Georgia & Charleston

This post is a little belated, but I thought I would post a few pics from out voyage through Georgia and South Carolina on our way back to Asheville. We stopped just outside of Savannah at a nice little campground on a lake. It was a quiet few weeks there as we were too far from Savannah to go into town often, but we had a nice, relaxing time. 

Next stop was Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston is a great city, and I wish we could have spent more time there. The city itself is beautiful- parks, waterfront, and tons of old architecture. There were about a million good looking restaurants, which we only got the chance to try two, but both were very good which was a relief after months of bad restaurant experiences. I would LOVE to come back and visit here again!

-Hana

Charleston ended up being a pleasant city to visit, and the old historic feel reminded me a lot of Savannah. I would say that South Carolina and Georgia feel like the same state in most areas. We stayed in an RV park & campground on the outskirts of town which we had high expectations for since it was in a wooded area and a bit on the expensive side. The reality was it was a busy area, but the large property was wooded. Our site was right across from the laundry, which would go daily from around 2 or three until midnight or so. The days were warm and I kept the windows closed. If you know me, by now you are well aware of my sensitivities. Our neighbors were mostly long-term, and seemed to think particle board made good kindling for their nightly bonfires. While it seemed dodgy we were left alone and nobody bothered us. I made friends with some ducks who hung around a lot after I fed them.



 Charleston is a busy town with a a lot of traffic. As for restaurants, there seemed to be no shortage of expensive places with one word titles like "Toast" - a trend I am expecting to die any day now. There were a multitude of cafes, all brandishing an original twist on their menu which utilized terms like "local", "farm fresh", "elevated", "a step above", etc. which is all good, but so overemphasized by the hipster type crowd that Hana and I can't help ourselves but make jokes. "Local" I learned years ago is also a gimmick that is used the same way that the gluten free label is used on everything from bottled water to yogurt. Coffee places will advertise "locally ground and brewed" knowing that most consumers are not going to give it much thought.  For the most part these mid range "local" places do offer a creative spin and are the healthier choice as opposed to the many other msg-happy options out there where everything is kept frozen.

  Hana and I went to the museum at Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. There is a lot of conflicting information out there on Abraham Lincoln. Based on what I have read slavery wasn't the real cause for the civil war, but a good cause to hide behind. There always has to be a "good cause" in order to get a lot of people to kill one another for the sake of that cause. The reality is there is always more to it, and the sinister intentions go beyond what is presented to the public to get them to accept all this killing. Growing up as a kid we always heard about how great Honest Abe was. Later on I read his writings in letters which were insinuating that he wasn't. Overall I look at him like I do Kennedy, or MLK, who tried to break away from all the corruption and do something good, and was assassinated for it. I think the same goes for Lincoln. I wasn't there, but if he was assassinated he must have been trying to do something right. Nonetheless, you can see how this city was built as a fortress for war times, and can still find remnants of spiked gates and barricades all over. Overall I would say Charleston is a city I would visit again.

I learned that the mosquito, or gnat, is the "state bird" for South Carolina. I did leave (as I did last year) with bites from gnats that lasted for weeks.
-James

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