If Memories Could Be Canned ...

... would they also have expiry dates? If so, I hope they last for centuries.

Yesterday marked exactly six months since we've moved to the Lowcountry and it's been quite an adjustment. Overall, things are going wonderfully but in honor of our anniversay, I'd like to present you with ...

Things I Miss About Philadelphia
Aside from the obvious, of course, like friends and family.

Wawa No one knows the wonders of Wawa. Wa-what? They say. WAWA, BITCHES! It's a food market, a corner store. Not quite as big as a grocery store, but definitely better than any 7-Eleven or Scotchman you've ever been into. They have anything from normal convenience store snacks to fresh sandwiches and deli food to coffee and their own dairy line. I probably stopped there at least once a day, whether it was for breakfast, dinner, coffee, milk, or even cash. Because one of the greatest thing about Wawa is that they didn't allow ATM with surcharges. So you didn't have to pay to get your money. And, every store had an ATM machine that gave out in denominations of $10. So if you need a quick few dollars, you didn't have to pay two bucks to get it. They had these wonderful Meatball Sandwiches (I got the Junior Meatball with provolone and oregano, thank you) and Breaded Chicken Parmesan with Bacon. All made fresh to order - you go in and use a touch screen to pick your customizations and they make it piping hot while you're there. And they had these stuffed soft pretzels that you could get stuffed with cheddar cheese or pizza sauce (I preferred chedder) and they were piping hot and so, so good. But the best ever was their coffee and cappucino. Seriously, I consumed so much Fat Free Vanilla Cappucino during the winter months that I almost turned into it. It is the BEST I've ever had and there's nothing better on a cold night (or morning) than a piping hot 16 oz. cup of cappucino. I wish they shipped it down here.

Oh and did I mention that while you were pumping your gas (usually the cheapest gas around), you can order your sandwich or anything else from the deli and it'll be ready when you go in? Score!

Eagles Games Being the local team, Sundays were obviously a big deal. If you weren't watching the game on FOX, you could listen to them on WYSP (94.1). And everyone was fired up. Here, we're not in Eagles country anymore so no one shares the excitement and we can't even get most of the games. Thankfully, the past few weeks I got to see them (and I couldn't have been happier with their performance) but there won't be another game on down here until Christmastime. *Pouts* Maybe I need the NFL ticket or something.

Cheesesteaks Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm! You can't move away from Philly and not miss the cheesesteaks. Whether it's the finely chopped steak and white American cheese from the local joints or the large slab of sirloin with the cheese whiz from Geno's, there's no other place in the world to get a good cheesesteak like Philly. There's a close contender here but the rolls are different, and we all know we need the right roll to make a good steak.

Atlantic City Trips There's something to be said about living an hour from Atlantic City. I don't gamble but I don't have too when a bunch of us pile into a car and shoot down the Expressway to hang out, drink and generally just have fun. A typical AC trip consisted of us deciding at the last minute to head out on a Friday night around 10pm after drinking most of the night (with a DD, of course) and hanging out in the casinos while half of us gambled and the other half drank some more, or, as we did one night before a big playoff game, stand at the door and as people who their pick was for the winner of the game. We'd then drive up and down the strip and play the "Guess who's the hooker?" game and then end up at the open 24 hours McDonald's, chomping on food and still playing the "Guess who's the hooker?" game. Around 4am, we packed it up and headed home to watch the sunrise in our rearview mirror as we got back into Philly exhausted, still drunk and, in some of our cases, poorer than we were when we went down. Awesome, awesome times!

McCoy's, Barnaby's, Duffer's and Jocelyn's I prefer hole in the wall bars, where it's not too crowded and everyone is in jeans and nice shirts and where you can find a table and just hang out. These bars were both like that, though Barnaby's tended to be more crowded and "clubbish" on some nights. Regardless, I was sure to run into people I knew there, which was great when I wanted a high school reuninon. But they had a nice deck which was relaxing to sit on and just drink and chat. McCoy's had karaoke, which rocked, and it was always a good time because we sat back, drank and laughed at each other trying to sing. Duffer's was the place to go to drink and play pool and be generally rowdy. Jocelyn's was the bar right down the street from work and I spent many Friday nights there with the Bank crew and with the Bitches crew.

Linvilla Orchards Every autumn, we'd go to this working farm and wander around their pumpkin land. We'd pet the animals and browse their store of pretty much all homemade food and preserves. We'd eat caramel apples and funnel cake and watch the kids run around. And we'd buy pies - pumpkin pies and the best damn Dutch apple pie I've ever had in my life! I miss those pies!

