Sunday, September 8, 2013

Columbia & Asheville, South Carolina, United States

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the FK hiatus - Real Kelly has been a little busy with a new job, and then FK had quite the adventure herself when she ended up lost in the US Postal system. Oops! That story will come a bit later though. For now, check out her adventures with Beta Reader Extraordinaire - Lindsay! 

Flat Kelly arrived in the midst of a terrible summer cold AND in the middle of a holiday week (July 4th) so unfortunately she had to spend some time holed up in the post office.  Let me tell you that she was NOT pleased with that.
 
The other unfortunate fact was that she arrived in the middle of the rainiest season I've ever seen since I moved to SC 14 years ago.  It rained every day for SIX WEEKS.  Another thing she was not overly impressed with.
 
As soon as FK and I met, we were instant besties...  


Obviously - you have a giant Marilyn poster! What's not to love? 

I spent most of that first day talking about the famous people who started in Columbia/South Carolina.  I know how much she's into pop culture and I thought I could impress her by dropping some names.  However, during  her entire stay, we didn't see ONE famous person. /sigh
 
Our first day out, we decided to hit the theaters by seeing "Man of Steel."



We both agreed that Henry Cavill is super dreamy and we were really excited to see him take his shirt off.  And trust me, on the big screen?  Those blue eyes are something else.
 
It was a quiet couple of days before we headed out together again.  Our next stop was the following Wednesday for my weekly writer's critique group.



In this picture FK is giving helpful notes to Jessica's horror story about a serial killer teacher.  It was really good! (FK loves to read works from aspiring writers!) 
 
The next day, FK and I met up with my coworker Neyua and headed over to Pawley's Front Porch.  It was featured on the show, "Diners, Drive Ins & Dives."  It's a super cute, very southern, burger joint where you can get some seriously weird burgers that are (supposedly) really good.  Neyua had never been there either and she was also really excited to meet FK. (Unfortunately, we didn't think to get a picture of Neyua WITH FK - silly.)
 
The menu for PFP.  You can see some of the weird concoctions they have...



FK was not impressed with some of the menu options.



However, once I told her what I was getting, she was really happy.  Jalapeno smoked bacon with cheddar on a keiser roll? SO delicious! 



Mmmm - that DOES look super delicious! 


This is the inside of the restaurant.  It's got a bar and is super popular in an area known as 5 Points.  This is the local college bar district in Columbia.

It looks like a cool place! And also, I'm hungry now. 

Off topic, but do you ever wonder how many photos you're in the background in? I do! 

Sarah McLachlan's "Remember You" came on the radio and neither one of us were impressed with the song choice.  It certainly didn't scream "summer burger joint" to us.

No, it does not. It screams "depressing animal commercial" instead

After that it was pretty quiet in Columbia.  Our plans for a zoo trip and some historic downtown walking were dashed when the rain refused to let up.  We were both really disappointed.
 
FK decided to extend her stay by a day when she found out that I had a business trip in Asheville, North Carolina.  Asheville is known for being a really artsy town with a strong hippie vibe.  It's also nestled in the Appalachian mountains and is really beautiful.  Because FK was a stowaway on this trip, we only got one picture...



My manager, Teresa, is a seriously fast driver and it was hard to get pictures from inside of the car.
 
However, on our way out of town we TRIED to drive through the Biltmore Estate that is located in Asheville.  We got up to the gate and they refused to let us drive through without paying ridiculous amounts of money to get in.  We did manage to snap a few pictures on our short drive up to the front gate.



It's a sprawling estate that was once owned (might still be, I'm not sure) by the Vanderbilt family.  It is known for its impressive gardens and especially its holiday decorations during the winter.
 
The next morning, bright and early, I packed Flat Kelly up and sent her off to Stacey where she took off for Ireland.  (Not without a few misadventures along the way!)

Thank you so much, Lindsay! It looks like Flat Kelly had a really great time while she was in South Carolina. Most importantly, she got to eat some super delicious food, which is always a plus since FK is a bit of a foodie.

Up next: Flat Kelly goes to Ireland! Well, at least a version of her gets to... stay tuned! 

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