Second Annual Fun Pants Party

Myself and the other hosts of the party

This past weekend, a number of friends from grad school and I hosted the Second Annual Fun Pants Party down in Charleston. Last year's party was just a pub crawl along Upper King (in ridiculous, fun pants, no less), but this year we hosted a beforehand cocktail party at the Carolina Yacht Club, before preceding to a pub crawl along East Bay. The actual crawl part was somewhat waylaid (in a good way) due to the awesome band, Unkle Funkle, who was playing at Johnson's Pub, our first stop. A good time was had by all, and I'm pretty sure that our 50+ crowd of people in ridiculous pants made the place a lot better than it normally is.

As an added bonus, the party was graced with the presence of none other than Social Primer himself, Cooper Ray. Be sure to check out Cooper's article, including additional pictures, over on the Social Primer website.


A view of the harbor from the Carolina Yacht Club

LIFE Photo Archive: Charleston Party

For New Years, I am heading back down to Charleston for a black tie party that some friends of mine are hosting. Last year's party was fun, but this year's party will be at our friend's house South of Broad and I think it should probably be even better. In thinking about the party, it reminded me of some pictures that I saw on the LIFE Photo Archive a few months back.

The pictures were simply labeled "Charleston party" and they were from 1949. Given the lack of context, it was difficult to tell if they were from an actual party in Charleston or from a party based around the Charleston dance. After looking at them a bit more, it looks like they were actually taken in New Jersey, and based on the tiger costume in some of the pictures, I'd put money that they were students from Princeton. It is a bummer that the pictures aren't actually from Charleston, but they are still awesome. Here are just a few:



Is there anything nattier than a raccoon fur coat and a straw boater worn with a tuxedo?

Luden's Outfitters closing

Since I, like most superstar bloggers, am awesome at breaking news stories before they come to the attention of the masses, I thought I would inform you that Luden's Outfitters down in Charleston is closing its doors after 140 years. I found this out last week on a forum that I occasionally post on, but you may have actually read about it in the Post & Courier article that was published back on April 6th.

For those who are unfamiliar with Luden's, it is a store down in Charleston where one might go to buy some waders, a kayak, a bow tie or a Barbour jacket. It's a little off the beaten path (i.e.- not right on King Street or the touristy part of East Bay Street), but worth visiting before they close the doors. While the article does a pretty good job explaining about the history of the store, I think that for a lot of Charlestonians it represented one of the things about the city that didn't change, no matter how many million dollar condos were built or how many Ohioans flooded the city.

Upon hearing about the closing, I asked one of my classmates, practicum teammates, Charleston native, and all-round badass, Charles Fitzhenry (pictured adjacent) if he had heard the news. He said that he had and had gone in there the day that their "Going out of business" sale started. In talking with one of the guys there, he was told that their landlord jacked up the rent on their lease and that they couldn't afford it (seemed to me like kind of a strange reason to completely go out of business). Anyways, the guy said that they were going to kind of see where things go with the economy and maybe open it back up again when things get better. This is all secondhand information, though, so take it for what it's worth.

Although I was disappointed to hear that Luden's won't be around any longer, I can't say that I was completely shocked by the news. At least in Charleston, if not everywhere else, I think that the outfitter/clothing store model is becoming increasingly difficult to pull off. Because there are so many retail options out there, especially with the internet, there doesn't seem to be much need for a store to be a "pretty good" outfitter and a "pretty good" clothing store (which I think would pretty accurately describe Luden's). These companies need to choose one or the other and be "really good" at whichever they pick. An example of this in Charleston is M. Dumas & Sons. From what I understand, they used to be much more of an outfitter than they are today, but they seem to have really minimized that portion of their store and are now mostly sell preppy clothing to tourists (which is a great market). To some extend, I feel that LL Bean also falls into this category.

Anyways, although I only visited Luden's twice, I am sad that I won't be able to drop in there next time I am down in Charleston (nor be able to pick up a belt with their logo on it).

South Carolina as viewed from Charleston

I'm not sure how long this has been around, but I saw it on the internet and after my experience living in Charleston and being around Charleston people, it seems pretty accurate.

"For auld lang syne, my dear"

I really enjoy the lyrics to "Auld Lang Syne" and feel like they are generally under appreciated, but maybe that is just because I am a fan of Robert Burns in general. Although it may be a day late, please feel free to play the lovely version of "Auld Lang Syne" below while reading the rest of the post.



