Charleston

Charleston's a pretty nice city . . .

. . . if you like that sort of thing.

If you like stunning architecture . . .

. . . palm tree-lined streets . . .

. . . pink and yellow and blue houses . . .

. . . and cobblestones.

A lot of the old city still has its original cobblestones, and it's just so cool . . .

. . . if you like that sort of thing.

Actually, Charleston's not the only city with cool cobblestones. Last summer New London repaved some of its streets, but not before unearthing its original, formerly-buried cobblestones. For a couple of days we pretended we lived 100 years ago. With electricity.

Anyway, we found ourselves in the lovely city of Charleston recently -- actually, our Vitamin D tour is not so recent anymore . . .

. . . and were just stunned, again, as we are everytime we're there, by the beauty and the secret spots and the vibrant colors . . .

. . . and the pubs. We love the Southend Brewery brewpub . . .

. . . and we stumbled (not literally, that came much later) upon the Griffon . . .

. . . I was clearly very excited about my beer at the Griffon.

But the best thing about Charleston? Our friends Paul and Keely live nearby.

Paul's my friend from growing up as next-door-neighbors. Flagstone-path-from-the-Corey-house-to-the-Cronin-house-next-door-neighbors. I've known that kid since the day he was born.

Keely? His lovely bride? Well, she's not so bad either. She's cool, lovely, smart, sharp, irreverent, a great hugger, and takes no guff. Awesome, if you like that sort of thing.

Paul and Keely are avid birders (there's more about Keely and her bird brethren to come; you mark my words).

They're avid hikers, too. And avid scat trackers and avid teachers and avid travelers and avid hamming-it-up photo subjects.

They're avid. And they're awesome. And, they're adorable.