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| Wisconsin sports stars, Front Row Amy celebrate Brewers Game 3 win |
| Posted on Thursday, October 15 @ 00:02:06 PDT (7 reads) | |
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If they didnt already, the milwaukee brewers should have the attention of the baseball world.
the brewers are up 3-0 in the national league championship series against the los angeles dodgers and are now one win victory away from the world series.
as the brewers were on their way to snatching game 3 in spectacular fashion with back-to-back home runs from jake bauers and garrett mitchell paving the way for the 6-2 victory, social media was in a frenzy over what was happening.
that included many former wisconsin sports stars from the nfl, nba, college basketball and mlb worlds.
theyre all fully invested in the magical run this brewers team is on and they were showing their support once again.
heres the reaction from former wisconsin sports stars, including the likes of cc sabathia, brandon jennings, mark tauscher, sam dekker, derek watt and more from the brewers game 3 win:
brewers social media reaction to game 3 win, jake bauers and garrett mitchell at-bats
front row amy reacts
front row amy reacts to the brewers game 3 win
who says the brewers dont hit home runs?
much was said before the postseason about the brewers inability to hit home runs. They were near the bottom during the regular season. Well, theyre doing it now on the biggest stage.
through three games they have outslugged the dodgers. Milwaukee has five home runs in the series and l.A. Has zero.
former brewers catcher eric kratz mentioned that fact:
while brewers fans were celebrating in the late innings, dodgers fans were shocked by the back-to-back homers off pitcher blake snell, who looked like vintage playoff blake snell until he didnt.
jake bauers at-bat
jake bauers epic 11-pitch at-bat that ended with a two-run home run to give the brewers a 3-2 lead is his second straight game with an incredible at-bat during a crucial moment in the game.
it was actually historic:
comeback crew
they dont call them the comeback crew for no reason.
brewers vs dodgers highlights
this article originally appeared on milwaukee journal sentinel: wisconsin sports stars, front row amy celebrate brewers game 3 win |
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| You Wont Believe How Far $50 Goes On These 7 Unforgettable Pennsylvania Day Trip |
| Posted on Thursday, October 15 @ 00:02:06 PDT (7 reads) | |
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Ready to find unforgettable day trips in pennsylvania that won’t cost you more than $50?
these 7 amazing places offer big adventures and lasting memories without emptying your wallet!
1. Fonthill castle (doylestown) every tower and turret tells a different story, and this aerial view proves castles belong in bucks county. Photo credit: n ?Y there are some places in pennsylvania that most people have never heard of, and that’s honestly a little shocking.
fonthill castle in doylestown is one of those places, and it deserves way more attention than it gets.
the castle rises up from the landscape like something out of a storybook, with stone towers and arched windows that make you do a double take.
it was built using a one-of-a-kind concrete construction method, and the result is a building that looks completely unlike anything else you’ve ever seen.
every single room inside is different from the last, with unique shapes, unexpected angles, and ceilings covered in colorful tiles collected from around the world.
the windows alone are worth the trip, because they come in so many different shapes and sizes that it feels like the builder was having a wonderful time making up the rules as he went.
fonthill castle rises from the pennsylvania countryside like a storybook dream nobody wanted to wake up from. Photo credit: wayne r. Little staircases twist and turn through the building in ways that make you feel like you’re exploring a real-life maze.
there are 44 rooms to discover, and each one has its own character and its own little details that reward a slow and curious visitor.
the grounds around the castle are lovely too, with green lawns and mature trees that frame the building beautifully.
guided tours are offered, and the guides bring the whole story of the castle to life with enthusiasm and great detail.
if you’ve been looking for a day trip that feels genuinely magical without costing a fortune, fonthill castle is your answer.
where: 525 e court st, doylestown, pa 18901
2. Eastern state penitentiary (philadelphia) these crumbling cellblock hallways stretch on forever, whispering stories that no history book could ever fully capture. Photo credit: william estrada philadelphia has no shortage of incredible historic sites, but eastern state penitentiary stands apart from all of them.
this former prison sits right in the middle of a city neighborhood, and its massive stone walls make it look more like a fortress than a place of punishment.
walking through the entrance feels like stepping into a completely different world, one where time stopped decades ago and never started back up again.
the long cellblock hallways are dramatic and haunting, with peeling paint, crumbling plaster, and rusted cell doors that creak in the quiet.
al capone was once held here, and his preserved cell is one of the most visited spots in the entire building.
the cell is surprisingly well-furnished compared to what you’d expect, which tells you something interesting about how certain prisoners were treated.
from the street, eastern state penitentiary looks impossibly grand, a fortress hiding decades of extraordinary american history behind its walls. Photo credit: severine dehermn the penitentiary was once considered the most famous prison in the world, and the self-guided audio tour does a brilliant job of explaining why.
voices of former inmates and guards narrate the audio experience, and their stories add a layer of depth that really pulls you into the history.
the architecture itself is stunning in a crumbling, overgrown kind of way, with vines and moss slowly reclaiming parts of the building over time.
every cellblock has its own chapter of history, and some of those chapters are genuinely jaw-dropping.
eastern state penitentiary is the kind of place that stays with you long after you’ve driven home, and that’s exactly what a great day trip should do.
where: 2027 fairmount ave, philadelphia, pa 19130
3. The mütter museum of the college of physicians of philadelphia (philadelphia) rows of skulls in gorgeous wooden cases make this the most beautifully unsettling library you’ll ever visit. Photo credit: patrick mifflin if you’ve never visited the mütter museum in philadelphia, you’re missing one of the most unusual and fascinating places in the entire state.
this is a medical museum, which means it’s filled with things that will make you think, wonder, and occasionally say something out loud that surprises even you.
the famous hyrtl skull collection is displayed along the walls of the main gallery in beautiful wooden cases, and it’s one of the most striking sights you’ll encounter anywhere.
antique medical instruments, preserved specimens, and detailed exhibits trace the history of medicine through the centuries in ways that are both educational and deeply interesting.
the building has a warm, victorian feel to it, with rich wood tones, brass railings, and a grand two-story layout that feels elegant and serious at the same time.
warm wood, brass railings, and victorian elegance make the mütter museum look far more inviting than its contents suggest. Photo credit: levarev the exhibits are handled with real care and respect, which makes the whole experience feel thoughtful rather than sensational.
you’ll find yourself learning things about the human body and the history of medicine that you never expected to pick up on a day trip.
some displays are surprising, some are strange, and a few will make you grateful for modern medicine in a very immediate way.
the museum draws visitors from all over the country, and it’s easy to understand why once you’re standing inside it.
it’s the kind of place that sparks real conversations, the kind you’re still having on the drive home.
weird, wonderful, and completely worth every penny of your $50 budget.
where: 19 s 22nd st, philadelphia, pa 19103
4. Phipps conservatory and botanical gardens (pittsburgh) that magnificent glass dome catches every cloud and ray of light, making pittsburgh’s phipps conservatory look absolutely otherworldly. Photo credit: sandy smith pittsburgh is a city full of surprises, and phipps conservatory and botanical gardens might be the most beautiful one of all.
the stunning glass structure sits in schenley park and catches the light in a way that makes it look like it’s glowing from the inside.
stepping through the doors wraps you in warm, humid air and surrounds you with lush greenery that feels like an instant escape from everyday life.
the conservatory is organized into a series of rooms, and each one transports you to a different corner of the natural world.
tropical plants tower overhead in one room, while delicate orchids and ferns fill the next with color and fragrance.
the seasonal flower shows are the stuff of legend among regular visitors, and they draw crowds from all across pennsylvania and beyond.
inside phipps, cheerful bear sculptures stand guard over a riot of daffodils and tulips that shout pure springtime joy. Photo credit: andrew vitko spring brings an explosion of tulips, daffodils, and other blooms that fill every room with color and make the whole place feel alive.
the outdoor gardens are carefully designed and beautifully maintained, offering a peaceful walk through changing landscapes no matter what time of year you visit.
phipps is also recognized as one of the most environmentally responsible buildings in the country, with a deep commitment to sustainability built into everything it does.
so you get beauty, nature, history, and a feel-good environmental story all wrapped up in one affordable day trip.
whether you’re a dedicated plant lover or just someone who appreciates a gorgeous space, phipps delivers something special every single visit.
where: 1 schenley drive, pittsburgh, pa 15213
5. The national civil war museum (harrisburg) this cannon isn’t just a museum piece, it’s a gut-punch reminder of what real american history actually looked like. Photo credit: jennifer biggs harrisburg is pennsylvania’s capital city, and it’s home to one of the finest civil war museums in the entire country.
the national civil war museum tells the story of america’s most painful conflict with honesty, depth, and a real respect for everyone involved.
what sets this museum apart is its commitment to showing both sides of the war, giving equal attention to the union and confederate perspectives in a way that feels fair and complete.
the artifact collection is remarkable, with real weapons, uniforms, personal letters, and battlefield equipment that bring the human reality of the war into sharp focus.
life-size displays and carefully crafted dioramas put you right in the middle of the action, making the battles feel immediate and real rather than distant and abstract.
uniforms, rifles, and battlefield artifacts line these walls, turning the national civil war museum into a powerful, deeply human experience. Photo credit: russell henninger sr the stories of ordinary soldiers and civilians are woven throughout the exhibits, and those personal stories are often the most powerful moments in the whole museum.
you’ll find yourself slowing down in front of display cases, reading every word, and feeling genuinely moved by what you’re learning.
the building sits on a hill in reservoir park, and the setting adds a quiet dignity to the whole experience.
plan to spend more time here than you think you’ll need, because this is the kind of museum that rewards a slow and thoughtful visit.
history enthusiasts will be in heaven, and even casual visitors tend to leave with a new appreciation for this chapter of american history.
where: 1 lincoln cir, harrisburg, pa 17103
6. Gettysburg national military park museum & visitor center (gettysburg) standing beside these cannons at gettysburg, you feel the weight of history pressing down on every blade of grass. Photo credit: christopher kearney there are very few places in pennsylvania that carry the kind of weight and meaning that gettysburg does.
the gettysburg national military park museum and visitor center is the ideal place to begin your exploration of this historic ground.
the museum is packed with civil war artifacts, interactive displays, and clear, compelling storytelling that explains the three-day battle in a way that anyone can follow and appreciate.
the cyclorama is one of the true highlights of the visit, a massive circular painting of pickett’s charge that wraps all the way around you and pulls you right into the scene.
standing in the center of that painting and taking in the detail and scale of it is an experience that’s genuinely hard to put into words.
the pennsylvania memorial at gettysburg stands tall against a brilliant blue sky, honoring courage that words can barely describe. Photo credit: amybeth givens after the museum, the battlefield itself awaits, with hundreds of monuments, markers, and cannons spread across the rolling pennsylvania landscape.
the pennsylvania state memorial is one of the grandest monuments on the field, with its impressive dome and the names of thousands of pennsylvania soldiers recorded on its walls.
walking or driving through the battlefield gives you a sense of the enormous scale of the conflict that no textbook or documentary can fully convey.
entry to the park is free, which makes this one of the most remarkable values on this entire list.
national park service rangers lead programs and tours that add incredible depth to the experience, and the rangers at gettysburg are among the very best in the country.
every pennsylvanian should make this trip at least once, and most people who do find themselves planning a return visit before they’ve even left the parking lot.
where: 1195 baltimore pike ste 100, gettysburg, pa 17325
7. Knoebels amusement resort (elysburg) that rainbow wave swing ride at knoebels is pure vintage magic, spinning joy like it’s always been in style. Photo credit: lily “lilypad.Ua” padua saving the most joyful stop for last feels exactly right, because knoebels amusement resort in elysburg is pure happiness.
nestled into a beautiful wooded valley in central pennsylvania, this beloved amusement park has been bringing smiles to people of all ages for generations.
