Among the many reasons I should move to Charleston, SC are the following:
REASON #1: THE PEOPLE.
In my two days (so far) in Charleston, practically every person I’ve met has looked and sounded remarkably relaxed, content, and happy. People I’ve spoken to in Charleston — who have, without exception, been kind, courteous, friendly, and interesting — include Chris Perot:
Chris was one of many people I spoke to yesterday who urged me to move to Charleston. Some of these Charleston Proselytizers became converted mid-life; others are native born. Chris was one of the former: he moved here from somewhere else. (Chris, if you’re reading this, I forgot to write down where you moved from, and my memory sucks!)
Chris is a musician and he also really enjoys his job at a Very Cool Hat Store, on the Very Cool King Street.
REASON #2: THEY HAVE VERY COOL HATS IN CHARLESTON.
REASON #3: MANY OF THE COOL STORES IN CHARLESTON HAVE COOL CATS WORKING THERE.
You may think this reason refers to Chris, above. It doesn’t. It refers to actual felines, and I love cats.
The proof for Reason # 3 includes some hearsay; that is, somebody who works at the Francis Marion Hotel — the great place I’m staying — told me that many stores have resident cats. However, this conclusion also involves my own inductive reasoning. (In case you’re like me and usually can’t remember the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning unless you Google it, inductive reasoning is when you go from the specific to the general.)
Here is the specific proof from which I am generalizing — a cat named Sandy in yet another Cool Store on King Street:
Sandy was working in one of the two retail stores I went into yesterday. (I’m not a big shopper on vacations, obviously). So, based on my scientific experimentation yesterday (and I readily admit that my results are suspect because of the smallness of the sample size), approximately 50% of stores in Charleston have excellent working cats, like Sandy:
REASON #4: THE CATS IN CHARLESTON ARE VERY WELL BEHAVED, AND WILL POSE READILY FOR STRANGE PHOTOGRAPHERS.
REASON #5: CHARLESTON HAS GOOD GROCERY STORES WITH GOOD FOOD.
Also, the grocery stores have excellent, accessible hours:
And sometimes they offer free balloons:
REASON #6: THERE IS APPROPRIATE RESPECT IN CHARLESTON FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF CHOCOLATE.
Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
Here is the wonderful manager of this chocolatierre shop, with her husband.
They moved to Charleston from Detroit about five years ago. I wrote down their names yesterday, but now I can’t find the piece of paper with that information. (See Reason #1, above, regarding the following topics: (1) Friendly and Interesting People in Charleston, (2) People Who Have Moved Here, and (3) My Sucky Memory.)
I think their names are Russ and Nancy, and they (1) had several reasons of their own why I should move to Charleston, (2) provided me with an incredibly delicious Meringuey-Chocolatey concoction, and (3) invited me to a 3-hour Chocolate-Making Class that was taking place last night, with Christophe, THE Chocolate Artisan in Charleston (and perhaps a larger geographical territory, I can’t remember) and the owner of this establishment.
And I was tempted to go to this class (Russ and Nancy, if I’m right about their names, actually used the word “Adventure”– the magic word — while trying to convince me to go). And I signed up, at first. (I mean, Duh! They used the word “Adventure” and it would have involved three hours of chocolate.) But after I thought more about it, I changed my mind and backed out before I left the french chocolate cafe (whose official name is “Christophe Artisan Chocolatier — Patissier”). I had some restful, stress-free plans for myself last night, and I realized that a 3-hour class just wouldn’t work for me. And Russ and Nancy were perfectly gracious and understanding about this, as they were about all topics we discussed.
REASON # 7: I COULD GO TO THE CHOCOLATE-MAKING CLASS, WHICH IS AVAILABLE ONCE A MONTH.
So, dear reader, I had many more Reasons Why I Should Move to Charleston, SC — with photographic proof — that I could have included in this blog post today.
