On South Carolina

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Poinsett State Park, Wedgefield, South Carolina

We took another down-day yesterday and did pretty much absolutely nothing. Read a bit about beaches. Played a game of cards - Joan won the South Carolina tournament by more than 100 points! Took a nap that was interrupted by a lawn mower on the clearing, but it died or ran out of gas after a short time, so we were able to get back to sleep. And we drove into town to stock up on wine, groceries, and gasoline. We bought a couple of pork chops and grilled them for dinner. Heat and humidity picked up some late yesterday and so we turned on the A/C and ate inside.

We will be leaving South Carolina in a few hours. And I'm struggling to define what my feelings are about the state. Florida was so diverse and interesting, and Georgia, with Macon, Cumberland Island and Savannah, was charming and a lot of fun. But I'm having trouble summarizing my feelings about this state.

Part of that is that I'm not sure we got our 30 data points on South Carolina. We have stayed in just two places - a Charleston County Park, and here in Poinsett State Park, south of Columbia. Yes they are in two different eco-regions, so we've achieved some understanding of the variety of terrain and vegetation. We've seen the Charleston French Quarter and the Harbor area, Fort Sumter, McLeod Plantation, and Congaree Swamp. We drove through the 'Lowlands' and through more rural areas on up into the Piedmont. So we've done a few things in this state, but I'm not certain we've done enough.

Or maybe its just the way things are here. It seems kind of closed-up; a little on the stuffy side. The people are friendly enough, but maybe a little too prideful. We like it when people ask us questions and want to know what we are doing? What is New Mexico like? But we don't get those kinds of questions here - like they don't care what we are doing. We had a waitress express interest in our trip, but it turns out she is a recent transplant from Massachusetts!

So we move on today and enter a new state. Just two more states left on the Southern Charms bucket list.(17.1.57)

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