SC Day 4 - Museums, Monkeys, and Moose Burgers
I started today by getting coffee in North Charleston where my Air BnB had been. The first thing I saw when I parked my car was this beautiful mural dedicated to the just-ended HBO Show Vice Principals. Apparently a good chunk of the show had been filmed in North Charleston so this was their way of commemorating that. It was a little freaky to me to see because I had just been catching up on the second season the night before and hadn't even realized I was actually in the town where the show was. It's a very dark comedy, but one I highly recommend largely due to the horrifying and hilarious performance of Walton Goggins. I don't know how he knew he had this characte inside of him, but I'm glad he did.
I got my coffee at Orange Spot coffee. It was a nice, quiet, friendly coffee shop. The coffee was really good and there was really cute robot art on the walls so that made me extra happy.
Fueled up, my next stop was the Charleston Museum. A beautiful brick building, the Charleston held a lot of interesting and varied exhibits capturing different facets of its fair city.
The first exhibit in the gallery was all about food. Through archaeological digs, historians found remnants of bones, earthenware, glass, and other eating accoutrements and tried to paint a picture of what historical diets and eating habits were. I actually took one food studies course in college about Food and Irish Folklore, and it's amazing how something that seems so niche can provide a really broad swath of information. Through eating habits and rituals, you get a little bit of biology by learning what kinds of animals were present at different points; a little bit of technology by seeing how they were able to prepare the food, and a little bit of sociology by seeing what social rituals emerged from eating the food. Needless to say, this little exhibit made me geek out a bit. There is the old saying a way to a person's heart is through their stomach, and I think that applies pretty well to a society as well. It also reminds me of a joke my dad really liked, "My mom used to say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. She was a terrible surgeon"
On the next floor was a gallery all about silversmithing and jewelry through history Charleston. Pieces ranged from truly ornate scenes etched on to fish serving knives to kinda terrifying alligator claw key fobs. The thing I probably liked the most though was the sheer variety and creativity on display in their collection of vintage snuff boxes. Snuff grosses me out a bit, but as Pooh Bear taught me, it's always nice to have a Useful Pot to Keep Things In.
The crown jewel (pardon the phrase) of this collection however, was definitely George Washington's Christening Cup. I don't think it has anything really to do with Charleston history, but the museum bought it to celebrate their 225th year of existing and it's just super cool. Baby George Washington owned that cup. I don't want to get too hypothetically hyperbolic but I think it's safe to say that if not for that cup this whole country might not exist.
The next gallery was focused on Charleston's rich history of Textile production. The textile gallery rotates what it chooses to feature, and while I was there the focus was on quilting, and the room was decked out in massive patchwork pieces of art. Quilting was a big part of Antebellum society being passed down from mothers to daughters, and also sometimes used to record family history. These works highlighted the geometric intricacies possible through patchwork, and some of the patterns ranging from straightforward to pretty abstract were super impressive.
After the quilts, I passed a small hallway collection about the musical history of the region. It wasn't a large collection, but I can't get over how cool folk instruments are. I love that people are able to see something that looks like total junk, and think "I bet I could make beautiful music with that"
The next gallery was my favorite. It tried to recreate the kinds of exhibits present when the museum first opened in 1773. It was actually the first museum in the country which you'd think they'd be bragging about the whole time instead of three galleries in, but it made the exhibit really interesting on a meta-level because it was not only a good museum gallery in its own right but also a cool museum gallery about historical museum galleries. Late 18th/early 19th century museum-goers were really into anything exotic so they had a bunch of casts of ancient Greek and Egyptian art, an actual mummy, a copy of the Magna Carta, and lots of unusual animals from around the world. It was a real cool little slice of the past.
Next up was the natural history wing. The highlight for me was definitely the giant sloth skeleton because it's amazing to think these big bumbling guys were just wandering around downtown Charleston a few million years ago. I wish they hadn't gone extinct because they'd just be all the cuddliness of bears without any of the aggression presumably. I'm sure that lack of predatory instinct might also have contributed to the extinction however. The other natural highlight for me was the skeleton of a whale that had got stuck in the Charleston Harbor in the late 1800s.
Next up came the Geology exhibits. I have a lot of friends who really love geology, so I hope they're not offended when I say that as pretty as a lot of the rocks were, the thing I found most interesting was the fossils in particular the fossilized bacteria. I'd just never seen anything like that before.
The other thing that really stuck out to me about the geology wing is that, is it just me or does the signage seem unnecessarily sexual? I think there were some bored geologists in Charleston.
Next up came the history wing. I think the majority of cool stuff was on the Civil War (sorry "War Between the States") because Charleston played a big role, and got absolutely ravaged by it. Looking at the photographs of the aftermath of sieges on Charleston, I'll never really be able to totally sympathize with the South because of the whole slavery thing but I do think we underestimate the extent of the North's brutality during battle, and the challenges they had for years later recovering. The non-civil war history was also very interesting focusing on lots of different aspects of daily life from pre-colonial Native American tribes up until the 1950s. I really liked an old road side advertisement for Burma Shave because it reminded me of one of my favorite Tom Waits songs which I believe actually made Song of the Day a few weeks back.