However, I should probably end this post here, because there are some decisions I have to make, quite soon, regarding a certain blizzard that is about to hit Boston, which has all the weather media outlets (including those in Charleston) issuing dire and hysterical warnings for people who (1) live in Boston or (2) are flying there on Friday. (By the way, see my blog post, on Day 33: Groundhog Day, for more about meteorologists and their dire and hysterical warnings: http://annkoplow.wpcomstaging.com/2013/02/02/day-33-groundhog-day/)
Which leads me to the final entry, right here:
REASON #8: NO BLIZZARDS IN CHARLESTON.
Thanks for reading, as always.
Loved the post! I can see why you’d LOVE Charleston!
Ann, do try to go see a lovely tiny art shop called LimeBlue at
62-B Queen Street. My friend Judy (of the map) brought us there and introduced us to the owner (Jeff?) and I bought some lovely arty ceramics there. There’s also a photo gallery right down the street where I bought some great platinum photo prints from an artist.
Hi, Kathy! I didn’t get around to following your suggestions this trip. Next time!
Worthwhile on King Street is a great locally owned shop where you can find gifts and as well as clothes with beautiful fabrics.
Good to know, Jane. I will check out Worthwhile the next time I visit Charleston. Thanks so much for visiting here today.
I enjoyed this post too. I’m SO glad you’re enjoying our wonderful city! You know, South Carolina’s state motto is “Beautiful Places. Smiling Faces”. I’d love it if you actually did move down! When Aaron leaves the nest yall should at least look at spending your winters in Charleston! I really hope you have a smooth trip home, and yall come back soon, ya hear? (hug)
Hi, Janis! That’s a great state motto. Massachusetts’s motto might be “Beautiful Places. Cranky Faces.”
I’m kidding, of course. I love the faces in Massachusetts.
However, I did not know my state’s motto, so I just looked it up. And it’s news to me. It’s “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.”
Actually, it does sound kind of cranky, doesn’t it?
Loved the blog and it’s funny but the guy in the candy store looks like Newell in disguise…lol
That’s very funny, Lena. Love it! Maybe we should get a conspiracy theory going: that I have NOT actually left the Boston area for vacation, and that the people in these photos are people from Massachusetts, pretending to be Charleston people. I could have done a lot of photoshopping, with backgrounds. And, of course, Sandy the Cat is actually Oscar, our cat, in a clever disguise.
Why am I not in Charleston right NOW. Am thinking about you as the weather apocalypse hysteria reaches its peak.
Am thinking about you, too.
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Hi, so did you move to SC? LOL thank you for liking Sleepy Thoughts. I hope you stop in again.
I am still in Boston. Hope to return to SC soon. Thanks for commenting!
You are welcome.
Yep, I would definetely move to Charleston! 🙂 That hat store and the chocolate shop got me 🙂
You and me both! Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
Reason #3 and Reason #4 would be enough for me 😀
Hee hee! Thanks for the most excellent comment.
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We moved here 3 years ago. Another reason to like it– beach access. Caitlin
Wow! Seconds before you made this comment, I referred to your blog on my most recent post! The synchronicity of the blog-o-sphere strikes again!
I got a click through from your blog and wanted to check it out. Glad I found you. Blogging overlap is crazy and fun. Thanks for mentioning TheRoomMom! Caitlin
I like crazy and fun. And it was my pleasure to mention you, Caitlin!
There is so much to see and do here. Great food…try FIG. Lots of art…take a stroll down broad and enjoy all the different art galleries. Great views…Charleston’s waterfront park is a great place to start. Have a seat and take in all the sights!
Thanks for the great advice, Jane. I’m definitely going back to Charleston some day.
Brilliant. And absolutely delightful. You managed to fit all of my loves and vices (cats, hats, chocolate …) into one short post, with pics.
Thanks for this complimentary comment. I am delighted, too!
You were there in February? I was there in early November – wonder what it would be like in summer, high humidity, mosquitoes and all?
Good question. I wonder if either of us will find out? Thanks for commenting!
Life is slower in S.C. ~ people are kind and caring. It’s not the hustle and bustle of Boston for sure. I spent summers in S.C. Beautiful state!
