A Walk In The Park...
The predicted rain showers did not appear this Saturday morning so I went to my first
Tai Chi In The Park session.
This local MeetUp group meets monthly in, well, in a park.
Last month it was in Azalea Park in Summerville.
The January outdoor training event will be at the Battery, in White Point Gardens, next to the gazebo.
With benefits including movement, balance and healing. Tai Chi is a good way to stay active I have been told.
Turns out I was the only first-timer there today.
One lady had attended once before but the rest were very agile and much smoother in their movements than I.
I saw a squirrel in Park Circle that outperformed my efforts.
It was much more activity than I anticipated.
It was NOT just a Slo-Mo type of line dance, these people broke a sweat as they performed the ritual steps, dips, twists and hand movements.
Later Saturday, North Charleston would have a celebration at Park Circle, officially opening the festive holiday season lights.
Cars will slowly drive around the circle as riders ooh and aah at the annual Christmas spectacle.
As the Tai Chi session ended, the leader had added leg kicks. I was using muscles "in my core" that I had not really thought about before.
He encouraged us to "float" with the motions as we "went with the flow" or "pushed away."
My muscles are feeling the effects now. In a good way.
It was suggested that I get some books about Tai Chi to be better informed and I will. I also have found some DVDs online that demonstrate the "first four positions."
Another mentions the "first eight steps" so I don't see this as a fast education. It seems like a healthy discipline worth learning.
I'll leave all the technical and background explanations to people who have studied this internal martial art that is practiced for both defense training and for its health benefits.
When I was in San Francisco, I saw groups like this outdoors and admired the slow movements and feeling of calm and mental clarity.
We all can use some of that.
(Click on the photos for more detail.)
Thanks for stopping by.
It was a nice day in the Park (Circle).
Drive by at night to see the lights.
Stay limber.
Labels: calmness, Christmas lights, go with the flow, meditation, North Charleston, Park Circle, Tai Chi In The Park, well being, Yin and Yang
My 4th of July Tradition continues....
So, if I'm in town for the 4th of July, I try to go see the
North Charleston fireworks show.
Went to the first one they did in 2005 at the still not quite completed
Riverfront Park.
My original plan was to stop first and have a beer - or two - at the Madra Rua Irish Pub on Montague near Park Circle.
Dang. It was closed for the holiday.
Aw, what the heck, I drove up Virginia Ave and followed the signs to the old Navy Base.
Parked and hopped on a shuttle bus.
On the bus I mentioned to someone how great a cold beer was going to taste and was told it was a family setting so NO alcohol was sold or allowed. Yikes.
The bus eventually stopped and now I was a long way from my car so I stayed and enjoyed the show.
In 2006, I tried again and was successful. The Rua was open, had my fish & chips - and a Guinness - and wandered out and walked half a block up to Virginia Avenue just as the first booms started.
Over the years, this routine became the norm. Sometimes I drink a
Murphy's Irish Stout.
Had to change viewing spots after a few years though as the trees grew taller.
My spot was at the end of Montague by the bar and the fireworks were nearly a half mile away.
The fiery picture above was taken last night and I'm pleased.
If there had been more light around me, then the crowd of adults and children - sitting on car hoods and folding chairs - would have made a nice setting for the show.
Behind the bar, on the former
SMOKING side, I saw a photo of mine prominently displayed in a small green frame.
In Montreal a few years ago, I had seen that "sign" scrawled on a wall, followed the arrow and spent several delightful hours amongst a friendly crowd.
The bartender said people ask all the time if that wall and "ad" is nearby.
I had not been on that side for a long time but they recently banned smoking completely in the place so now I can sit wherever I wanted.
Hope it's still there next year.
(Click on the photos for more details.)
Thanks for stopping by on this long holiday weekend.
Our monsoon has finally ended.
Enjoy.
