I came back from Spoleto Festival yesterday, and I had a great time at Charleston, South Carolina. My weekend started with about 7 hours of drive Friday from Montgomery, Alabama to Charleston, SC. To get there, I had to pass through Georgia. Wouldn't you know it? I was pulled over within the first couple of hours of driving in Georgia... I got off with a warning. The officer said I was supposedly going around 80 mph. Plus, apparently Georgia law requires that I change to the left lane when there's a car pulled over to the righthand shoulder. Who knew?? Then once I got to Charleston, I was lost for about an hour... and was apparently lost in the ghetto part of Charleston (I found out later). Did I mention I was directionally challenged? ;) But I finally managed to find my way to 1837 Bed and Breakfast.
After I picked up my law school roommate, Kerry, from the airport, we went to see Kate McGarry on Friday night. She was a jazz singer, who had great techniques scat singing. But I thought her voice was too bright for jazz... She called her parents, who had medical complications, in the middle of the concert to sing an Irish tune just for them. It was pretty cool.
Saturday was a day of puppets. We kicked off with Colla Marionette, Sheherazade & Petruschka at 11 a.m. The stories were told through puppet acting and set to Rimsky-Korsakov and Stravinsky music. The gregarious usher at the concert was very helpful and told us where to go for a great lunch -- G & M. A French cafe, where you can get half sandwich (croque monsieur), half salad, a glass of wine for $7. I skipped the wine, since I don't drink, and had a lovely lunch. It was full of people, and we had to wait a while, but the wait was definitely worth it.
We got to see Charleston, walked around to see a park by Cooper River, aptly named Waterfront Park. There were a couple of fountains, where kids were running through and lots of swings to relax by the pier. We also breezed through the Marketplace.
Then Saturday night, we ate at Hank's for a fabulous seafood dinner. We went to an opera by Respighi, La Bella Dormente -- Sleeping Beauty. It was an interesting opera because the actors were all puppets! The opera singers stood on the side and sang, and lifesize puppets were all over the stage. The music and singers were great.
Sunday was one busy day. We started off with another sumptuous gourmet, hot breakfast at our B&B. Then we headed to Chamber Music to hear Strauss, Schumann, and Weber. We grabbed a quick bite at Noisy Oyster -- fried green tomatoes, fried oysters, hush puppies, and french fries. After putzing around a bit, we went to see Mabou Mines Dollhouse. Unfortunately, it started late and turned out it would have ran 2 hours 45 minutes. So, we had to leave at the first intermission, so that we could make our dinner and then to our last concert. Our stomach took precedence, and we went to Magnolia's for upscale southern food.
We finished off the Spoleto Festival with Savion Glover, Improvography. He's a tap dancer... but he made tap dancing into a whole different art. It was also his last concert on his 10 week tour, and he was definitely pumped. Every once in a while, you can recognize a genius at his or her art, craft, whatever, even if you can't do it, because he or she simply soars effortlessly. He's one of them. Kerry and I both agreed that the best concert, was this last concert.
Monday, we went our separate ways and said goodbye to Charleston. It was a fun weekend, but way too short!
No comments:
Post a Comment