Cumberland Island, Ga. October 24-25, 2006

An unexpected diversion, Cumberland Island, Georgia’s largest and southernmost barrier island, is now one of my most favorite places in the USA. We saw this island mentioned in our guidebook, Let’s Go! Guide to the USA on a budget and decided to go, since it sounded so neat. I used Let’s Go! When I backpacked Europe and it rarely lead me in the wrong direction (thanks Harvard kids.) However, the prices in our book weren’t accurate and getting to the island ($46 for the both of us) really put us at budget. But in the end, it was totally worth it. Named “One of America’s 10 Best Beaches” by the Travel Channel, Cumberland Island is truly a national treasure. http://www.nps.gov/cuis/

We took the 9 a.m. ferry over Cumberland island and tried to warm up. It was FREEZING!! Our toes were numb. We waited in the ranger cabin to register and get our campsite, and we began chatting with one of the couples there. I mentioned something to Josh about the Appalachian Trail, and the guy asked us if we did much hiking on the A.T. I told him Josh had just finished a thru-hike of the entire trail. Then this guy told us he had hiked the whole AT also!!!!!! What a coincidence. There are only about 8,000 thru-hikers in the world, and 2 of them are on this tiny island in Georgia on this random Tuesday!! To give you an idea of how secluded this 16 mile island was, there were probably about 30 people (mostly children of middle school age) on our ferry going just for the day, and about 8 total of them were camping overnight. The guys talked about the A.T. for awhile (this guy had thru-hiked in ’91).

On our hike to Stafford beach, we saw about 4 armadillo! They are the cutest ugly creatures I’ve ever seen. I know it doesn’t make sense, but they’re so ugly they’re cute. We watched one hunt for ants for about 10 minutes and then walked on. We passed a beach entrance on our “hike” to the campsite, so we decided to stop in. The beach sand was beautiful, simple and pure, like no one had touched it for years. The undeveloped island has no places to buy food or souvenir shops, and there are few toilets. And that is how the National Park Service wants it. In 1972 the few inhabitants on Cumberland island were asked to give up their homes in exchange for island visiting privileges, to preserve the island to how it looks now. Cumberland Island is a complex ecological system of interdependent animals and plant communities. It is marsh, forest and beach, which make it a perfect place for great fishing, swimming, tanning and hiking.

We hung out on the beach for awhile and collected a sand dollar, starfish and many conch shells. We hiked on to our campsite (which had bathrooms, yay) and unloaded our stuff. Our campsite was about a quarter mile from the beach. Since we were up so early, we ended up falling asleep for an hour. Woke up at 3 p.m. and headed to the beach. You can’t see anyone on the beach! It’s like your own private beach! Josh decided to join the Polar Bear club and jumped into the ocean. We walked around and hung out on the beach till about 6 p.m.

Staring out at the ocean, I saw 2 dolphins swimming next to one another!!!! We followed them along the beach, and thought about jumping in the water to take a photo with them, but then we saw a HORSE!!!!!!!!! YES, A REAL LIVE HORSE ON THE BEACH!!!! I was so excited (can’t you tell). We took lots of pictures and then just sat on the beach and watched the horse eat. We headed back to cook dinner around 5.30. When it got dark out at night there, you could see EVERY star in the sky! Very different from the squinting you have to do in the northeast. We fell asleep around 9 p.m. to the sound of the ocean in the distance and animals scurrying in the underbrush.

On Wednesday, we woke up at 7 a.m. to watch the sunrise on the beach (I know, you’re barfing). It was gorgeous! Beautiful colors, and it was just us and 2 other people on the beach. We hiked 3 miles back to the ferry and loaded on for our departure. Met a cool couple from St. Louis who were visiting family on the east coast. They had hiked the El Dio? Trail (sorry, I forget the name) in Spain which we hope to do someday. It’s supposed to be an incredibly international trail with the chance to really get the local flavor of Spain. Got lunch at St. Mary’s town in Georgia, and then headed to Clemson, S.C. to visit Josh’s sister. After Clemson we’ll head to Tyler, Texas and then Austin, Texas, the first city that we’ve actually considered moving to. It’s taken us awhile to actually GET out West!

Cumberland Island was awesome and worth the 2 hour excursion. The weather could have been warmer, but if it had been we would have been dealing with mosquitos. It didn’t rain, we saw dolphins, armadillos, a horse, bright stars in the sky and the sun rising. Next time we come it would be perfect to stay for 3 nights so we could take a hike out to a part on the island that the horses hang out in their herds, hike to the northernmost part of the island and spend more time on the beach. It is a quiet, inspirational place with centuries of history. The island also has the Dungeness, the former estate of Thomas Carnegie, brother of Andrew Carnegie. The First African Baptist Church is also there. We can’t do any pros or cons of Cumberland Island since no one is allowed to live there. :(

Next stop: Clemson, S.C. to visit Josh’s sister.

