Charleston is a nice place to experience being present. David and I had a moment yesterday that was utterly blissful. It was so simple. We walked from the marina to the acclaimed King Street, over two miles in bright sun and wind. Then we walked nearly the entire length of the street to reach 167 RAW only to find the wait for a lunch table would be an hour. We sat on a little bench next to the entrance. The hostess appreciated David’s quiet commentaries and questions and broke our her umbrella to shade us all. She brought us drinks and we sat with her while she worked and we experienced the pulse of the street, the people and the place. To say it’s a lively street and a busy restaurant is to understate things entirely. By the time we were seated the wait was over an hour and a half (no reservations) and the street was filled with all kinds of people, cars, horses, music and more, but we could have sat there ’til sunset.

List of lovely things: walking, storefronts, brown butter beet sauce, honey glaze, cucumber spa water, breeze off the water, tiny denim shorts for Isla, hostess who loves her job, little bench under an umbrella, fresh oysters, sunset, kindness’ of strangers, sunset.