Two historical items stuck out to me the most though. One was a "necessary chair" a wooden chair with a whole cut out under the cushion so you could put a chamberpot underneath and do your business. I love the modesty and shame associated with going to the bathroom in high society, before the invention of indoor plumbing. The other item was slightly less silly and a whole lot more bad ass. It was a photograph of Robert Smalls. If that name is unfamiliar, he is now one of my new favorite historical figures. He was a slave working on the confederate battleship the Planter. He waited for all the white crew members to leave, and then organized the other slaves and casually piloted the ship out the wharf and surrendered it to the Yankees. The hilarious thing about this is that he drove it super slowly so as to not arouse suspicions so none of the confederates had any idea it was happening. To me it just seems crazy that they expected anything different to happen, but that kind of basic underestimation seems to be part of the nature of racism. Even more bad ass, after he gained his freedom Smalls became a Senator and a Congressman for SC showing that his quick thinking and leadership was no fluke of good timing.
After the museum, I got lunch at another place from the Columbia Barista's List: The Tattooed Moose. I could tell from the grafitti and art all over the place that I was gonna like it there.
The burger more than lived up to my expectations. While the moose burger did not contain any actual moose, it did have two of the best all beef patties slathered in smoked cheddar with garlic ailoi and a house sauce on a lightly toasted kaiser roll. It was heavenly but after pigging out the night before I could barely finish the half pound beast. The devastatingly good secret weapon for the meal though was the duck fat fries though. Sheer perfection. To wash it all down, I had a Benford Brewing Southern Tater, a sweet potato brown ale. It was really weird, but beer and potatoes is a combo I can get behind.
After that I wanted to hit up more places that had been recommended to me by friends and the barista, but I was way too full and I had to be back in Columbia that night for an open mic. I did stop at a bakery/cafe that Ally had recommended called Carmella's. Their coffee was no frills but shockingly good nonetheless. It was very sad that I didn't have the slightest hint of an appetite because every single pastry looked like a work of art. I did pick up an eclair for the road though because I couldn't resist the opportunity.
With coffee and pastry in tow, I headed back to Columbia for the open mic. My Air BnB host from before and Ally both recommended that I see the Riverbanks Zoo while I was there. Because of the drive from Charleston, coupled with a brief nap at a rest stop, I got there right around sundown. This meant a lot of the animals had gone too sleep which was a shame, but it was still cool that zoo stayed open that late. The thing I was saddest to have missed was that the during daylight they actually let you walk around in the kangaroo habitat, which isn't something I've ever seen another zoo offer. There were still a few animals awake, but the group that was most represented was the monkeys. There was a while corridor of monkey habitats, with two different kinds of lemurs and tamrins. There were also baboons and gorillas still awake, but I know they are technically apes and not monkeys. The gorillas were my favorite to watch because they were so big and goofy, and they were also pretty lively. I watched them for a while, and I watched them fight over some hay and chase each other around which was pretty entertaining. I also watched one gorilla casually turn his back to everyone watching, shit into his own hand, and then start eating it. That was pretty charming. The highlight of this gorilla viewing experience for me was another guest exclaiming upon seeing the big Silverback "Bro, I bet I could ride that thing into to battle when we have to fight ISIS!". There's just so much going on in that sentence. I'm still trying to unpack it.
While the nighttime made the animal viewing more difficult, the advantage was that the zoo was positively decked out with Holiday lights and decorations which were really astounding to see.
After the zoo, I found out that the mic I had driven up to go to was cancelled which was a bit of a bummer, but the advantage was that I was able to make plans to hang out with Ally again after she got out of work. I was glad I'd get to see my new friend again, because one of the sadder things about being on the road is that making lasting connections in new places isn't always guaranteed.
While I was waiting for her shift to finish, I got some coffee at Nonnah's Coffee. The coffee was very good, but the place was really more of a restaurant than a coffee shop, and I felt like me just getting coffee and sitting to write was kinda frowned upon when other customers who might buy more could have used that table.
When Ally got out of work, I met her and one of her friends at Bar None where he had gotten drinks earlier. From there we bar hopped a bit. We spent the most time in a really cool bar called Goat's with a big drink selection, lots of art on the walls, and garlic fries. They were actually out of the garlic fries that night, which I didn't mind because of my moose burger. Ally seemed bummed though, so I gave her my eclair from the place in Charleston. Some people might say my heart grew three sizes this day, but that's not from kindness but more from all the cholesterol accumulating in my heart from everything else I've eaten. We hung out there for a while telling stories, laughing, and drinking. Her friend, Alondra,had some wild stories!
The next bar we hopped to was called Speakeasy and we went there because there was supposed to be jazz playing. We were a little too early for the music, and the drinks were fairly expensive so we didn't stay there too long, though it looked like it would be a pretty cool place once the music started.
We ended up back at Bar None, and said goodbye Alondra. We hung out for another couple hours just talking. It wasn't an open mic, but honestly I don't think there's any other way I'd have rather spent the night.
Favorite Random Sightings: Pink Crocodile; Hot Heads; Trashgurl; Holy Spokes Bicycles; Hot Little Biscuit
Regional Observations: I think most people have a little touch of Southern Twang to their voice, but the Carolinas aren't quite South enough that you hear a lot of full blown accents.
Albums Listened To: Love Letters by Sammy Kay and the East Los Three (One of my favorite New Jersey Boys, he actually Facebook messaged my sister and I the last time he came to Boston because we see him every time he comes and help crowd fund all his records so he's started to recognize us. A great songwriter and a really nice guy to boot); A Love Supreme by John Coltrane (A real masterpiece)
People's Favorite Jokes:
Knock Knock/ Who's There?/ To./ To who?/ No, to whom.
Songs of the day:
I couldn't find any great quality live recordings of Heart So True, but that's the song I first heard where I was like, "Yup I'll buy everything this guys makes from here on out"
Obviously Trane is the real star here, but that's also one of the greatest rhythm sections ever assembled. McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums
