Weekends in Charleston

Pineapple Fountain

What can you do on the weekend in Charleston?  

Well, there are usually different events happening all time.

You can visit downtown and stroll along Waterfront Park and see the Pineapple fountain or all the people around the fountain.  Or you can see the many music makers along the streets of Charleston.  Go out, take a stroll and carry your camera with you.

If you needed to get inside for a little while, a visit to the Charleston Wine and Food Festival tents in Marion Square provided a great way to beat the heat of the afternoon.

 

Wine, beer, gourmet food, and other products are a great way to spend a couple of hours.  There were a lot of vendors from local wineries and restaurants to bakeries and gourmet salt makers.  Of course, there's always cheese to go with that wine.

The Wine and Food Festival lasted four days and encompassed many restaurants in the Charleston area.  "The four-day event infuses home-grown flavor with the most celebrated chefs, culinary professionals and winemakers in the world." (source)  Go Charleston!

To change it up a little, you could have visited the Captain's Comic Expo put on by Captain's Comics in West Ashley.  The expo featured comic books, artists, action figures and super heroes in the expo hall.

 As well as the comics and collectibles, there were some really good local artists:

James Hill Studios

 Then there was the costume contest. 

From Superman vs. Lex Luthor to Bobba Fett vs. Predator.  

You be the judge!

What do you do on the weekend in Charleston?  There are a lot of options out there.  All you have to do is find a newspaper and see what's going on.  There are all kinds of events to visit and places to see.  Look for a guy with a camera and it'll probably be me.  (Didn't really mean for that to rhyme)  

Come up to me and say hello and tell me if you know of any other exciting events in Charleston.

KAPLA planks

Building is fun.  Lego’s, Lincoln Logs, Erector sets, all of these were the building materials of my youth.  While wondering downtown, as I’m often prone to do, I wandered into a most fabulous place, “Tom’s Toys.”

What makes this store an absolute find?  KAPLA planks!

Mansion (click photos to enlarge)

Lion made with KAPLA planks

The Charleston store is the first shop in Charleston to carry the KAPLA planks.  They opened in 2009 and are located on Market Street across from The Charleston Place hotel.  They had a great sign in front of the store, “Need a break from technology? Come inside and play!”  Walking into the store, this is what I saw:

Building area

So, what it KAPLA?  KAPLA is simply a wooden plank based on a formula of the “progression of the uneven numbers 1:3.5.  Three thicknesses for one width and five widths for one length.  This ratio between bricks and stones and beams and planks now opens a whole new way of building. With these identical planks the builder can construct with the precision of artwork and the stability of stones.”  Source:  http://www.kaplaus.com/the-history-of-kapla/

KAPLA planks

Lion made with KAPLA planks

The showroom floor is surrounded by wonderful examples of how creative one can be with the planks.  The first structure you notice walking in is the giant scale replica of the Eiffel Tower put together by the owner.  It took 3,000 planks to build.  Luckily, it’s glued together, so I couldn’t pull out a plank and yell JENGA!  Actually, I was warned to not touch it.

Eiffel Tower

In the middle of the store is a large play area.  You are invited to come in and play.  There were a couple of students ‘taking a break’ while I was in the store. 

Taking a break

Having fun

The wonderful young lady working at the store was a great source of knowledge and very creative.  Not only does she work there, she can also build wonderful KAPLA designs.  Many of the display pieces were built by her.  Here she is standing next to a dragon she built.

Maggie and the dragon

If you get a chance, take a break, stop by Tom’s Toys and play for a while.  You might build something totally cool.  If not, it’s okay, because building is still fun!

You can purchase the blocks at the store or in their online store.  Visit their website, Tom's Toys.  They also have galleries on their site of other really fantastic creations.  Better yet, just stop by: 125 Market St, Charleston, South Carolina.

(You can click on each photo to enlarge)