Waking up early, and breakfast not being included at the Budget Inn, I was ready to go around 8:30am, and heading toward Charlotte, my GPS warned twice about some traffic jam, so I realized I might just be riding during the morning rush hour. I had not really done my homework about what was to be seen in Charlotte, I think I was just liking the name of the city, so I eventually decided to skip visiting and headed toward Columbia, then Charleston, and finally Savannah.
I first traversed Columbia, which city name mostly evoked the University of Columbia, the central street was nice but possibly not really enough typical for me to stop and take pictures (no judgment here, time constraints make me take quick decision that may not always begood…), so I then took the direction of Charleston, which I reached a bit before noon, crossed downtown looking for a place to stop, and finally parked the bike besides White Point Garden and took a few pictures of the park and bay.
The issue with blogging afterwards – that is, almost 20 days later – is, I often forgot about the details and events of the day. I had started to write in a paper diary at the end of each day, but I guess I didn’t police myself enough and ended not doing that anymore, which has been a big mistake… So I can’t remember what and where I ate that day, and there are mostly two possibility – having a sandwich+latte at some Starbucks, or eating some fast food at a stop on the highway or maybe even in Charleston, itself. Sometimes, the iphone and Spot tracking help me remember, but sometimes, like today, I also forget to start the iphone tracker… A half hour lapse of time close to Charleston, according to Spot, seem to indicate that I probably stopped somewhere for lunch, but for some – weird – reason, I can’t determine the exact position of the stop.
Then I headed toward Savannah, and decided to try my luck without reservation at the Whispering Pines campground, some 23 miles before reaching Savannah. To my luck, I got a spot (among 3 available for tents with electricity/water), and setup my camp for the night, then I went for a shower, changed clothes and rode the distance to downtown in the search of a nice pub to have a beer and some food. Noticing some Harley Davidson’s parked close to the Rail Pub, I parked my bike there too and entered the pub, ordered a beer – can’t remember if it was the usual Guinness, but I don’t think so – and enquired about some food… which ended being a hotdog, pretty typical of the region (LOL), and tons of peanuts from the counter top…
The Rail Pub (picture from pinterest)
There, I had a very passionate discussion with Lenny and Margie, a couple from Ozark, Alabama, about religion, politics and many other things. Despite recommending me to see Panama City beaches, in Florida, and eat some seafood, they also offered to pay them a visit in the little town of Ozark, but I would have to chose between the 2 cities, since going through both of them would probably add one day to my trip… I took their phone number and gave them my card before heading back, quite later, to the campground for a well deserved night of sleep.