the thing that makes knoebels truly different from every other amusement park you’ve visited is that there’s no gate admission fee.
you drive in, park your car for free, walk through the entrance, and start enjoying yourself without spending a single dollar to get in the door.
rides are paid for individually, so you’re completely in control of how much you spend, which makes it a perfect fit for a $50 day trip budget.
the park has a warm, nostalgic atmosphere that feels like a step back to a time when fun was simple and nobody was trying to sell you a premium experience upgrade.
bright rides tucked between tall trees give knoebels its irresistible charm, a place where fun never goes out of fashion. Photo credit: desmond tall trees shade the midway, colorful rides spin and dip between the branches, and the whole place hums with a relaxed and happy energy.
the phoenix wooden roller coaster has earned a worldwide reputation as one of the greatest wooden coasters ever built, and riding it will make you understand exactly why.
the haunted mansion dark ride is another classic that has delighted visitors for decades and continues to be one of the most beloved attractions in the park.
beyond the rides, there’s a beautiful carousel, a large swimming pool, and a campground for anyone who wants to stretch the fun into a full weekend.
the food at knoebels has its own devoted following, with pierogies and hand-dipped ice cream being two of the most talked-about items among regular visitors.
knoebels is living proof that a great day out doesn’t have to cost a fortune, and your $50 will go further here than almost anywhere else on this list.
where: 391 knoebels blvd, elysburg, pa 17824
pennsylvania is packed with incredible experiences just waiting for you to show up and enjoy them.
grab your $50, hit the road, and go discover something amazing right here in your own state! |
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| The year I turned 18: It was 1990 and the news was full of riots. But I was drea |
| Posted on Thursday, October 15 @ 00:02:06 PDT (6 reads) | |
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By paula cocozza ,
20 minutes ago paula cocozza on her 18th birthday with her grandmother and younger brother. Composite: the guardian the house in which i turned 18 was full of clocks. Dark wooden things with aged faces. Every room ticked. If you stood in certain doorways, you could hear all the misaligned second hands racing. I could not understand why anyone would want to count away life like that or decorate their living quarters with so many symbols of mortality.
there was no escaping time. Shortly before each hour, a mechanical whir heralded the first chime. We lived in a retirement town with an elderly and conservative population, which amplified the ticking. Worthing, on the south coast of england, was known as “god’s waiting room”. Death was there in our wide, slow roads and low bungalows, the grey sea mists and blue rinses.
but i was young, and i scorned the clocks. Time was no master of mine. I answered only to love. And poetry. And fashion. And boys i liked.
at least, i think i’ve got that right. But how well does any of us remember being 18? For 17 years, we set our sights on that beacon of independence, the coruscating wonder of adulthood and all the freedom we imagine it entails. But within a few years, the day slips from view.
how did you celebrate? What did you wish for? Who did you hope to be? And if, like me, you’ve lost all memory of your 18th and need an hrt patch, creatine powder and phone alarms to recall anything, can you get it back? Over the past month, i have tried to return to april 1990 – when i became an adult – to turn back the clocks and rediscover what life was like then. And what i was like.
sadly, no one has invented the machine for this yet. But no worries. I have other tools: vintage poison eau de cologne, a clutch of letters i wrote and never posted, photographs, books, college reports, my teenage poems, facebook, a bottle of southern comfort and a bag of granny smith apples.
with these, i hope to send myself back in time, to visit my old best friend, and the guy i loved, and to experience life, however fleetingly, as my 18-year-old self experienced it. I hope to see again how the world looked to my peers and me as we hatched into adulthood – right there at the dawn of the 90s, a decade coveted by natives of every decade since, but from which i longed to teleport to the 60s.
the cap’s off the purple flask, wrists doused with christian dior’s poison. I’m on my way. “Most sensory inputs go first to an area of the brain called the thalamus,” says catherine loveday, a podcast host and professor specialising in memory. “Smell goes directly to the memory centres.” I’ve been catapulted into my 18-year-old body. It’s a blitz. A spritz of pure joy and promise. I keep sniffing my own wrist: i can’t get enough of me. I smell dramatic. Strong. Sweet. Potent. Ready. Something is going to happen .
drenched in plum and spicy tuberose, i drive the 60 miles from my home in london to worthing. At the general election in 2024, worthing west got its first ever labour mp, partly due to a spillover from edgier brighton. Although the average age of the town’s population has risen by a few years since i turned 18 – 44 at the last census – it feels much younger.
there are other changes. The phone box at the end of our road, where i made my private calls, has gone. I have a phone in my pocket, of course, which in the spirit of 1990 i’m trying to pretend doesn’t exist. I’m unable to access emails . For anything urgent, please write me a letter …
our old house is painted yellow still, and the wooden gates my dad, a builder, made remain – though they’ve gone grey, and the house hasn’t been ours for 22 years. Seeing the sameness and the differences simultaneously is like wearing bifocals. I’m both here, and back there.
as i set off to my former college, i’m amazed to find that my feet know exactly where to cross each road. I walked this route daily, no phone or headphones, and took in whatever the path put before me. The slope of a church roof; ivy lacing through the chain-link fence; litter snared in weeds. Each apparently insignificant sighting thrills me with a very specific sense, unfamiliar to my 54-year-old self, that i am in the right place .
thoughts fly up out of the paving cracks: the 1960s minidress pattern i found in a charity shop; phrases from the italian library tapes i got on permanent renewal; “ moon lady” and “balloons”, the titles of the poems i was working on; the dream saturday job i’d landed at volume one bookshop in town; my next order from city lights bookstore in san francisco, where i solemnly sent dollar notes, then waited six weeks for excitingly slim volumes of poetry to land on the mat, into whose pages i would tuck slips of paper bearing precious observations: “vowel length.”
i probably thought about my homework essays. “ Why did race relations become an issue in british politics after 1945?”, And “ is the change in mr darcy credible, or do we believe it because we want to?” I certainly wanted to believe it. I thought about “the one” incessantly. In 1990, the median age for a first marriage in the uk was 24 for women. When we turned 18, we all heard the clocks ticking.
and there was another, adjacent, race against time. The world divided into haves and have-nots, and i had not. If the internet had been built, it would have told me that most women in england lost their virginity at 18. It was a core belief of mine that this state of being must be addressed before my 19th birthday, and that failure to do so would mean there was something seriously wrong with me.
there was no reprieve from self-consciousness about this. When my secondhand jeans tore at the ass, channelling my love of william blake and the beat poets, i patched them with a rose from some curtain fabric, and one day, as i was climbing the stairs at college, the boy behind me asked, “is that your flower?” The shame.
so many things have gone since then. The lloyds bank tower i passed each day has been turned into apartments. Its huge digital clock was removed a decade ago, after it got stuck on 00:00. My college is a housing estate, the bakery a patisserie. The newsagent has stopped being anything at all. Only the butcher has retained its beguiling awning: national award-winning sausages .
i used to buy a crunchie from that newsagent – the honeycomb was less fattening, and i sold enough copies of rosemary conley’s hip and thigh diet on saturdays to know the dangers – and a packet of salt and vinegar discos. Thanks to the fetishisation of 1990s snacks, you can find them in tesco; i’ve brought a pack with me.
the salt is saltier and the vinegar more vinegary than any other crisp or chip i know. It could burn the bumps off your tongue. Good, because a postdoc research fellow at the university of north dakota, utkarsh gupta, has shown that multi-sensory integration can help people who wish to undertake “mental time travel”. Last year he published research showing that “people who were embodying a younger version of themselves” – by seeing themselves virtually embodied with their childlike face – “had better childhood memory”. The discos are doing the same for me.
as i walk, i look around for friends. I keep an eye out for anyone interesting crossing the central reservation. Round the roundabout the cars come and go. Unlike them, i am heading somewhere.
at high school, when i took on science subjects i wasn’t very good at, my grades sprawled from as to ds. Our family had a tradition of work over further education, and at 16 my dad suggested i look for an accountancy apprenticeship. By then, i’d held 10 part-time jobs, in shops, a cafe, guest house, a supermarket and offices. Every week, the local paper had eight pages of situations vacant and i’d switch jobs for 10p more an hour. I rarely heard the word “university” – nobody had graduated in my family.
but i loved books. In our house, shelves dense with clocks and ornaments, reading felt transgressive. Sometimes i’d bring a book to the dinner table, and be told to put it away. (“No phones at the table!” Parent-me echoes.) As rebellions go, enrolling at college sounds pretty tame, but it was the first meaningful choice i made for myself, and it remains, to this day, my best. A door opened right then to a different life.
education made me feel special. In the staffroom, words like “delivery” and “impact” were creeping into the lexicon, but we students remained blissfully ignorant. “Impact – so much more violent than effect ,” mr fraser, my old english teacher, muses now.
of course, we were all debilitatingly self-conscious – but not collectively so. We hadn’t yet been named generation x. Douglas coupland’s book was still a year away. And i don’t recall hearing the word “anxiety”.
we had a future.
the world wasn’t ending anytime soon. Michael jackson had his oxygen chamber and was going to live for ever. Maybe we would too. There was no climate crisis. As an advert in the local paper promised, 1990 is going to be another scorching summer. At least for the lucky ones in a mazda open top. I didn’t drive; i rode a bike, oiled myself with hawaiian tropic and bragged to a friend that it was “boiling” at 24c. Sure, there was a hole in the ozone layer, but it was small and far away. The girl i sat beside in government and political studies wore a cnd badge, doodled mushroom clouds and taunted meat-eaters with mad cow disease, but we thought her a pessimist.
initially, i took it easy at college. “Perhaps a more consistent effort across the board would enable her to raise her standard,” my report observed. But somewhere between 17 and 18, i grew serious. I spent lunch breaks in the library. The reports changed their tune. “Paula always gives of her best.” One morning, my form tutor told me: “carry on like this and you’ll be applying to oxbridge.”
i knew about oxford and cambridge from the boat race, which was televised annually on bbc’s grandstand. But i’d never heard of oxbridge. I asked my tutor where it was. “Well, it’s a word for both of them,” he said irritably.
later, i studied matching towel bales, teasmades and filter coffee jugs in the argos catalogue in preparation for my next life phase.
