Charleston and Beaufort, SC visit

My thanks to Gordon, Lane and Kevin for their hospitality this last weekend. Those guys met Teresa and I on their turf while we were down there to visit with some of her friends from college.
Smashing. In four days we visited a horse farm, went to Gordon's place, got a tour of two Charleston firehouses, had some delicious and refreshing beverages with all three SOC guys and scouted future employment for (potentially) both of us. We also saw a musical one of her friends was working on and caught up with one of her old profs from school.
Not bad for what was really a two-day visit bookended by a pair of 12-hour drives in a little red truck. Life is good.
Thanks, guys!

In order, Teresa in my turnouts, the world-class view of the sunset out Gordon's living room window and a teaser for you "Where's Waldo?" fans. Somewhere in the third picture, there's a red Beck.

And three more for you; Lane's car alongside Kevin's black one, Lane alongside a fire engine (CFD's Engine 3 makes Lane's Speedster look miniscule, huh?) and Lane on Charleston's suspension bridge.

I saw that picture this morning. I think it's worth printing.

To be technical, it's not a suspension bridge. It's actually the largest cable-stayed bridge in North America. Certainly a pretty one, isn't it?

Cory and Teresa:

Great to see you both, and I hope Y'all had a great time visiting the "Low Country".
Still cranking out World-Class sunsets here at the Southern home of "Five Cent Racing" (last night was unbelievable) and really getting into the Christmas Spirit, although we're about to embark on the "Incredibly, Ridiculously, Busy and Too-Far-Traveled Season" (IRB&TFTS). Have to run out today and get winter parkas for the Jack Russells for the trip to the Great White North!!

The pictures are great, and we had a fun time.

All the best to you both for the Holidays!

Gordon, Kathy, Murphy and Sophie

Wow that patio shot looks like a great place to kick back with a couple two-tree beers!!! And a Montecristo from Havana.

Cory - Looks like you & Teresa had a great time on your whirlwind trip and visiting with SOC brethren!

It's folks like Gordon, Lane and Kevin (like many other friends I've met through this site) that proves that there ARE decent folks left on this crazy planet!

The West Coast beckons you two vagabonds...

P.S. - ...the pic of Lane on the bridge; it would be an easy process to 'photoshop' out the 2 cars ahead of him so that it looks like he had that whole section of the bridge to himself. THAT would be a COOL (calendar) shot!

Uh, youse guys are having WAY too much fun. Time to get back up north here and hunker down for the winter. Too much mild air and sunshine is bad for your corpuscles -- thins them out. You could knick yourself shaving and bleed to death. Thanks for some great pix.

Waldo? I searched for the Hoopty --- along with Cory & Teresa in orange Artic survival gear. Sounds like "da Hoopty" missed its first road trip --- or saner minds prevailed aft the last big Cold you both had.

Sounds like a great time. We are having our "California" weather here in the South East. A great time to see friends and go for a top down run. Great pics. I forget how small our cars are until I look at them next to a big un!

Hey Will you're in Ormond Beach? My dad lived in Port Orange until a few years agi B4 moving back up north. I wish I figured that out B4 he moved back would have been a hoot to show you how to drink beers...

Mike:

You're right; that deck is perfect for beers, especially around sunset. Starting about 15 minutes before sunset, everything comes to a stop, we get some wine out and just enjoy the show.

For You'se Canuks.....we can get some "Dixie VooDoo Lager". Ga-run-teed to get you speakin "proper" in no time!!

Bring "Bob" wit'cha! Don't see the Havanas too often, but do see a few of the "cheap imitations" from Honduras!!

gn

Hey Will, for some reason it just sunk in that you're in this quadrant of the country. Wanna join the Carlisle caravan in May?

Gordo, I need a proper invite and you know Josee and me will be down there like a Canuk at a Free beers event! "standing room only"

I'll bring some Cubans...

I am thinking of a Havana vacation this spring to shake out the cobwebs... and insert new cobwebs...

Just got back from Manhattan. What a week!
Uh, also, FWIW, Teresa corrected me on the "CFD" fire engine. That's apparently a Mount Pleasant, SC, fire engine -- NOT a Charleston one.
Oops. Sure is huge next to a Speedster, though.

There were several other pictures on the camera of Lane's car on the bridge and of Gordon's view (etc., etc.) and she's said she'll load 'em up for general consumption.
BTW, if you haven't ever been to a Broadway show before ... I got a glimpse into her world last night and it was REALLY neat to see behind the scenes. Wow. Just Wow. I thought the show we caught in Charleston was a doozy, but it wasn't even close.
Put it on the list of things to do before you kick the bucket.

