NC to DC and Many Friends


Advertisement
Published: March 29th 2006
Edit Blog Post

Fort Sumter's CannonsFort Sumter's CannonsFort Sumter's Cannons

Only part of the reason this fort was never taken.
From Savannah, and I will speak for myself, I was exhausted. After 4 nights of camping, a bed and indoor shower sounded wonderful. On our way to Charleston, South Carolina we had booked a room at the "Not So" hostel which our guide book claimed to be one of the best around. For those of you not really sure about hostels in America, I would definitely recommend trying one out especially on the East Coast. After checking in to our family-style hostel, and admiring not one, but 2 beds in our room, AAAANNNND an indoor shower we only had to share with 3 other rooms, we decided to work up an appetite by heading into town. Charleston is beautiful...period. The houses are old, expertly kept and amazingly large. I dragged Josh through neighborhood after neighborhood of tree lined streets, perfect yards and interesting homes. Honestly, they were almost mesmerizing. Neither of us realized than in addition to the Citadel, Charleston has a 2nd college right in the middle of town appropriately names Charleston College. It was obvious to us over our 2-day stay that the students of Charleston college(the majority) had cash or had family cash. Everyone seemed like they were
A Charleston StaircaseA Charleston StaircaseA Charleston Staircase

Just one of many cool things to do with a house we've seen along the way.
doing well for themselves and the downtown area(around the college) had all the "best" shops and restaurants. Speaking of restaurants, Josh and I had some of the best food we have had on the trip in Charleston. Our first day, we stopped into a Lonely Planet recommended place called Sermet's named after the wild and crazy Turkish chef/owner. Josh meal was amazing - a chicken curry with sweet potato ravioli and some apple mixed in; almost enough for him to want to return the next day!

Day 2 in Charleston included a very cold and rainy trip out to Ft. Sumter. First, there is a boat ride - coooold, then, there is a windy self guided tour on the island with no cover - coooold. Overall, since it was cloudy, rainy and did I mention coooold the views were not great and the overall tour was probably a little less than what I expected. I think Josh thought it was fine however it did bring up some great discussion between us on the museum exhibits regarding the start of the Civil War and slavery and what we had been taught about the Civil War in the "free" states. There
A Charleston HouseA Charleston HouseA Charleston House

As standard as they get in this amazingly beautiful town.
are some major differences in the history told in the South vs. other places. Hmmmmm. After our return from the tour we had another highlight meal at a local spot that we just walked into. Later, we found that this local stop is legendary amongst the locals in Charleston. The restaurant was named Jestine's after the recently deceased owner - the 112 year old Jestine. She started her career as a nanny and cook for a Charleston family and later opened her own restaurant with family recipes. We are talking home cooking the southern way. I begged Josh to get the daily special of sweet chicken and lima beans while I sampled the cornbread, mashed potatoes and okra gumbo. We had a feast and yes, Josh enjoyed his meal EVEN the lima beans. We finished off our meal with a nice slice of Coca Cola cake. Ahhhhhh. I can't imagine Jestine lived to 112 by eating her own food, but if so, I am willing to try the Jestine diet. Post lunch, I dragged Josh to even more houses. I'm sure glad he married me BEFORE this trip.

From Charleston we headed north to Durham, North Carolina where my
A Scottish Castle or....A Scottish Castle or....A Scottish Castle or....

...Duke University.
wonderful friend Melissa and her amazing boyfriend Brian make their home. On our way we stopped through Myrtle Beach which I remember from a couple of chick flicks when I was a kid. Weeeellll, Myrtle Beach iiiisssss yucky. The beach could be beautiful and if we weren't so disgusted with the rest of the city we might have stopped to check it out. Basically, Myrtle Beach is the Atlantic City of NC. Tons of hotels, tons of firework and "beach wear" shops, we counted at least 50 mini-golf places and a pancake house on every corner. It was like a military town outside of the military bases where you only have certain businesses and they repeat - pawn shop, car dealership, strip club, pawn shop, car dealership, strip club. Only in Myrtle Beach - hotel, pancake house, mini-golf, hotel, pancake house, mini golf. It didn't help that it was a ghost town, but I can't even imagine that floods of people would make it any better. Thumbs way down for Myrtle Beach.

We did make it to Wilmington which is definitely an up-and-comer in NC. And then on to Durham.....Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill make up what the North
Our wonderful NC hostsOur wonderful NC hostsOur wonderful NC hosts

Melissa and Brian, thank you so much we loved NC!
Carolina peeps call the Triangle. Because of the three, fairly large, pretty hip cities, there is not only a lot to do in the area, there is a lot of business moving in. In addition, with 2 major universities in close proximity the triangle area is young and caters to the younger crowd. My friend Melissa currently works for Duke. She is helping to coordinate and manage an upcoming book festival which sounds amazing. Check out the website at www.ncbook.org. Authors like Pat Conroy, Tom Wolfe, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Barbara Kingsolver will be speaking. Soooo, if you are near the Durham/Duke area, check out the website because it is open to the public. We enjoyed 3 great days with Melissa and Brian as they showed us the music scene, the sports scene(we were in Duke country when Duke lost), and the food scene. Melissa opened our eyes to organic, vegetarian food - has anyone else heard of Quinoa? Yummy! In addition, Melissa set us on a secret excursion that ended in a couples massage for Josh and I. My first professional massage! Big thanks to Melissa and Brian for sharing your home with us. We will look forward to
Our houseOur houseOur house

"Damn it, George. I now you are more of a baseball guy, but isn't there something you can do about the Seahawks getting hosed?"
seeing you both soon.

