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Published: October 29th 2007
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The Welcoming Party
Shazza gets nervous as the confederate truck closes in As soon as we left D.C. and entered Virginia, confederate flags started appearing on cars and homes, indicating we had officially made it into the south. As a "coloured" car, Shazza was a bit concerned about coming down here, after hearing the history about how the civil war was waged primarily over the south's right to use black slave-labour.
After some reassurance, we drove west to the Skyline Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway, both renowned as scenic drives to take in "Fall" to see the coloured leaves. Despite the dry season, the stories of amazing colours were true, with a full range from green through to fire-red on both sides of the road. It was surreal driving along in the evening, as the sunset lit the whole forest with a warm glow, despite the chilly air temperatures. Staying one night on The Parkway at a campsite, we continued along and into North Carolina to the "alternative" town of Asheville. As we pulled up next to a small park in the middle of town, a random dance party was underway, that had college students and homeless people alike, dancing up a storm. When retelling the story to others since, they've simply
Blue Ridge Parkway
Showing the full range of "fall" colours said "yep, sounds like Asheville". The town's hostel was run by a couple of rugby playing locals, who cooked up a mean southern style breakfast in the morning (grits, eggs, chopped sausage in gravy and biscuits). From there, we made our way across state to Chapel Hill- famous as being where Michael Jordan went to college at UNC. The town was clean and very college centered, and we stayed at a roadside motel for the night.
The next day, we headed straight east and out to Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks in the hope of finding some surf. Unfortunately there wasn't any there, but it was still nice to swim in the ocean again. Consisting of mostly coastal-retreat housing, the area was mostly deserted at this time of year, meaning I was swimming alone in front of a long row of empty beach houses. Kitty Hawk is most famous for being the place where the Wright Brothers conducted their glider tests and made the first powered flight in history. A museum now exists with various items from the brothers, as well as markers in the field where they first flew. A quote from Buzz Aldrin in the museum
Afternoon Blur
The forest looking like paint demonstrates how quickly we have evolved in flight "From Kitty Hawk to The Moon in 66 years". It still astounds me that a kid could have been 14 and excited at hearing of man's first flight, then only be 80 when they reach The Moon! Before retiring to the nearby hostel, I went to the local "mountain" (a big sand dune) to watch a stunning sunset back over the sound.
In the morning, we made our way along the length of the banks- where the coastal sprawl gives way to secluded National Seashore beaches. The road along the thin strip of islands is joined by small car ferries, which allows you to complete the journey north-south. We made it down to the charming town of Wilmington for a night at a cheap motel. Also known mostly because of Michael Jordan (where the greatest ever basketball player grew up), Wilmington was a key confederate port during the civil war. The Union Navy set up a blockade out past Cape Fear to prevent critical supplies reaching the town and its railroad. It became big business for private "blockade runners" to attempt to evade the Yankee's ships and sell their goods in
Halloween
Just a regular front yard in October town at premium prices. The Cape Fear Museum had interesting models of the blockade and civil war artifacts, as well as a tribute to local hero Jordan.
After the museum in the morning, I visited the Battleship North Carolina- fully restored and situated just across the river from town. One of the most decorated ships of WW2 and serving in all major US Naval battles during the war, the ship was a fascinating floating museum to explore all levels of. Some of the creature comforts enjoyed by the up to 2,000 crew members included an on-board ice cream parlour, barber and post office.
The heat and humidity increased steadily as we headed down the coast and into South Carolina. That afternoon, we made it to Charleston, which we'd heard to be a great party town. The hostel outside the main city area didn't reveal much other than run-down houses and cracked roads, but as soon as you ventured into the historic downtown, the city was amazing. All low-level, classic and brightly coloured southern buildings lined the main streets of town. The only structures standing above were church spires and the old citadel. The city is divided down the
The Outer Banks
The bridge across to the banks middle by an open-air market street, while the side streets hold a wide variety of restaurants and bars. Along the waterfront, huge mansions and Battery Park overlook Fort Sumpter, where the first shots of the civil war were fired from. The college campus, situated right downtown, means there is always a youthful crowd to mix with the cruise-boat tourists shopping their way around town.
I stayed for 3 nights and hung out with some girls on break from UNC, Chapel Hill. We made up our own walking tours of the city's classic buildings during the day and ate some great southern food and did some pub crawling at night. I also had the best ice-cream of my life- the richest chocolate ice cream imaginable, with big chunks of fudge brownie mixed through it and served in heated waffle cone!
On leaving Charleston, Shazza and I stopped in at one of the region's most famous plantation estates- The Magnolia Plantation. Situated on the banks of a river, so the harvested cotton bales could be transported by barge, the massive estate is visited for its superb gardens. Ranging from tropical gardens to hedge mazes, to swamp gardens (with a few
Billboard
The first sign across the bridge- some things are better left unsaid resident alligators), the estate was great to just wonder around. The heat of the day was reduced dramatically by the oak canopy along the pathways and all the lily ponds present.
Next stop was Savannah, Georgia- with a reputation as a sister city to Charleston. Both downtown areas have classic southern architecture and big oak trees, both are situated on a harbour (once used mostly for the cotton trade) and you cross a modern bridge to get into each. My impression of Savannah was it was more touristy, and less of a college town. There were less young locals out and about and more loud American tourists in town to shop, drink and eat. It still had some fun nightlife, and a great law of being able to buy take-away drinks from pubs served in plastic cups (very unusual for the strict US alcohol laws). It was perfect for pub-crawls, like the haunted pub crawl I tagged along with, as you could drink when walking between pubs! The waterfront district was a constant entertainment zone with restaurants and pubs facing out to buskers and tourist boats coming and going along the harbour.
From Savannah, we continued on, in
Kitty Hawk Beach
The long stretch of Outer Banks Beaches search of theme-parks, gators, oranges and maybe some surf??? Shazza had survived a nervous week driving in the south and was now ready to join the hordes of other retirees heading to Florida.
Distance Travelled So Far: 11,800 miles
Spanish Known at This Point: This time its been trying to educate some locals on the English language, specifically that "y'all" is not a word!
Horoscope for the Week: Virgo (August 23- September 22)
As you'll soon discover, it's amazing what the human body is capable of when it really doesn't want to have sex with you.
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