Trip Update 2

I have a serious nose, throat, and head problem. I can't breath, my right nostril is constantly leaking, and I think I am allergic to Florida what with their wide range of deadly floras and insects.

In addition, I purchased plane tickets to China today by way of Seoul, Korea for a fairly discounted price...yay bad economy! 

It is 3:53 am, not 12:33 am as it states underneath this post

Trip Update

Places we've been so far:

1. Williamsburg was surprisingly beautiful and relaxing. I had initially thought that it would be boring, which it might be if you are looking to constantly walk around and do things, but if you just want to take some relaxing strolls, it is nice to walk around the historical area and even the town itself. We were only able to stop for the evening and I really left wishing that we could have spent more time there for a bike ride.

Points of interest:

A. There are several award winning BBQ restaurants in Williamsburg. 

B. Don't buy chocolate there...at least not the organic market...they were tooth achingly sweet and they don't really know what a truffle is. 

Caution: Lots and lots of cops throughout Virginia and if you drive above 80 mph, it is considered reckless driving and you will have to show up for court. We know this through first hand experience.

2. South of the Border (Dillon, SC) is this huge rest stop/ road-side attraction that Greg and his family used to visit when he was a kid.  You can't miss the signs when you drive down I-95. I don't know if it was a reflection of the recession, but much of the area was abandoned and boarded up. The candy in the gas station looked like it was from twenty years ago. I liked the place.

3. "A Man Named Pearl" (Bishopville, SC). We stopped by the botanical gardens of this man named Pearl. I saw a documentary about him one night on HGTV when I was visiting my parents down in Texas and could not sleep. He began working on his garden while he still had a full time job. He would work on the former corn field until one in the morning and turned it into this Edward Scissorhands garden. If you visit him, he'll stop what he's doing and explain what he's working on. I don't think he was too happy with us because we didn't buy a DVD, but it was $20 and we didn't have the money. 

4. Charleston, SC was amazing. Again, I was wonderfully surprised. Greg and I had no knowledge of Charleston's geography or climate...swampy, cool and hot and very humid. It is what we imagine Louisiana to be like. We stayed with Greg's best friend, aptly named Greg and he was able to show us around. Charleston has GREAT food. Affordable, delicious, delicate, decadent, and definitely hearty. I never thought a piece of grilled fish could be so hearty and meaty. Every meal was great. 

I loved visiting the plantations and I wish that I had the time and the money to visit more of them. We first stopped at Magnolia Plantation on Ashley Road (I wonder if this has anything to do with Gone With The Wind). It took about an entire morning to view the place. The entrance had this swamp with all these crazy moses and red tide...it looked like we were stepping into a movie and Greg and I were both kind of scared. It cost $15 for admissions and then a promotion of $10 for two tours...we chose the house tour and the slave cabin tour. The house was not the original house...it was the third version, but it was beautiful with wonderful wood furniture. It included pictures of the former owner's other house which made Versailles look simple. The tour of the slave chambers was dishartening, but necessary for me. Greg was very hesitant and you'll know why if you go...slavery to some people in the South simply promotes the idea of white supremacy and to this day there are some people who have no remorse or any understanding about what happened and why it was wrong. It was important for me to see such a relevant and painful aspect of American history. 

We also kind of visited the Middleton Plantation, which looked much more glamorous than the Magnolia Plantation, but we felt that the latter had more character. We did not tour the Middleton Plantation because it cost $25 and because of that, we were not able to have lunch there. However, my professor highly recommends the She Crab Soup and the Key Lime Pie.

We were also able to visit the beach there (Folly Beach) which was great and my personal favorite. Not too hot and not too cold, the beach also had waves, which was much more fun than Miami or the Keys. The beaches are too cold in California, too cold in NY and NJ, too hot in Miami, but perfect in SC. 

Points of interest:

1. Folly Beach

2. Middleton Plantation

3. Magnolia Plantation

4. Food in downtown Charleston

5. Carriage ride in downtown Charleston (we did not have enough time to take this tour)

5. St. Augustine, FL is a huge tourist trap and a terrible introduction to Florida. Castillo De San Marcos and Chapel of Our Lady of La Leche was nice to see, but that only takes at the most two hours. According to Greg, St. Augustine is Florida's hippie land and all the lesbians go to Flaggler University (the castle, which is now the school is beautiful and probably the most gigantic university building I have ever seen). It was interesting to see the strange symbiosis between hick land and hippie land, but they had a lot of attitude...unnecessary and off putting. The girls were also very tall everyone was unhealthily tanned. There is this really amazing vintage diving store off of the main road with some hippies who can tell you where to eat and hang out...they had old diving suites(which looked more like nuclear testing suites)...I had really wanted to buy them but alas no money means no diving suites.

We stayed in St. Augustine beach, which is where the residents actually live so that was nice. The people were much nicer there.

Points of Interest: 

A. Publix- supposedly THE grocery store in Florida. It was pretty nice

B. Castillo De San Marcos

C. Chapel of Our Lady of La Leche

D. Fountain of Youth- if you must, but it comes out of a pipe and as you probably know, it is no fountain of youth.

Caution:

A. Lots of cops

B. Lots of extraordinarily tanned people

C. Larger vehicles

We knew we were in Florida when all the cars around us became SUV's and trucks. The billboards were also a lot more interesting: advertisements urged you to have vasectomies and prevent abortions.

6. Miami.

South beach is a shit hole

Road Trip

We leave for our road trip tomorrow.

An Education

I went to school for four years and while I learned a lot about chemistry, mechanics of solids, math, and design, there were a lot of things that I did not learn about. As I leave the halls of formal institutions, I set out to learn as much as I can about people, their habits, and how they live. I seek a new form of education as I travel in and around America.