Andy and I have a house!!!
Posted by Gypsy on Oct 24, 2008
Oh, and he’s back from Iraq. Not gonna write a big post on that, but he came home on Monday and we’ve just been spending the week enjoying being together again and getting things started for me to move here to San Diego.
Along with that comes having a place to live and today we went to the housing office to get on the waiting list. Lucky for us, though, they had housing available and we were able to look at two today, picking the one in the photo below. We’ve already accepted the offer and will be getting the keys next week. Then I fly home and get things ready to move.
Mmmmmmm Coast
Posted by Gypsy on Oct 13, 2008
Our last full day in Charleston was spent in the same lazy fashion as every other day there, making this trip one of the most relaxing I’ve had in a long time. Most of the day was spent bumming around in search of a new bag for me (as my carry-on was broken on the trip to Charleston) and the wines we’d had the previous night at dinner. By the time we were done with all of that, it was time to meet Joe for drinks at Charleston Beer Works. Joe and Andrew opted for local beers (of course) while Nicole and I went for our usual coconut drinks, her with a Malibu Baybreeze and me with my Malibu and diet. After a little while of that, we head to Coast for dinner.
During my last visit to Charleston, Coast won the top honor of my favorite restaurant and it didn’t held up to that honor. Since we had been discussing Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka the entire trip, we started out the evening there by doing a round of shots. All I have to say is if you like sweet tea, this stuff if for you. It went down so smooth and is just plain yummy. Shots down and time to think about dinner, I was all set to order the same thing I had last time and Joe was all set with his order as we’d both been pouring over the menu for days beforehand. As soon as our waiter listed the specials, though, that plan was shot to pieces. Joe and I ended up ditching our planned orders and going for the lobster special, which was steamed and then finished on Coast’s hickory and oak custom made wood burning grill. The word amazing would be an understatement. As much as I loved dinner the night before, Coast was the one I was really looking forward to and by the time we were done there I was even more in love with Charleston than before.
Of course, there was one more stop to make before my vacation would be complete. It was finally time for that long-awaited trip to Paolo’s, home of the best gelato in the US. Since all of the day’s flavors were new for me, I opted for the cannoli-flavored gelato and it was wonderful. Really the perfect way to end a vacation. Since Andrew and I had yet to pack, we headed back to the house after for some relaxation before saying our goodbyes to Joe (as he had to work the next morning) and heading off to bed.
Unfortunately, all amazing vacations must come to and end and this one was no exception. Getting up Friday morning, the mood was a bummed out one to say the least. Since we hadn’t made it to the ocean the whole week, Nicole, Andrew and I headed to Folly Beach to try and see England from the pier. We couldn’t, but it was still nice to look at the horizon and realize just how big the world is. With some time left before we had to head to the airport, we head off to downtown to grab coffee with Joe and say goodbye again.
This is when all hell decided to break loose (funny how that always happens when it comes time to do the actual traveling). Checking into the flight was no problem and about 20 minutes before were set to board, we said our goodbyes to Nicole and went through security. When we got in line for security, our flight was on time. During the six minutes it took us to get through screening, though, our flight was bumped to two hours later. This would cause me to miss my connection, so I needed rebooking. Rather than relaxing for an hour with Andrew in Atlanta before my flight would take off (while he would have another hour to kill before his flight left for England), we ended up arriving in Atlanta with enough time to hightail it to his gate, say goodbye and he was off. I hate rushed goodbyes, and this one especially sucked as Andrew and I won’t see each other again until February for the big cruise. I have having one of my best friends an ocean away and am demanding he move to the states ASAP (because I totally have a say in what my friends do). Grabbing dinner and a few smokes, I finally catch my fight about an hour after it was supposed to arrive in Rochester, finally making it home, exhausted, at midnight.
All in all, an amazing trip that has left me already planning my next trip to Charleston. I miss my friends. I miss the amazing food. I even miss Brodie, Willow and Angry Kitty; the best pets that aren’t mine.