***
the month i turned 18 was momentous in england. In the evenings leading to my birthday, i curled up in my corner spot on our brown dralon sofa – it just about went with the orange carpet my dad brought home from an american express refurb – to watch the bbc nine o’clock news. Inmates of strangeways prison in manchester paced their roofs. Riots spread to other prisons. There were riots against the poll tax and the egregiousness of a system that asked people living in council housing to pay the same as millionaires. Billionaires weren’t on anyone’s radar; there were fewer than 100 in the uk and us.
in six months, margaret thatcher would be ousted. The week of my birthday, a poll reported her to be the least popular prime minister in half a century. And alongside the ads for lost cats, funeral directors, private vasectomies, dial-a-tan and cars with one careful lady owner, the “coming of age” section of the worthing herald announced, “ cocozza – congratulations, dear paula. Good luck, health and happiness in the future. Much love dad, mum, rob, joe and nan .”
the labour party was a joke in my house growing up – how we laughed when neil kinnock fell in the sea in nearby brighton. My political awakening comprised a moderate shift to the left. My radicalism was confined to my reading – the beats, jean genet, arthur rimbaud. There were drugs in those books but i went no further than an occasional smoke with friends on the forecourt of a beach hut.
members of my extended family had undergone shock treatment. Graylingwell psychiatric hospital loomed at the corner of my mind’s eye. Now, i wonder if the beats appealed because they made mental illness seem heroic; swapped the stigma for a beatific glow. Maybe my folks weren’t crazy, but the best minds of their generation.
i never made the connection. I was about to unwrap a rose-gold bracelet, a hardback copy of federico garcía lorca’s poet in new york, and a smith corona electronic typewriter, on which i hoped to write better poems. (Exiling myself./I held the door;/shut/on those sharp,/intransigent, wood-chipped faces,/quilted cuddles/of oven glove and potpourri wraps.)
the week after my birthday, i awoke in the middle of the night and fumbled for a pencil. Without switching on the light, i wrote a verse:
“this world is full of words”
mmm hmmm
and went back to sleep.
then, as now, i believed that the best answer to riots, the possibility of nuclear war, political upheaval, ticking clocks and pretty much anything else was love and books.
i was so busy revising for my a-levels that when c, the boy i liked, phoned to invite me to play tennis, i told him i was busy.
if i stepped back to consider the vastness of the continents, the world’s 5.3 billion population, and the needle-in-a-haystack odds of finding a soulmate, i felt incredibly lucky to have walked into the extracurricular english poetry class and seen him, floppy-fringed, bespectacled, watching don’t look back , da pennebaker’s 1967 documentary about bob dylan on the classroom television, which i too had recorded from tv on a vhs .
he was a year older than me and already had a place at cambridge. He gave me feedback on my practice essays. “It’s really not as important as you think,” he scribbled in red pen on a torn bit of a4. “It’s not as important as chaplin, as dylan, kerouac, ginsberg, beatles, football, love, life, sex and death. It’s worthless in the face of these.”
to me, he was sophisticated. His family wasn’t in the phone book. They had two sofas. His mother once told my mother, highly amused, that i’d asked her what broccoli was.
c could quote from anything, including casanova. Sometimes he brought his guitar to my house and sang, and i felt an immense release, and joy, listening, too shy to sing along. We sat for hours on opposite ends of my pink duvet, in my immaculate room that my mother tidied daily, with my pink carpet and matching velveteen wastebin mum had made from a washed-out catering tin, and we talked and talked – though neither of us remembers what about – and we both smiled when the brooch holding my crossover sweater accidentally unpinned itself, but for now, nothing happened.
“men and women can’t be just friends because the sex part always gets in the way,” harry told sally; how i hoped he was right.
“yes, but do you love him? Or is it an obsession?” My best friend, d, in her infinite wisdom, asked. She liked psychology and could parse the meaning of things said and unsaid. I thought it was love. But i didn’t see the big difference.
obsession, as we all knew from calvin klein, was a very sexy, intense and stylish state of mind. It meant you couldn’t stop thinking about the other person, which sounded about right, and in some regards was more special than love. There are many loves, but only one obsession.
i carried out endless feasibility debates with myself about my romantic path. I wanted what lizzy bennet and mr darcy had, cindy crawford and richard gere, or fay roadnight and colin benzie, the newlywed couple featured in the worthing herald the week of my 18th.
every friday, when the paper came out, i’d sit at the pine kitchen table dad had made, eating the salted peanuts my nan brought on her weekly visit, savouring the wedding announcements. G iven away by her father, the bride wore a taffeta, bo-peep-style dress and carried a bouquet of roses and gypsophila .
i was by now an a-grade student, but i had no intellectual or ethical problem with spending hours immersed in the practicalities of my fantasies.
tom cruise was officially the sexiest man alive, but he wasn’t my type. Ideally, i wanted to go out with bob dylan as he was in 1967. I would have settled for la law’s victor sifuentes or paolo maldini, the young ac milan defender. But mostly it seemed a travesty to my 18-year-old self that i was born 31 years after dylan, an age gap that rendered him a romantic outlier. Maldini was more attainable, being four years my senior and on the same continent, and weren’t we soon all going to be in the exchange rate mechanism? Mind you, he had his world cup debut at italia 90 to focus on.
it is one of the puzzles of the age that all yearning seemed faintly plausible. Nothing was completely ruled out. I don’t know if this was naivety or arrogance or both. I bought dylan’s under the red sky when it came out in september, but the guy on the sleeve looked ancient. He was 49, an age i now know to be young.
“do you believe in women’s rights?” C asked one day.
“i believe in human rights,” i told him. I wanted the same as the next person, but i wasn’t going to throw my love life under the bus for feminism; we still hadn’t kissed.
“what did we talk about?” I ask him now. We’ve met up for lunch, as we do every few years. It’s a bit of a blur, he says. I shouldn’t take it personally. He has whole marriages he doesn’t remember. “We would have talked about books, played records …”
he says memory has an evolutionary function. We remember what we need to survive. Of our time together at 18, there are only “pretty vague memories, because they’re essentially quite positive. They didn’t really serve,” he says.
my laptop is open at a document of notes: scraps of dialogue, an exchange of looks, our first kiss, all as sharp and infinitely replayable as mental gifs. I wonder what this says about our relative threat to each other’s survival.
were we happy? Content? “You know, this notion of happiness,” c says. “You only know it in retrospect. The point when you’re happy, you don’t go: ‘i’m happy.’” Besides, he says, “i’ve never had a very good barometer on my actual feelings. There actually, genuinely, was the friendship level to us. Completely. We liked similar things, and not many people did. You were very observant. Somehow subtly you were always paying attention. You were always watching stuff. And you were very strong-willed underneath it all. You were introverted, a little shy, thoughtful, and you were always interesting to talk to. Even if i talked more than you. That’s my take.”
***
on monday morning, my alarm clock wakes me with a saturday night feeling. I am going to see my friend d, and it doesn’t matter what the calendar says. D means saturday nights. We used to get ready in her bedroom; kneeling on the carpet in front of her mirror, swigging from a 1.5l bottle of liebfraumilch.
before i can recall any of the above, some ancient muscle memory has put me in matching underwear and knelt me on my bedroom floor, wondering why the mirror is so dusty and all my eyeshadows have crusted over. I haven’t seen d in 30 years. I no longer wear makeup. Or get ready. This might be because i’m always ready, or never ready.
who cares about makeup? You’ll only have to take it off tonight. Do you even own makeup remover? … I’m waiting for my middle-aged self to intercept, but she’s busy rummaging in the jewellery box, joy in her heart and a song on her lips. She snaps a gold bangle around her wrist – my 18th birthday gift – and bounds out the front door as if something very exciting is about to happen.
and it is.
i am going to hang out with the friend i hung out with at 18. The friend i went on saturday-night pub crawls with. The friend who went to the bar because she looked 18 before she was 18, while i didn’t look 18 even when i was. For my milestone birthday, she laid the table in her family lounge with a red paper cloth, lit a candle and cooked me dinner. I loved her. But we haven’t met in 32 years.
d drank snakebite and black from pint glasses; i sipped southern comfort mixed with lemonade. Sometimes she was very sophisticated and asked for perrier, a drink i was not confident of pronouncing. Over the course of an evening, we’d have five or six, but somehow only paid for one or two. I was the one who occasionally had to be pushed home along the promenade in a shopping trolley.
now here we are, sitting across the table at a lounge bar at midday, scanning qr codes for menus and wondering what it means that we both want the same salad and fizzy rhubarb drink.
she remembers me as coy. We talked about our loves, our mothers, fathers, brothers, jobs, the black lace book series, ann summers parties. We vented, made each other laugh, barely thought about the future.
“i do believe i love people and have faith in human nature,” i wrote in a letter to her that year.
and: “sometimes it can do us good to put up with things we don’t like. It brings other elements in our personality out and makes us feel proud of our powers of endurance.”
sometimes i mailed letters to d even when we were both at home, a mile apart. “Would you like to go out early this wk? Will phone …”
***
the day after d and i meet, my daughter turns 18. I ask her out for a drink. I want to taste southern comfort again, see if it will catapult me back, like the poison, the sight of my teeth marks in the waxy green skin of a granny smith, or the detonating surprise of warm ketchup on a cold piece of iceberg lettuce, when i honour my 18-year-old self with a plate of birds eye chicken and chips.
but our local pubs don’t stock southern comfort.
“is it a sipping whisky?” My daughter asks, and i laugh at her use of a phrase i have never needed, even at my age. We both get cokes.
so, did turning 18 feel like a big deal?
“i didn’t give a fuck,” she says. “Everyone else seemed to, though.”
when i was two months older than her, my a-levels done, i got a job in a secondhand bookshop. Few customers came in; most wanted to sell us john braine’s room at the top. One day, a customer asked if we had any kerouac. Did he know he was in worthing? I lent him mine, he lent me his neil young tapes. He became a regular, rolling cigarettes into a little tin by the three-bar electric fire while we chatted.
r had left school at 16, and was considering night school, something he clearly accomplished because he’s now a university professor. “There was a sense that it was a good time to be young,” he says. “Or that youth was something valuable. We were quite disillusioned – at 18 there’s always an existential stress – but it didn’t feel like a burden. If you think about our kids, and students now, the pressure … they can’t escape. They’re scrutinised all the time.”
“you helped me realise that reading could be a momentous act, rather than just a way of filling time,” r says. “And that writing meant something.”
a few months after we met, i found residential work at a hotel bar in the italian alps, and r became another person i wrote letters to. In the mornings before my shift started, i’d sit on the balcony and write to friends au pairing in france, germany, panama, or in their first year at university. I listened to neil young on my walkman and the drip-drip of melting snow. From noon till 8pm, i’d manage the bar, the fog of smoke lowering as the day wore on. I paid careful attention to the customers’ grammar. Non la trovi bellissima? One guy asked his friend about me. Don’t you find her beautiful? No , the friend replied. Oh, the things that stick in our heads.
“i really believe there’s not much to leaving home,” i wrote to my brother. “When you want to get out, just do it; cos it’s not true that you need things doing for you – cooking etc … there’s so much to see.”
i’m not sure how to explain my approach to personal safety back then to my own children, who are 15 and 18. “To get an offer of dinner, all you have to do is walk along the pavement,” i wrote. “Cars stop all the time. If they look ok, you jump in.”
***
i have to order the southern comfort from amazon. It’s a powerful time machine. At the first sip, i feel i’ve had too many. It tastes sweet and intense and full of things that might happen and haven’t happened. Sticky carpet. Worry i’ve laddered my stockings. The countdown of melting ice, leaving me with a watery drink that’s gone on too long and finished too soon …
above all, i suspect that life then was lived in a state of yearning, teetering between delight and disappointment.
the year i turned 18, everything happened and nothing happened. It was the year i fell properly in love and, unrelated, lost my virginity. It was the year i first left home, travelled alone, made my own clothes, learned italian, and admitted to myself that i wanted to be a writer, even if i forgot this till i read it in a letter 35 years later and realised i’d been living the dream all these years.
i went to cambridge. C met someone else.
meeting, and occasionally embodying, my 18-year-old self has felt exhilarating, debilitating, harrowing. Like being stuck between worlds. I’ve watched makeup tutorials, bought coloured eye sticks, ogled a silver leather miniskirt with my future 21-year-old self in mind, and found myself asking, “are they the one?” Of random souls who cross my path (sorry).
when i’ve tried to make sense of the disorientation by writing – something that hasn’t changed – every key on the keyboard has felt like a mess i can’t put away. So how to evaluate my life since? I am not a published poet, as 18-year-old me would have loved me to be, but i have written two novels. I’ve found love a few times, and have a loving family.
three years ago, when i turned 50, i asked my parents for a carriage clock. It sits on the mantelpiece, and i only occasionally register its tick. |
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| Library : Our Lady in Old Irish Folklore and Hymns | Catholic Culture |
| Posted on Thursday, October 15 @ 00:02:06 PDT (7 reads) | |
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Our lady in old irish folklore and hymns
the tradition and literature of the gael provide ample evidence that early christian ireland was in a very marked way devoted to the mother of god. Of these sources of evidence, the most telling and fascinating seem to be folklore and hymns.
