Mon 8 Apr - Charleston, SC

Today we head off around 8am knowing we have at least 5 and 1/2 hours of driving.

We again try to avoid the interstate and for the first few hours it works well with us driving through some lovely landscape. A quick coffee and loo break at Macca's in Beulaville, with a fuel top up, and we are on our way again. A side note on petrol prices... They vary quite significantly state to state. We crossed from North Carolina into South Carolina and the price dropped about 25cents per gallon.

We have no choice but to take interstate 40 for a while as we near Myrtle Beach for our intended lunch break. No photos from Myrtle Beach as it looked quite a lot like Virginia Beach, with high rise hotels running along the beachfront. We did note they had a few more older two story hotels remaining, very retro.

Obviously being beside the sea we thought of fish and chips for lunch, but no luck on this front. Yes, heaps of seafood restaurants but all with next to nobody eating in them. Bad Kharma. So we stop where everyone else is - the $5.95 Chinese buffet. It was surprisingly good, and as you can tell by the advertised price, very cheap.

We drive on south, and decide to take a further break in Georgetown, our third Georgetown in 3 months after the area in Washington DC and in Delaware a couple of days ago.

We liked this Georgetown the best (to date, probably another one around the corner). Great feel to the historic waterfront. Not too touristy (the town is still surrounded by industrial plants) but the old town feels genuine. We read that it is more than 300 years old.

Georgetown's council have created a lovely waterfront walkway, on the river, behind the old buildings. As we head towards it we see this hut for a tour group. We are again impressed with the power of TripAdvisor, and this really does show it.

Di (in her daggiest car trip clothes) on the nice waterfront walk.

Not sure if Hans thought he needed a stretch out...

We loved this sign of all the rules - paying close attention to the last point we could not decide if they were pulling our leg...

Looking back with leisure boats on the Sampit River, behind the nice old buildings, many of which are relaxed looking bars and restaurants.

One of the casual bars - Big Tuna.

After wandering a little of Main Street, we stop for really nice ice cream (not that we need more food) then head towards the Seafood Docks. We wanted to know whether they were "real" fishing docks like we have back home, as many have actually been tourist traps rather than working areas. To our delight it is the real thing! Evidence 1 - Shrimp boats tied up outside. Where is Forrest Gump???

Evidence 2 - The outside of the seafood market, you can see the shrimp boat tied up outside.

Evidence 3 - washed concrete floors and shrimp in plastic buckets.

Di looking happy in front of whole fish (but crying inside because we don't have cooking facilities so we can't buy).

On the road out of Georgetown towards Charleston, we encountered a couple of these trucks below loaded with timber. It looked like a log or two would fall out at any time, but fortunately that didn't happen.

We arrive in Charleston, or more correctly in Mount Pleasant across the river as we scored an absolute bargain there, stopped at Harris Teeter for some food and drink including beer and checked in at Red Roof Inn. There were 2 swings just outside our motel room, with views over this little lake and the swings just had to be road tested. With beer. Nice.

This is what Hans was drinking. Sweetwater's India Pale Ale. Observant readers of this blog (really!?) would remember this brew from our visit to the Tomato Head pizza restaurant in Knoxville and how much Hans liked it then. Yep, nice.

Let's finish off the day with a couple of different photos.

First, duct tape. Hans in his reading of travel blogs and propaganda before the trip noted how many travelers raved about duct tape and how useful it would be on the road. So we brought a roll. We hadn't used it until now when the zipper to Hans' camera case broke. Well, this is the result of "inventive" engineering using duct tape. We'll see how long it lasts, but seems fine for now. It seems like there is no risk for the camera to fall out.

And, we loved these various dollar shops that you find in America. Sort of like the $2 shops in Australia but with a lot more on offer and with varied pricing, but always value for money.

With a limited number of clothing items for us on the trip, these were always going to wear out and need replacement (or we just get sick of them). So, today we dropped into a Dollar General and the basic clothing items below cost Hans less than $20 in total. Bargain.

For those thinking "what about Di?" Yes, she also refreshed her underwear supply too but did not want photos!

Nice and lazy evening, finally without the heater on. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer still and Wednesday's weather is predicted to be 25 degreesC. Can't wait.

Good night.

Posted with Blogsy