NYC To West Palm Beach: Day 6

After five years of living in New York City, I've taken a job in West Palm Beach, Fla. For the next week or so, this space will serve as a diary of my convoluted trip down south, which will include stops in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville and maybe Atlanta and/or Savannah.

So the above note says I was planning to hit Atlanta. Well, a friend there kind of flaked on me, so instead of heading due south down Interstate 75 on Sunday, I instead went south and east and drove 9+ hours, about 600 miles all by myself, to Charleston, S.C.

I awoke on Monday and before I did anything touristy, I searched for a camera shop to repair the tragedy you see pictured above. This is exactly what happens when you don't take the time to put everything in a bag or make two trips. You fill your hands up with stuff and then you drop something. In this case, it was my Canon 18-55mm lens, and it's not the lens that's shattered, just a $20 protective filter, but it may as well have been broken because the filter wouldn't come off and I obviously couldn't focus and therefore use the lens. What made matters worse was that every camera shop listed for downtown Charleston seemed to have closed in the last year or two.

Anyway, with a fixed 50mm lens, I was able to take some shots after a splendid lunch at Joseph's Restaurant on Meeting Street. I had a pastrami sandwich that I thoroughly enjoyed, but was in the mood for a pasta salad that's typically served with Italian dressing, right? Joseph serves his with pesto instead, and while I applaud anyone for being creative and original, it didn't do much for me.

After lunch, I found my way over to The Battery and took a few pictures of homes, greenery, and some park monuments, then made a short trip to John's Island to see Angel Oak.

As neat as it was to see and photograph this great tree, it was equally annoying that there were so many people in the way of everyone else who was taking pictures, which is to say everybody there. Hard to complain, though, since I was doing the exact same thing I was doing.

Anyway, after a few shots there, it was back on the road to head south to Savannah.

Just a few miles outside of Charleston, a roadside fruit market posted a sign about fresh South Carolina peaches having just arrived. Of course I stopped.

I made good time to Savannah, sat in a hotel lobby and pricelined my way into a very cheap room at the Hyatt Regency on Bay Street. When I left that Holiday Inn Express, I accidentally went to the Hilton and after the nice valet/bellman put all my car's contents on a bell cart, I went inside to check in. It took a minute of confusion before the lovely gal behind the desk asked if I'm sure I was at the right place. Turns out I wasn't. So after I put all the stuff back in my car, the valet/bellman said goodbye and sure as shit didn't offer me back the generous gratuity I'd given him just five minutes earlier.

I checked into the Hilton and hustled back out to take some pictures of historic downtown Savannah. I have to say I enjoyed my short time in Savannah a little more than my shorter time in Charleston. It just seemed more scenic, a little more active. After shooting some of the many squares in the area, I ended up at a place called Anna's. Somehow at only 8 p.m. they were out of lettuce for a house salad, so I started instead with what they called the She Crab soup. I ended up glad about the lettuce shortage because the soup was delicious. Next came an order of the crab cakes, which, in terms of flavor, texture and presentation, were very good. But there were too many times where I had to dig into my mouth to remove shell fragments, taking away from an otherwise positive dining experience.

I got back to the hotel at an appropriate time and looked ahead with excitement to my big Tuesday lunch at Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room.

LA Trip, September 2008

I found a new free slideshow tool, so just wanted to show a few pictures of my LA trip last week. We've got the Santa Monica bubbles, Kim Kardashian, my sister Missy, Malibu and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Enjoy:

Make a Free Flash Slideshow

Green and Clean

I like hotels that do their part to protect the environment. Here at The Custom, there's a note in the bathroom asking me to hang my towel on a specific hook to indicate I don't need new towels. I did so, after I took a 20-minute shower.

Review: My LA Trip

I arrived at LAX Thursday night and immediately the visit got off to a bad start.

Here's a little background:

Two weeks ago in Denver I realized that my Kentucky driver's license was going to expire on Aug. 30. I wasn't able to get to the License Bureau to get a New York license until just a few days ago. And when I got there I was told I'd need either a birth certificate or a passport.

I don't typically keep a birth certificate handy, and my passport expired in April. So I ordered a birth certificate and I should have it next week.

But try renting a car in Los Angeles with an expired Kentucky license. It doesn't happen.

So after taking shuttles and cabs, then meeting some folks as planned at Santa Monica's very cool World Cafe, I got home close to 1 a.m. local time, which means I was awake for pretty much 24 straight hours.

Anyway, cabbing it all over town is OK to do in New York, but here in LA, the meter advances almost as rapidly as that national debt ticker I've seen a time or two.

OK, since I couldn't get around conveniently, I figured the highlight of my day would be when I checked out of my hotel and into another one Friday afternoon.

Along the way, however, I stumbled across the Big Blue Bus, which is an excellent public transit on LA's west side. Instead of another $40 cab ride, I got in there for a buck and it didn't take much longer than the cab would have.

I got to Main Street and the sun finally came out. As I made my way to my friend Alison's women's clothing store, Monki, I passed O'Brien's Pub, the front patio of which was packed with Ohio State people. So I stopped and said hello for a few minutes, then got a call from colleague Todd who said he'd pick me up from there shortly and we'd go meet colleague Susan for a happy-hour drink at Hal's just a few blocks away in Venice.

I came back to my hotel, which is very cool, by the way. It's called The Custom, and is quite hip and modern. Each room has a different theme; mine is dogs. Yup, there's a Best-In-Show type ribbon pinned to the lampshade, a comforter with a dog motif and the latest copy of "Bark" magazine on my bedside table.

If you're traveling alone, this place is more than adequate; room and bathroom are a bit smallish, so not really family friendly. It's considered a boutique hotel, but I got a good price, so I don't feel like I'm trying to be fabulous.

After I came back from happy hour, I went to the hotel bar, where there's a pretty cool pool, but it was all out-of-towners. You could tell because there wasn't that I-need-to-be-glam vibe you can spot at some LA joints.

I met a couple people and we decided to try the bar across the street. The bartender went to high school two blocks away from where I live now in New York. And there were plenty of Ohioans on the set who are here for the OSU-USC game, so we had lots to talk about.

OK, now I'm up, watching ESPN's College GameDay, not feeling great about OSU's chances, but looking forward to catching up with old friends John and Amy and seeing the game.

I think it's time for the Big Blue Bus.