Labels: fireworks show, fish & chips, Madra Rua, Murphy's Irish Stout, North Charleston, old Navy Base, photo behind the bar, Riverfront Park
Light Up The Sky.
Be sure to click on the link to enjoy the
London New Year's Eve fireworks show. WOW!
It's like having a spectacular finale all the way through the booming, flashing and intricate 11-minute aerial celebration.
Last time I saw something that memorable was an indoor display at the Paul McCartney concert up in Charlotte. Indoors!
The Chinese really started something with that gunpowder thing didn't they?
I stood for several minutes on my front porch Saturday at midnight, watching MUCH smaller explosive displays in my portion of the sky.
I know that fireworks are banned in my little town of Hanahan yet, scant yards away, over the boundary into North Charleston, sale and use of such dangerous - but beautiful sights - are legal.
My older daughter is a police officer in northern California and says her real worry is people firing guns into the air.
A falling bullet coming back down is moving as fast as when it was fired.
One particular nearby celebrant had apparently paid big bucks for big booms. He/she set off a steady barrage of chest-thumping aerial bursts.
One after another, a long, long light show tore into the sky, sending colorful fragments screaming through the night.
As we remarked on the fiery display, a Hanahan police car - with its lights turned off - quietly coasted by and made the turn at the corner, heading up to the source of the rockets.
The loud and bright shots continued to soar skyward so I assume the yard of the launching pad was across the city limits line and my local lawmen had to sit and watch the show.
(Click on the photo - twice - for more details.)
Indoor pyrotechnics are startling. In the 5th row, I heard the booms, saw the flash and felt the heat. Yikes.
Labels: aerial bombs, Chinese gunpowder, city limits, fireworks sales, Hanahan police, indoor fireworks, London, New Year's Eve celebrations, North Charleston, NYE, Paul McCartney, pyrotechnics
A North Charleston Business Decision...
North Charleston has NOT banned smoking in public places.
*Cough* *Cough*The City decided it would leave that up to the business owners. It would either attract customers or make them go somewhere else. Hopefully still in N. Charleston.
After my first visit to this really nice Sports Bar I chose not to go back.
It was too smoke-filled for me. Later I read that it had closed. Too bad.
I was driving past today and saw a beer truck unloading out front.
Hmm. Must have reopened?
Owner
Mark Hamilton said he opened it about six months ago.
"I don't like smoking when I'm eating so I banned it here," he added with a smile.
I asked if he still served
Boddingtons?
He said they do so I'll be visiting there again.
That was a "clean air" business decision I made.
(Click on the photos for more details on this place across from Tanger Outlets. Another example of why I carry my
Canon S90 most of the time. Say hi to Mark and thank him.)
Labels: Boddingtons, Centre Pointe Bar and Grill, Mark Hamilton, non-smoking sports bar, North Charleston
"Za" Just Got A Lot Closer...
Rivers Avenue in North Charleston used to have two biker bars across the street from each other. Both closed and one became a guitar bar.
Then
TJ & Tommy closed and, after months and months of waiting, last night one of our city's finest family-run pizza operations finally opened the doors of its 5th location.
Andolini's, which started on Wentworth Street back when cheese was first invented, has successfully branched out to Folly Road, West Ashley and Mount Pleasant and now has invaded the North. The family also owns the popular Juanita Greenberg's Nacho Royale on King Street.
The building is a calzone throw from Trident Community College and the site was becoming known as a
"revolving door" risky business location.
Before
American Biker and
TJ, there was a period when
Henry's - the one from the market area and Mt. Pleasant - had opened as a self-proclaimed upscale classy place...with a dress code. Yes, in North Chuck. No jeans, shorts, t-shirts or flip-flops. It soon closed.
So now I am able to enjoy two unique local pizza places in the North Charleston area, this new one and
EVO's on East Montague, off Park Circle.
Smile and say CHEESE.
Labels: "Za", 4-letter word, Andolini's, calzone, diet, EVO's, North Charleston, pizza