I apologize for not posting for a while. I have been out of town a lot, and was actually without internet access for the past five days. Over the next week or so I will be posting about the various adventures (OK, maybe "adventures" is a stretch) I have had during the past few weeks.

For New Years, I went down to Charleston to attend the Fourth Annual New Years Eve Charity Gala hosted by the Palmetto Society. A number of my friends went last year and had a really good time, so I figured I would check it out this year. It is a pretty large event, probably about 1,000 people, held out on Patriot's Point. There were two bands and open bar, and plenty of Charleston women running around. It was a pretty fun way to spend New Years. Below is a picture of me with some of the guys from my grad program.



As I said, I should have a number of posts coming over the next week. Until then, I hope that you have a great New Year.

Hampden Clothing

This post is intended for the ladies in South Carolina. The wife of the guy I worked with this summer, Stacy Smallwood, runs a store in downtown Charleston called Hampden Clothing. Stacy used to be a buyer for Neiman Marcus and this has allowed her to have a boutique that get items from designers that pretty much can't be found outside of New York and L.A. They have a store on King Street and are working on opening a store in Greenville, hopefully by the end of the year. If you enjoy high-end, cutting-edge fashion (and have the deep pockets to afford it), it is definitely worth a look. Their website can be found here (you can order online) and their (rarely updated) blog can be found here.

The Recovery Room, Charleston, SC

For the past seven weeks after church I have visited the Recovery Room in Charleston for brunch. I suspect that my friends are getting annoyed about how much I talk about this place, but frankly, it is pretty fantastic.



Located on upper King Street, practically beneath the Crosstown Connector, it isn't exactly in a great part of town, but it certainly adds to the bar's unique character. Inside, it is a windowless dive bar with plenty of neon and kitschy decor. The food is greasy brunch fare (along with yogurt and granola, for those trying to be healthy) and includes egg sandwiches, massive omelets, biscuits with chicken fingers covered in your choice of honey or gravy (or, if you are like me, you might accidentally get both), and "hash browns," which are better known as "tater tots." Another highlight are the $2.50 mimosas which are hard to pass up.



The place is run by Chris Boston who came from Moe's Crosstown. I must admit that he was so friendly and hilarious as our server the first day we went there, that my affinity for the place is probably due in large part to his personality. My only complaint is that it can take a while to get your food after you have ordered, so it would be great if they could work on that. However, each of the tables have Trivial Pursuit cards (Genus Edition; the only real version as far as I'm concerned) and there is a game of Connect 4 that floats around somewhere in the bar to keep you entertained while waiting.



I have not visited this place any time other than for brunch on Sundays, but it is open as a bar during the week and, apparently, serves breakfast food all day. If you're having rough morning after a late night out in Charleston, I highly recommend finding your cure at the Recovery Room.

685 King St., Charleston, SC 29403
(843) 727-0999
There is plenty of parking located across the street in the gravel/dirt lot.

Anthony Bourdain in Charleston

A clip from the episode of "No Reservations" when Anthony Bourdain visited South Carolina.

Pictures from Charleston

Some pictures that I have taken since being in Charleston.

Summer drink: Po'mosa

I was not familiar with the beverage known as the "po'mosa" until a week or so ago. Fortunately, some new friends in Charleston were able to enlighten me and introduce me to this nice little concoction.

Ingredients:
1 bottle of Miller High Life (the champagne of beers, after all)
Orange juice

Directions:
Open up your bottle of High Life and drink about two or three ounces. Next, pour orange juice directly into the bottle until it reaches the top (you can drink more beer initially if you would like more orange juice mixed in). Next, kick back and enjoy.

Hot women and Land Rovers: A Match Made in Heaven

Since being in Charleston, I have begun to notice an inordinate amount of hot women driving Land Rovers. This is really a fantastic trend, and one that I hope continues. I'm not sure what it is about that magical combination, but like beer and pizza, it really couldn't get much better. What makes the phenomenon better is that these mysterious women (I have never, in fact, met a woman who drives a Land Rover) do not seem to have a preference for a particular model of Land Rover. Some of them drive Discoveries, some drive Range Rovers, and I'm sure I've seen some driving LR3's (nouveau riche, likely). I can't remember if I have seen the white rhino of their kind, a woman driving a Defender, but let's pray that she's out there somewhere. I should also note that, as demonstrated in the picture, wearing aviators while driving a Land Rover manages to increase the hotness factor exponentially. Let's just pray that these women continue to remain immune to rising gas prices.

