I finally went to the Citadel today.

And it was pretty but I didn't get out of the car, as it was 100+ degrees and I wasn't driving. It's very pristene and there are people around in uniforms. It's a different world. The "barracks" were the neatest part. I wish the weather was better.

I have about as much anxiety about leaving Charleston as I did moving here in the first place. I didn’t think that would happen.

I’m going to miss the friends that I was able to make. I’m going to miss participating in my ideal work environment. I’m going to miss Harris Teeter, the best supermarket ever. I’m going to miss being 15 minutes from three different beaches. I’m going to miss the slight tan I was able to achieve and that I’m certain won’t last very long. I’m going to miss that every place I went to I was going to for the first time, and all the places I won’t get to go to for the first time. I’m going to miss being near bodies of water and the breezes that came with them. I’m going to miss the farmer’s market and its $1 hand-cut pasta. I’m going to miss never having to pay $4 a gallon for gas.

I’m not going to miss living alone. I’m not going to miss seeing cockroaches in my kitchen at least a couple times a week, and sometimes in my bathroom. I’m not going to miss fickle bootleg internet. I’m not going to miss working at Cinebarre and all the bull shit that came with it (though I will miss a lot of the people that work there). I’m not going to miss how expensive everything is and how everyone else here seems so well off. I’m not going to miss trying to find my way around poorly marked streets that don’t work on a grid system and are really too thin to be two-way.

I am very glad I came here. While I don’t think this city completely matches my personality, it was a wonderful place to live for three months. I got to be in buildings that George Washington was in. I got to stand on the ground where the Civil War started. I got to be around people that say y’all unabashedly and without irony. And I think that if for some reason I was staying here permanently, I would have found my place in this strange society.

And I miss Florida. I miss my town and my friends and my house and my room and my porch and my hobbies. But I didn’t miss the bull shit and drama that occurs when you‘re involved in such a small social crowd. I didn’t miss the lack of newness that occurs when you’ve lived in a small town for three years.

This summer went by faster than I wanted to believe.

It’s over.