baseball, biking, & barry

We just got back from our weekend trip to the charming city ofCharleston, SC and had a great time visiting our friends. The original plans of boating, wake-boarding, and picnics on the dock got completely rained out by Tropical Storm "Barry" who rained out our entire Saturday. On Friday night we geared up for an "All-American" night-out to the baseball field. Chris and I along with 2 other couples rode bikes all throughout historic Charleston, riding along the Battery Park and White Point Gardens where pirates were hanged in the early 1700s from the plethora of large oak trees that still shade this park today. We stopped at the baseball field to watch the last half of the Charleston Riverdogs play and win against a team that I still never caught the name of. We got a Coke and veggie chili dogs at a natural food concession stand (I think this may be one of the only ones I've heard of!) and a big cup of boiled peanuts! It was so much fun just people watching, yelling at the hitters, and doing the "wave" with the crowd. The children face painting booth was right across the aisle from our row so we watched many kids get transformed into Spiderman, a mutant turtle, or an abstract butterfly. When then the game was over we ooh-ed and aahh-ed over a noisy fireworks show, then rode our bikes back through town in the dark.

Since Saturday was rained out, we played board games, watched movies, and ate cookie-dough all day then went to a Thai restaurant for dinner where we enjoyed three lectures from the talkative and friendly owner about the origination of sushi, the history of chop-sticks and a few more funny antidotes! Yesterday, the tropical storm brought in great waves, which the guys were more than excited to spend the entire morning surfing, while us girls went to town to have coffee, shop, and see any festivities going on with the Spoleto Festival. For the past three years, Chris and I have been in Charleston for this annual art extravaganza which is the "sister-city" event of Spoleto, Italy. This year, we didn't really get to partake in any shows or art exhibits because of the weather and our short visit. Maybe next year we can go to the original Italian festival!