Of course as my mother saw the pictures of Historical Charleston it was regrets of not going. And I knew that would happen… With only one day left on the car rental the topic of this afternoon’s conversation, besides the course of my Life of course, was which destination was going to win tomorrow… the Mall or Charleston? Not to give you the wrong impression of my mother, a woman that has traveled the world and speaks more languages than my fingers on one hand, the Mall won. Understandable considering a whole day affair for her on the road has been these past years a strenuous activity.

Yesterday was not a sightseeing event, unless you consider sitting in a Dentist’s office for two and a half hours with an abscessed tooth and pain shooting as far as the shoulder including the ear and a teary eye, worth its wait or is it "weight" of the waiting room gold fish in its aquarium for its 100th lap. The situation developed overnight and by noon waiting was not an option anymore. I now realize why I might have been a bit sluggish these past days… of course it has nothing to do with the extra weight gained… it was the infection. So now… I am even more sluggish with an antibiotic prescription four times a day including some gargling of this great tasting solution, probably just to excite my taste buds.

And with four more days to go together, we both have been already choked up about the oncoming separation. I love my mother, she loves me even more and if there is such a thing as too much love, she is the definition of it. Nothing has changed since my childhood! I am telling you… nothing. She gives me a caring hard time as much today as she did sixty years ago. Wear a sweater… eat right… drink lots of water… the list is long, repetitious and unstoppable. But that is a mother for you, sometimes a mystery… not too often understandable but accepted as the circle of Life closing in without a warning.

There was no lack of picture opportunities in Charleston as we parked, walked around a bit, move a couple blocks and then again the same scenario. It was overwhelming at first to see such restoration, I knew that we would not see it all in one afternoon and sometimes that is just the way it is, feeling fortunate to at least having spend a few hours experiencing the beautiful City. The nicer homes, the beautiful Bed and Breakfast where the ones by the water of course with the constant view of the Bay. Pairs of dogs where being walked by the Housekeepers to the adjacent Park, a sign of wealth throughout the neighborhood.

It almost seemed a shame to me to see cars here! A must of course throughout these modern and advanced technological days, but carriages, buggies and horses would have been such a much more pleasant sight and feel. No space was spared and the homes lucky enough to have ample land surrounding them have some beautiful gardens.

One street leading to the water called King street must have changed considerably since my last visit years ago. I did not remember it being a sort of Rodeo Drive, with names such a Ralph Lauren and a few Galleries, very cool Designer furniture stores. One store caught my attention and made me go around the block a few times till I found my own parking spot not too far from it. "Three Dog Bakery"… ‘Sarah’, ‘Gracie’ and ‘Dottie’…

It left me speechless as we entered the store! I had to ask permission to take pictures, insisting that I had no commercial aspirations, this could have not gone unseen by you! Clean as it can be with a public working area and its tools hanging as it should be, beautiful stainless steel convection oven, a gated area keeping their buddies behind the counters and a beautiful wood floor which made me think its purpose at first. A dog will pull when seeing and smelling other dogs, a carpet would have pulled its owner, but the wood floor only made the paws spin their wheels with no effort on the leash! Tell you the truth I was overwhelmed and wish I had spend more time asking more questions, the lightning was intense from the display cases and ceiling artificial lights… I did the best I could to capture the products… you are just going to have to make it a destination if your are fortunate enough to have a buddy like I do!

Have you ever seen anything like it?… Unless I have lived in the dark ages lately, which I know we have a bit, I had never… Spirit neither as he finally calm down a bit after some sample tasting!!! Fit for human consumption of course, I counted over a variety of 50 items on the Menu… yes… there is a Menu!!! A Menu that says "In 1989 three dogs, two guys and a 59 cents dog biscuit cutter joined forces to create the world’s best dog treats, and ended up creating a ‘howling’ national success story’!!!

I love the thoughts that have gone into the goodies descriptions! "Jump’n and Sit Bits"… "Bark’n and Fetch Biscuits"… "Pawsitively yummy treats"…  Their Internet site is called a "Intermutt site"!!! "Pooch pretzels"… "Beggin for S’mores"… "Muttaroons"… and the list goes on and on…

What else can I say!… I would have loved to work there for a while… for free!!! How can you not have a good time specially with the quality and assortment provided. I wonder if they have any thoughts of franchising in other cities as without even looking at numbers it has to be a winning situation… financially and mentally. One more picture of this beautiful oak tree…

…which barely fitted in the frame with a dog walker, and that is about it for our visit to Charleston, definitely a great experience, wondering when we will we return! I so often wish that 3000 miles did not separate the two coasts, at the same time it is the reason why this country gives us so much room to roam on this endless Journey. As always, till next time… So now our own "Treats" just look like "Treats"… they do support our web site however… give it a try…

"Spirited Doggie Treats" and "Art Cards"…. Dogs cannot live of Love and food alone… they need treats, they like treats… we know! Put Spirit to work!

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Ara Gureghian   853 Vanderbilt Beach Rd #245   Naples, Fl 34108

You be well and stay well…. Ara & Spirit

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 17th, 2008 at 6:08 am and is filed under travel, spirituality, pit bull, sidecar, motorcycle, cooking, photography, riding, homeless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.