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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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“"You get two for one in the south it seems"” |
We have loved Charleston. The train journey was a bit rough though. After our nine hour journey was delayed on track by another 2 and an half hours, I found myself longing for the efficiency of CIE and Irish Rail.
None the less, we arrived in at about 10pm to a quaint (small, lego-like) train station about 8 miles outside downtown Charleston. After turning down two offers of a cab ride in 2 worryingly large unmarked white vans, we called a cab to take us to our B&B. Our cab driver (and his girlfriend ??) were both very friendly, and cheap. You get two for one in the south it seems.
When we got to our B&B, we were greeted by a beautiful old courtyard all lit up with fairy lights. Palm trees lined the outdoor jacuzzi, and our bedroom, complete with 4 poster bed had its own small breakfast patio. Breakfast, we found out, was delivered to your door as and when you liked. So far so good with the southern hospitality!!
Our first morning in Charleston, we decided to take advantage of the free bicyles offered by our B&B. A great way of saving your feet after days and days of pounding city pavements. Now i havent really been on a bike since my "Raleigh wildcat" days of the early 90's, but it went surprisingly well. Ciara believed she was in "My girl" with Macauley Culkin. I wont bother explaining if you haven't seen it.
The town itself is small - but incredibly beautiful. As you'll see from the pictures, each street is lined with gas lit lamps, old style wooden colonial houses lined with spanish moss, and multitudes of restaurants and B&B's.
The pace of life here is so different to the rest of the US we have experienced. It doesn't take long to be reminded that we're in Confederacy country now. South Carolina was the first state to ceceed from the union, sparking the civil war in the mid 1800's. they are still quite proud and close to their confederacy roots here in the south, altrhough its not so visable that you would immediatley notice.
We took a cycle up to the huge visitors centre to give ourselves a few ideas. First stop was the fantastic Charleston aquarium, the towns most visited attraction apparantly. Here we saw sharks and jellyfish and piranhas and lots of things that live in the sea. It was good fun and ciara got to feed a crab, which was more interesting than you would think (Ciara also wants to adopt an otter or two)..
One thing we have both become acutely aware of here is how unbelieveably great southern food is. Its the best and cheapest we've eaten since we got to the states. If you want a proper stake or good BBQ then the south is where its at.
We wandered up and down King St. (Charlestons rodeo drive - kind of), Market street (full of basket ladies, stalls, tacky shops and the usual market crap) and took a cycle down by the east battery on the river bank where there is a beautiful park full of swinging chairs and palm trees.
From the park you can see Fort Sumter, on an island about 4 or 5 miles off the coast. This is where the first shots of the civil war were fired, and although we didnt visit it, it sure looks nice.
I've pretty much described what we have done both days here, as the pace of life is so slow it just makes you wander about and call in places for coffee (especially if they have free internet) and sit in parks just watching the world go by. Charleston and New York are poles apart, but it definitely joins the big apple as favourite places so far..
We're heading off to Savannah tomorrow morning, hoping to meet as many genuinely friendly people as we've met here. It's an early start again but not so bad when we could be swinging in hammocks by 10 o' clock. Oh, and the weathers great too.
previous travel blog entry
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