After leaving Durham, Josh and I drove to the much anticipated Washington DC. Washington has always held a special place in Josh's heart and I remember my visit in high school as a whirl wind of museums and exhibits. In addition, we were able to hit DC during their cherry blossom festival which is beautiful. My friend Mike and his wonderful girlfriend Lexi met us out our first night at the Saloon. Mike and I were stationed in Germany together and share an appreciation for German beer. A true hofbrauhaus, the Saloon was a great place to start our first night in DC. After the Saloon we made it over to Adams Morgan to finish off the night. Adams Morgan is one of the night spot neighborhoods in DC. In AM, we met up with my friend Seth. We had a great night which the boys finished off with a slice of Pizza Boli - a pizza slice the size of Hawaii. Honestly, I could have worn the slice and it would have covered all the important parts. Annnndd....I made it all the way until the bars closed at 3a! For those of you that
Seth and GeriSeth and GeriSeth and Geri

The new power couple in DC.
know me, this truly was a feat. Mike was nice enough to let us stay at his vacant and very central apartment (he has since moved and is letting his month lease run out, so we had the place and the parking. Woooo, hooo!). Day 2 in DC - we met Seth and his wonderful fiancée Gerry for an amazing brunch, afterwards touring around their building a little, even going to an open house. After getting the low down on politicians vs. civil servants from the master civil servant himself(Seth), Josh and I made our way to the Mall just in time to see the Natural Science museum and sunset behind the monument. After a nice tapas dinner with Mike and Lexi in an enclosed, glass atrium 4 stories up(see picture), Josh and I collapsed. Day 3 in DC included walking, walking and more walking. In the morning we tried to find Rumsfeld's house - no luck, and later in the afternoon we enjoyed the Capitol protestors and all, the brand new Native American museum and the new World War II outdoor museum. At the end of the day, we excitedly packed our things and drove out to Rockville Maryland
Prehistoric DinnerPrehistoric DinnerPrehistoric Dinner

Dinosaurs love human sushi.
to visit with the Janini's. Josh's roommate from college Ramsey, now in the UK, grew up in Rockville and his wonderful family let us stay with them for a couple of days. We enjoyed a wonderful home-cooked meal(still need to get the recipe for the gouda potatoes), many laughs and amazing hospitality. Ramsey and Claire you were very missed! We also enjoyed a night out in Arlington, Virginia with Christina and George - thanks!!

Our last day in DC, we were able to catch up with Brandi, a friend from CMC that is a now a big time lawyer/lobbyist/marathon runner/social butterfly/bride-to-be/cool chick for lunch. She was able to drop a little lawyer document review to hang out with us in an Irish pub mid-town. She schooled us on the inner-workings of the DC political scene. It is truly amazing how things really get done in this town. Lots of laughs and CMC reminiscing over pot pie and tacos (huh?).

This leg of the trip has been wonderful. Super cities, great people and yummy meals have made Josh and I feel so lucky. Big thanks to all of you for showing us your wonderful cities. We definitely look forward
Us with Mike and LexiUs with Mike and LexiUs with Mike and Lexi

Thank you so much for the apartment! You guys are awesome!
to returning the favor wherever we may land. Today we are off to Philly and then on to New York. Hope all is well with everyone.

"The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing."


-Daniel J. Boorstin


Additional photos below
Photos: 13, Displayed: 13


Advertisement

The CapitalThe Capital
The Capital

Its fun to see all the activity.
Us with BrandiUs with Brandi
Us with Brandi

Fat cats in Washington look out!
Cherry BlossomsCherry Blossoms
Cherry Blossoms

It almost looks like snow.
The Janini's!The Janini's!
The Janini's!

Our East Coast Family! Thank you guys so much for everything! Come west and see us soon.


30th March 2006

From Larry & Betty
Hi Josh and Marissa, we have certainly enjoyed your travelblogs, and have read all of them with great interest. In fact you two inspired us to try our hand at blogging. We did two entries on the travelblog site, but I couldn't figure out how to get our pictures into the story where we wanted them, like you do. Can you e-mail me sometime on that trick? Sounds like you are having the trip of a lifetime! Love, Betty
1st April 2006

We started
We are on our trip across the states, but your trip has been so much more exciting than ours, but that's because we're old! Your blogs have been great-loved the alligator story, can't top that and Marisa , this last one had us laughing out loud at one point. Keep them coming. PS We are in Zion National Park, Utah and it is awesome.

Tot: 0.098s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0524s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb