Steppin' Out Around Charleston And Rockin' Out At Piccolo Spoleto Summer Frenzy Block Party

Downtown Charleston, June 4, hot and humid. Revisited some old favorites in the Historic District. The Old Market was busy as usual. Strolled around observing people, took pictures, and gathered information for my next article. One man I passed was describing to what appeared to be visiting family the crepe myrtle and how it only blooms in the South. Although, he couldn't remember the name of the tree.

Stopped at Bubba Gumps for a "Boat Bucket of Trash", as it is called, and a refresher. The shrimp was good, but the fish was somewhat "trashy" or more appropriately, alittle "fishy". The waiter asked me how the food was and I politely said, "Good". I had no great expectations going in, its Bubba Gumps.

Back out on the street and on the move. Tour vendors were trying to coax patrons into signing up for their tours. One tour representative was offering couples, married or living together with an income, $125 to view one of their time shares down the road. Been there, done that, no thank you.

Walked around Queen Street and Church Street. Plenty of beautiful alleyways and cobblestoned roads to take pictures of. Nicely dressed groups of people were standing outside of the theaters waiting to get in to see the shows. Casually dressed and not so casually dressed individuals waited outside of restaurants. Thought about stopping at Boccis, but the line was too long. Walked past the Powder Magazine. The "Gentleman Pirate" had retired for the night. Admired the iron works on the Dock Street Theater.

It was now getting close to the time for the other reason I came downtown this evening. Walked over to King Street and headed towards Marion Square. There wasn't many shoppers at that time of night. I rounded the corner onto Calhoun Street. The various tents, food trucks, and stands lining the perimeter of the square came into view. I could hear the music ever so faintly in the distance coming from the direction where the stage was set up. The Piccolo Spoleto Summer Frenzy Block Party was underway.

The party-goers were just starting to gather around the stage and by the time the first band of the night, DJ TEC, had completed their set and the second band, Byog, was done setting up, the crowd had doubled. Gangrene Machine, Mingle and Calibrate, and Night School rounded out the entertainment for the rest of the evening.

There were a few spectators dancing to the rythmns of the night and as things progressed everyone had gotten into the party mood. The crowd battered around two beach balls for some added fun while they waited for each performance to begin. All in all, everyone appeared to have fun. It was a great night visiting my old friend, Charleston.