PunkIsrael

Photo Gallery: Newry Folk Festival, June 2005

We went to this folk festival with our friends Jim and Paige, and their sons Gabe, Jack, and Isaac.  There were bluegrass bands playing, such as Tugalo Holler, and there was barbecue, and folk crafts.

The idea was to save this old mill from destruction.  No one knew why.  It was so wonderfully existential.  Enjoy the pics, down on the sidebar to the right.  Click on "Newry Folk Festival, June 2005".

Charleston, Appended

• Went to supper at T-Bonz.  I think I liked it better than Kat.  It was basically just a steakhouse, like Outback or something, but they had good food.  I had some decent she-crab soup and some blackened mussels.
• We upgraded to an actual room the next night.  I slept a lot better.
• The next morning, we bumped around the art fair in Charleston, then went to Folly Beach and walked around a little, ate lunch at the Crab Shack.  I had steamed shrimp, which were ok, and hushpuppies, which were ok.  I went to get my seafood fix, and really didn't get it.  I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that I didn't drink any beer.  I did have a culinary epiphany, though: I'm really kind of over hamburgers.  There just isn't much interest anymore.  A good burger is a good burger, and a really, really good burger is a good burger.  The theme has been exhausted.  It's a comfortable dose of grease.
• We left Folly Beach, got caught in traffic for about an hour and a half, and rolled into Clemson at around 7.
• Oh, and then there's this stuff:

I think it's a Carolina thing.  It tastes a little like a fiery Worchestershire sauce.

Charleston

The holy city. 

• Arrived yesterday afternoon around four.  Waited around until around 5:30, when Ray showed up to man the check-in at the Not So Hostel.  We checked in, got on our bikes, and headed downtown.  Wound up in some Irish pub, where Kat ordered what I thought was a pretty unremarkable chicken caesar salad, and I ordered crab fritters and onion rings.  The onion rings weren't much to speak of--standard, and a little burnt.  The fritters were pretty good, but nothing special.  The red pepper dijonaise, however, was divine, and I need to learn how to make it.
• We went back to the hostel, and asked Ray about where to get ice cream.  He suggested an Italian gelato place, so we got in the car and went over there.  I ordered coffee flavored, which was good, but Katharine got a mixture of mixed berry and dark chocolate, and it was awesome. 
• We came back to the hostel and set up our tent.  Yes: tent.  We are paying ten dollars a night to sleep on a platform behind the hostel.  However, Katharine was the only one who really slept.  It was about 435 degrees outside, so I probably got around 4.5 hours of actual sleep.  Oh well.
• This morning: got up, showered, made a waffle, ate it, got on bikes and headed back downtown.  Wandered through the market in downtown Charleston, bought a few things, and then went to visit the Hugonaut church.  Ate lunch at a little French place, and it was wonderful.  I had a cheese and pate plate (baguette, brie, Pyranees cheese, summer sausage, pate, cornichons) and Kat had a turkey and brie croissant and some incredible gazpacho. 
• Rode bikes over to the aquarium, and killed another two or three hours.  Spent almost an hour just sitting in rocking chairs, overlooking the harbor.  Saw sharks, toads, divers, high school kids. 
• Came back to the hostel, wrote this.