Wednesday, July 25, 2012
We started my last day in Charlotte with sustenance at IHOP. Both of us needed a jump start after staying up too late reading our funky novels the night before. A little dazed from all the food we had just consumed we staggered out of IHOP and hit the jackpot. Welcome to The Last Word, the absolute best second hand bookstore I have ever had the fortune of walking into. Organized by Genre and Author this book store makes me so unbelievably happy.
The best part? Well, they have everything loaded into their computer system, so they can actually TELL you if they have specific books in stock. They have frequent buyer programs, and they even give credit to kids for good report cards. I love it! I ended up buying so many I wasn't even sure if they were all going to fit in my suitcase for the trip home. Now I want to go back to Charlotte just for this book store AND the soft pretzels!
But our day did not end there, our next destination was The Mint Museum Randolph to see their Fashionable Silhouettes: Selections From the Museum Collection exhibit. A wide range of the height of fashion arranged by year spanning from the 18th-20th century styles.
"The Fashion Collection is one of the primary artistic focus areas of The Mint Museum. This special collection was founded in 1972 by the Mint Museum Auxiliary as a concerted volunteer effort to save community heirlooms. It is a rich resource within the Museum’s holdings that totals over 10,000 items and spans over three centuries of fashion history."
We ooo'd and aah'd over many of the dresses, commented on others that we were glad we didn't live in that time period. Frankly I don't understand how a girl would ever be able to sit down in a full bustle? I was extremely sad that they don't allow any photography at all in this section. I suppose some day I will have to visit it again and bring my sketch paper! There were a couple dresses that I specifically coveted. I was glad to see that they had a pic of this one on the left on their website as it was one of my favorites.
One of the exhibits that made me etxtremely happy was not even inside the museum. This bamboo structure entitled Passage: Waterway 2011 is beautiful and a joy to walk through. It was designed by Tetsunori Kawana and was scheduled to reside outside of The Mint Museum Randolph for a full year so that people could observe it in all seasons.
Created using straight and split Madake bamboo and annealed metal wire. The sign posted encourages you to "Explore the path through the center of the sculpture. Photograph your friends and family with the sculpture." But do not "remove any part of the sculpture or Eat the bamboo( like a Panda Bear)"
Eager to learn more about this structure, I googled it and was rewarded with some photos of what it looked like the first day it was constructed. What a difference a year makes!
Tuckered out from our excursion we headed back to Ms Ianthine's for a little rest and so I could pack for the flight home. Which would be leaving in just a few hours. It turned out that we were both starving though and decided to hit up one of her favorite restaurants on the way home, El Pulgarcito. It was my first time trying Salvadoran food and it was tasty! I got to try Pupusas for the first time, another new love! Mmm melty cheesy goodness. The rest of our food was great as well, but I just keep thinking back to those Pupusas.
We started my last day in Charlotte with sustenance at IHOP. Both of us needed a jump start after staying up too late reading our funky novels the night before. A little dazed from all the food we had just consumed we staggered out of IHOP and hit the jackpot. Welcome to The Last Word, the absolute best second hand bookstore I have ever had the fortune of walking into. Organized by Genre and Author this book store makes me so unbelievably happy.
The best part? Well, they have everything loaded into their computer system, so they can actually TELL you if they have specific books in stock. They have frequent buyer programs, and they even give credit to kids for good report cards. I love it! I ended up buying so many I wasn't even sure if they were all going to fit in my suitcase for the trip home. Now I want to go back to Charlotte just for this book store AND the soft pretzels!
But our day did not end there, our next destination was The Mint Museum Randolph to see their Fashionable Silhouettes: Selections From the Museum Collection exhibit. A wide range of the height of fashion arranged by year spanning from the 18th-20th century styles."The Fashion Collection is one of the primary artistic focus areas of The Mint Museum. This special collection was founded in 1972 by the Mint Museum Auxiliary as a concerted volunteer effort to save community heirlooms. It is a rich resource within the Museum’s holdings that totals over 10,000 items and spans over three centuries of fashion history."
We ooo'd and aah'd over many of the dresses, commented on others that we were glad we didn't live in that time period. Frankly I don't understand how a girl would ever be able to sit down in a full bustle? I was extremely sad that they don't allow any photography at all in this section. I suppose some day I will have to visit it again and bring my sketch paper! There were a couple dresses that I specifically coveted. I was glad to see that they had a pic of this one on the left on their website as it was one of my favorites.
One of the exhibits that made me etxtremely happy was not even inside the museum. This bamboo structure entitled Passage: Waterway 2011 is beautiful and a joy to walk through. It was designed by Tetsunori Kawana and was scheduled to reside outside of The Mint Museum Randolph for a full year so that people could observe it in all seasons.
Created using straight and split Madake bamboo and annealed metal wire. The sign posted encourages you to "Explore the path through the center of the sculpture. Photograph your friends and family with the sculpture." But do not "remove any part of the sculpture or Eat the bamboo( like a Panda Bear)"
Eager to learn more about this structure, I googled it and was rewarded with some photos of what it looked like the first day it was constructed. What a difference a year makes!
Tuckered out from our excursion we headed back to Ms Ianthine's for a little rest and so I could pack for the flight home. Which would be leaving in just a few hours. It turned out that we were both starving though and decided to hit up one of her favorite restaurants on the way home, El Pulgarcito. It was my first time trying Salvadoran food and it was tasty! I got to try Pupusas for the first time, another new love! Mmm melty cheesy goodness. The rest of our food was great as well, but I just keep thinking back to those Pupusas.
Yea fun fun fun. Books and museums and food and fun!!!!!
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