Convention prelude

Thursday evening was spent at the Czuk residence, finishing up a few last minute preparations for the convention, such as filling the goody bags. In addition to chez czuk residents javaczuk and bummaseli, I also got to meet martip, lizmopuddy, sirroy and BookCrossing’s new CEO who uses the screenname redsoxbookguy, among others. There was pizza, wine and beer, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The mood was decidedly silly, which was to remain the prevailing mood through the rest of the weekend.

The Czuks live in a gorgeous house, in a beautiful neighborhood. The abundance of life that surrounds the house infuses it with a warmth that is matched by the people that live there. I would have several lovely conversations with Javaczuk over the course of the weekend. He has a great sense of humor (essential in this crowd, for sure) and is a true master at stringing together puns. It was also a true pleasure to finally meet Bumma. I’m not sure if she completely understood who I was, but there were a lot of people vying for her attention, so that’s okay.

The energy and excitement that evening was palpable. Everyone was looking forward to the weekend, ready to meet people and just have a good time. It was tremendous fun to be a part of it all, and I’m so glad I decided to go down early. It gave me one more night of fond memories to cherish.

Food, glorious food!

Not only is Charleston very easy on the eyes, it is a town with great tastes. I've eaten a lot of good food in many place, but I honestly can't remember any place that served such consistently wonderful food. I didn't eat a bad meal all weekend. While the company at my meals was delightful, I would be remiss if I ignored the food.

Friday might be my favorite day, food-wise. My lunch included a bowl of she-crab soup. This rich cream based soup was full of lump crab meat and had just a hint of sherry. Absolutely divine. Then for dinner, I joined a group at the Fleet Landing restaurant, where we decided to create our own buffet from a selection of appetizers. The star of the evening was the stuffed hush puppies. Imagine hush puppies the size of your fist, hollowed out and filled with a wonderful stew of shrimp and lobster! Mmmmmm.... We also had some of the best calamari I've ever eaten, a crab dip that was just spicy enough to make it interesting and a sinful spinach and artichoke dip.

Other meals were equally wonderful. I had the shrimp and crab cakes at the hotel restaurant for dinner Saturday night, and Sunday evening's dinner was a delicious Pad Thai (which shows that Charleston can do more than just low country cooking!). Perhaps the only bad dining choice of the weekend was my dessert choice Saturday evening. I believe that the monster piece of chocolate cake I bought during the Trivia Night festivities at the Rising High Bakery Cafe has already become legend among those who were there. I was delicious, but it was simply too much. On the other hand, the sugar from that cake probably sustained me through the rest of the weekend.

So, for anyone thinking about visiting Charleston, not only is it a truly beautiful city, but it is also full of great places to eat. And as many people were saying last weekend, "This is Charleston...the money isn't real and the calories don't count!"