Update

So like I mentioned in the previous post I was in Charleston last week Wednesday through Friday for the annual NASLEF conference. I would have updated while on the trip, but my laptop harddrive crashed (UGH, oh well). I had never been to Charleston and I didn't know what I was missing. It's a beautiful, historic city. The weather was perfect, a little warm but not too humid. The conference hotel, the Francis Marion, where we stayed is in a great location across from Marion Square where the Citadel used to be and next to the College of Charleston (remind me again why I never thought about going to school there). I felt like I was with Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel visiting one of the hotels she reviews. On Wednesday afternoon we went on a tour of some of the LIHTC properties in the city. After the tour we had a reception at McCrady's which is in an awesome old building and apparently where George Washington ate when he was in town in, get this, 1791. Following the reception about ten of us from work went out to dinner at Slightly North of Broad(aka S.N.O.B.) and it was delicious. I had black jack bbq wahoo on top of lima beans, field peas, and yellow grits. I also had some peach cobbler for dessert. The dinner was similar to that I had at Aria for my mom's bday but Aria was better, though SNOB was pretty good.

Thursday brought on the conference and classes. It was good to meet some people in the "industry" from around the country and I even learned some stuff in the classes. I think most of the people have been to enough conferences to find them frustrating but since it was my first it was all new. They all said it was the best they've attended so I either it's all down hill from here or only up, hopefully it's all up from here. Thursday night we went to Middleton Place Plantation which has the oldest landscaped gardens in the country. If you've seen The Patriot with Mel Gibson parts of it were filmed there. At Middleton we had a horse wagon ride around the grounds, a reception, and a great dinner with entertainment provided by this character who was wearing a seersucker suit and told great stories. He even told a Gullah version of Brer Rabbit which was an education for most of the attendees who weren't from the south.

Friday morning we had two more class sessions and the conference officially ended at 12:15. I went to lunch with some people from work at King Fish and had a great chicken salad sandwich with grilled sweet potato medallions (that's my word, not their's). After lunch I changed clothes and then drove around the historic district for awhile. I found a good parking place down by the Battery which is at the end of the Charleston peninsula and walked along the waterfront for awhile and watched some dolphins about 20 feet away jumping and splashing around while eating a school of fish. After my driving tour I headed to Fort Moultrie and watched a cheesy informational movie about the Fort's history then I went and climbed around the fort. After my fort adventure I headed up US 17 instead of the interstate so I could drive through the country. Since I left Charleston around 4:30 or so I decided just to head back to Raleigh instead of camping which was ok because the trip was a blast in itself.

Camera phone pics and videos will be coming soon. If anyone out there wants to buy me a Canon 20D I'd greatly appreciate it.