the name of mary was so treasured by the ancient irish that they were wont to use it to leaven with beauty and sweetness their everyday speech and actions. That name flashed like a jewel in commonplace greetings such as: may god and mary bless you. Its protection was often invoked when people were about to undertake an important journey. Proof of this we have in the ancient prayer still used in gaelic-speaking parts of ireland: may the cross of christs body and mary guard us on the road. It hallowed the lips of a visitor to a house when, on entering it, he said: may god and mary bless all here. It was used to show reverence for the dignity and goodness of labor in the expression: may god and mary bless your work. It very often appeared in prayerful ejaculations for the dead whom the ancient gaels strong sense of spiritual kinship could never hand over to oblivion in the grave. The name of mary was, indeed, a household word, for it was one of the most favored names for irish womanhood. But, to manifest unique respect for this name, it was muire in gaelic for our lady and maire for all other marys.
in the hymns, too, which were an integral part of gaelic folklore, there is striking evidence of devotion to our lady. Much material disclosing this evidence was discovered for us by the late dr. Douglas hyde. From the lips of gaelic speakers this noted protestant scholar collected a body of hymns, which he published with the title, religious songs of connaught. This collection, even if we had no evidence from other sources, yields ample proof of popular devotion to our lady in ancient ireland, for there is no surer mark of the trend of a nations thought than the traditional lore of its people. For this incorporation of religious ideals in gaelic tradition we have, very likely, to thank the old irish tribal system. Thus it happened that the irish (who--with the exception of the greeks--were the only european race to blend their mythology with their history) loved to mingle their christian memories with the secular records of their land.
as in the daily speech of the people, we find in this collection many brief prayers in verse form to hallow the most commonplace actions. And in most of these we find the name of mary invoked with fascinating simplicity and a profound confidence in her maternal protection.
the hymns, too (which came from scholarship), reveal a signal devotion to the mother of god. What they manifest is of special worth because the hymn was the spiritual brother of the secular poem, and the latter was the most characteristic mode of cultured expression in old gaelic literature. The themes of hymnology, therefore, were well calculated to capture the reverence of a people governed by deep emotion, vivid imagination and a marked attachment to music.
for the earliest of these scholarly hymn tributes to mary we can go back to patrician times to a theologian and poet whose name was revered throughout western europe. This man, sedulius, was the author of the carmen paschale still preserved by the church in the divine office. In this hymn we find this beautiful tribute paid to marys immaculate conception:
safe from the rugged thorn springs up the tender rose
in honour hidden the parent stem, in beautys softness grows;
so from the sinful stem of eve all sinless mary came,
to cover and to expiate her mothers deed of shame.
about the same era, st. Ultan, in his christus in nostra insula, indirectly praises our lady, when with her he compares st. Brigid, the national patroness of ireland. Speaking of st. Brigid he considers the praise he gave her the highest when he likens her to mary.
passing to the sixth century we find st. Columbanus, irelands premier foreign missionary, telling us how our hope for life immortal came to us through mary. As death, he says, has come to us through eve, so is the path of all life opened to us through mary. Equally devoted to our lady was st. Columcille of the same century whose name is so often linked in honor with the names of patrick and brigid in the national tradition. From the same period we have a hymn of st. Colman in honor of the blessed virgin, which was considered a powerful protection against plague.
after these we pass to aengus in the tenth century who has many references to our lady in his festology of the saints. In one of the best parts of this work there appears a hymn to the infant jesus by st. Ita who, with an intimate and fascinating tenderness, seeks to imitate mary as the gentle and reverent nurse of the divine child. To this same century celtic scholars ascribe the liber hymnorum, which contains considerable evidence of old irish devotion to mary. In this we find a long list of native saints grouped in pairs because of supposed similarity between their lives. Of all these saints the one most honored is brigid because she is placed in the company of our lady. In the liber hymnorum, too, there is another beautiful hymn rich in celtic fervor in honor of the mother of god. In this all the glories of mary most prized by catholic hearts are sung with a rhythmic grace and familiarity of expression very suggestive of modern marian hymnology. We here produce some of its verses from an excellent translation by father potter, a former professor of all hallows college, dublin:
in alternate measure chanting, daily sing we marys praise,
and in strains of glad rejoicing, to the lord our voices raise. Br>with a twofold choir repeating marys never-dying fame,
let each ear the praises gather, which our grateful tongues proclaim.
judahs ever-glorious daughter, chosen mother of the lord,
who, to weak and fallen manhood, all its ancient worth restored.
from the everlasting father, gabriel brought the glad decree,
that the word divine conceiving, she should set poor sinners free.
of all virgins pure, the purest, ever stainless, ever bright,
still from grace to grace advancing, fairest daughter of the light.
wondrous title--who shall tell it--whilst the word divine she bore,
though in mothers name rejoicing, virgin purer than before!
by a womans disobedience, eating the forbidden tree,
was the world betrayed and ruined, and by womans hand set free.From the same source we give yet another quotation which embodies a typically celtic tribute to mary:
mary, the mother of the creator,
the holy virgin; she is our sister,
and she is akin to every triad.
for the student of gaelic poetry there is much enshrined in this verse. Here the strong family and tribal instinct of the writer leads him to strike the true celtic note of spiritual kinship with the blessed virgin and, thereby, intimacy with the world of the supernatural. He envisions a sublime family in which he holds membership. Furthermore, he seeks, with a sense of profound devotion to his great sister, mary, to bestow on her the highest praise in simple bardic fashion by saying she is akin to every triad. The triad or triple proverb containing the condensed and traditional wisdom of the gael is frequently encountered in epic tale and ancient poem. Its triple character implied a sacrosanct and mystic significance, which carried an authority almost bordering on the infallible. If, then, our lady was akin to every triad, she was a person for whom no praise could be too great and one of whom to think otherwise was to challenge one of the truest and most sacred ideals of ancient gaeldom.
we conclude with reference to a hymn entitled: the protecting corselet of mary which the great scholar, ocurry, considered to be seven hundred or more years old. It is rich in laudatory epithet of a decidedly celtic type. An attractive simplicity of thought, recalling the closeness of the early gael to nature, lives in these lines. The rugged humility of the tribesman and the chivalry of the good warrior seek hand-in-hand the protection and leadership of a great queen in whom they see a fount of spiritual fortitude and a mighty inspiration. Its note of childlike familiarity and trustfulness tell of the ease with which the irish have always lived in the world of the supernatural. Heaven for the writer of this hymn meant simply the visit of a child to its mother. Of that visit he felt assured just because she was such a mother and he had such a vivid sense of his childlike right to her maternal protection.
this item 3137 digitally provided courtesy of catholicculture.Org |
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| A Theory of Corporate Bad Faith |
| Posted on Thursday, October 15 @ 00:02:06 PDT (7 reads) | |
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There are four forms of corporate bad faith: intentional misconduct, knowing violation of law (massey), violation of the duty of oversight (caremark), and corporate waste. Each is a distinct theory of the case in a cause of action for “bad faith.” The four forms appear to be an archipelago of discrete rules fashioned for specific contexts and classified under the common moniker “bad faith.” But beneath the apparent discreteness of these rules is a unifying theory of bad faith that binds them in a cogent doctrine: the fiduciary rule of good faith in corporate law is an equitable gap filler—it is a residual, anti-evasion principle.
anti-evasion and first order principle of bad faith
bad faith plugs major holes in the traditional fiduciary framework of care and loyalty. The duty of care encompasses the decision-making process, and the classic duty of loyalty encompasses an exacting but narrow spectrum of conflict-of-interest dealings. The doctrine of good faith functions as an equitable gap filler such that a fiduciary cannot evade liability for knowingly engaging in any wrongful act.
a helpful starting point is the laws of partnerships and llcs. Noncorporate firms are contract-based entities, and their laws have adopted the contractual obligation of good faith and fair dealing into the standard of conduct. Even when contracting is central, good faith is a nonwaivable statutory-contract term and covers gaps that neither party anticipated at the time of organizational contracting. Corporate law is different. It has no concept of a contractual good faith. Because fiduciary duties are mandatory, corporate good faith is a tort-like fiduciary duty.
despite the fundamental difference between contract and torts, there is a conceptual commonality: both rules of good faith serve the same anti-evasion function, precluding a party from technically satisfying a narrower obligation while defeating the very purpose that obligation was designed to serve. Corporate good faith thus functions as a gap filler, not in contract but in equitable tort duty: the fiduciary duty of good faith is a residual, anti-evasion principle.
the four forms of bad faith are not an archipelago of discrete rules, but instead they are bound by a first-order principle, which is embodied in the statutory proscription of “intentional misconduct.” Subjective bad faith is the organizing principle and serves as the catch-all rule and incorporation of the anti-evasion principle. The other three forms of bad faith (massey, caremark, and waste) are derivative second-order rules, context-specific and addressing recurring forms of misconduct.
knowledge of wrong as minimum scienter
the doctrine of corporate bad faith can be confusing because lawmakers have applied so many different terms to describe conduct and scienter. We know them well: “subjective bad faith,” “intentional misconduct,” “knowing violation of law,” “actual intent to do harm,” “intentional dereliction of duty,” “utter failure,” “sustained or systematic,” “conscious disregard for one’s responsibilities,” and “purpose other than that of advancing the best interests of the corporation.” This cornucopia of language clouds more than clarifies.
the theory and practice would be better off decluttering this lexical stew into a simple principle. A theory of bad faith reduces the essential wrong as this: a fiduciary commits bad faith when she has knowledge, actual or constructive, of the wrongful nature of her act or omission. For example, if a fiduciary knowingly violates the law, disregards his compliance duty, engages in misconduct, or transacts an irrational deal, he indubitably commits bad faith. Knowledge is the minimum scienter required for all four forms of bad faith, and this scienter distinguishes conduct (such as negligence or bad decisions) from misconduct (knowing wrongdoing).
public and private bad faith
the taxonomy of bad faith and the minimum scienter of knowledge reveal important theoretical implications. The four forms of bad faith can be classified into two distinct types: private bad faith and public bad faith. The difference lies in the nature of the harm to the corporation.
private bad faith principally protects against harm to the corporation’s economic interest. Public bad faith protects against harm to the corporation’s noneconomic interest. A corporation has a fundamental obligation to obey the rules of society. Any act that subverts this obligation harms the corporation in law. Public bad faith comprises massey and caremark. The nature of massey is obvious. Caremark concerns the board’s oversight obligation as it is tethered to the rules of society, an obligation imposed by an external source of legal or law-endowed authority.
summarized, the legal topology of bad faith is shaped by two factors: (1) the nature of the harm (private or public harm), and (2) the specificity of the rule (context-specific rules or residual catch-all rule).
waste, massey, and caremark claims are context-specific forms of bad faith. Because waste occurs in the transactional context, it is a pure form of private bad faith. Because massey and caremark are anchored in external obligations, they are forms of public bad faith. Subjective bad faith is the catch-all rule and can remedy other instances of private or public bad faith.
why does this private–public dichotomy matter at all? There are three reasons. (1) the dichotomy illuminates our understanding of the legal architecture of the bad faith, answering questions such as: what is the purpose and policy structure of the rule? How does the rule work? (2) the dichotomy is consequential at the level of practice because it should influence the theory of the case brought before a court. Differences in rules, categorized under the dichotomy, could produce different outcomes at the margin. (3) the dichotomy recognizes a public facet of a manager’s obligation through an internal duty under the fiduciary framework. It thus creates conceptual space for corporate ethics and social responsibility internally from within corporate law.
category errors and corporate litigation
the theory of bad faith can have pragmatic implications on corporate litigation at the margin. A specific example is lyondell chemical co. V. Ryan. To escape the duty of care and exculpation, the plaintiff theorized the case as a caremark violation. The delaware supreme court recognized the potential viability of a bad faith claim under caremark in the context of board oversight of an m&a deal. However, because caremark is a form of public bad faith and an m&a deal is a private transaction, caremark should not have applied in the lyondell context as a matter of law.
of course, i do not suggest that there is no bad faith theory of a failure of oversight. That cause of action lies in subjective faith: viz., A fiduciary knowingly failed to exercise his duty of oversight, which is a definition of misconduct. The practical difference between the two theories of the case—caremark or subjective bad faith—is a difference in focus.
