I have to tell you that I am almost giddy with how great this week has been going. I’m in the Carolinas immersed in tobacco country and loving it. At the same time we get Russ Ouellette as a writer for the site, and as if that’s not enough, our new “Pipe Babe”, Chelsea joins the PipesMagazine.com community and she will be writing articles too! She is a real pipe smoker. You can see her first shoot here.
I just finished day 9 of a 10-day trip through the Carolinas visiting with several different tobacco companies and retailers. I feel like a kid in a candy store at Disney World with all the pipes and tobaccos I have been surrounded with, and smoking all day and night every day! Smoking in people’s offices, warehouses, and of course smoking lounges, while doing business … it’s a tough job man.
I left home last Thursday, May 13th and flew to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I was at SmokingPipes.com the entire day Friday and then hung out in their smoking lounge all day Saturday. It was also exciting that it was “Bike Week” while I was there. There was a huge party atmosphere. After the weekend, I drove to North Carolina.
I went to Charlotte and visited with Erik Stokkebye and Todd McCranie. Then on to Morganton to Cornell & Diehl, then Greensboro to Pipe & Pint, and Cary NC to Tobacconist of Cary, and tomorrow, Friday, I will see Mark Ryan at Daughters & Ryan. I land at Tampa airport at midnight on Friday. I was trying to see Monjure and Savinelli, but they had scheduling conflicts, so maybe next time.
A little off topic, but something interesting I didn’t know is how many Hispanic people live in the Carolinas. For me this is great news as I love Mexican and Cuban food, and the whole culture. As a matter of fact, my girlfriend is Cuban and I am a “Latino-Wannabe”. I thought that Florida, where I live, had the monopoly on the Latino population in the Southeast. I have been having great Mexican and Cuban food, and I am doing it again tonight.
Now, I’m going around North Carolina saying Hola Y’all!