At Charlotte's CarolinaFest

Today I spent a few hours wandering around CarolinaFest, where concert stages, Southern cooking, issue advocacy, and lots and lots of Obama/Biden swag abounded. I ran into the Daily Show crew doing street interviews, as were Fox News, the loathsome Americans For Prosperity, and Glenn Beck's The Blaze, the last of whom I snippily turned down when they asked for an on-camera summation of my hopes for the convention.

I also dropped in at the Huffington Post Oasis, where they've commandeered a posh spa to offer free massages, organic snacks, and meditation rooms for the press. Tagline: "Unplug and recharge." Sitting at a table right at the front door I ran into Arianna herself, deep in a conversation with Hilary Rosen. I passed on the freebies and just sat on one of the plush couches, content to watch reporter after reporter kissing up to Ms. Huffington.

The weather was super hot and humid and just as the skies opened up around 5pm a very kind Bloomberg Media bus driver offered to give me a ride back to South Carolina as my hotel was on his route, the same one also allegedly served by the DNC's official buses. I was the sole outbound passenger and on the way we chatted about the new restaurant just opened by him and his partner, who was once a chef at NYC's Palace Hotel. All the drivers and service staff here have been amazingly friendly and accommodating. Full screen photos here.