when caremark is the theory of the case, the critical inquiry must be on the actus from which scienter is inferred: “utterly failed to implement any reporting or information system or controls” or “consciously failed to monitor or oversee its operations.” Only upon a complete failure (“utter” or “systematic”) can a court infer or impute knowledge from the act or omission. On the other hand, when subjective bad faith is the theory of the case, the critical inquiry must be the mens first—a fiduciary’s knowledge of the failure of oversight. A classic case of such failure and constructive knowledge thereof is the old chestnut francis v. United jersey bank. Knowledge requires a level of confidence in the outcome that is “substantially” or “practically” certain. This difference in focus could produce a sliver of difference in results at the margin.
public bad faith and corporate social responsibility
the dichotomy between private and public bad faith also matters to demonstrate the link between corporate law and corporate social responsibility. Public bad faith is the legal principle that connects the corporation’s activities most directly to the public interest. This principle is no more remarkable than the idea that the corporation, as a creature of law and beneficiary of large legal–political endowments, must comply with the rules of society. This axiom of corporate law has near universal acceptance. Massey and caremark embody this social obligation. Massey represents the smaller set of bad faith cases, which comports with the intuition that outright lawbreaking is relatively fewer. Caremark is the more consequential contested space.
the principle of public bad faith is already found in corporate law: consistent with the rule of caremark, the doctrine of good faith, per the duty–sanction framework of the fiduciary rule, may serve as a legal instrument for shareholder enforcement of obligations that the corporation owes to the public so long as those obligations are imposed on the corporation by an external source of legal or law-endowed authority. This principle of public bad faith simply reflects back the principle of caremark as a limited incorporation of expressed political and democratic values into corporate fiduciary rule.
concluding thoughts
a unified theory of corporate bad faith exists. The heart of bad faith is not a series of discrete instrumental rules and standards that apply situationally in contextualized facts. At the core bad faith is the simple general principle of liability upon culpability: an actus (act or omission) coupled with a mens (state of mind). The doctrine of bad faith is fundamentally a residual principle, an anti-evasion rule that has spawned different rule forms. The rule has a legal topology, the dichotomy of private bad faith and public bad faith. The idea of public faith opens doctrinal space for the continued evolution of corporate responsibility to comply with law and law-endowed mandates in an ever more complex economies, markets, and social conditions.
robert j. Rhee is john h. And mary lou dasburg professor of law at the university of florida levin college of law. This post is based on his paper, “a theory of corporate bad faith: the legal topology of public and private bad faith,” available here. |
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| Escape To These 11 Charming Small Towns Hiding In Rural South Carolina |
| Posted on Thursday, October 15 @ 00:02:06 PDT (7 reads) | |
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Ready to discover the most charming small towns hiding in rural south carolina?
these 11 delightful spots offer rich history and genuine southern charm!
1. Pageland route 601 points the way into pageland, where the water tower stands tall and the welcome is even taller. Photo credit: mark clifton pageland is a small town in chesterfield county that has a way of making every visitor feel like a welcome guest.
it sits along us route 601, and the downtown streets are lined with classic brick storefronts that look like something straight out of a feel-good movie.
the town is famous for its watermelons, and every summer the pageland watermelon festival draws crowds from all over south carolina for food, music, and pure small-town fun.
pageland’s palmetto-bannered main street hums with small-town pride under a wide, sunny south carolina sky. Photo credit: drpep walking through downtown, you’ll spot old-fashioned lampposts and palmetto tree banners that give pageland a proud, distinctly south carolina personality.
the pace here is slow and easy, and the kind of relaxed atmosphere that makes you wonder why you ever thought the city was so great.
local shops and small businesses keep the downtown area buzzing with life, and there’s always something worth stopping for if you take the time to look.
pageland is the kind of town where strangers get waves and smiles, and honestly, that’s reason enough to make the trip.
2. Edgefield edgefield’s welcome center anchors a golden-hour downtown that looks like a movie set nobody told hollywood about. Photo credit: jordan mcalister edgefield is one of those towns that practically begs you to pull over, step out of the car, and take it all in.
located in edgefield county, this beautiful little town has a downtown square that truly shines in the summer when crepe myrtle trees burst into brilliant red blooms.
a tall stone obelisk monument stands at the center of town, giving the whole square a sense of history and quiet dignity that’s hard to find anywhere else.
edgefield has produced more governors than any other county in south carolina, which is the kind of trivia that makes you sound very impressive at dinner parties.
crimson crepe myrtles frame edgefield’s proud stone obelisk, making this town square the prettiest postcard you’ll ever drive through. Photo credit: jordan mcalister the historic buildings surrounding the square are beautifully maintained, with brick facades and classic storefronts that transport you to a much earlier time.
pottery has deep roots in edgefield’s identity, and the town is celebrated for its tradition of alkaline-glazed stoneware that has been passed down through generations.
spending an afternoon in downtown edgefield feels like wandering through a living history museum, except the scenery is far more enjoyable.
this is a town that carries its heritage with genuine pride, and you’ll feel that the moment your feet hit the sidewalk.
3. Peak peak pharmacy and two american flags tell you everything you need to know about this no-fuss, all-heart little town. Photo credit: jordan mcalister peak is a tiny town in newberry county, and yes, the name is just about as straightforward as the town itself.
but small doesn’t mean boring, because peak has a quiet, unhurried charm that most larger towns would trade their fancy coffee shops to have.
the downtown area is simple and refreshingly unpretentious, with a local pharmacy and a handful of small buildings that give the town its honest, no-fuss character.
american flags fly proudly along the main street, and the surrounding trees form a lush green canopy that makes the whole place feel like a peaceful retreat.
bright spring trees canopy peak’s quiet main road, proving that small-town beauty doesn’t need a billboard to announce itself. Photo credit: brian stansberry peak sits near the broad river, and the natural scenery surrounding the town is genuinely stunning no matter what time of year you visit.
this is the kind of place where you can take a slow walk, breathe in the fresh air, and remember what life felt like before everyone had a packed schedule.
the community here is close and caring, and locals take real pride in keeping their little piece of south carolina looking its very best.
if you’ve been searching for a place that feels completely untouched by the noise of modern life, peak is ready and waiting.
4. Mcconnells mcconnells’ brick post office wears its “incorporated 1906” sign like a badge of honor, and honestly, it’s earned it. Photo credit: jordan mcalister mcconnells is a small community in york county with a wonderfully old-fashioned feel that wraps around you like a warm blanket.
the town’s post office building carries a sign noting that mcconnells was incorporated in 1906, which gives you a sense of just how much history is tucked into this quiet little place.
historic brattonsville, a living history site that preserves a remarkable collection of 18th and 19th century structures, sits near mcconnells and draws visitors from across both carolinas.
the site offers a genuine window into what life looked like in the south carolina backcountry long before the age of smartphones and drive-throughs.
old glory flies proudly outside mcconnells’ u.S. Post office, where the blue mailbox out front has seen a thing or two. Photo credit: lance taylor mcconnells itself is peaceful and unhurried, with a small-town atmosphere that feels completely authentic rather than staged for visitors.
the surrounding york county countryside rolls out in gentle hills and open land that makes for a truly lovely afternoon drive.
visiting mcconnells feels a little like stumbling onto a secret that most people haven’t figured out yet, and that’s a pretty wonderful feeling to have.
5. Lake view lake view’s impressive two-story brick corner building stands like a proud elder statesman watching over the whole downtown block. Photo credit: gerry d lake view is a small town in dillon county with a classic southern main street that photographers and history lovers will find absolutely irresistible.
the old brick buildings along the main road include impressive two-story structures with arched windows and detailed brickwork that speak to the skill and care of craftsmen from a much earlier era.
lake view has a relaxed, welcoming energy that makes it easy to spend a full afternoon wandering around and soaking up the scenery without a single complaint.
american flags and old awnings line lake view’s main street, giving this pee dee town a classic, unhurried dignity. Photo credit: gerry dincher the town is surrounded by the flat, wide-open landscape of the pee dee region, which gives the whole area a big-sky feeling that’s genuinely hard to find anywhere else.
local community events and a strong sense of neighborhood pride keep lake view feeling lively and connected throughout the year.
this is a town where the local hardware store and the neighborhood diner are still the true center of daily life, and that’s something worth driving out to see.
6. Estill estill’s star-topped water tower looms dramatically over palm-lined streets beneath a stormy sky that adds serious cinematic flair. Photo credit: john estill is a small town in hampton county with a main street that has real visual personality and a whole lot of southern character.
a vintage water tower with a star on top stands tall near the center of town and has become something of an unofficial landmark that locals point to with genuine pride.
palm trees line the main road through town, giving estill a slightly unexpected tropical feel that you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a rural south carolina community.
estill’s green-awninged storefronts stretch along the main road with a tidy, welcoming charm that makes you want to linger. Photo credit: michael wriston the downtown storefronts include classic old buildings with green awnings that give the street a tidy, inviting look that makes you want to slow down and explore.
estill sits in the heart of the lowcountry, and the surrounding landscape is full of the flat fields and tall pines that define this beautiful part of the state.
the people here have a warmth and friendliness that makes visitors feel genuinely welcomed rather than just tolerated.
estill is the kind of town that reminds you south carolina’s small communities have a personality and spirit that’s completely their own.
7. Due west due west’s tree-shaded road curves gently past lush lawns, looking like the opening scene of a very pleasant dream. Photo credit: jordan mcalister due west is a small town in abbeville county with a quiet, tree-lined beauty that makes it feel like a scene from a storybook you loved as a kid.
erskine college, a small liberal arts college with a long and respected history, calls due west home and gives the town a gentle academic energy that sets it apart from other rural communities.
the main street is shaded by large, mature trees that arch gracefully over the road and create a stunning green canopy during the warmer months of the year.
ornate brickwork and navy awnings give due west’s downtown block a storybook quality that no filter could possibly improve. Photo credit: p. Hughes a charming downtown area with historic brick buildings and small local shops gives due west a cozy, walkable feel that’s genuinely hard to resist on a nice day.
the town is small enough to explore in a single afternoon, but interesting enough that you’ll find yourself wishing you had more time before you leave.
due west has a peaceful, almost dreamlike quality to it, and the surrounding abbeville county countryside only makes that feeling stronger.
this is a town that rewards the curious traveler who’s willing to take the scenic route and see what’s waiting around the bend.
8. Blackville a rustic cabin, a glassy pond, and a flat-bottomed boat make blackville’s countryside look like a painting come to life. Photo credit: walter ezell blackville is a small town in barnwell county with a downtown area that packs a surprising amount of old-school southern charm into just a few short blocks.
the healing springs, a natural spring located near blackville, has been drawing visitors for generations and is considered a sacred and meaningful site by many in the local community.
the spring is said to have healing properties, and whether you’re a true believer or a friendly skeptic, the peaceful setting around it is undeniably beautiful.
downtown blackville has a calm, unhurried feel, with local businesses and community gathering spots that keep the town’s social life warm and active.
blackville’s tree-lined median walkway stretches into the distance, shaded and serene, like nature decided to redecorate the whole downtown. Photo credit: tom taylor the surrounding barnwell county landscape is classic south carolina lowcountry, with wide fields, tall pines, and an open sky that makes you feel like you can finally exhale.
blackville is a town that looks after its people, and that community spirit is something you can sense the moment you step out of your car.
some of the best things in south carolina don’t require a reservation or a parking garage, and a visit to blackville proves that point beautifully.
