Click to enlarge. Photo for thegazz.com by Walker DeVille

Downtown Charleston does many things right, and one of them are its classy, two-hump streetlamps. Regular downtownians may no longer even notice them, they are so familiar. But take a second look! This is a view standing near Quarrier Street, shooting toward the Masonic Temple in the distance.

Speaking of humps, what do you get when you breed a one-hump Dromedary camel with a two-hump Bactrian? Here’s what.

Cick to enlarge. Photo for thegazz.com by Walker DeVille

Figure this perspective out, habitués of downtown Charleston. Where am I standing. Hint: Or am I standing?

Click to enlarge. Photo for thegazz.com by Walker DeVille

I must admit I have yet to partake of a sit-down meal at Café Paris, at the corner of Capitol and Quarrier streets. I did once imbibe a sit-down beer in the bar/cafe, which adheres to the French-style bar experience of being a smoke-filled room. I don’t know about lunch at these tables above, which often bear the full brunt of sunny days. Dinner, mayhaps, after the sun mellows. Does anyone have experiences/reviews to report of their Cafe Parisien experiences downtown?

Click to enlarge. Photo for thegazz.com by Walker DeVille

I have decided to do some drive-by shootings. No, not that kind — I have no desire to reside in the hoosegow. No, le joint is not for me (I’d be denied my morning espresso, for one). I mean drive-by photos of the lovely mansions along Kanawha Boulevard. Now, being as I am driving by, you are going to get a little blur, n’est pas? Oui. I find a drive or walk along the Boulevard both invigorating and sad. Invigorating, as the buildings are often so striking and brawny, recalling a thriving city when carriages clomped and rolled alongside the Kanawha River. Sad, as so many of these lovely structures are for rent or sale — many for many months or years. It’s hard to keep a drafty, mammoth mansion heated, cooled and upkept, no doubt.

Click to enlarge. Photo for thegazz.com by Walker DeVille

A downtown still-life with a bridge mix of newsboxes, shade and curb, right outside the Kanawha County Library building along Capitol Street.

Click to enlarge. Photo for thegazz.com by Walker DeVille

I have been in search of a good perspective that would isolate and more clearly demonstrate the charms of the Kanawha Trust building, one of the classiest in the Charleston skylinescape. Here it is. I am still not sure the logo adds anything, but at least it is small. Can you downtown streetwalkers (not that kind, I mean salarymen and women) figure out where I am standing?

Click to enlarge. Photo for thegazz.com by Walker DeVille

I was in search a little order in a chaotic world, full of disorder. Hence, the appeal of this western wall of the Boll Building along Dickinson Street near the South Side Bridge.

Click to enlarge. Photo for thegazz.com by Walker DeVille

Speaking of downtown color, here is a rather angular, eccentric view of the facade of the building at 112 Capitol Street, occupied by the Kesner, Kesner & Bramble Attorneys at Law. Kind of like a gingerbread house, and not altogether unpleasing since it’s done with enough restraint and délicatesse not to assault the irises. Plus, against the unrelenting restraint of most downtown facades, it’s positively Mondrian-esque.

Photo for thegazz.com by Walker DeVille. Click to enlarge

One thing that must be said for Capitol Street in downtown Charleston: very good shade. Shade is important, especially on some of the brutal weeks of globally warmed sunshine (if Al is right) that we have experienced this summer.

Click to enlarge. Photo for thegazz.com by Mark Wolfe

Charleston’s downtown has few remaining great structures. Among those remaining intact are the old State movie theater on East Washington Street, and the YWCA building on Quarrier. Therefore, I’d like to congratulate and thank those progressive-minded peoples who saved both from the ever-greedy wrecking ball. Although I would have loved to have seen the State used for a nice second-run movie house showing “art” films and independent titles (but that doesn’t sell too well here). Fortunately, at least the building was redone as a theater facade. It makes for a nice addition to the East End.

I go to the YWCA run by Nautilus. It’s very convenient. It’s also clean and un-crowded. With so many square buildings, the historic YWCA is a very comforting site.

~ Guest Post by Mark Wolfe