I hope to return soon. Thanks for this comment!
Maybe we should all move there:) I’m in Chicago and we do get blizzards and I’d rather not:)
Okay! Let’s go!
Reason #7 would be the reason for me! I always have loved chocolate, will always love chocolate, have to have chocolate…do I need to say more?
I think you’ve said it all, very well.
Great post-Charleston is fabulous!
Thank you too for visiting Little Dogs Laughed-I appreciate you taking the time to look! I look forward to reading more of your stuff-
Thank you for the visit and the compliment! I also look forward to reading more at your blog. And maybe we’ll run into each other in Charleston some day (since we both think it’s fabulous).
My Pilates instructor is also thinking of moving to Charleston. (After her divorce is final and her daughter finishes college, both of which should happen soon.) She’s also kind, courteous, friendly and interesting. And likes chocolate. Maybe you’ll meet. Maybe she’ll give you a back massage. (If you take up Pilates. In Charleston.) Life is full of all kinds of delicious possibilities!
It is, isn’t it? Now I’m thinking I HAVE to move to Charleston. In the meantime, no matter where I live, I am grateful to have readers like you.
Thank you, Ann.
Thanks for following Benzeknees – this was a very interesting post, but I was disappointed to see how long ago you wrote this.
I am interested to hear more about the disappointment. I do blog every day, so feel free to check out other, more recent posts. I look forward to future encounters here.
Loved your and look forward to caching up! Thank you for stopping by extravirginitalia and following. I’ve definitely goy to get back to work.
I look forward to future encounters here, too. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Sorry! Meant to say “got to get back to work”! I’m on an iPad and this is why I do not text. Lol!
I knew what you meant, believe me.
Thank you for a lovely post, Ann. Charleston is now on my itinerary for my next trip Stateside. Is the cat pregnant by the way?
I don’t know! Maybe when you visit, you should check that store, and see if there are kittens, too.
And thank you for the lovely visit and comment.
I live in rural Wisconsin and I am so “burnt” out with the frigid weather! HELP…I think I will move to Charleston, even if you don’t! LOL Delightful!
Thank you so much for the visit and the encouraging words. I am burnt by the frigid weather, too, in Boston. “HELP”! seems like the appropriate response.
Hi Ann,
I’m with you on moving to Charleston! It is one of my favorite cities. We have vacationed there for the past 19 years.
Nancy
Wow, Nancy. That’s great! Maybe I’ll see you the next time I’m there.
What an amazing photographic journey! The posing cat alone makes me want to move there. 🙂
Thank you, Rachel, and welcome to my blog! I think one should always live in a place with posing cats.
Love love love Charleston……thanks for the follow and I do so look forward to finding more wonderful places through your pic and words. You had me at Charleston.:)
I’m so glad. I look forward to more encounters with you here, no matter where the locale!
The kitty was cute too…..carriage rides are nice but I love to walk by the waterfront park and the market too…..look forward to reading more;)
Coincidentally, I just returned from another winter vacation, from a beautiful location in Panama. You might want to check out the posts the week before and including Day 413: Zipping Along (especially with that title, don’t you think?). I look forward to reading more of your zippy writings, too!
Between the chocolates and the no-snow you hooked me, I say as we expect yet another storm! And it is much worse in the mid-west. P.S. Thanks for the follow. Going to poke around your blog now.
Thanks for the comment and for the inspiration to re-visit Charleston today (especially since we’re expecting another snow, too). Look at all the things we have in common!
Thanks for following our blog! We look forward to stopping by & reading more of your posts. As for the S.C. visit & moving there. We’d love to have you as a neighbor & could give you a million reasons as to why South Carolina is a perfect place to live. But then we’re biased about the Carolina’s. lol. Great post sharing now!
Thanks so much! I would love having more reasons to move to SC (or to visit there more, in the near future). I’m very glad our paths have crossed here, and look forward to reading more from you, too.
What a really great way to present a travelogue. And thanks for visiting me. I’m anxious to see more of your reports.
