Charleston, great people, great city!!

 It’s amazing how awesome life is when it just happens. The coincidences, the experiences…life is about those things, not grinding away 9-5 in order to purchase the latest useless gadget or to pay overpriced rent. That’s slavery, a relevant point after reading and thinking about Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

  

 Well in a little state park over run by mosquitoes (Givhans Ferry)…life happened. I rolled in on Friday night, no reservation (don’t get me started on how camping has been ruined for the wanderer by people who require too much planning). Anyway I was sans-reservation and the State Park guy (I want to call them rangers like back home but I guess they are wardens or something like that) said to sit in an empty site until someone arrived and maybe I would get lucky that they wouldn’t. 

My fabulous hosts Trish and Chris!!

So I grabbed my book, grabbed a snack and chilled out. It was about 7:30 and the light was starting to go down a little, I was excited to believe that I may have once again lucked out. Then…a white SUV pulled up and I knew the gig was up…or was it. 

 Turns out that I ran into a couple of the nicest people I’ve met on my trip so far. They not only offered to share the campsite with me but also offered a spot to stay in Charleston…life is a damn fine thing when it happens like this!  

 So we chilled out a little at the campsite and got to know each other. Right from minute one they felt like old friends, and I make friends easy so it felt great. They took a super long river trip on day two that I declined (on hindsight that was the wrong thing to do…sounded like a blast but I didn’t want to be a wheel and didn’t really know about spending an entire day on the river with people I didn’t know and be reliant on a ride from them…again on hindsight this was a mistake). 

 On the last day they went home to Charleston and I took another trip through Magnolia (they give you a 7 day pass when you buy your ticket) and finished Uncle Tom’s Cabin. 

 When I arrived in Charleston later that night I could only smile. They said they lived on the Battery and already that sounded great…but to live where they lived, on one of the most coveted streets in Charleston intersecting with the one of the other most coveted street in Charleston…awesome. 

When you live within throwing distance of the Piggly Wiggly CEO...you're doing ok for yourself

 And Charleston was amazing…it was the true south in my opinion. The feel, the flavour, the atmosphere…it was no surprise when they told me that it was America’s most visited city. 

 It’s also the home of the USS Yorkton which was a fun thing to see. Home of Fort Sumter (first shots of the civil war were fired on it from Fort Johnston). Birth place of the masons and a plethora of other historic stopping points. 

I love these old custom houses

 The city is much different from Savannah and I didn’t get the super touristy feel from it that I had there. In fact the character of historic downtown couldn’t be nicer! There are shops, but they felt less intrusive than Savannah’s tourist district.

The fountain on the waterfront

 I did fall head over heels in love with something that is uniquely Charlestonian..the side porch. They say it’s for the breeze…but to me it was just a great idea and I’ve sworn that if I ever get the chance I will incorporate it into a abode.

The scene of the crime! There is so much known and unknown history with the Masons...are they evil? I don't know...but I sure like finding out tidbits like this on my travels!

Hanging out with Chris and Trish was fantastic and I’m sure it helped create an atmosphere in the city that I didn’t get from Savannah. Chris sleeps late, and so does Trish, so much so that on my last day I just about missed Sumter due to some heavy z’s. J However they treated me to a fabulous time the entire time. From eating at Martha Lou’s to trying out some bbq sauce a dude named Kevin gave me from the battery walk…they were amazing hosts! 

Hanging with Martha Lou! She's been whipping up southern style cooking for 29yrs!

Fried pork chop...don't mind if I do!!

One of the Lou kids (I'm assuming), smiling away even though it was dang hot in there!

 And a big big big thumbs up to KLB bbq sauce!! This guy was so nice, I met him while walking with another person that I met. Her name was Barbara and she had stopped along the battery to hang out with her kids. I ended up cracking a few jokes with her and bamo…3.5hrs later we parted company after covering some serious ground, swapping curious questions and digging each others vibe. She led a life that was pretty wild compared to mine and I am always fascinated by peoples history so digging deeper and finding out more is just something that I do without even thinking about it. 

 Anyway when we strolled by Kevin (who has an awesome Issac Hayes look to him, only much much bigger and not dead…haha…oh no you didn’t! Oh yes…I did! Anyway he was great and he presented Barbara and I with bottle of his KLB mustard bbq sauce. I’m not a bbq conasiour  but I loves me a good sauce and this KLB was a damn fine sauce! I was happy to try it out with Chris and Trish, everyone gave it a two thumbs up and as my friend Bam says “Bam…and so it is!” 

Met a cool cat on the battery named Peter. He fishes almost everyday and today I was there for his small shark catch. Steaks...coming up!!

Some old Charleston history! I'd show you more but there would be dozens of pictures that mean nothing without the write ups beside them. What you really need to know is...it's old, it's important and it is in Charleston...go visit ;)

There was about 20 of them out there, nice way to spend an afternoon

since I don't have enough discipline for the service...this is as close as I come to being a part of it

I blame Trish for this...she questioned my manhood when i refuse to step over the "do not cross" barrier. So I did...

Flight deck commander Howard on duty!!

Fabulous sunsets are just a part of living on the water....awesome!

I saw this and snapped it right away...I guess My Fairy is a Charleston native. If you don't know who he is or who this sticker is...it's Andre the Giant and you should watch this movie...

Chris was sleeping so I spent the day with a hot blonde on my arm...Trish was great fun and we had an awesome time hanging out at Fort Sumter. Home of the first shot of the Civil War. Sumter was fired on by Confederate forces from Fort Johnson. The Union lost Sumter shortly after winning the initial skirmish. They got it back later after the confederates did almost nothing to stop the Unions Navy when it came a knockin!

 So after a week of fantastic I was ready to move on. My next place to visit was a place called Prince Bay Farm in Tabor city, NC. I had decided (not sure if I told you this in a previous post) that I was going to re-kindle my fire and resume my original intent of volunteering on some farms as I travelled. Nick from Prince Bay responded…it was pretty much enroute and his 1827 farm caught my interest over most of the other helpx ads. I’m actually writing this part after I already finished on the farm…did I know what to expect? No! Was I ready for the heat? No! Did I realize how much I had been missing some form of productivity…no!!! So…this might be a great time to segway into my time on Prince Bay Farm…Hello North Carolina!!