There's that really cool moment where the attraction flows both ways, when the mind shuts down and passion takes over.
I drive, she snuggles, we hold hands and the night races by. It's late and the lights on the Ravenel bridge over the Charleston Habor turn off as if on que. XM Radio is playing Snow Patrol Chasing Cars and even my SUV seems to know where this is all headed. I love to drive fast and high above the waters of the harbor we are flying, to a destination unknown.
Along highway 17 traffic lights become make out sessions, we get lucky and hit every red light for six miles.
Funny thing about weddings, there are always stragglers. But it seems a little odd that there are so many people in the parking lot. Turns out there has been an "all points bulletin" out for Ms. TV Girl as her car is still in the parking and she is no where to be found.
Suddenly my very attractive new found friend has the horrid look of panic on her face. I'm not sure if it is the crowd or the police car. She pleads to keep going and not to stop as we drive past the entrance to the country club.
OK, I'm game, I start to ask why are we running from your friends then pause to think or are we running from the police? All of a sudden Snow Patrol is replaced with Dirkes Bentley "What was I thinking" and we are on the run.
This would also explain the frequent looks at her Blackberry, the text messages and phone calls she wasn't answering. Things are not all that I had hoped for, it seems as Ms. TV is married. Or in her own words "I'm kinda married" and do I have questions.
Where is husband? Answer, we don't get along.
I try again.
Where is husband? Answer, Oh he's not here he's overseas.
Really? I reply.
Where overseas?
Iraq, she calmly answers.
I nearly take out a street light. What was I thinking is replaced with the twilight zone theme song.
It's surprising to me how fast things can go bad. Turns out Ms. TV Girl is married to a Marine who is in camp "Anaconda" which is the kind of death I can expect when he hears about Ms. "I'm leaving him" and won't be back until next summer.
Time to bail.
Guys are really not good at this, lame as I know it sounds I offer the, it's be fun, it's late, I have a big week coming up and I'll call you. Safely on the other side of the parking lot Mrs Married to a Marine who's in Iraq TV Girl slips out of my car.
The look is "I'm sorry" and "don't be mad at me"
I step out of my car and she comes over to my side. Silence, she hesitates, I do not. The kiss lasts forever.
To be continued....
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
If Time Could Go Backwards
Do you ever wonder were all the years have gone? If Einstein’s theory is correct, if we travel fast enough we can make time go backwards and sometimes that is all I’d really like, just to have time go in reverse.
Back to a simple time when Charlotte was nothing more than a small town.
If you have lived here all your life then it is called Highway 51 and not Pineville Matthews Road. But 16 is still and always has been Providence Road.
The corner of Queens and Queens doesn’t bother you, and you know that Charlotte Country Club and Myers Park Country Club are not the same.
If you’re old enough, I’m not but my father had an “account” at Myers Park Hardware. Accounts were kept on a ledger and hand written statements were mailed out at the end of every month. I still remember being asked if I wanted to put my bag of Scott’s fertilizer on my account. I paid cash, though I don’t think my father would have cared.
My brother pumped gas at Queen’s Shell station when gas was under a dollar. I remember the day “Ben” retired and the last time I saw Dan Queen up under a car.
The lunch counter at Eckerd’s was a great place for a hot dog while you waited for Dan to change your oil.
Things were a lot simpler back then. Charlotte’s soon to be suburbs were Raintree and Carmel Estates, everything else was farmland including the winding road to Sharon where they had just anounced plans to built a new shopping center called SouthPark.
Herefords graze where Belk's now stands. Circa 1966
Back to a simple time when Charlotte was nothing more than a small town.
If you have lived here all your life then it is called Highway 51 and not Pineville Matthews Road. But 16 is still and always has been Providence Road.
The corner of Queens and Queens doesn’t bother you, and you know that Charlotte Country Club and Myers Park Country Club are not the same.
If you’re old enough, I’m not but my father had an “account” at Myers Park Hardware. Accounts were kept on a ledger and hand written statements were mailed out at the end of every month. I still remember being asked if I wanted to put my bag of Scott’s fertilizer on my account. I paid cash, though I don’t think my father would have cared.
My brother pumped gas at Queen’s Shell station when gas was under a dollar. I remember the day “Ben” retired and the last time I saw Dan Queen up under a car.
The lunch counter at Eckerd’s was a great place for a hot dog while you waited for Dan to change your oil.
Things were a lot simpler back then. Charlotte’s soon to be suburbs were Raintree and Carmel Estates, everything else was farmland including the winding road to Sharon where they had just anounced plans to built a new shopping center called SouthPark.
