Oh, the insanity! Or, ChuckDope 3: Eve Takes Charleston By Storm

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I must say this has been one of the most interesting nights I’ve had in a long time.

I met Eve and her mother at their hotel, and whisked them away in the borrowed limousine, er, Buick LeSabre. After being granted clemency by the parking garage attendant, we jetted off to Poogan’s Porch, a little “Charlestonian” restaurant in a converted house.

At the restaurant we met up with sidle, Mjollner, and Slainte. We made all the appropriate introductions, and sat down for a huge meal. (The crabcakes were ok, but one of mine was a little over-cooked on the bottom. And what was that Cheez-Whiz like substance on the top? This is supposed to be a good restaurant!)

Topics of conversation ranged from my Rebound Guy in Baltimore (and how where he lives is oh so lovely :D), John Waters, Kobe Bryant, religious nuts, ghosts (since the restaurant is reputed to be haunted), movie stars, sidle’s upcoming marriage, and of course, the SDMB. (Don’t worry, Ukulele Ike, your secrets are safe with us!) …(just kidding!)

Of course, a good night like this was bound to be marred by something. After I dropped Eve and her mother off, I went to wait at AC’s for the ex to call. (And the Rebound Guy, too.) Of course, I get the call, go to the car, and it won’t start. Tried jumping it. No avail. AAA showed up at about 11:30, and towed me back to my house. (Good thing it was a borrowed car, and not my regular car!) It turns out that the tow-truck driver was a really cool guy (and kind of cute). His father is in a band here in Charleston, and they played at my friend’s wedding reception in May. Small world, eh?

So, all in all, a good time was had by all. I’m sure Slainte, Mjollner, & sidle will come in and say hello.

Eve sends her love, and says she has plenty of stories from the road. (I hope she gets to step on Rudy Vallee’s face on the way out of the train.) She’ll be back on the boards on Monday.

:smiley:

2

It was a lovely evening indeed. Eve and her mother were everything I thought they would be: witty & charming.

My “sun dried tomato pesto penne with shrimp” was great and huge - really, a family of 4 could have made dinner of it.

It was great to see skerri and sidle again and to meet Mjollner (even if we didn’t know who you were at first - sorry!)

A good time was had by all. Congrats to sidle on all of her good news and thanks to Skerri for organizing dinner - she always does a good job of getting us together.

(Sorry to hear of your car trouble, Skerri, glad it’s not your car though.)

3

As Jimmy Durante might have said, “Of all the ironies, this had to be the i-ron-est:”

No one else at the table knew who the heck I was, despite a three-year, 3000+ post count. . .:frowning:

And I was the only person at the table who didn’t (and still doesn’t) know who Kobe Bryant is. :confused:

I also aplogize for crashing the party unannounced, but I didn’t think I was going to make it at first–and judging from the blank stares when I introduced myself–I don’t know that it would have mattered.:eek:

(I think I did hear some whispers, though, saying, “I think it’s that man that hangs out at the playground.”)

4

Kobe Bryant is a basketball player.

And on top of all that, Skerri and I spell your name wrong! Sorry about that, Mjollnir. To be fair, if you had posted about maybe coming we would have been a little less puzzled. Anyway, glad to see you made it home safely, door ajar.

5

Mjollnir, we just couldn’t hear you. I speak for myself when I say I’m extremely loud, and I usually expect others to be loud right back at me. At least I’m spelling your name correctly now. :wink:

[sub]psst. Kobe Bryant is a basketball player. Lakers, I think?[/sub]

It was good to have you there, though. I was suprised to see you, because I figured the thread announcing the dinner had faded kind of quickly. Oh well.

So, who wants to plan the next one? :smiley:

6

OH, gee! NOw I get it.

I waited all night for you guys to show up. Finally bagged it.

Who’da thunk there was more than one Charleston?

Oh, well. W.VA. was only a three hour drive for me.:smiley:

7

A lovely dinner; I didn’t eat much, as I was still recovering from lunch. Oddfly ernough, it was my Mom who brought up Kobe Bryant, as he was one of her students in high school. The three girls and Mjollnir were all charminmg and delightful—and Mjollnir, none of us knew who you were because when we asked you said, “mmnnrrr” in a teeny little voice. We liked you anyway, and when we found out who you were, even more so.

Mom and I had a nice time; Charleston is a lovely little town—most of the buildings are from between 1740–1840; lots of lovely Georgian and Federal architecture. And the wrought-iron is even prettier and more elegant than the cast-iron in New Orleans. We lucked onto a wonderful tour guide, a tall, elegant old woman who gives three-hour walking tours of the 18th- and 19th-century architectural highlights. Charleston was pretty much broke after the Civil War, so there was no redevelopment done—thus, all the old buildings survive. Also took a day trip to a nearby plantation, and walked through the open-air market (I had to buy a sweetgrass basket from one of the old local ladies, as they don’t let you leave unless you do).

The train ride there and back was an adventure—12 hours each way in a sleeper car! Very “shuffle off to Buffalo.” Climbing in and out of my upper berth (very “upper!”) was an experience; and being “rocked” all night on a train is not as sleep-inducing as one might think. Still fun, though, and beats the hell out of flying (of course now, the terrorists are promising to start targeting trains . . .).

8

All in all, a nice, quiet evening!
Eve was charming (who would have expected less?) and her mother was just adorable!

Hey! I didn’t say that, and no one can prove I did!
:smiley:
I must agree with the others when I say that we just couldn’t hear you very well when you introduced youself.
Your explanation of your username sounded like this;
“it’s MNOLLOMNLNLR. Mnnnr.”
Not to worry! I have quite the unfortunate, grating, screechy, Elizabeth Tayloresque voice, and often cannot hear those who speak in more soothing tones than I.

Skerri-Sorry about your car trouble! Darned unreliable limousines!!

Oooo-can I play food critic as well?
My dinner was good. Not spectacular, a bit on the cold side, and
skimped a bit on the fish.
Apart from the mini-heart attack on the way home about whether or not mahi-mahi is a predatory no-no for those eating for two, I went home quite satisfied!
The bevy of bats was still serenading Church Street when I arrived back to my car, by the way. Wonder if it gets tedious for the nearby residents?