon was spent rethinking my Wardrobe selections, trying on shoes and “cute” bbq attire (since my closet is just brimming with “cute”, and all) I hope this hotel has an iron available as my clothes currently look like I slept in them-small suitcase and all. We also had to pack some of the industrial strength bug spray that Eddie had purchased for our trip to North Carolina.  You see, South Carolina has a particularly type of gnat, called a No-see-em.  They love Eddie...and he is allergic to them.  The gnat bites look more like angry boils.  All potential Instagram or Christmas card pictures of us will be made prior to said Oyster Roast.  As he has been to this Oyster Roast many times in the past, guess we will be bring home a new souvenir ailment/medical issue.  And we all know Ed suffers in silence so well.  

We are currently wheels up in Houston...after checking our small suitcases, surprise!...Four days...so little time, so many adventures.  Until then Go ‘Stros!