Savannah, Ga., October 22-23rd, 2006

Cathy, Matt, Josh and I drove to Savannah around noon on Sunday. Savannah is only 20 miles from Bluffton. And it’s Sunday, so you know what that means: EAGLES GAME! We walked down to Riverstreet, the waterfront area in Savannah. Riverstreet is one of the main streets in Savannah and is full of bars, shops and restaurants. We stopped in to a “Wet Willies” to get some slushy drinks and then to a “regular bar” to watch the Eagles game. The game was heart-wrenching. The Eagles lost in the last 4 seconds to a field goal. Ugh. We found another Eagles fan there (we’re everywhere!). Like my brother said, they’re the worst team with the best stats he’s ever seen.

Savannah is a city known for its drinking, and my friend Matt was determined to make that my first impression of the city. After the game, we went back to Wet Willies. http://www.wetwillies.com/ These drinks are no joke. 190% grain alcohol. Whoa. Josh thinks they should be illegal. In Savannah waitresses ask you if you want your drink “for here or to go.” You’re allowed one alcoholic beverage in your hand on Riverstreet. We carried our drinks down to the water and enjoyed people watching (or people enjoyed watching us). We had a lot of laughs and talked about high school and everyone made fun of me. Haha. Matt and Cathy headed back to Bluffton around 5 p.m. and Josh and I went and grabbed some dinner. We drove to our campsite at Skidaway Island Park around 9 p.m. Skidaway is about 20 miles from Savannah and our campsite cost us $24 a night. Skidaway is a pretty nice facility with restrooms, water stations at each site and laundry facilities. This works with the budget much better than a $80 hotel room. One thing about the South that we both noticed is that to everyone here, 20 minutes is “really far.” Huh? Maybe we’ve been living in the North too long, (or were we in the south technically? Northern Virginia? It’s debatable) but everyone thinks 20 miles is really long. In Va, driving to D.C. could take you 10 minutes, 20, 30, or 40, so being in the car for 20 minutes goes by pretty quickly. Funny.

We got to Savannah pretty early on Monday and stopped in at the Visitors Center. We really have become serious tourists with maps in our hands and questions for the workers there. Visitors Centers can really sometimes be overwhelming so we didn’t stay very long.

Savannah is a city full of cobblestone streets, large oak trees with overflowing Spanish moss, historic homes, churches and 21 green square gardens. Savannah, like Charleston, is very walk-friendly and a very eye-pleasing city to take a stroll in. This port city used to be a bustling center for cotton, and many of the older buildings that are now bars and shops on Riverstreet are former cotton warehouses. Savannah was a gift to President Abraham Lincoln from General William Tecumseh Sherman.

Savannah boasts one of the country’s biggest St.Patrick’s Day celebrations. Josh was there for it in recent years. The river is dyed green, and the open container law is even more liberal than usual.

Josh was on a mission to see all the squares, and we saw about 19 on our day in Savannah. Each has a distinctive centerpiece, usually a monument to some historical figure. They are all very pretty, but start to look like one another after awhile. Apologies to those who see our photo album and have to go through all 100 photos of Savannah. We stopped in for lunch at Café Ambrosia on Broughton street, which appeared to be one of the main drags in the city. After lunch we kept on our walking tour. We’d plop down in a square and enjoy the sun, head off in another direction, or walk down one of the popular streets. We also popped into Starbucks for an afternoon jolt (Thanks J.Shaw!) to keep us going (being on vacation is tiring ;))

As we walked down Riverstreet to head back to our car, we found a happy hour that had $2 beers. Hey, with beer that cheap, why not stop, right? So we did. We both had a Sam Adams Octoberfest and then found out that they had happy hour appetizer specials! We ordered 3 and our total bill was $10.55. Yes, 3 appetizers (2 orders of dumplings and one of MUSSELLS) and 2 beers for under $11 with tax. Woohoo!! What a great find. Thanks Cobblestone Conch bar!

Next time we visit Savannah I’d like to take a ghost tour (Savannah is known as the most haunted city in America.) But the cheapest one is $15 and that would almost be half of our budget! So we opted to skip it. We’d also like to visit Tybee Island, the nearest beach to Savannah and explore the more of the city other than the historic district. We really enjoy just walking around and exploring on our own. Savannah has a great vibe, we both really liked it. But we move on.