9. Bowman bowman’s u.S. Post office stands neat and tidy under a clear blue sky, the american flag snapping crisply in the breeze. Photo credit: attitude2000 bowman is a small town in orangeburg county with a tidy, well-kept downtown that makes a genuinely strong first impression on anyone passing through.
the main street features a wide, tree-lined median with benches and lampposts that give the town a pleasant, walkable character that invites you to slow down and stay awhile.
bowman is surrounded by the agricultural landscape of orangeburg county, where fields stretch out in every direction and the pace of life is wonderfully, refreshingly slow.
wide open skies and a sprawling green field at north air field remind you that sometimes the best views have no walls. Photo credit: justin waits the town has a strong sense of community, and local events and gatherings keep residents connected to one another in a way that feels warm and real.
bowman’s post office and local businesses give the downtown area a lived-in, authentic quality that no strip mall or chain store could ever replicate.
this is a town that hasn’t tried to be anything other than exactly what it is, and that kind of honesty is genuinely refreshing in the best possible way.
if you’re looking for a place that feels real and unpretentious, bowman is absolutely ready to deliver on that promise.
10. North north, south carolina’s welcome sign says it all with bold confidence, an airplane graphic, and zero apologies for being exactly itself. Photo credit: wikimedia commons north is a small town in orangeburg county, and its welcome sign says it all with a simple, proud declaration: “home of north air field.”
the town has a no-nonsense identity that fits perfectly with its wonderfully straightforward name, and there’s something deeply likable about that.
north’s main street has a classic small-town layout, with local shops and community businesses that serve the people who live and work in the area every single day.
the surrounding countryside is flat and wide-open, with the kind of big south carolina sky that makes you feel like you’re standing at the edge of something truly magnificent.
north’s old downtown strip glows warmly under nighttime lights, with a barber shop sign hinting at the quiet stories these walls hold. Photo credit: wikipedia north is the kind of town that doesn’t need a flashy marketing campaign to prove it’s worth visiting, because the genuine friendliness of its residents handles that job just fine.
the town sits in a part of south carolina that doesn’t always show up in the tourist brochures, which means you get to enjoy it without fighting through a crowd.
sometimes the best travel discoveries are the ones nobody told you about, and north is exactly that kind of wonderful, unexpected find.
11. Rockville shrimp boats resting on glass-still water, reflecting a sky so perfect it looks painted — pure lowcountry magic. Photo credit: darrell jones rockville is a tiny community on wadmalaw island in charleston county, and it just might be the most quietly magical place on this entire list.
spanish moss drapes from massive live oak trees that shade the roads leading into town, creating a scene so beautiful it almost doesn’t seem real.
a small white chapel nestled among the trees and lush greenery gives rockville a serene, almost otherworldly beauty that’s genuinely difficult to put into words.
the town is known for the rockville regatta, one of the oldest sailing races in the country, which brings a festive, celebratory energy to this otherwise peaceful community each summer.
a tiny white chapel peeking through spanish moss and live oaks, like a secret south carolina kept just for you. Photo credit: leonard wadmalaw island itself is a stunning, rural corner of the lowcountry, with quiet roads, working farms, and natural scenery that makes you want to put your phone in your pocket and just look.
rockville is the kind of place that makes you wonder why you ever spent a vacation somewhere far away when something this beautiful was right here all along.
it’s small, it’s breathtaking, and it’s completely, wonderfully south carolina.
south carolina’s small towns are full of surprises, and the best ones are often hiding right where you least expect them.
grab your keys, hit the road, and go find your new favorite place! |
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| The Best Fried Chicken In Virginia Is Hiding Inside This Unassuming Little Resta |
| Posted on Thursday, October 15 @ 00:02:06 PDT (7 reads) | |
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There’s a building in virginia beach that doesn’t look like much from the outside, and that’s exactly the point.
bobo’s fine chicken has mastered the art of looking humble while serving something absolutely spectacular.
no neon dancing chickens here, just a classic sign promising fine chicken and delivering on it daily. Photo credit: victor gordon you’ve probably driven past a hundred places like this without giving them a second glance.
cream colored building, simple sign, nothing that screams for attention.
and that’s usually your first clue that something special is happening inside.
the restaurants that need flashy signs and gimmicks to get you through the door are often compensating for something missing on the plate.
bobo’s doesn’t have that problem.
the building itself has that classic converted diner look, the kind of structure that’s been around the block and seen a few different lives.
black and white checkerboard floors and a deer head watching over you, it’s diner charm done right. Photo credit: j david hillery out front, there’s a sign that simply reads “fine chicken restaurant,” which is either supreme confidence or delightful understatement, and honestly it might be both.
there’s an american flag out there too, along with what looks like an old truck parked nearby, giving the whole scene a bit of nostalgic charm before you’ve even opened the door.
you get the sense that this place isn’t trying to impress you with curb appeal.
it’s saving all its energy for what happens in the kitchen.
walking inside changes your whole perspective, though.
the floor is laid out in classic black and white checkerboard tile, the kind that makes you feel like you’ve stepped into a decades old diner frozen in the best possible way.
that menu is basically a treasure map, and every single path leads straight to fried chicken glory. Photo credit: jeff fillegar green trim runs along the walls, and white subway tile lines the space behind the counter where all the action happens.
there’s a deer head mounted up on the wall, watching over everyone’s chicken orders with what you can only assume is quiet approval.
the lighting is warm without being dim, functional without feeling clinical.
it’s the kind of interior that makes you comfortable immediately, like you’ve been coming here for years even on your first visit.
nothing about the space feels forced or overly designed.
it feels like a place that grew into itself naturally, prioritizing comfort and cleanliness over trying to look like something out of a magazine.
look at that crust, golden and craggy like it’s been sculpted by someone who takes their frying seriously. Photo credit: y y now let’s get into the food, because that’s really why you’re reading this in the first place.
the menu is displayed on a chalkboard, and it’s refreshingly straightforward.
you’ve got your fried chicken meals, which come with a meat and two sides plus a regular drink.
you can choose two pieces of dark meat if that’s your preference, or two pieces of white meat if you’re in that camp.
five tenders are also on the menu for those days when you just want that classic tender experience without worrying about bones.
and for the adventurous eaters among you, there’s chicken livers and gizzards available too, because bobo’s clearly isn’t afraid to serve the parts of the chicken that a lot of restaurants leave off the menu entirely.
mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and chicken tenders walk into a tray, and somehow it’s a perfect trio. Photo credit: jameer person here’s a detail that deserves its own paragraph because it’s just that good.
you can get any of that fried chicken dipped in their signature bobo-q sauce for a small additional charge.
think about that for a second.
crispy fried chicken, still warm from the fryer, taking a quick dip into a tangy, house made barbecue sauce before it lands in front of you.
that’s not just a menu option, that’s a decision that shows this kitchen understands flavor combinations on a deeper level.
fried chicken alone is already a beautiful thing, but fried chicken kissed with barbecue sauce takes it somewhere else entirely.
a fried chicken biscuit this flaky could make a grown adult weep quietly in the parking lot. Photo credit: naoma doriguzzi it’s the kind of small touch that turns first time visitors into lifelong regulars.
let’s talk texture for a moment, because texture is everything when it comes to fried chicken.
the crust on bobo’s chicken has that perfect golden brown color that you associate with chicken done right.
when you bite into it, there’s an audible crunch, the kind of sound that makes everyone at the table pause and look over at you with a little bit of jealousy.
that crust gives way to meat that stays tender and juicy underneath, which is honestly the hardest part of frying chicken well.
plenty of places can get you a crispy exterior.
far fewer places manage to keep the inside from drying out during that same process.
those tenders look like they just graduated from crispy college with honors, golden brown and proud of it. Photo credit: ashley h. Bobo’s has clearly figured out the timing, the temperature, and whatever other secrets go into making chicken this consistently good.
if fried chicken isn’t quite what you’re craving that day, don’t worry, because they’ve got you covered with sandwich options too.
there’s a fried chicken sandwich for when you want that same great flavor between two pieces of bread.
and if you’re looking for something a touch lighter, there’s a chicken salad sandwich on the menu as well.
both sandwich meals come with a side and a drink, keeping things simple and satisfying without overcomplicating your order.
now onto the sides, because bobo’s clearly didn’t treat these as an afterthought.
two milkshakes piled high with whipped cream, because sometimes dessert needs to show up wearing a crown. Photo credit: robert martinez norfolk potato salad shows up on the menu, giving a little nod to the regional flavors of coastal virginia.
there’s mac and cheese for the classic comfort food lovers.
rice and gravy is available too, which feels like the kind of side dish your grandmother might have made if she happened to run a chicken restaurant.
collard greens and butterbeans round out that southern comfort food lineup, giving you plenty of ways to build a plate that feels like a warm hug.
coleslaw is there for a bit of crunch and acidity to balance out all that fried goodness.
and if you want something a little different, there’s a cucumber tomato salad that adds a fresh, cool contrast to the richness of the chicken.
vanilla and something berry swirled together, looking like the ice cream equivalent of a peaceful negotiation. Photo credit: online marketing shark they’ve even got route 11 potato chips available, which is a nice little touch since that brand is proudly made right here in virginia.
it’s a small detail, but it shows that bobo’s pays attention to where their ingredients and products come from, even down to the chips.
then there’s the brunswick stew, a dish that gets people from virginia and its neighboring states into some pretty heated debates about who actually invented it first.
bobo’s serves it as a side, in a bowl, or by the pint or quart if you want to bring some home with you.
that stew has that slow simmered quality to it, the kind of dish that tastes like it’s been given plenty of time to develop its flavors.
whether you’re firmly on team virginia in the brunswick stew origin debate or you honestly couldn’t care less about the history, one spoonful of this stuff and you’ll understand why people keep ordering it.
sweet tea poured over ice so perfectly you’d think virginia hired a specialist just for this job. Photo credit: robert a. The seasonal sides menu also suggests that bobo’s rotates things based on what’s fresh and available, which is a nice touch for a restaurant that’s primarily known for fried chicken.
it means the kitchen is paying attention to more than just the fryer, making sure every part of your meal gets the same level of care.
let’s circle back to why people are willing to drive hours for this chicken, because that’s the real headline here.
word of mouth is a powerful thing, and it’s clear that bobo’s has built its reputation the old fashioned way, one satisfied customer at a time.
nobody’s driving three hours for chicken that’s just okay.
people make that kind of trip when a restaurant has truly nailed something, when the combination of crispy skin, juicy meat, and thoughtful sides creates an experience that’s hard to replicate anywhere else.
wood paneled booths and a surfboard on the wall, giving off vibes of a beach town that relaxes hard. Photo credit: linda w that’s exactly the reputation bobo’s has built for itself in virginia beach and beyond.
you have to wonder what it is about fried chicken that makes people so passionate.
maybe it’s the nostalgia, since fried chicken often reminds people of family gatherings, sunday dinners, or backyard cookouts from childhood.
maybe it’s the contrast of textures, that crunch giving way to tenderness in every single bite.
or maybe it’s just that when it’s done right, fried chicken becomes one of those simple pleasures that never really goes out of style.
whatever the reason, bobo’s seems to have tapped into that magic, serving up chicken that satisfies on a level that goes beyond just being hungry.
customers lined up at the counter, patiently waiting like they know good things come to those who order. Photo credit: dwayne blackwell the atmosphere inside adds to that whole experience too.
there’s something about eating in a space with checkerboard floors and warm lighting that makes the food taste even better.
it’s not trying to be trendy or instagram worthy, even though it probably ends up on plenty of phones anyway.
it’s just a comfortable, welcoming space where the focus stays exactly where it should be, on the food in front of you.
if you’re planning a visit, think about bringing the whole family along.
with options for dark meat, white meat, and tenders, everyone can order exactly what they like without any complicated substitutions or special requests.
drink dispensers and dessert boards standing ready, like a control panel for happiness disguised as a snack station. Photo credit: jim d. That kind of flexibility makes bobo’s a solid choice whether you’re feeding picky eaters or adventurous ones who want to try the gizzards just to see what all the fuss is about.
and with sides ranging from mac and cheese to collard greens, there’s truly something on that menu for every kind of palate at the table.
