Of Nantucket Sleigh Rides and Narrow Sidewalks

Tuesday was the sort of day that usually only occurs on the second day of vacation. The travelling is out of the way, and you get your first day to truly relax and stretch your legs because you want to, not because they're cramped.

It was the sort of day where breakfast consisted of several 3 cheese pierogies and a Harpoon IPA, and a good smoke in my garage served as the poo-tee-weet (Vonneguterrally speaking, of course).

I think the pierogies and beer was probably the least Southern breakfast I've ever had-- a far cry from the scrambled eggs and grits of my youth. I also felt that this would be a perfect meal (for there are many) to have whilst enjoying a baseball game. I ate on the sofa which is right under my front window, so I had that nice 10 AM sun shining through, warming my back, which is a small pleasure in life that will never grow old.

This was my first breakfast in my new house. I already love this place because it's close to everything and it has a hardwood floor with a creaky place. The creaky place is in the hallway as you turn right out of the bathroom. My former place of residence was a trailer in the woods (a bear was seen less than 100 yards away from our front door) so you can see that although my image is not nearly as gruff (or sketchy), the new place is an upgrade.

Some friends and I discovered around dinner time that we could walk to a little independent pizza place on a nearby corner. The sidewalk was narrow and treacherous, and we also discovered that while there are foot traffic signals to direct us to the grocery store on one side of the intersection, none exist to guide us to Tito's Pizza from either side of its corner. We made like any sensible group of adults and ran like Scotsmen in a charge against the English across Pleasantburg Drive. This was one of those times that can be described in the words of Eddie Izzard as "having fun 3 months from now."

Tito's is a wonderful place I suspect I will frequent. You almost feel as if you're in the beginning of Goodfellas (though it only takes one rat-tail to bring that aura to an end). I say almost because we're in Upstate South Carolina, so anyone expecting to walk in and see Ray Liotta and Paul Sorvino would probably be disappointed. The experience was complete when I saw an old couple sipping red wine compliment Tito himself on his stromboli.

After the walk back to the house (which didn't seem to take as long) we opened up the garage door (one of the old school doors that swings up because it's a giant sheet of plywood) and shared a smoke or two. I think I wound up going to bed at a quarter of twelve, not because I was exhausted; sleep just seemed like a fun idea.

Good day. Good times.