Thanks for the visit and the comment, Mona. And I write one report a day, so there’s maybe too much to read here!
Just wanted to stop by your site and thank you for stopping by mine. I appreciate you following me…What a compliment!
I look forward to getting better acquainted through the world of blogging.
Have a fantastic Day!
This comment definitely made my day more fantastic. I look forward to getting better acquainted, also!
Seaside towns always have a special enchantment. Lord, I am glad there is no chocolate shop near me. I’d be broke.
I’d be broke and enormous. Thanks, Carl!
That is the one city in the country I want to visit. We’re in Texas and can’t afford to fly there, but someday. It looks so special and dear.
Thanks so much for visiting here and commenting. I found Charleston very special and dear; I hope to go back someday.
You should write a travel log for a magazine.
How kind of you to write that! Great to see you here.
Glad you moved to Charleston… I loved the city… I would have moved too, but ended in Florida to closer to my mom…
I actually haven’t moved! I am still in Boston. But perhaps I will move there some day; I loved it so when I visited in 2/13. I am glad we share a love of that city, and thanks so much for the visit and comment.
nice writing, i like it
Thanks so much!
I can’t think of a reason NOT to move to Charleston! It’s the happiest city in America. Great food, people, architecture, history, hotels, museums, bars, shopping, sailing, desserts, marinas, and nobody’s obese and everybody’s well-dressed! No lie!
Very convincing. Thanks for reading and commenting!
My pleasure.
I’m baaaack. I just checked email and a notification that you’d commented on Le Cahier included recommended reading on your blog. This post title caught my eye because South Carolina is on my list of places I daydream about moving to, and this would offer supporting evidence.
On the other hand, if everyone is moving there, it might turn out eventually to be the same as everywhere else. Dilemma. 😐
But. Chocolate!
I don’t think everyone is moving there. Case in point: I haven’t. But great to see you visiting here!
Oh, dear. I probably said that wrong. I do that all too frequently.
There was a whole convoluted line of reasoning that I condensed into that comment. Anyway…Charleston seems lovely! Really. 🙂
Hey, I LOVED your comment.
Such a beautiful historic city. . . .and the delicious southern food!
Thanks for the visit here and the comment. I hope to return to that beautiful city again, soon!
😎
I’m thinking of moving to Charlotte NC or Charleston SC anyone have any recommendations??
I don’t know much about Charlotte, but I loved my one visit to Charleston.
Thank you for choosing to follow my blog. I’m looking forward to getting to know you through yours. Blessings, Natalie 🙂
Thank you for the comment, Natalie. I look forward to getting to know you, also.
Boston isn’t so bad, either. Thanks for following my blog, Ann!!! Judy
I would agree, Judy! Great to see you here.
OK, I am all in. Hats and chocolates, what more can one want. I know nothing about Charleston, so I will follow this with considerable interest! 🙂
I am all in with this comment! You may not know about Charlston, but I bet you know about a lot of other things. Thanks so much for following, Beth.
Excellent post with a lovely introduction to Charleston. I hope you will be very happy. Thank you for following my blog! 🙂
I am happy today, because of this kind and wonderful comment from you!
I think you must move to Charleston, your reasons are convincing, the fact there are no snowstorms there, I’d gladly move there.
Hello I am Ranu, this is my first visit to your awesome blog.
Thank you, awesome Ranu! You are most welcome.
Ann–Reassuring that you have memory problems as well! (i.e. as in my today’s entry in The Daily Prompt.) Judy
We all have memory problems and memory strengths, Judy!
Well…did you move???
Nope! I am still in Boston. Where are you???
While I love Boston, you make some pretty valid pointers about the South…maybe in a few months time you will add a few more reasons to Charleston.
This makes me think about returning there. Thanks for showing up here!
I think you should definitely move to Charleston. Be sure to have a lovely guest room so I can visit. We will take chocolate classes together.
It matters not that we haven’t yet met. You love cats, I love cats. You love chocolate, I love chocolate. We will do well.
I think we are doing quite well, already!