one thing that stands out about bobo’s is how it manages to feel both nostalgic and current at the same time.
the decor has that vintage diner charm, but nothing about the food feels dated or old fashioned in a bad way.
it’s southern comfort food served with care, using a menu that respects tradition while still feeling relevant today.
that balance is harder to strike than people realize, and bobo’s seems to have found it without even trying too hard.
a live edge wooden counter facing the street, perfect for watching virginia beach traffic while you inhale chicken. Photo credit: bebelechekid if you live in virginia beach, you might be wondering how you haven’t discovered this place sooner.
don’t feel too bad about it.
some of the best restaurants are the ones that don’t rely on billboards or flashy advertising campaigns to get noticed.
they rely on the food doing the talking, and clearly, bobo’s chicken has been saying all the right things to everyone who’s tried it.
for those of you coming from out of town, this might just become one of those stops that redefines your whole relationship with fried chicken.
you know how sometimes you eat something so good that it resets your expectations for that entire category of food?
that’s the kind of experience people describe after eating at bobo’s.
that glowing green neon sign at dusk looks like it’s been welcoming hungry travelers since forever ago. Photo credit: jay h. Once you’ve had chicken this well made, it becomes the new benchmark that everything else gets compared to.
that’s a powerful effect for a small, modest restaurant to have on someone’s taste buds.
let’s not forget about the practical side of things either.
since sides and stew are available by the pint or quart, you can turn a single visit into multiple meals at home.
picture this.
you drive however many hours it takes to get here, you enjoy an incredible meal, and then you leave with a quart of brunswick stew tucked safely in the car for later in the week.
that’s not just a meal, that’s a whole strategy for making the most out of your trip.
the whole experience of ordering at bobo’s feels refreshingly simple too.
you walk up to the counter, you look at the chalkboard, and you make your choices.
there’s no need to download an app, scan a code, or wait for a host to seat you.
it’s straightforward in the best possible way, letting the food take center stage instead of some overly complicated ordering process.
at the end of the day, what makes bobo’s special isn’t really about spectacle.
it’s about consistency, quality, and a menu that clearly comes from a place of genuine care.
that cream colored building might not turn heads from the road, but everyone who walks through that door and tastes that chicken understands exactly why people are willing to drive across the state for it.
sometimes the best things in life really do come in unassuming packages, or in this case, unassuming little chicken restaurants tucked away in virginia beach.
you can check their website or facebook page for current hours and any specials they might have running.
and when you’re ready to make the trip yourself, use this map to find your way straight to their door.
where: 3139 shore dr, virginia beach, va 23451
so next time your stomach starts craving something crispy and comforting, remember this humble spot is out there, quietly serving up some of the best fried chicken you’ll ever have. |
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| Get Happily Lost Inside This 32,000-Square-Foot Used Bookstore Hiding In North C |
| Posted on Thursday, October 15 @ 00:02:06 PDT (7 reads) | |
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There’s a place in winston-salem, north carolina, where time slows down, your phone stops mattering, and the only thing pulling you forward is the spine of a book you didn’t know you needed.
mckay’s is that place, and once you walk through its doors, you’ll understand why people drive from all over the state just to spend an afternoon here.
that sign with the headphones and game controller tells you everything, mckay’s is not your average bookstore. Photo credit: marcia brashear let’s be honest about something first.
most of us have walked into a used bookstore expecting a cramped little room with dusty shelves, a cat sleeping on a stack of paperbacks, and maybe one flickering light bulb doing its best.
mckay’s in winston-salem is not that.
not even close.
what you get instead is a sprawling, warehouse-style retail experience that feels less like a bookstore and more like a small civilization built entirely out of things people loved enough to own, and then loved enough to pass on.
the moment you step inside, your brain does a little recalibration.
biography, music/dance, art, games/hobbies, all under one roof, mckay’s organizes curiosity better than most people organize their lives. Photo credit: mckay’s winston-salem it takes a second to process the sheer scale of what you’re looking at.
row after row of shelves stretch out in front of you, organized by category, each one packed with books, cds, dvds, vinyl records, video games, and more.
the ceiling is high, the floors are clean, and the whole place hums with a kind of quiet energy that you don’t find in many retail spaces anymore.
it’s the energy of discovery.
and that’s really what mckay’s is selling, even if it doesn’t advertise it that way.
you’re not just here to buy a book.
the true crime section is so packed, you might solve a cold case just by browsing the spines. Photo credit: akshat you’re here to find something you weren’t looking for.
that’s a very different thing, and it’s a feeling that’s genuinely hard to replicate anywhere else.
now, mckay’s isn’t just a bookstore, and it’s worth saying that upfront so you don’t walk in with too narrow a set of expectations.
yes, the books are the heart of the operation.
but surrounding that heart is an entire ecosystem of used media that covers just about every interest you can think of.
music lovers will find themselves wandering through aisles of cds and vinyl records, flipping through titles with the kind of focused attention that most people reserve for important decisions.
frank herbert fans, rejoice. The science fiction section has enough dune copies to last several galactic lifetimes. Photo credit: akshat gamers will discover shelves stocked with video games spanning multiple generations of consoles, from classics that take you back to your childhood to more recent releases that somehow ended up here before you got around to buying them new.
movie fans can dig through dvds and blu-rays, finding films they forgot existed and others they’ve been meaning to watch for years.
and then there are the books.
oh, the books.
the selection at mckay’s is genuinely staggering.
fiction, nonfiction, biography, history, science, self-help, art, music, true crime, cooking, travel, philosophy, religion, and categories you didn’t even know you were interested in until you found yourself standing in front of them.
a k-pop section in a winston-salem used bookstore, proof that great taste knows absolutely no geographic boundaries. Photo credit: jaden ong the true crime section alone could keep you busy for an hour.
shelves packed with titles covering everything from classic cases to more recent investigations, organized neatly and waiting for the right reader to come along.
if you’ve ever gone down a true crime rabbit hole online at midnight, just know that mckay’s is the physical version of that experience, except here you can actually hold the book in your hands and decide if it’s coming home with you.
the biography section is another place where time tends to disappear.
you’ll pick up a book about someone you admire, then notice one about someone you’ve always been curious about, then spot one about a historical figure you studied in school and haven’t thought about since.
before you know it, you’re sitting cross-legged on the floor reading the first chapter of something you had no intention of buying when you walked in.
wall-to-wall manga and anime, organized and plentiful, this aisle alone could keep a devoted fan busy for hours. Photo credit: danh “sujieun” dang that’s the mckay’s effect, and it happens to almost everyone.
the art section is worth a visit even if you don’t consider yourself an art person.
large format books, photography collections, design guides, and illustrated histories line the shelves in a way that makes browsing feel more like visiting a gallery than shopping.
you might not leave with an art book, but you’ll probably spend more time there than you planned.
the games and hobbies section is another pleasant surprise.
whether you’re into board games, puzzles, or hobby-related reading, there’s usually something worth picking up.
nonfiction novels, nonfiction essays, blank books, and true crime all visible at once, this store means serious business. Photo credit: akshat it’s the kind of section that reminds you how many different ways there are to spend your free time, and how many of them don’t involve a screen.
speaking of screens, the music and dance section is a nice reminder that there was a whole world of entertainment before streaming took over everything.
books about musicians, dance history, music theory, and the business of the industry sit alongside each other in a way that feels genuinely curated, even if the curation is really just the result of thousands of people donating things they cared about.
that’s actually one of the most interesting things about mckay’s.
every item in the store came from someone.
a real person walked in with a box of books or a stack of cds and traded them in for store credit or cash.
puzzles, board games, and boxed sets stacked high, mckay’s quietly reminds you that fun doesn’t require a wi-fi password. Photo credit: sam ponjican that means every shelf is essentially a snapshot of what people in this region have been reading, listening to, watching, and playing over the years.
there’s something quietly fascinating about that.
you’re not just browsing merchandise.
you’re browsing a kind of collective cultural memory, and that gives the whole experience a texture that brand-new retail simply can’t match.
the staff at mckay’s are part of what makes the place work as well as it does.
they know the store, they know the inventory, and they’re genuinely helpful without being the kind of hovering, over-attentive retail presence that makes you feel like you’re being watched.
you can wander freely, take your time, and ask for help when you need it.
chicago, eric clapton, the commodores, flipping through this vinyl bin feels like rediscovering a playlist you forgot you loved. Photo credit: tracy berthelson that balance is harder to get right than it sounds, and mckay’s gets it right.
the pricing is another thing that keeps people coming back.
used media is priced to move, which means you can walk out with a stack of books, a few cds, and a video game or two without feeling like you’ve done something financially irresponsible.
in fact, the opposite tends to happen.
you walk out feeling like you’ve been incredibly smart with your money, which is a rare and wonderful feeling.
the trade-in system is also worth knowing about before you visit.
mckay’s buys used books, cds, dvds, vinyl, and video games from customers.
a bin overflowing with loose lego bricks, kids will lose their minds and parents will lose track of time. Photo credit: christopher gardner you can bring in a box of things you no longer need and walk out with store credit or cash, depending on what you prefer.
it’s a genuinely good deal for everyone involved.
you clear out space at home, mckay’s gets new inventory, and the next customer finds something they love.
the whole cycle is satisfying in a way that feels almost old-fashioned, in the best possible sense.
now, let’s talk about the experience of actually being inside mckay’s, because the physical reality of the place is worth describing in some detail.
the layout is logical without being rigid.
sections are clearly labeled with blue signs hanging above the shelves, so you can navigate with purpose if you have something specific in mind.
anime dvds and collectibles lined up neatly, mckay’s treats every fandom with the same respect and shelf space. Photo credit: jason g. Steelman but the real joy is in not having something specific in mind.
letting yourself drift from section to section, following whatever catches your eye, is how most people end up having their best mckay’s experiences.
you might start in fiction, wander into history, take a detour through the music section, and end up spending twenty minutes in a corner of the store you’ve never visited before.
that’s not getting lost.
that’s exactly what’s supposed to happen.
the atmosphere inside is comfortable and unpretentious.
there’s no background music trying to set a mood, no elaborate decor trying to tell you what kind of place this is.
the general fiction aisle stretches ahead like an open road, inviting and full of stories you haven’t read yet. Photo credit: akshat the shelves and the books do all the talking, and they do it pretty well.
it’s the kind of place where you can show up in whatever you’re wearing, carrying a coffee from somewhere else, and nobody bats an eye.
you’re welcome here exactly as you are, and that’s a genuinely refreshing thing to feel in a retail environment.
mckay’s also draws a wonderfully eclectic crowd.
on any given visit, you might find yourself browsing next to a college student looking for cheap textbooks, a retiree hunting for a specific mystery novel, a parent picking up kids’ books, and a music collector flipping through vinyl with the intensity of someone defusing a bomb.
all of these people are having a great time, and none of them are bothering each other.
it’s a remarkably peaceful coexistence, united by the shared understanding that everyone here is looking for something good.
an entire wall of funko pop figures staring back at you, batman, deadpool, and hundreds of friends waiting to come home. Photo credit: ku for north carolina residents who haven’t made the trip to winston-salem specifically for mckay’s, it’s worth putting on the calendar.
the store is located at 745 hanes mall boulevard, which makes it easy to find and easy to pair with other stops in the area.
you could make a full day of it without any trouble.
spend a few hours at mckay’s, grab lunch somewhere nearby, and come back for another pass through the sections you didn’t finish the first time.
that’s not an unusual thing to do, by the way.
plenty of regulars treat mckay’s as a destination they return to again and again, because the inventory is always changing.
new donations come in constantly, which means the shelves look different every time you visit.
atari cartridges stacked in neat little piles, space battle, boxing, tron deadly discs, nostalgia has never been this affordable. Photo credit: kristopher “kris” koontz something that wasn’t there last month might be waiting for you today.