Herefords graze where Belk's now stands. Circa 1966
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Efird's
Efird's, downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. Exterior façade on Tryon Street with wall sign, circa 1955 (courtesy Pat Richardson)<
By Steve Swain - Special to Meckburbia
Beginning operations as the “Racket Store” and soon thereafter as the “Bee Hive” on the corner of East Trade Street and North College Street in Charlotte, North Carolina, the store would become Efird’s Department Store was bought by Anson County native Hugh Efird and two of his brothers, Joseph and Edmund, in 1907.
Joseph Efird took charge of the Charlotte store after Hugh died in 1909 and oversaw the creation of a chain of stores that eventually included over 50 retail establishments across the Carolinas and Virginia, all directed from Charlotte.
In 1922, plans were announced for constructing a brand new half million dollar Efird’s Department Store on the 100 block of North Tryon Street. The new flagship Efird’s store was designed by locally renowned architect Louis Asbury and was a state of the art store: five stories high with over 100,000 square feet of floor space including a bargain basement a top floor dining room and, uniquely of its time, escalators.
Efird's, downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. Exterior façade on Tryon Street with wall sign,date unknown. (courtesy Pat Richardson)
Efird’s sold out to Belk in the mid 1950s, and its North Tryon Street store became part of the adjacent Belk complex. The store building was razed in the early 1990s, and the Bank of America Corporate Center sits on its site today.
More about the stores and malls of the past including early photos of SouthPark at Live Malls.
Monday, January 11, 2010
The "World’s Worst Martin Luther King Statue"
A follower of Cedar Post sent this link to us, thinking that indeed the Martin Luther King sculpture in Marshall Park is just a little odd.
The piece is by Creative Loafing Columnist John Grooms who writes a little known blog called Boomer with a Attitude.
We at Meckburbia say "little known" because we noticed nearly all of his posts have only one comment. Mostly negative, as in "Get a Real Job!" and "Do You Have On Clean Underwear?" and "Get A Haircut!", well at least his mother comments on his blog.
Check out his blog at the link above!
MLK Day’s coming — time for a new statue
By John Grooms
An Associated Press story today about President Obama redecorating the Oval Office featured a photo of a beautifully sculpted bust of Martin Luther King Jr. The picture was a stark reminder, particularly with MLK’s national holiday coming up soon, that Charlotte needs to find a replacement for the statue of (supposedly) MLK, Jr. in Marshall Park.
The sculpture, which looks as if some arbitrary guy is holding his hand out to check for rain, was created in the 1980s by then-80-year-old Selma Burke, originally of Mooresville and ostensibly the creator of the Roosevelt image featured on the dime. The MLK statue, and I’m being very kind, sort of, kind of looks like Martin Luther King, but not really — although, strangely enough, it’s a dead ringer for a guy I grew up with named Hazel Willis. Seriously.
The Marshall Park statue of (supposedly) Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Marshall Park statue once inspired an unsuccessful effort to replace the head of the full-body sculpture, which, on top of its other distinctions, was named “World’s Worst Martin Luther King Statue” in a book by Jerry Bledsoe, North Carolina Curiosities.
With MLK Day approaching, this is the perfect time for local government to spring for a better statue. It’s simple, really: if you honor someone with a statue, at least make sure it looks like the guy.
The piece is by Creative Loafing Columnist John Grooms who writes a little known blog called Boomer with a Attitude.
We at Meckburbia say "little known" because we noticed nearly all of his posts have only one comment. Mostly negative, as in "Get a Real Job!" and "Do You Have On Clean Underwear?" and "Get A Haircut!", well at least his mother comments on his blog.
Check out his blog at the link above!
MLK Day’s coming — time for a new statue
By John Grooms
An Associated Press story today about President Obama redecorating the Oval Office featured a photo of a beautifully sculpted bust of Martin Luther King Jr. The picture was a stark reminder, particularly with MLK’s national holiday coming up soon, that Charlotte needs to find a replacement for the statue of (supposedly) MLK, Jr. in Marshall Park.
The sculpture, which looks as if some arbitrary guy is holding his hand out to check for rain, was created in the 1980s by then-80-year-old Selma Burke, originally of Mooresville and ostensibly the creator of the Roosevelt image featured on the dime. The MLK statue, and I’m being very kind, sort of, kind of looks like Martin Luther King, but not really — although, strangely enough, it’s a dead ringer for a guy I grew up with named Hazel Willis. Seriously.
The Marshall Park statue of (supposedly) Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Marshall Park statue once inspired an unsuccessful effort to replace the head of the full-body sculpture, which, on top of its other distinctions, was named “World’s Worst Martin Luther King Statue” in a book by Jerry Bledsoe, North Carolina Curiosities.
With MLK Day approaching, this is the perfect time for local government to spring for a better statue. It’s simple, really: if you honor someone with a statue, at least make sure it looks like the guy.