Flowers and fruit in martini form
Posted by Gypsy on Oct 11, 2008
Four days into our vacation, Joe and Nicole had to go back to work. Luckily, Nicole only had to work half days, leaving her, Andrew and I the afternoon free to hit the aquarium. I was excited to see the otters, and those little guys didn’t disappoint. Apparently, they love visitors as could be see by the one that just did laps in the water, swimming up to the glass, doing a flip and going back before starting the whole routine again. We stood there for a good 15 minutes just enjoying the show before moving on to the alligators. They were the complete opposite of the friendly otters, with one deciding to attack one of the turtles it shares a habitat with. Luckily for the turtle, he could just crawl up in his shell, but I was a little worried about him for a minute and stuck around until he was able to crawl away.
From there, it was into the kiddie area for a brief visit to lock Andrew up in a miniature shark cage before heading into the aviary to see some pretty birds, crabs and even a turtle dad with his turtle teenager. We also saw fish who lay flat on the sand to hide, an octapus, a starfish, a giant sea turtle, sharks and jellyfish. Once we were done with the water-life portion of the aquarium, we went to the lobby to discover a beautiful bald eagle that the aquarium rescued and adopted. He’s fairly new the aquarium, so his habitat was small, but I assume they are working on something bigger for him. Nest there was a spot where you could actually pick up crabs and such and pet them, which, while very cool, was also a little gross, so I opted to take photos rather than touch them myself. Then it was off into another kid area, this one with owls and (de-scented) skunks.
By the time we were done at the aquarium, it was time to head home to rest up and get ready for our evening plans, a meal at Cypress. Since it’s a nice place, we all were able to get prettied up for the night out. Seriously, check out the site and their menu. The food was amazing, as were the drinks I allowed myself to have First up was the Violet Martini, a blue concoction tasting of blueberries. Feeling adventurous, I also ordered the Coming Up Roses martini, made with champagne and rosewater and tasting just like roses smell. So yummy. Dinner consisted of an amazing bottle of wine, scallops appetizer for me and Joe (and fried Brie for the non-seafood lovers), dry-aged steak (so amazing) and molten lava cake for dessert. All in all, a really great dinner with really great friends.
Pretty birds and duck friends
Posted by Gypsy on Oct 7, 2008
The heat and humidity essentially dictated my entire trip to Charleston and day three was no exception. Because it was so awful outside, we made the decision to stick to indoor activities, which included grabbing a bite at Basil (which was so yummy and amazing as always) and going to the Charleston Museum. The museum was pretty cool and had tons of Civil War era stuff, which I always find fun and interesting. Nicole and I found tons of clothes we would love to wear from back in the day. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take photos of the exhibits. At least the ones for grown-ups. For fun, we went into the kids’ room, where there was a fun little house we could go into. Inside, there were clothes for playing dress up, which Andrew donned willingly for our photo taking fun.
Since we didn’t set off until late in the day, we were unable to go to the aquarium as planned and instead headed back to the house to relax and watch Monday Night Football, a horrible idea as Joe’s Raiders played like crap.
The next day the weather was a little tamer, allowing us the chance to go to Cypress Gardens. Our first stop when we got there was the Butterfly House, home of a pretty baby duck that made fast friends with Andrew. We also hit up their mini-aquarium and checked out various swamp creatures. On our way there, we checked out their tortoise pen, where the cutest big tortoise walked up to the fence to say hi. While talking to him, we heard a “hello” behind us and turned to see birds trying to get our attention. They even said bye to us as we walked away.
Done with the air-conditioned indoor sites, we went off in search of the swamp so we could get a rowboat. Letting the boys handle the rowing, Nicole and I spent and enjoyable hour taking photos of various swamp life, including two little alligators that were swimming around the swap. This particular swamp was actually used for the films Swamp Thing, The Patriot and The Notebook.
By the time our tour of the swamp was over, the heat was starting to get to us, so we head back to the house for relaxing and determining the evenings plans. Settling on dinner and a movie, we set off for Five Guys for burgers. All I can really say about this is *drool*. I love those burgers so much. There really are no good burger joints around here and it’s a total bummer. For the movie, the plan was to see DeathRace. Unfortunately, the theater it was being shown in had a broken air-conditioner, so we chose to see Tropic Thunder instead. Totally worth it just to see Tom Cruise doing what he was doing (I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it yet, but it was good).