Cory and I sure had a blast!

And it was great to meet some other Speedster owners ... Thank you for welcoming me so warmly!

As promised, there are a few more pics that I am happy to share.

(1) Another shot of Lane's speedster tearing up Coleman Blvd in Mt Pleasant.
(2) Lane's and Kevin's speedsters parked in West Ashley near Gene's.
(3) Cory and Lane with the Chief who was kind enough to take us up to the bell tower behind the firehouse ... the BEST way to get a birds-eye view of Charleston.

(4) Another great shot of the sunset behind Gordon's house.
(5) A wide shot of the firehouse on Canon Street, with the Chief, me and Lane in the bay door.
(6) Cory at the Engine 6 door

Did I mention that I can't wait to meet EVERYONE at Carlisle? The folks in South Carolina were so charming, that expectations are high ... Can everyone handle it?

(7) the bell tower behind the firehouse ... Chief Roberts took us up there for a GREAT view of Charleston
(8) Cory and Chief Roberts coming down from the bell tower
(9) me and Cory ... we're SO happy!

Yay for ROADTRIPS! (even if we took Dixie instead of the Hoopty)

Hey Cory: Where do we want to go next time??

I hear Chambersburg is nice this time of year ... ;)

Warm you say?
Did you trip and tap your nogg n'on the down from the bell tower? Weez got snow here in this here parts south of Carlisle.

Cory, my tower-climbing/BERT-hugging/scarf-wearing/cable-stayed-bridge-driving/ brutha!!

You've got the look of a HAPPY MAN! More power to ya, my friend!!

ughhh! Snow in PA? You mean I'm gonna have to put up with that over Christmas in Massachusetts? Double Ughhhh!!

OH, WELL......Maybe THIS year there'll be enough to do some skiing!!

Gordon: Right! Once you learn how to ski (and also learn how to dress in order to be able to ski) winter, and more particularly the snow that attends, takes on a whole new dimension. I still don't like to be cold, and would rather be too hot than too cold, given a choice, but I no longer simply dread the winter months altogether. Instead, I plan ski trips. PS: as Alan has mentioned, we got about 3" out here in the rust belt yesterday. Damn slippery stuff this time, too. All the way home from work in 2nd gear -- in the Mazda, not the Speedster, in case you were wondering. Red Barron is tucked in the garage.

PS: I'll ditto MUSBJIM's sentiments -- he says it so much better.

Lane , I am kinda in the neighborhood, but my car is in California. I am hoping to be taking my dad on a road trip about the time and area of Carlisle. If the timing works out, My dad and I can be support vehicle in my motorhome for the Speedster Caravan. Also emergency cold beverage storage and dispensary. Hope the timing comes together.

Re the possible support vehicle: Eeeeeexcellent!

Re your car: That Florida/California thing must make those spur-of-the-moment cruises a bit difficult, huh?

Kelley:

Started skiing in 1956. Got to be pretty good at it after a while, although Chris is more fearless, if not more fluid.

I used to be fearless on pretty much any trail in New England when I was younger (60's and 70's). Used to have "Crashing Contests" with my friends to see who could raise the biggest cloud of snow spray.

Now I'm older, and somewhat more prone to unexpected crashing - something I used to laugh at in my teens, but take a little more seriously now that I have to live with the consequences of some of those earlier crashes...knee problems, hip problems, etc. (I think the sound of my knees clicking kinda-shocked Lane over at his place recently!)

Starting to sound a little like Mike Cochrane, although he took a FAR more destructive hit than I ever did...

Still.....it would be really cool to do a little skiing this season. Biggest trouble is going from 5 years of never seeing Winter to a sudden, sub-20 degree climate. At this point, I would MUCH prefer sailing in the Grenadines!!

My last and most outrageous skiing experience was in the Austrian Alps, Stubaier Glacier aka das "Stubaier Gletscherbahn"
"Konigreich Des Schnees" (Kindom of Snow) I have no idea what so ever how I made it down the entire glacier and surviving intact, however it was a once in a lifetime experience I am glad that I was able to accomplish.

Utah powder is what I have my sights set on. IF can swing it, might aim at NE too, as have never actually done that yet so far.

If you're coming to New England and want a ski partner, contact my son, Chris.