It Will Come To You, This Love of the Land

After weeks of searching, I finally found a semi-decent cheesesteak around here. The ones I had tried so far were far from good. Either the meat wasn't chopped right or the cheese was wrong. But on Friday, we headed out to a place called Philly's in Summerville and I'll be damned. Not only was the meat perfect, but it was chopped into small, thing pieces and served with white American/Provolone cheese (either one is acceptable). The only thing that kept it from perfect was the roll. It's just not a good cheesesteak without an Amoroso roll, which you're not going to get fresh around this area. But they came pretty close and that was what mattered.

Furthermore, they had Tastykakes! And I hear they have awesome calzones and strombolis. And they had Philly paraphenelia all over the walls. It was nice because I had a small case of homesickness that day and that seemed to cure it. Nothing like some food from home to help you feel better.

The rest of the weekend was noneventful. We knew my little brother was hanging out at home so we went and picked him up and took him to Blackbeard's Cove. One round of mini-golf and a spin around the Go-Kart track effectively killed about two hours. It was a lot of fun, except when the gnats were flying in my face as we drove the Go-Karts around.

We went to dinner and the movies on Saturday. Courageously, we decided to see Superman Returns at the IMAX. The movie was sold out so thankfully we got there early. But we stood in line for close to forty-five minutes while they waited to let us in the theater. We stood in line with about a hundred other people packed into the small lobby and they didn't have the air conditioning on. So it was a mass of sweat and stank breath smell and musty, humid air. When they finally let us in, late mind you, we feel the air conditioning blast on us as we're filing into the theater. Maybe it was wrong of me to expect them to turn the A/C on when that many people we're standing and waiting in a long line. Who knows? All I know is that it's good they let people in when they did because the natives were starting to restless and mutiny was in the air.

Side note: Superman Returns was much better than I ever anticipated. I initally had no desire whatsoever to see the movie, but I was floored. I found myself acting like a little kid at times. It was nice to feel like that, if, for a brief moment, to believe in a greater good like Superman. /end cheesy moment

Like crazy people we decided to go fishing on Sunday up near Cape Romain. It was hot as hell out and by the time we left, even after two liters of water, I was crazy dehydrated. I came home and passed out for about two hours and generally felt like crap the rest of the night.

Aside from all that, really nothing special. We're just enjoying spending time with each other and exploring the area.

One of the things I'm liking right now is the intimacy of the Charleston blogosphere. I've found tons of locals blogs that I really enjoy reading. I had a few Philadelphia blogs that I read to but the difference is that Philly was such a bigger area that these people felt as close to me as someone halfway across the country. What were the chances of running into someone in the greater metropolitan area? Even pictures that were posted seemed not so familiar to me because I lived in the Southwestern part which a completely different and forein area from Northeastern Philadelphia.

But the local blogs here are more familiar. I see pictures of places near me, of places where I go on a daily basis. I see so many bloggers who live five minutes away. Even the ones a little further out are only a small step away. And truthfully, people are much friendlier. I get the distinct feeling that I recognized one of the bloggers on the street and said hi, I recognize you from so and so, they would probably say hi back and perhaps chat briefly. In Philadelphia, most would look at you like you were crazy or you were going to rob them. :-)

I guess there is something to be said for Southern hospitality and the comforts of a smaller town.

Reason number five million and one why we moved here and will never regret it.