Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Day 62 - I Will Fix You

Author – Grant
Based In – Charleston, South Carolina
High Temperature – 75 Degrees Farenheit (24 Degrees Celcius)

Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157612254404178/

Stuff needed fixing today. Namely Molly’s recurring limp, Bridget’s mouldy oil which causes her to beep annoyingly every time she’s turned on and Kate’s back which is causing her to make some equally annoying sounds. However, I’m only one man and there are only so many hours in a day so I had to prioritise. As such, Kate still has a sore back but Molly and Bridget are both much better, thanks for asking.

Molly is not a fan of the vet. I’m sure no dog is but, for our pampered pooch, it seems to be so close to inducing a heart attack that it’s probably kinder not to take her at all. Still, her recurring limp isn’t getting any better so we had no choice. For some reason, Kate thinks Molly is no cuter than when she is shaking enough to churn butter which is weird but the only thing shaking more than Molly was my credit card as these things have a habit of being expensive. The summary of the visit was that the vet didn’t really have a clue what was wrong and we would have to sedate her for x-rays which he didn’t want to do so she’s on a course of anti-inflammatory tablets (Mollylimpnomore – see what I did there…that’s raw comic genius at work) and can’t go on any walks longer than 5 minutes for the next two weeks. She’s already bored stupid and I’m fairly convinced that she’s going to develop a costly hotel furniture eating habit. However, perhaps it’s a good thing that she’s not going to be running free throughout Florida as her dumbass-inquisitive nature doesn’t mix well with the presence of alligators and no vet could sow her head back on successfully.

After Bridget’s blood transfusion (notable only for being transfixed by The Price is Right’s Armed Forces edition in the waiting room – man, those guys are pumped) we headed into Charleston for some exploring. I ranted about it yesterday but this town is seriously beautiful. My only complaint is that yesterday was 5th January and it was 75 degrees – a man shouldn’t sweat in January…it’s not natural. Air conditioned solace was to be found in an eatery which, like so many restaurants south of Washington, just so happened to contain the letters b, b and q. It would be possible to eat charred meat three times a day here without anyone batting an eyelid – I think that’s why I feel so at home in The South. Two huge baked potatoes stuffed with pulled pork and beef brisket later and we ventured back out into the heat of Charleston. We strolled/wobbled around the streets for a few hours checking all the boxes required of a twee town centre; namely horse-drawn carriages, fountains, colonially dressed museum curators, cobbled streets and an outdoor market. As a nice reminder of why we are here, we even stumbled on a big 85 Broad Street plaque . Not THE 85 Broad Street (the Goldman Sachs office HQ in NY that Beelzebub uses as his warm-up building on earth) but a charming Charleston version instead - that’s why her smile is so big in the photo.

Earlier in the day Spokes (aka Kate) asked the guys in a local bike store if there was a decent cycling route in the area. They told us of a 20 mile round trip to Sullivan’s Island so, like wimps, we decided to drive it first to make sure it was as flat as they said it was. It’s a good job we did as the first 5 miles were vertically uphill so sod that. Instead, the chosen exercise of the day was a slightly longer version of yesterday’s boardwalk run during sun-set, but this time without the dolphin accompaniment. And we all know what some exercise means…copious amounts of fried food are sure to follow.

Hymans (insert your own gags here) has been serving seafood since man crawled out of the primordial swamp and started eating their ex-mates. Our meal was a bit hit and miss but as the hit arrived on my plate and miss arrived on Kate’s, I have fairly decent memories of the place. After a warm-up bowls of complimentary boiled peanuts (a local thing but not a good thing as they are pretty tasteless) we shared a starter called the Napoleon which was a behemoth stack of fried green tomatoes, crab dip and fried shrimp. Was it good? Of course it was – look at the ingredients you numpty. The main courses were where the quality split occurred. Kate had Cajun broiled scallops which were really dense, the result of poor quality scallops rather than the cooking process I think. I had the house speciality which was fried whole flounder. The menu described it as “awesome” which is usually a bad sign but, in this case, they were spot on. The skin was beautifully crispy whilst the milky white flesh was perfectly cooked and moist. The bonus was that it was big enough to feed a family of four or a single hungry fat bloke. And it was only $16. Perfect. The only downside was being too full to hit some of the local bars. We didn’t miss much though as town was seriously quiet because it was the first Monday of the year.

Tomorrow we say a sad farewell to the most picturesque town we have seen on the trip so far and head further south into Georgia. I especially look forward to seeing these Georgia peaches I have heard so much about – I hope they are an equal mix of blondes and brunettes.

2 comments:

deny said...

Did you check molly's toe nails, cause I had a dream that one was growing so long it went back into her foot pad, an awful thing to be sure, but I guess the vet woulda checked that out. maybe just some other kinda toe joint issue. which foot is the gimp on.

Big Mac said...

Thanks for the concern but she's got better nails than either of her parents (she's a Manhattan girl after all). The vet says it might be a mild yeast infection that some dogs get so she's got yet another set of pills for that...although I might sell them for a hge profit in the clubs of Miami.

Yours Sincerely,
Dr Dolittle