Moments of the Week: Greenville, SC

I went to visit my mother up in the mountains of NC last weekend. After weeks of cancelled events due to weather, we were finally, luckily blessed with a glorious weekend for spending it outside. Which is what my mother planned for us to do. Her local walking group had taken her to Greenville, SC for a trip, and she wanted to share it with me.

My friends, if you have need of a quirky city setting for a story, go to Downtown Greenville. Oh my gosh, we couldn't walk anywhere without seeing something inspirational, educational, or just plain cool.

I had no idea the place would be so cool, so I didn't bring my camera. Luckily, since our Maine trip, my mother upgraded her cell phone to one with a better camera. I commandeered it for a considerable portion of the trip.

Okay, so first thing about downtown Greenville? It has a river in it! With waterfalls! And a park around it!

(Look at that sky. What a beautiful day it was.)

How gorgeous is that? All natural too. And as you can see from the second picture, there's a bridge that crosses the gorge, a suspension bridge! When you're on it, looking over, you can ever so slightly feel the bridge move under your feet. A gentle swaying as a constant reminder that you are very high, and the water beneath you only ankle deep. I stayed on longer than my legs wanted to, just watching the people climbing on the rocks below.









There are tons of paths around the park, leading to restaurants, amphitheaters, the local zoo (a two mile walk from where we were). Partway towards the zoo is a memorial to a U-2 pilot killed during the Cuban Missile Crisis. A local boy, the monument suggested that his untimely death led to the cessation of hostilities and the end of the crisis. All I could think while looking at the memorial was, "This could totally be a plot device." I mean, it's a decommissioned F-86, a Sabre, (a plane the pilot flew before he became a U-2 pilot) just sitting in a park. It just screams "potential conspiracy theory" or "what if it still works and someone had to take it to save the day?"








There's also inspiration in the form of tiny little mouse statues scattered, hidden around the town. You can walk right by them without noticing. Unless someone knits one a tiny little scarf for the oncoming cold. There's magic here, I tell you.

And in this tree too. Look at those roots. Can't you just imagine some kind of portal opening from that? It's practically a hidden doorway.












If all these don't convince you to visit Greenville, then maybe this will.

Neat huh? A little old courthouse, nice square out front. Actually, it's pretty standard from this point of view. Let's go inside.

SURPRISE! IT'S A BOOKSTORE! 

M. Judson's is a relatively new independent store, only open three months ago, and if you don't fall in love with it as soon as you walk in, see a doctor for your missing sanity. The aged courthouse architecture embraces the warmth and openness of the store. With plenty of space for spreading out with a book and a drink and baked good from the in-store coffee shop, or settling in with your laptop to do some writing (NaNoers welcome, they're hosting write-ins!), it's heaven in a store. Even the coffee bar is getting in on the whole "books" thing. 

Yes, those are real books lining the walkway in, and it almost looked like you could pull them out and read it right there. I didn't ask if that was an option.

Seriously, it all was almost enough to make me want to move, but my area's got it's own share of great bookstores. Sure, they're not in adorable ex-courthouses with gorgeous stairs leading up to it, and they don't have write-in space, or quirky coffee bars with book-lined halls, but...

Yeah, okay, I want this bookstore in my town. I want this TOWN in my town. All the above, plus potential characters on every street (from the girl with green hair and the man rocking out on his scooter as he drove down the street to the drooling boar statue), countless restaurants to try, and a zoo to explore, I will definitely be going back when the weather turns for the warm again.

Moments of the Week: Maine!

I apologize for not having anything last week. Friday was our busiest day of the vacation, and immediately after that was travel, night at a hotel, 5AM flight home, and two days of crashing. At home recovering. Not in the plane.

Also, I apologize for not having pictures as I said. Due to tight spaces with packing (checked baggage? Pbbt) and lots of planned time on boats, I decided to leave my camera at home. Do I ever regret it. The things we saw and experienced, I wish I could have documented. So much beauty and grace and-

Baby seal.

Yeah, that's really it. I wanted to take pictures of a wild baby seal. Don't get me wrong, Maine is beautiful and an experience I've never had before, but I really just wanted pictures of baby seal.

All the same, there were still moments which I am happy to share with words even if I can't back them up with pictures.

• When you go whale watching, it's a gamble. The condition of the seas, the boat, the experience of the captain at the wheel, all of them can make or break your experience. On rocky waters after a storm, with all the whitecaps breaking around you, you wonder how you'll ever spot anything. How can you tell the whale's identifying spout from the break of a wave?
  
  When you see it, you know it. When you catch that first blast of water shooting out of the sea, you know. There's a rush of adrenaline when you spot it, a question of if you were seeing things. It was just a moment, but it had to have been a spout, and when you call it out, everyone on board rushes to your side, straining to see what you saw.
  
  For an hour, we tracked and watch a pair of fin (or finback) whales, a mother and calf. The fin whale is the second largest animal behind the blue whale and are endangered. While we never got to see an iconic tailflip as they dove or even managed to get very close, it was still amazing to see these giant, powerful creatures as close as we did. 

• Baby seal! (Can you guess my favorite part of the trip?) Twelve miles out to sea, Monhegan is a small island of less than 75 people living there full time, 9 of which are children. It's a lovely little place with artists a plenty and walking trails leading all over the island to overlook the rocky coast from 175 feet above the sea. If you take the ferry out to it, you have a few hours to explore, buy, eat, and drink (Monhegan has its own microbrewery with amazing root beer) before the ferry offers a 30 minute tour around the island to see the small islets around it, often occupied by seals.
  