that unpredictability is part of the appeal.
it keeps the experience fresh in a way that a store with fixed inventory simply can’t.
if you’re the kind of person who loves the idea of a used bookstore but has been disappointed by smaller shops that don’t have enough variety, mckay’s is the answer to that frustration.
the scale of the place means there’s almost always something worth finding, regardless of your interests.
and if you’re someone who has never really thought of themselves as a bookstore person, mckay’s might just change your mind.
it’s hard to walk through a place like this and not feel at least a little bit of the magic that comes from being surrounded by so many stories, so much music, so many ideas all gathered together under one roof.
the colorful icons on that sign tell you everything: books, music, games, and a whole lot of happy browsing ahead. Photo credit: alton sims there’s a reason people talk about mckay’s the way they do.
it’s not just a store.
it’s an experience that sticks with you, and one that’s genuinely worth sharing with people you care about.
bring a friend, bring your kids, bring your parents, bring anyone who appreciates the pleasure of finding something wonderful in an unexpected place.
they’ll thank you for it.
before you head out, make sure to check mckay’s website and facebook page for current hours, trade-in policies, and any updates before your visit.
and when you’re ready to plan your trip, use this map to get directions straight to the store so you can spend less time navigating and more time browsing.
where: 745 jonestown rd, winston-salem, nc 27103
mckay’s in winston-salem is the kind of hidden gem that deserves to be a little less hidden.
go find your next favorite book, and maybe a few things you didn’t know you needed. |
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| Retro Runner Rehab: The Nike Moon Shoe - Features |
| Posted on Thursday, October 15 @ 00:02:06 PDT (7 reads) | |
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Retro runner rehab: the nike moon shoe
sometimes you just need to let a mastermind cook. That was quite literally the case when it came to university of oregon track-and-field coach and nike co-founder bill bowerman, who used a waffle iron to craft the brand’s first-ever running shoe. The unique grid pattern of the kitchen appliance formed a sole unlike any other seen on a trainer before, laying the groundwork for what would become the nike moon shoe.
although the low-profile silhouette took the leap from prototype to track, it never made it to market back in 1972. Nike have finally unearthed the model from bowerman’s backyard in 2026 – now ready to take on a new path as a lifestyle stepper. The model is gracing the feet of all those walking on solid ground right now, so let’s float back through the moon shoe’s history, from olympic trials testing to the genesis of a powerhouse brand.
mixing victory batter
the best inventions create a solution to a problem, and it was exactly this approach that led bowerman to his moon shoe design. In 1970, a slick urethane surface was installed at the university of oregon’s hayward field, causing injury to runners who stuggled to find traction underfoot. Looking to build a shoe that would give his students better grip, bowerman found inspiration in the most unlikely of places – a model 251 waffle iron by bersted manufacturing company, gifted to him and his wife barbara for their wedding in 1936. (Bill and barbara remained married for 63 years, right up until bill’s passing in 1999.) To bill, the raised squares in the iron’s grid pattern appeared to be the exact shape that would help keep his runners stable… and so he got to pouring liquid urethane into the appliance, ruining it in the process but nonetheless bringing his vision to life. Assuredly one spousal spat and several secondhand waffle irons later, bowerman had the initial pieces of what would become the first nike moon shoe prototype.
the waffle sole was continually reworked over the ensuing months, as bill brought in other resources and helping hands to perfect it as best as possible. Unfortunately, early versions kept falling apart after a few minutes on the track – but bowerman kept his nose to the sole, producing more pairs which were duly tested by oregon’s cross-country team and other local college and high school athletes.
the moon shoe would finally land on its biggest stage at the 1972 us olympic trials, crossing the finish line in seventh place on the feet of us runner mark covert. Meanwhile, some of the test runners who were lacing the model up thought its footprint looked similar to the marks left by astronauts walking on the moon’s surface, ultimately giving the silhouette its title.
as revolutionary as the model’s outsole was, the overall design was still too minimal for a mass release – and that’s why ’heads have never had the opportunity to lace it up until now. ‘The moon shoe has never been reissued because it never commercialised in the first place,’ explains nike’s senior director of energy footwear, thomasin hummerstone. ‘[That’s] the amazing thing. So, this shoe has remained sacred and untouched.’
though it never went to market (it’s rumoured that a few pairs may have been sold out of nike’s eugene retail store), its tech would go on to spell victory for the brand, paving the way for the 1973 oregon waffle and the 1975 waffle trainer – the swoosh’s first blockbuster success. ‘[The moon shoe] was designed to improve traction, so it’s rooted in genuine innovation and purpose,’ says hummerstone. ‘Today, nike sportswear takes that combination of simplicity, functionality and iconic sport dna, for a new expression of style and culture.’
who could have guessed that a humble household gadget would kickstart an entire footwear empire?
back in orbit
the moon shoe never got its proper chance to land in 1972, especially given that supposedly only 12 hand-cobbled pairs were ever made. Now that low-to-the-ground silhouettes are back to ruling the streets, it makes sense that nike would dig the moon shoe up to take on a new mission with the masses.
of course, the decision to revive this shoe in particular wasn’t a flippant one. ‘Its always a balance between preservation and progression,’ hummerstone says of the moon shoe’s selection from the vault. ‘We spend a great deal of time understanding what made a product meaningful in the first place. In the moon shoes case, the waffle outsole, the low-profile shape and the story of bowermans experimentation all felt right to share with the world at this time. It was important for us to stay close to the original build and profile, but we needed to make some internal modifications to transition it from a hand-cobbled shoe, into a shoe made for life beyond the track. So, durability and comfort were the key focuses, without sacrificing the simplicity of the build and the deconstructed appeal.’
it’s a swoosh tradition to reintroduce a model to shelves via a collaboration. This was exactly the case for the moon shoe, as french fashion house jacquemus were the first to dip their toes into the relic in september 2025. Since the moon shoe went through a series of prototypes while bowerman was burning out waffle irons, there were a number of different versions for jacquemus to work with. They ended up settling on the silhouette that featured the traditional nylon upper and leather swoosh, with a midsole wedge at the rear. Additional touches from the luxury brand included a pull tab on the heel, leather aglets, and jacquemus branding on the tongue tag, heel, and insole, while arriving in an array of colourways.
following the success of the jacquemus partnership, nike have brought another variation of the moon shoe back from the archives for 2026 that comes much closer to earth. Taking design cues from one of the pairs worn during those fateful olympic trials, the present day moon shoe sports a foldable heel flap with the original waffle sole directly attached to the upper, as well as an enlarged swoosh and more pronounced panelling. Having touched down in a slew of iterations already, including everything from ‘soft pearl’ to ‘cacao wow’, this low-profile icon is destined to leave a crater-sized impact as it celebrates its 45th anniversary next year.
future lunar footprints
whether on the runway or a paved walkway, the moon shoe has shown that it can’t be held down by its running origins, and there’s still plenty of phases it can go through.
wherever it heads, there’s one element to the build that nike will never sacrifice. ‘Comfort is non-negotiable,’ says hummerstone. ‘Whenever we reach into the archives, we always need to pay attention to comfort and fit, ensuring it delivers on what people expect from us today, without jeopardising style and the integrity of the original craft and design. It’s for sure a very careful and deliberate balancing act.
‘we can always evolve how people experience the product today. That might be fit, materials, and sometimes totally new expressions or evolutions of a silhouette. The goal is never to walk away from the products identity and what it represents, but to ensure it remains relevant and celebrate the characteristics that made it special in the first place.’
it’s not every day that a brand revives such a foundational prototype, but the moon shoe merits a reverence beyond the standard historical respect – and it has truly earned its spot in nike’s current lineup.
make your way to surplus 2026 on october 16-18 to experience everything that nike sportswear has in store. |
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| Stunning Metamorphosis unfolds on La Rinconada runway |
| Posted on Thursday, October 15 @ 00:02:06 PDT (8 reads) | |
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Last saturday evening at la rinconada country club, the “metamorphosis” fashion show offered up an enthralling spectacle in support of pacific clinics. Professional models, along with locals and clients of the organization delivered an exceptional gathering of fun and fundraising, alongside a delicious dinner.
why ‘metamorphosis’?
before the show, i got chatting with jasmine randolph. I understood her to be an integral component of this metamorphosis evening of fashion and philanthropy. “I’ve been with pacific clinics since i was 12 years old,” she said. “I used to live there (eastfield ming quong campus) dealing with trauma and recovering from it. In may, i shared my story at ‘hearts & hands spring celebration’ held at nestldown.” (Note: that event raised $500,000 for pacific clinics.)
caterpillars
“when i was 16, i decided that i wanted to kind of change things for the better…to try something new,” randolph continued. “I graduated high school early and started college at 17, studying recovery topics.” She explained that designer dustin david was inspired by her story. “He wanted to kick off this fashion show based on my story, which is why it is named metamorphosis—for my transformation.” From challenging early days to the echelons of higher learning. Randolph was also a model in the show.
butterflies
david is the creative director and owner of the dustin david salon, in los gatos. “He said he really loved my story,” randolph said. “He said he was moved by it, and motivated, and that he would love to do a fashion show with me and other hope center youth to kind of represent the transformation in growth we went through (with pacific clinics) and call it ‘metamorphosis,’ you know—a butterfly theme.”
as we know, a caterpillar metamorphoses into a butterfly. It’s a complete reinvention. That spirit would be evident in the clothing on display. Randolph is two semesters away from obtaining her alcohol counselor certification. She plans to pursue one for drug counseling in the future. “It’s a way of giving back.” It seems that this butterfly is ready to fly.
david and demonsi pull it off
david and darren demonsi, senior director of fund development at pacific clinics, worked hard to pull off this seamless show—david with his forward-thinking, edgy creativity and demonsi via coordination and promoting pacific clinics’ outreach.
the presentation of the boutique wares on the models showed us new looks and traditional styles in today’s fabrics and careful garment ensembles. The “los gatos look” was featured prominently: boots with a dress? Yes. Shorts with boots? Yes, again. Some of these fits were one of a kind. Some were assembled to demonstrate the carefree outdoorsy—yet tailored—presentation so frequently flaunted around town.
boutiques showcase style
the fashions for this show came from four local style outlets: bella rosa, in the olde manner, kismet and jennifer croll. Santa cruz leather designer mariclare mcknight and i.B. Bayo, a fiber artist from nigeria, added unexpected flair and batik prints.
overall, it was quite a well-mixed variety of styles, colors and messages. Mcknight stated that she sees clothing as sculpture—and her leather outfit certainly displayed this ethos.
during the pre-show—before dinner was served—models wandered through the crowd in their gorgeous outfits. Getting a close-up look was welcomed. Butterflies adorned multiple outfits.
fundraising jewels
just inside la rinconada’s main hall, a long table of designer jewels from ashley ashoff (paris, ashleyashoff.Com) were on display. And 20% of sales went to pacific clinics. Luxurious scarves also caught my eye.
delicious dinner
and what was for dinner? Filet mignon with shrimp and asparagus. And in terms of sponsors?: Swenson foundation, jim & marianne nelson, darrell evora, sue ramar & steve kottmeier, and winston champagne bar with joseph george wines. Case swenson was also a model, along with daughter sloanne.
the music volume was turned up, indicating the show was about to begin. Bella rosa’s elevated presentation suggested a boutique shopping adventure. From in the olde manner, we got vintage-to-modern via everything from cocktail attire to wedding dresses—custom styling where dreams become reality. Kismet’s elegant-everyday approach echoed their autumn allure fashion show turn from last month; then it was on to jennifer croll fabulous ensembles for men.
but let’s not forget why we went—to further the work of pacific clinics, whose programs include: social groups for social delays, the hope drop-in center (for youths 16-25 in our area) and the trusted response urgent support team, which is a partnership between three social service agencies in santa clara county that provide urgent help for people struggling with mental health and substance use conditions. |
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