Next Stop: Cumberland Island, Ga. We’re ready for a break from touring city life.

Pros
Beautiful, laid back, good scene for a city
Large historic district
Close to the beach

Cons
Jobs?
Outdoor activity access
Conservative

Next stop: Cumberland Island, Ga.

Bluffton/Hilton Head Island, S.C. October 20-21, 2006

A short drive from Charleston and we were in the historic town of Bluffton, South Carolina. Bluffton is about 10 miles from Hilton Head Island, S.C. and has over 20 historic homes. Many of the older homes were burned during the course of the civil war by union troops, although some of have been restored.

Josh and I stopped in at the visitors center and walked around the main street and took some photos of homes from the 18th and 19th centuries. The south is full of old homes and plantations. I’ve also noticed that golf courses have become increasingly popular as we’ve traveled down south. Some golf courses in Hilton Head cost you $200 just for a day of golf!

After touring the historic street in Bluffton, we walked to the Sippin’ Cow, an adorable deli and ice cream shop. I got a chai iced tea and Josh had an iced coffee. We picked up some wine at a nearby shop and then drove to my friend Matt’s house. Matt and I haven’t seen one another since high school graduation, but he is one of those great guys that you can pick up right where you left off. We went through elementary and middle school together also, and were in the youth group at church together. Yay Blackwood Buddies! We went to the Bluffton Festival on Friday night which is a little block party for the residents of Bluffton, held every third Friday of the month. Matt’s neighbor Carol was entering her dog in the costume contest, and we just could not stop laughing at this pooch. You really have to see the photos to believe it. It’s like this lady was picked right from Los Angeles and plopped into this southern town of Bluffton, S.C. Some people really get into their pets. She said to us at one point during the night, “I love this dog more than life.” Enough said. The festival was a lot of fun (beer is sold on the street too!) and we headed to get some dinner afterward at Peppers Porch. Everyplace we go to eat in the South has She-Crab soup! Yum. We also got fried green tomatoes which I didn't think were very good.

Saturday morning we got a late start and headed to Hilton Head. Matt gave us a tour of the Island and the surrounding area. We saw Michael Jordon’s home and drove past (and through one) some of the most affluent gated communities in Hilton Head. We got on the beach around 1 p.m. and hung out there till about 5. It was a beautiful beach day, 78 degrees and sunny! It was great to lay on the beach and hang out. We went grocery shopping after the beach and Josh, Matt and I prepared a Mexican Fiesta dinner complete with guacamole dip, margaritas, bean dip, taco dip and tacos. It was delicious! Then we watched the movie “Eulogy” which was pretty funny and went to bed.

Many thanks to my friend Matt Dooley for housing us Friday and Saturday night! Any time spent with Matt is full of loud, hard laughs which always make for a great time.

Pros of Bluffton, South Carolina:
Climate
Close to the Beach and Savannah
Dooley

Cons:
Jobs?
Outdoor activity access
Small

Next stop: Savannah, Ga.

Hampton Plantation and Charleston, S.C. October 18-19, 2006

First, disclaimer: These entries are usually written quickly and as a steady (or unsteady) stream of consciousness, so I apologize for grammar, tense and spelling errors, as well as confusion. Thank you.

After leaving Georgetown, we passed a sign for the Hampton Plantation site, a national historic landmark. So we decided to stop in. The Hampton Plantation was a busy working rice plantation in the 18th and 19th centuries. We walked the grounds and stood at the edge of the bank of Wambaw creek to view the remains of old rice fields that used to stretch out for acres. I couldn’t help feeling a little guilty, knowing people had worked 12 + hour days just to get by, and here we were as guests. Not to mention the fact that hundreds of slaves had basically built wealth for a few southern families. In 1850 alone, 250,000 pounds of rice were cultivated. The plantation was serene, full of beautiful oaks, flowers and other vegetation. Sitting on a bench there, I was thinking of how many memories, good and bad, were created here a long time ago.

After about an hour, we got back on the road and headed further south to Francis Marion National Forest. Josh gets the best USA backpacker award by finding out that the FMNF allows people to camp there for free. Woo hoo! Under budget for today. We got to FMNF around 4 p.m. and hung out in the tent while it rained a little. Made dinner around 6 p.m. (yumm, cheddar broccoli rice and crackers and cheese) and then read/chatted in the tent till about 10 p.m.

We got an early start to Charleston the next morning. As we drove into Charleston, it did not appear to be the lovely city people had told me about. I’m not sure if it was the early morning hour or the fact that I felt extremely eager to see the city, but the parts that welcomed us were run-down and dirty. However, just like any city, Charleston has its rough edges of town, but I didn’t expect this to be the first thing to hit me as we searched the city for our hostel. I know, I know, I’m a snob.