A Note to Women:
If you are in the market for a new car, I hope that this post has been beneficial to you. While shopping for a car (the ultimate shopping trip?), I suspect that question has likely crossed your mind "Will I look cute in this car?" Obviously, this is an important question, but let me clear up some misconceptions. Men don't care if you're driving a Mini (no offense Jessica and Elisa), nor do they care, as some extremely misleading news stories have indicated, if you are trying to get great gas mileage by driving a Prius, and they absolutely hate to you see you driving a hot sports car with more horsepower than their own car. They really just want to see you in a Land Rover. "But those cars get terrible gas mileage!" you might say. Think of it this way: the worse gas mileage your car gets, the more successful of a doctor or lawyer (or developer) you are going to attract. And once you have caught his attention with the Rover, marriage is a sealed deal. So really, think of that all-time 4-wheel drive as an investment in your future.

*Generic hot girl photo courtesy of The Sartorialist
*Sweet Land Rover picture courtesy of this guy's website
*Awesome "Photoshopping" skills courtesy of me

A Charleston/Sullivan's Island muxtape

After espousing the merits of muxtape recently, I finally put my own mix together. It is inspired by my experience spending the summer in Charleston/Sullivan's Island. I have tried to capture the mixture of Southern culture with beach/maritime culture that seems to exist down here. I'm not sure how well it was accomplished, though: you be the judge.

As a note regarding the use of muxtape, I will simply state that I hope that they add support for MP4 files soon, as it was a bit of a hassle to convert all of my MP4 (Itunes) files into MP3 before I could upload them. Also, if you have music that was purchased via Itunes (as opposed to ripped onto Itunes from a CD), it is most likely a secured MP4 file (an M4P file, to be exact) and can only be converted to an MP3 with a significant amount of work.

Wicked watch tan

I'm not sure when I decided to take pride in having a serious watch tan every summer, I believe it was probably some time back in college, but it is now one of my favorite annual traditions. It is also a tradition that makes my college roommate roll his eyes (he was the one who recently described my watch tan as "wicked"), but nevertheless, I look at it as a sign that summer is here and it serves as evidence that I have been trying to enjoy it. I also like to think of it as a tanning barometer; whenever I feel like I am not as dark as I would like to be, I am able to take my watch off and say "Hey, at least I not that white anymore." As you can likely see, at least as far as my forearms are concerned, I've got a nice bit of darkening going on, although it is going to take a few more days at the beach before I get everything else to be that color.

A Bottle Full of Trouble

Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka.



(I couldn't find a good image of the bottle, so I "Photoshopped" this image to get the point across)

I am not sure how many people have tried this product, but after having yesterday, I can't seem to say enough good things about it. Basically, it is a tea infused vodka that is made right here in Charleston. While I am certainly one of the first to be skeptical of flavor-infused liquors, and of vodka in general, I must say that this stuff is fantastic. I tried it yesterday mixed with lemonade and it was great. That is, great in that troublesome way that you can't even taste the alcohol. And, coming in at a quite respectable 70 proof, after two or three of those drinks, things are likely to start becoming a little blurry.

The bad news is that, according to an article I read, it is currently only available in South Carolina, Nevada, Colorado and New York. However, it is supposed to be shipping more widely later on. Just because you live in one of those states, though, doesn't mean that you are going to be able to get your hands on a bottle right away. I just got back from the liquor store and the guy told me that he got six cases in on Friday and that they were already gone. He's getting six more cases in tomorrow, I will definitely be stopping by on the way back from work. Also, I am suspecting that it will be a frequent guest at many Clemson football games this fall.

Summer in Charleston

After four months of rejection from 31 companies, I finally nailed down an internship for the summer. Obviously this is a bad time to be trying to find a job in the real estate development sector, but I never imagined that it would be as bad as it was. I will be down Charleston (Mt. Pleasant, technically) working for a company called Avtex Commercial. It should be fun and I'm looking forward to getting down there this week.

Here are some photos from around the Charleston area that I took when we were down there for a class trip back in May. Hope you enjoy.

A view down the beach at Kiawah Island


A view of the Charleston peninsula from the old town part of Mt. Pleasant


A view of the marsh at I'on


A view of the old plantation house (which has been restored) at The Ponds development in Summerville


A dock on the marsh at the Beresford Hall development