fine day in the south

Well, finally a nice day down here in Charleston, y'all! Woke up to weak sunshine and though the clouds threatened, rain never mat erialized. We decided to do the touristy stuff today: drove downtown and walked through Market Street, which actually is a market. The wares are fairly skimpy - weaved baskets and trinkets. But it was nice to see old black ladies actually weaving. We plonked down $20 each for a horse/buggy ride which was fun in a hokey kind of way. Our guide was a very nice lady in her 50's, 12th generation Charlestonian. Some of the old houses downtown look amazing. The locals tell us that even as recently as 20 years ago, this place was so crime infested that any downtown activity was severly restricted. It took the black/Jewish police chief, Reuben Goldberg to clean the place up. The whole downtown area does look very pretty, though I still have doubts about its commercial vibrancy, despite what the natives claim. The feel of the city is really great...the humid southern air, the smiling, talkative people, the superb food! Yeah, we lunched at Hyman's again. Best fish ever!

Since the sun was shining, we took a dip in the ocean after returning to the hotel. It was amazing. The water was quite warm and the beach here is second to none. I realized that the last time I had swum in salt water was in Israel in 1989. I dipped my feet into the Pacific two years ago in Los Angeles but it was too cold to swim in. After the swim (and after my lunchtime beer at Hyman's), I drifted off for a two hour nap.

We're off to the Blue Ridge Mountains tomorrow. Overall, what strikes me more than anything else is the Americans' pride in their history and heritage and the colour of everyday life. People simply seem happier. I don't know if it's the weather....it's just national character. People in Toronto seem closed, certainly much less talkative and - I hate to say this - just more depressed. I wish we could be as proud as the Americans. It is high time form our school system to teach Canadian history and to instill the idea in our kids that there is more to Canadian identity than hockey. Or healthcare (what a joke!)