Herr's My preferred potato chip of choice. Either the blue bag of plain, non-ruffled chips or the brown and red bag of Old Fashioned chips. I've had to contend with Lay's since I left and they are just too damn salty. The Herr's plain are perfectly balanced and the Old Fashioned chips are so good and crunchy! I can't seem to find a chip that I really like since them.

Haunted Hayrides We went to eight hayrides last year and they were all completely amazing! Lots of special effects and unexpected twists and turns. A few were within an hour but others were about two hours away and we'd take road trips out to stand in line and go through the various haunted hayrides, houses, mazes, asylums, fun houses, etc. Always a good time and by the end of the season, I considered us to be haunt experts. Or at least, haunt freaks.

Four-Wheeling We used to take weekend trips every three months or so. We had an awesome group of people who went with us and we'd camp out all night, drinking beers and roasting marshmallows by the fire. Then we'd get up early, air down, and head out to Paragon, a park dedicated solely to offroading, and wheel ALL DAY. Then we'd head back to the campsite to do it all again the next day. And those trips were amazing because the adrenaline kicked in and I got ridiculously dirty and shook up from the all the trails and watching people break stuff. But we always made it out ok and went back for more.

No Tax Shopping Pennsylvania doesn't have tax on neccessities. That means clothes, food (groceries, not prepared food) and other things weren't taxed. So if something was $2.99, it wasn't $3.17. Even better, I lived a hop, skip and a jump away from Delaware which had no tax on ANYTHING. So when you needed to buy a big ticket item, just hop over the state line to Best Buy and pay the exact price for that XBox or TV and not the twenty or thirty dollars and upwards for tax.

I-95 and the Blue Route Most people would think I'm crazy for missing the highways and there were times in awful traffic that I hated. But I was on one of these major interstates at least five times a week, just going in between work and Steve's house and home and the bars and the malls. Maybe it's because I haven't yet learned to slow down, but it's hard to get used to having to actually travel down a road and stop at stop lights every mile or so. When I wanted to get somewhere quickly, I got on the highway. Here, not so much. I-26 helps, but that's the only one around. The whole area had veins of interstate and you really take for granted the fact that you can do 90 to get to the movies or the restaurnt you're trying to get to.

Cecil County A 1/4 mile dragstrip in Maryland that took us about an hour to get to. It was race, and drink, what you brought and there were many Friday nights where we hopped in the car and sat around watching the fast cars and drinking beer. Plus, you could wander around the starting line area and check out all the cars. Definitely an exhilirating way to start the weekend.

Autumn There's no autumn here like there is up North. When the weather starts getting brisk and I can pull out my sweaters and jeans and sit around a bonfire drinking cappucino, there's nothing better in the world. Or walking out of work to a crisp, cool breeze and the fresh scent of burning wood or just that smell of AUTUMN in the air.

Online Ordering The lazy person in me comes out here but the local grocery store, as well as other establishments, let you order your food online, pay for it and either have it delivered or pick it up all the store, all bagged and ready to go home. An amazing convenience that I guess just isn't offered here yet. And all for a nominal fee. Definitely wonderful on those busy days when you don't feel like going into the grocery store.

TJ's (or Tom Jones) Not the singer, the restaurant. Our local diner, open 24/7, 365 days a year. Good, cheap food and wonderfully friendly waitresses. I spent many nights there for fast dinners or languid good times with friends or early morning drunken munchies. They're even open over Christmas. And go there after a school event for a party - everyone who's anyone is there, smoking, laughing and stopping by random tables just to say hi.

Peanut Chews Little bite size candy pieces that come six to a pack and are made of peanuts, molasses and chocolate. So, so good and very hard to find down here.

Bagels They sell them here, but I haven't found a bagel as good as the ones I'd get from Custom Bagel. They were right around the corner from work and I'd head out in the morning to get my favorite - toasted seasame seed with cream cheese. Wonderful on a hungry morning and made to perfection.

Great Adventure That's the name for Six Flags, in NJ, for those of you non-natives to the area. A day trip away, Great Adventure is a fun place to visit. We had season passes one summer and we would drive out about every weekend just to hang out and ride the rides. The roller coasters were amazing and always pushing the envelope - Kingda Ka (the biggest, fastest in the world), Nitro, Batman & Robin, the Chiller, Superman (you're on your stomach as you fly through the air) and my all time favorite, Medusa, where your feet dangle (you sit in the chair, not hang from the track, and there's no floor). It feels like you're flying!

And so I'm not being unfair, I give you ...

