So my friend Donna moved to Charleston, SC last year, and she told me I was welcome to come down and stay with her if I wanted to come visit Charleston. I made the momentous decision to do it. First I found super cheap airfare, flying from Indy to Charleston and back for $181. Of course I had to drive up to Indy, but that only takes one tank of gas, about $60, and that was much less than what I saved by not flying out of Evansville.
Once I'd bought the airfare, I have to admit to being nervous about going. Not the flying part, I'm ok with that, although I did make the mistake of watching all the History Channel's shows about 9/11 the night before flying out. Yup, that was a mistake, but no. I was nervous because it'd been a while since I'd spent any quality time with Donna, and what if I got there and we hated each other?
Anywho, so Friday (Sept. 19th), I packed my bags in my little red wagon and drove up to Indy
and spent the night at my sister Holly's house. She drove me to the airport on Saturday morning and I was off. Ok, another bit of background... our family keeps gnomes. We travel with them, we give them as gifts. Well, Friday was Donna's birthday, and she had a new home/apartment in Charleston, and she was letting me stay with her, so I decided she needed a gnome. The only concern was getting the gnome past security... (see, I didn't want to have to buy him a ticket.)
So, dateline, Indianapolis International Airport. I'm in the security line. I take off my shoes, which fortunately didn't smell too bad since it was early in the morning. I put my Ziploc baggie of liquids, shoes, and carry-on bag (with gnome safely tucked inside) on the belt to go thru the scanner. As my carry-on goes thru, I see the two guards looking at the picture and pointing. One of them hits a button, a light goes off and the machine starts beeping. She asks, "who's bag is this?" I hold up a hand, knowing that Gnorm has got them suspicious. She tells me that they're going to have to run it thru again. Ok.. While it's running thru the second time, the other guard whispers to the first one that it's a garden gnome. I say, "yeah, it's a garden gnome." He comes over to hand me my bag and we had a nice chat which led to his telling me that this wasn't the first gnome he'd seen. Whew! One gnome thru security - one hurdle down.
So, dateline, Indianapolis International Airport. I'm in the security line. I take off my shoes, which fortunately didn't smell too bad since it was early in the morning. I put my Ziploc baggie of liquids, shoes, and carry-on bag (with gnome safely tucked inside) on the belt to go thru the scanner. As my carry-on goes thru, I see the two guards looking at the picture and pointing. One of them hits a button, a light goes off and the machine starts beeping. She asks, "who's bag is this?" I hold up a hand, knowing that Gnorm has got them suspicious. She tells me that they're going to have to run it thru again. Ok.. While it's running thru the second time, the other guard whispers to the first one that it's a garden gnome. I say, "yeah, it's a garden gnome." He comes over to hand me my bag and we had a nice chat which led to his telling me that this wasn't the first gnome he'd seen. Whew! One gnome thru security - one hurdle down.After a short layover in Cincinnati, I arrived in Charleston International Airport. Now, this airport, considering it is an "international" airport, really isn't all that big. Sort of the same size as Evansville's airport, but the place in the food court sold me the tastiest, thickest Oreo milkshake I'd ever had. It was wonderful. I got the milkshake because my flight got in shortly after 2pm, but Donna didn't get off work to come pick me up until 3pm. So I bought me a magazine and a milkshake and watched people while I waited.
While I was waiting for the milkshake, some woman who obviously worked in the airport was there too, waiting for her coffee. We chatted and she mentioned that I was coming to visit Charleston during a "cold snap." I mentioned this to Donna when she picked me up. She laughed and said that the people down there all think it's cold - (it was in the 70's.)
I'm happy to say that my concerns about me and Donna hating each other were unfounded. The minute we saw each other, it was like no time had passed at all! Whew... hurdle two over..
She took me by Hairy Winston - the pet store where she has a part time job. Despite a decided 
bias in favor of the canine, rather than feline, populace, it was VERY nice. Me and Sophie and Gizmo had recently had our 2nd Anniversary together and I bought them a nice toy as an anniversary gift. I also got myself a new 
friend... I call him Big Blue. Technically, he's a dog toy, but he's SO cute, and upon bringing him home, both Giz and Soph have played with him.
bias in favor of the canine, rather than feline, populace, it was VERY nice. Me and Sophie and Gizmo had recently had our 2nd Anniversary together and I bought them a nice toy as an anniversary gift. I also got myself a new 
friend... I call him Big Blue. Technically, he's a dog toy, but he's SO cute, and upon bringing him home, both Giz and Soph have played with him.Where was I? Oh, so after a wee bit of shopping and meeting Donna's peeps, we went to dinner. Since I'd only had an English muffin and a milkshake all day, I was hungry. We went to Coconut Joe's and sat on the balcony overlooking the ocean. The breeze wafting in was wonderful. And my Jerk Chicken was pretty good, too!
After dinner, we went to Donna's house. She lives in a downstairs apartment of a two-story house, one block from the ocean, on Isle of Palms. And the best part is the screened-in porch. We sat out on the porch for a couple of hours, just talking and enjoying the breeze. Thus ended day one of my whirlwind trip to Charleston. BTW, Donna enjoyed receiving a gnome. Although I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm weird... but then surely that wasn't exactly news to her, right?
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