Today requires some background. Immediately after college, I had a housemate who was a motorsports fan. Every weekend, he was watching either Formula 1 or NASCAR on TV. At first, I had no idea what the appeal was. It looked like a bunch of vehicles going around in circles, especially stock cars. The more we watched, the more interesting it became. Motorsports has incredible amounts of technology and strategy, and this aspect drew me in. The occasional spectacular accidents were a bonus. After three years on the waiting list, my housemate was able to buy tickets to the NASCAR Cup race at url=http://www.nascar.... read more

Today I explore the source of Charleston’s wealth, the rice plantations along the rivers. Most of them have been subdivided at this point, so getting an authentic view of one is difficult. The Charleston area has four that have been turned into museums. I knew that more than two would produce fatigue, so I picked carefully. I ended up with two that give very different perspectives on the plantation life. Drayton Hall Drayton Hall was founded in 1738 by John Drayton, a member of one of South Carolina’s wealthiest families. It produced rice for nearly a half century, and then switched to cotton. It is the only plantation along the Ashley River that survived the Civil War intact. The exact reason has... read more

I awoke this morning in Charleston South Carolina.Remember that I mentioned earlier (see ) that I had to do either Charleston or Savannah on the cheap.Well, today is the day.I stayed in the NotSo Hostel.It’s the only hostel in South Carolina, and routinely ranked as one of the best in the US.The neighborhood is not the best, and it’s a long walk to the tourist sites, but the security is good and the staff is really friendly.The entire place gives off a cultured bohemian vibe that I really enjoyed; a good contrast to the anonymous highway hotels that have been the backbone of the trip so far. Charleston at this point is a major tourist destination.While the city has a large number of worthy historic sites, it also has a large number of tourist traps.There are ... read more

St. Augustine I spent the day in St. Augustine. As the town tourist authorities love to point out, it’s the oldest continuously occupied city in the US. That is less impressive than it sounds. The town changed hands multiple times over the centuries, so it has remarkably little from the early days of settlement other than the street layout. The town is also a huge tourist magnet, so visiting with sanity intact requires advance research. The town was founded by the Spanish as a fort. English pirates were threatening the lucrative trade route that brought seized Inca gold to Spain, and the king wanted to protect it. A garrison was duly established. A few decades later, En... read more

Today, I explore one the most celebrated parts of Florida within the state, and unknown parts outside of it, natural springs. The entire upper half of the Florida peninsula sits on a thick layer of limestone. This limestone has eroded to form caves. Rainfall filters through the ground into the caves, forming a huge aquifer called the karsts layer. When a cave reaches the surface, the water flows out forming a spring. Florida spring water is a constant temperature year round, and some of the purest fresh water on earth. King's Bay My first encounter with the springs was a snorkel trip in King’s Bay, one of the most important regions of the state for aquatic wildlife. King’s Bay is created by dozens of fre... read more