Things I Love About South Carolina

Liquor Laws I love being able to get beer from a convience store and beer and wine from a grocery store. In PA, you can only buy beer by the case and only from a beer distributor. And only until 9pm, so if you're having a party, you're walking out with four or five cases. If you're drinking alone, you still need to buy a case. Wine and liquor have to be bought from a state store and they close at nine too. And there's nothing sold on Sundays. So you walk out of either place looking like an alcoholic. Being able to wander into the grocery store at 1am because you're out of beer is definitely a perk.

Beach There's not much else to be said than the fact that I can drive five minutes to get to the beach on any given day. A far cry from having to drive two hours to the Jersey shore and fight traffic because everyone else has the same idea. Not to mention, you couldn't just drive there for the day and back and getting a place to stay was like pulling teeth.

Oak Trees They are absolutely gorgeous and so majestic. When they create a canopy over the roads, it's like you're driving through a different time. It's an acceptable replacement for the lack of color that I miss with the leaves not changing.

Driving Around with the Top Down Steve has a Jeep and on long periods of no rain, he takes the top off and we cruise around. There's no better feeling than being on top of the Ravenel Bridge with the views of the harbor and the wind blowing your hair and looking up and around and seeing everything. Or driving to the beach and being enveloped by the smell of the ocean and seeing the palm trees pass you by and the marshes in the distance. And being able to do that close to all year round is wonderful.

Thunderstorms Similarly, there's nothing more soothing than the late afternoon thunderstorms that pop up so frequently here during the summertime. I'm a big fan of rain and thunder and love sitting on my screened in porch with a book while smelling the rain in the air, hearing the drops on the roof and feeling the breeze blow through. Of coure, we had thunderstorms up North, but definitely not as frequent as we do here.

Sweet Tea No one in the world can make sweet tea like the South. Enough said!

Chick-Fil-A My favorite fast food restaurant. We had them in PA, obviously, but in the area I lived, the only one within thirty miles or so was in a mall. A very busy whose only other food choices was a pizza joint, an Auntie Ann's and towards the end, a McDonald's. So to get Chick-Fil-A, you had to fight mall traffic and mall people and the place was always crowded. It wasn't odd to wait in line for twenty minutes to get food. So it wasn't worth the hassle. Here, there's a freestanding one right up the road, with a drive-thru. BONUS!

No Inspection South Carolina doesn't make you do yearly inspections on your vehicle. I'd be even happier if I drove a complete piece of shit car, but I don't. For me, it just eradicates the hassle of having to get the car in before it runs out and replace the stickers and make sure something stupid like my check engine light isn't going to fail me. Of course, we do have to pay the property taxes every year, which were non-existant in PA, but that's no big deal.

Fishing I like it. I can take it in smaller doses than Steve, but there are times when I go out with my chair and sit on the pier watching the sunrise while reading a book. It's amazingly relaxing and an absolutely wonderful way to catch up on my reading.

Bridges Lots of photo opportunities and I find it exciting to have to cross so many bridges to get to different areas. Like I'm going into a whole new territory. Of course, it makes it easy for our visitors to navigate (we say, "If you cross a bridge, you've left Mt. Pleasant, unless you head toward Myrtle Beach and then you're really lost!")

No Toll Roads It seemed every damn place we traveled on a highway that was further than an hour cost us money because we hit some kind of toll road. The Pennsylvania Turnpike, the AC Expressway, the Garden State Parkway, the Northeast Extension. And then coming back into PA from Baltimore - $9.00 toll all together. Ridiculous! Being able to hop on a highway and not have to worry about having toll money is wonderful. (Seriously, I've dug change out the floorboards when I didn't realize tolls had gone up!)

Downtown Charleston The heart of the city and it's amazingly easy to navigate and get around. I love being so close to Philly, but with the good came the bad and driving and parking in the city was expensive and damn near impossible. Being able to easily get around Charleston and not being afraid to leave my car (in certain areas, of course) not really worrying about finding a parking spot makes me a happy girl because I can head downtown anytime I want and not let the hassle stop me (and I know there are times it can be bad, but even at its worst, its far better than what I went through, particularly when I was commuting to school).

Of course, this list, on both ends, in no where being complete but for our anniversary, it was nice to take a trip down memory lane as well as to remind myself of the reason WHY we moved down here.

Here's to another six months!

And on a side note, I'd like to mention a few more things:

Congratulations to Tara on her marriage and for becoming the first Kallurian to be one step closer to being a real grown up.

Congratulations to Jennie for taking her own step to being a grown up and graduating from college in December. Good luck on the LSAT's!

And a congratulations to Brooke who is busting her butt in law school and still has time to put up a kick ass new layout.

Also, just wanted to put some love out for my closest friend, Casey, who is in Hawaii at this moment. She is ok and working on getting home, but I still want her to know I'm thinking about her and hoping she gets home safe.