After a lengthy hiatus, where I was ill, we bought a house, we went on holiday, we were ill again, and so on, I have finally got myself back to the blog. I hope you’ve missed me.
Two things to talk about this week. First we are getting a good, old-fashioned, Yorkshire-style drenching from Tropical Storm Julia, who has parked herself just off the coast. It’s been raining solidly for 24hrs so far and shows no immediate signs of stopping. This being the Low Country, there isn’t a great deal of place for rain water to drain to, especially when the tides are high, so the lowest-lying parts of the area normally end up under water. Apparently this is partly why so many people have SUVs or trucks, even though they live in town: so they can drive through the flooded streets without getting waterlogged.
Anyway, a day of solid rain prompted some absolutely hilarious jokes from my new colleagues: “I guess you’re used to this weather, Chris.” “I’m sure you feel at home now.” Yeah, nice one guys, ha ha.
On a slightly drier note, it’s Charleston Beer Week at the moment. So on Monday night, some friends and I went to two new breweries: one called Ghost Monkey, and one called Two Blokes – because the owners are, um, two blokes. Here’s Ghost Monkey: despite being in an unprepossessing warehouse building with no obvious entrance, it’s pretty funky when you get inside, with a pool table, live music and a dog or two.
The beer is pretty tasty too, and strong – though pretentiously-named. I couldn’t bring myself to ask for a pint of “Hey Bruh?”, so had to go generic and call it IPA instead!
The Charleston Brews Cruise (yes, really) took us to the next brewery, a similar warehouse-style place, run by the eponymous Two Blokes. Both of said blokes have stupendous facial hair: the head brewer has gone full Fu Manchu. I’m sure beards are obligatory for craft brewing. The beer at Two Blokes was excellent, though it was also so strong that after only a couple more drinks I was trying to get myself home to collapse in an embarrassed lightweight heap.
South of the Mason-Dixon line 