Fury Cold Day in Charlotte
You know it is cold in Charlotte when the "Yankees" start shopping at the Harris Teeter in fur jackets that match the color of their hair.
Sends a chill down our spines.
Sends a chill down our spines.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Charlotte's Holiday on Ice set to Close This Weekend
WBT's Holiday on Ice will close on this week end despite record cold temps.
If you missed out of the fun, don't worry Meckburbia has the line on some other places to slip on a pair of ice skates in Charlotte and Meckbubria:
Extreme Ice Center
Pineville Ice House
Remember Mom's advice: "Keep you hands closed so you don't get your fingers cut off and don't lick the ice!"
If you missed out of the fun, don't worry Meckburbia has the line on some other places to slip on a pair of ice skates in Charlotte and Meckbubria:
Extreme Ice Center
Pineville Ice House
Remember Mom's advice: "Keep you hands closed so you don't get your fingers cut off and don't lick the ice!"
Friday, January 1, 2010
My Dates with a Charleston TV News Reporter Part - One
I spend a lot of time in Charleston but at the same time, I'm not real familiar with local TV personalities. So when I was introduced to Ms. TV girl at a wedding in late October few years ago I had not a clue.
The introduction offered not much other than.. "This is my sister's … ummm.... college roommate, I think...." left to fend for myself I came up with the most amazing pickup line… "Hi"
Thank God she saved me with a cute complement about my tie.
So a few glasses of really nasty champagne, a turn around the dance floor and we were out the door. We stood in the parking lot, traded phone numbers and started to go our separate ways.
It's only 9:10 PM and I'm going home unless I do something quick, "Coffee"? I ask.
"I'd love some coffee", came the surprise reply.
I love a great coffee and know all the stops at home and but when I'm out of my element I am smart enough to follow. We took my Lexus and she gave directions.
Her choice first, it's not really late but her fav place is already closed. My turn, there's a five star restaurant with tiny bar in a hotel near by …. SCORE! A happy hostess, some really good champagne, one seven layer coconut cream cake to die for, two forks and then the best coffee.
I don't notice the stares at first, but before long I do notice. There's a couple in their mid sixties and they are staring and still I have no clue that this person, this stranger to me is no stranger to everyone else, as Ms. TV has described her profession as "I work in media" and she quickly changes the subject.
She asks me about my work. "My work is simple and at the same time complex, I'm an investment manager, as my father and my grandfather before me".
Neither of us are giving up any secrets tonight, but our conversation moves with an easy flow, my life in Charlotte, my friends, her friends, her dreams, mine.
Time stands still and the older couple soon depart. If there are other patrons I don't notice and soon it's just the two of us and the last of the restaurant staff.
I open the door for her, as the restaurant's vacuum comes to life and we step out into the moist evening air. I suddenly find her hand on my arm and she's holding on tight.
She's prefect, pretty, a great smile, with all the needed parts in all the right places. Though I don't know it yet, I'm about to bail.
Part Two is Here.
The introduction offered not much other than.. "This is my sister's … ummm.... college roommate, I think...." left to fend for myself I came up with the most amazing pickup line… "Hi"
Thank God she saved me with a cute complement about my tie.
So a few glasses of really nasty champagne, a turn around the dance floor and we were out the door. We stood in the parking lot, traded phone numbers and started to go our separate ways.
It's only 9:10 PM and I'm going home unless I do something quick, "Coffee"? I ask.
"I'd love some coffee", came the surprise reply.
I love a great coffee and know all the stops at home and but when I'm out of my element I am smart enough to follow. We took my Lexus and she gave directions.
Her choice first, it's not really late but her fav place is already closed. My turn, there's a five star restaurant with tiny bar in a hotel near by …. SCORE! A happy hostess, some really good champagne, one seven layer coconut cream cake to die for, two forks and then the best coffee.
I don't notice the stares at first, but before long I do notice. There's a couple in their mid sixties and they are staring and still I have no clue that this person, this stranger to me is no stranger to everyone else, as Ms. TV has described her profession as "I work in media" and she quickly changes the subject.
She asks me about my work. "My work is simple and at the same time complex, I'm an investment manager, as my father and my grandfather before me".
Neither of us are giving up any secrets tonight, but our conversation moves with an easy flow, my life in Charlotte, my friends, her friends, her dreams, mine.
Time stands still and the older couple soon depart. If there are other patrons I don't notice and soon it's just the two of us and the last of the restaurant staff.
I open the door for her, as the restaurant's vacuum comes to life and we step out into the moist evening air. I suddenly find her hand on my arm and she's holding on tight.
She's prefect, pretty, a great smile, with all the needed parts in all the right places. Though I don't know it yet, I'm about to bail.
Part Two is Here.
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