King Street Closing to Traffic

It seems to have been a long time coming, with little hints here and there that city officials were watching and listening to public cries toward maintaining walkability in the holy city. I'm elated to see this bit of news...

Second Sunday of every month King Street will be open only to pedestrian traffic. Restaurants will be able to bring out street dining and no more will one have to scoot across the asphault, frogger-style, skipping between cars lumbering slowly down the old arterial street. The Digitel posted a great article giving further details.

Soon I'll be strolling down King sans traffic. Can't wait!

Pedestrians in Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant Town Planners listen up! When you get to redesigning Highway 17, how about work in some sort of safe pedestrian and biking routes to the Arthur Ravenel Bridge as well as the bus stops.

We discovered Saturday that it's pretty easy to get into Mount Pleasant to go shopping (we took CARTA over to Whole Foods), however, once you're there, in the absence of an oil guzzler, the Town becomes an unfriendly, badly designed suburban nightmare. For those of you unfamiliar with Charleston, South Carolina - Mount Pleasant is separated from Downtown Charleston by the rather large, blackwater Cooper River. Getting to Whole Foods is no problem, though the Wendy's Restaurant may beg to differ, considering one must trample through their landscaping where the bus lets off. The Town could use a few sidewalks so pedestrians aren't forced to be so inconsiderate. Towne Center could have been a viable alternative, but EarthFare, the organic market in that location, closed down several months ago.

Fifty years of Urban sprawl fueled by cheap gas prices has lead to an un-walkable, overgrown, chigger-ridden, challenging and unsafe terrain totally lacking sidewalks of any kind. One's existentialism remains in keen focus with each whizzing SUV directed by a multi-tasking driver, cellphone in hand, dangerously unaware of a pedestrian's presence. We commend the Town of Mount Pleasant for its award-winning neighborhoods, like Ion, but once you step foot outside of those segregated enclaves, there is nothing linking many of these island-like neighborhoods together. We suggest they do something to allow their residents to move about with greater ease.

Sadly, we were forced to take our lives into our own hands as we ran across 4 lanes of Highway 17 to get to the stop back downtown. From Whole Foods the stop is located strategically on the opposite side of Highway 17. Unless, of course, you don't mind walking the equivalent of 10 blocks to get to the next stop on the same side of the highway. Only then is it unnecessary to run wildly across Highway 17. Yeah, we did feel pretty idiotic.

After risking our lives, we waited, but CARTA must have arrived a few minutes early. So, we missed the bus after our wonderful organic shopping experience. Fortunately, with Fall's fabulous temperatures, we were able to skip the bus altogether and walk back over the Arthur Ravenel Bridge toward home. Charleston certainly is known for it's beauty and grace. Especially from atop the bridge. It's breathtaking.

On another note, we've learned another blogger out there has been conducting her own experimental tests on public transportation. Check out ValueWit.com. Located in Austin, Texas, this busy Mom has a slew of funny stories chock full of public transportation insight. Go girl!

So, after all that, we may just leave our shopping for closer to home and stay downtown. But if you live in Mount Pleasant, what do you think of your ability to walk around the town? Would you walk more if you could? Would you like to have alternative modes of transportation readily available? Just wondering.

A Wedding! Haircuts, Gift Shopping and Getting There

Well, Saturday was a bit of a test. An old friend from High School took the plunge and tied the knot. Congratulations, you guys. Weddings require a whole spectrum of preparation for the guests. One certainly cannot diminish the importance of the day by showing up with a four month old haircut, an unshaven neck and no gift.

We got up early, made breakfast, then walked to Parlor on upper King, an excellent place to get a style downtown. Haircuts and then to the market to grab some groceries, we had already walked about a mile by the time the meat and potatoes arrived back home. Then, we realized, crap - no gift! Pottery Barn. They said they were registered at Pottery Barn, right? One of us jumped in the shower as the other ran out for the gift. Finally, dressed and ready to go, there was now the issue of transportation, or rather, the lack thereof, due to our recent set of choices. Taxi? Shuttle Bus? Walk? Rickshaw/Petty Cab? How long would each variation of a ride take? So many unanswered questions in our first busy weekend without a car. We bantered back and forth for way too long, eventually storming out (OK, the female gender of this pair stormed), and just walked. It was a nice night. Walking allowed time to calm down while breathing to the rhythm of our feet on the sidewalk. Got to the wedding, got to the reception, all without incident. For those of you that know Charleston well, you may find it humorous to know we walked through the Eastside in full formal attire and flip flops! LOL. We're pretty sure at this point our neighbors, and the boys that hang on the corner, think we're dangerously insane, and should most likely be housed on some secluded floor within Roper's depths. Our party shoes were in the gift bag, figuring if anyone did try to rob us of our fabulous PB gift, we could beat them off with a 3" black leather, spiked heel. One of us actually saw a girl get hit in this manner in a bar fight once. Quite effective.

Overall, great time. The next day we both admitted to being a little sore from walking so far, so long! Uhhhhh, our legs! Although, wow, we must admit we both feel better than we have in years. Can you imagine?

Here's something ironic - many months ago, long before the car decision was made, we signed up to participate in the American Heart Walk. September seemed so far off. How quickly next weekend comes. Yay - another opportunity to burn a few extra calories! Buy hey, also another opportunity to live well.

It never felt so good to fall into bed that night. Our first really busy weekend. Right before drifting off to sleep, she said, "my feet hurt AND I have a blister." He said, "God, your ass is getting tight."