  As the boat took to sea, we were greeted with a completely different view of the island, outside looking in. The captain directed our attention to the various cliffs and a rescue boat long wrecked, and near the end, we finally started to see the islets. The first one, a gentleman loaned me his binoculars to see some seals, but the focus was too poor for my eyes, and I couldn't make anything out. On another one, the captain announced there was a bald eagle sitting on top, so we'd be slowing down and keeping quiet to not startle it. As we drifted by, the eagle sat unperturbed, barely noticing us. As I watched it, a seal swam by in the water, and just above it, a little seal face popped up from behind the rocks. Then it crawled out, and I realized it couldn't have been more than two feet long from head to flipper, much, much smaller than its swimming counterpart.
  
  I squealed. I squealed loudly.
  
  I MIGHT have startled the eagle away. But it went over to the island on the other side of us, so we didn't lose sight of the majestic bird. My attention, though, was on the baby as it flopped and wiggled its way down the rocks. My last sight of it was as a wave rolled up on the rocks, and the baby wiggled and flapped its flippers in glee as the water raced around it. The cutest thing I've ever seen.

• On yet a third boat trip, we passed a small, privately owned island with a single house on it, engulfed by trees. But the bottom of the island was barren of trees, ending in a small plot of grass and tapering off to a rocky point. On the grassy plot, there was a single, empty bench, waiting for someone to come, sit, and watch the boats sail by.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip wherein I bonded with some cousins in a way I've never had the chance to because all our previous times together, I was a child and they were adults. Now, as all adults, we had a fabulous time. I've been back to the grind for a week now, and I miss them, and Maine, already. I can see why writers and artists make such a place their home. If it didn't have such abominable winters, I might actually consider it myself.

Next week, we'll be back to normal, everyday moments, as well as a response to an award from my long-time reader Lilian. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, and if you've had some moments this week, please, as always, feel free to share.

Moments of the Week: Hero Worship

A small fraction of the HeroesCon Floor

I promised this week's Moments would be interesting, yes? I hope it will be. It certainly was a lifetime memory for me. This past weekend was the biggest comic con of the year in my state, and as has been the case for the past three or four years, I was there.

Mr. Maxwell and I drove to town the night before to stay with our friends Phil Coulson and Captain America. The next morning, we picked up their buddies Joker and Harley Quinn and headed off for a day of fun!

We arrived at the convention center the moment it opened and promptly got in the wrong line. After five minutes of steady moving, we realized this was the line to get into the hall, not, in fact, to get tickets. So we split off and split up. Coulson and Cap already had their tickets, I had preordered a three day pass, and the others had to wait to buy their day-of pass. Preordering was clearly the way to go, because in minutes, I had my pass and wristband while the rest still wrapped around the entryway. Much as I love Mr. and as nice as Harley and Joker were, I had to get into the hall. Another short wait in the right line this time and I was in... another line.

A long, long line that wasn't moving. But excitement was high, costumes were great, and we enjoyed getting to know the strangers around us as we waited. And waited. Moved. Waited. It was worse than waiting for a Disney ride. But it was worth it for what was at the end.

Yes, it's exactly what it looks like. This weekend, I met Stan Lee.

And nearly passed out from fangirlism.

We weren't allowed to take pictures unless we'd bought one, so I kept my camera put away, but as the line moved, we could all get glimpses of a little old man wearing a green sweater and an enormous smile. Around me, people carried rare editions of comics, enormous maquettes, trading cards, and various other things for autographing. I had my giant Marvel 75th Anniversary collection ready for its first signature. Who better to christen what I intended to make a signature collection book than Stan The Man himself?

No regrets.

Isn't this the most adorable Jurassic Park cosplay ever?

Well, aside from the fact that when I finally got to the front of the line, I forgot every single thing I'd planned on saying. I couldn't hear my thoughts over how loud my heart was pounding. I don't know if he said anything to me, even looked at me. All I could do was stutter out a feeble "Thank you, Mr. Lee" before gripping the open edges of the book so the ink could dry and scurrying off past the line of other people waiting to get their signature verified.

I've never met someone I so madly idolized before. Stan had come to this con before, but I'd passed it up, to my enduring regret. I thought I wouldn't get this chance again. And then, two weeks before the con, his image appeared on the con site with the words Special Guest. I had a second chance, and I took it, to my ongoing delight. I met my hero, and I have proof. I didn't care how the rest of the con went after that; my day was made.

A simple piece of reflective paper made an awesome effect for Cyclops

I spent most of the rest of the con waiting in more lines for more signatures (Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Erica Henderson, and Kevin Wada all added their signatures to Stan's page, to their own delights. Apparently asking people to sign the same page as the father of their comics is flattering) and taking not nearly enough pictures of all the amazing cosplays. There was photobombing aplenty and so much creativity in the designs. Maybe next year I'll get off my butt and do some cosplay myself.

You can see the rest of the pictures on my ConGoing board on Pinterest.

So that was this past week. Tomorrow, I leave for a weeklong vacation with my mother in Maine to celebrate my aunt and uncle's 50th anniversary. With whalewatching and lighthouse tours on the schedule, I should have some more pictures for you next week!

Did anyone have any moments of your own this week?