Spoleto Festival and Charleston, South Carolina

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!

My law school roommate, Kerry, in our room at 1837 Bed & Breakfast.

Waiting for our first concert, a jazz concert that was held outdoors.

Our first concert on stage.

King street was full of cute little shops.

Not authentic to Charleston, SC, but Saks Fifth Ave. was too regal not to take a picture. ;)

We had lunch here. Great French food, crowded with locals, recommended by a local who said we won't find any tourists here.

One of the old streets.

Pineapple fountain at the park by the bay.

View from the park.

People strolling and relaxing at the park.

There were swings at this park! Which was too cool.

View of the bridges.

We got to swing!! Yay!

The Marketplace where lots of vendors sold all kinds of stuff.

Crowds of people and lots of things to see and buy.

Kerry and I were at this great seafood restaurant, Hank's.

We stopped by a cemetary that was established way back in 1680!

Well said.

A tombstone in the ground..

Other people checking out the cemetary.

Program of our chamber music concert.

Inside the Dock Street Theatre, where a few of our concerts were held.

The stage of the Dock Street Theatre before our opera.

It's hot and kids get to run through the fountain.

And zipping through the fountain.

View of the buildings and the park from the pier.

View of the pier.

This guy was making roses with long stalks of some plant, I forget the name of.

Lots of people took tours in carriages.

Sign of the Dock Street Theatre.

Waiting for our play at the Dock Street Theatre.

View of the Dock Street Theatre.

We had Southern food at fine restaurant, Magnolia's.

A house used by the Spoleto Festival folks.

This is the house!

Our room. That was my bed.

A little corridor in our room that led to.

Kerry's side of the room.

We were upstairs, and spiral staircase led to our room.

Our room was in a carriage house.

The main house of 1837 Bed & Breakfast.

We had gourmet breakfast at this dining room of 1837 Bed & Breakfast.

One of our hostesses at the bed & breakfast.

The front porch of bed & breakfast.

1837 Bed & Breakfast sign.

Last parting shot of our bed & breakfast. 

Hiking at Oak Mountain State Park -- Peavine Falls Trail

It's getting up there, temperature wise, here in Montgomery, Alabama. High 80's and low 90's. It was a pretty weekend, and not as humid yet. Thank goodness for dry heat (at least for a while!).

Yesterday, I went hiking at the Oak Mountain State Park with my co-worker Deanna, her husband, and her 20 month old baby! Oak Mountain is apparently Alabama's biggest/largest state park with close to 10,000 acres of land. It's located about 1 to 1.5 hours north of Montgomery, and very close to Birmingham. We passed by a meticulously manicured golf course, horse stables, bikers, a lake, and lots of trees to get to the top to begin our hike.

We hiked the Peavine Falls Trail, where we saw Peavine water fall. The hike itself wasn't very long, perhaps 2 hours round trip. Most of the hike was in the shade, which was good because it was pretty hot. The waterfall wasn't just mesmerizing to watch, but provided a cool pool for folks to dunk their feet and chill out.

I'm very excited about the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend, because I'm going to Spoleto Festival at Charleston, South Carolina! It's a festival of classical music, jazz music, improvisational comedy, play, etc. etc. I plan to drive, which according to mapquest, should take me 8 hours (translation 6 hours of actual driving ;) ). Until next weekend!

Flowering trees on Peavin Falls Hike.

A short boardwalk in our hike.

Looking down the Peavin Falls.

The fall creates a little pool, where people were chilling out.

This dog was too funny! He ran around trying to bite the water, and succeeded here.

Gazing intently on how to bite the water surrounding him.

This old dog just wanted to lie in the water and relax.

Peavin Fall.

We followed the creek in our hike.

Water falls cascading down to the creek.

Or just a nature made water slide.

Rocks and boulders shouldered our hike sometimes.

It was a beautiful day to hike, blue sky and green canopy.

Couldn't quite capture the panoramic view from the top of the Oak Mountain State Park, but this will have to do.