We checked into our hostel around 10 a.m. We stayed here: http://www.notsohostel.com/ Free wi-fi, pretty nice facilities, free towels and make-your-own-waffle breakfast. Our campsite cost us $11 with tax the first night, then $22 the next (I’m thankful to the guy who checked us in the first day and only charged us for one person!). Aside from free, this may be our best lodging deal. Especially in a city! I can now say that I’ve camped in a parking lot. Nothing like waking up to the sound of tires moving on rock. Awesome. ;0) Years ago I thought I was really "backpacking" Europe by staying in hostels, but I am REALLY backpacking the USA by staying in a tent most of the time. I was such an amateur back then. Anyway, since we saved on lodging that left us with more money to spend on our favorite item: food!!

We headed downtown around 11.30 and stopped to have lunch at Sticky Fingers, a South Carolina chain for BBQ. http://www.stickyfingersonline.com/We had a big feast of salad, spinach dip, ribs, pork BBQ sandwiches, cole slaw and beans. It was delectable and we both really needed a nap after that huge meal. But we pressed on! Our time in Charleston was limited. The further downtown we walked the more I began to see the Charleston so many people had told me about. We walked up Meeting street which was where we had lunch, then walked through the open air market which had so many neat artists selling their work and then up East Bay street which had more unique café’s, bars and restaurants. Charleston reminds me of San Francisco only the weather is much warmer and less populated. I never saw a CVS while I was there.

We walked back on King Street which reminded me of any main street you’d find in New York, DC or Chicago. Chain retail stores like Banana Republic, Gap, and Ann Taylor, line the street. When you hit King Street you’re reminded that you are in America J Don’t let all those unique mom and pop stores that you were in before let you forget! We were in the mood for a snack, and stumbled on a gelateria that had a happy hour from 5-7. Cones were $1 and milkshakes were 2 for 1!!!! What a steal. We each got cones! Here is their website: http://www.gelateriamodica.com/ We walked down a different street on our way back and passed the College of Charleston, which looked like something out of a movie. There were art students scattered around drawing black and white sketches of the buildings on their campus. We headed back to the hostel and chilled out for the night, tired from all the walking.

There are a lot of older people here in Charleston, which is balanced (slightly) by the number of college students who reside here. Josh and I joked that we were “with Grandma.” I definitely didn’t feel like we saw many of the young professional types, but maybe we were hanging out in the wrong areas.

The colorful, historic homes in Charleston did not disappoint. Stunning, intricate and enormous, these homes date back to the 17th and 18th century. Each has its own special charm. Some of the signers of the Declaration of Independence owned homes here. Charleston is a very pedestrian friendly city and an antique collector’s dream. It reminds me of Old Town Alexandria but with Palm trees. If Josh thought coming off the trail meant that he didn’t have to walk as much, he was mistaken. We walked about 15 miles over 2 days in Charleston. Each time we’d walk back to our hostel we’d take another way back, and find secret hidden gems along the way. Most tours of the historic homes ranged from $14 on up, so we decided to just view from the street instead of paying.

I’m not sure why the big Hollywood stars don’t buy homes here. If I had a couple million dollars to spare, I would buy a home here. Charleston has great character. It’s also warm, near the beach, romantic and the people are friendly.

Josh and I got up early on Thursday and went for a run around the town. Running in a city/town can give you a much better sense of the community’s atmosphere. We were greeted with many smiles and hellos as we sweat through the city and found a coffee shop to grab a mocha and muffin. We headed back to the hostel to shower and then went to check out Folly Beach which is 20 minutes from Charleston. Folly Beach was very foggy this day, but we took a long walk on the beach and found some great shells. Conch shells and even a starfish! (the day before while sitting at a bench at the “battery” part of town we saw dolphins swimming in the water!) You don’t find these types of shells in Jersey. Our pockets were full and then we decided to get some crabs, since we were at the beach. We stopped in at Folly’s Crab Shack and ordered the she-crab soup, crab stuffed mushrooms and then we split the Ultimate Crab Pot which included a dungess crab, king crab, snow crab, shrimp corn-on-the-cob and potatoes (can you tell Josh is trying to gain weight?). It was a feast to stay the least. We were stuffed and then had to take a nap on the beach. Headed back to Charleston around 4 p.m. and chilled out at the hostel (in a hammock!) and walked back to Modica in time for ice cream happy hour. It’s nice to find a sweet spot in town, even if it’s only for 2 days! We chatted with the owner for a little bit and it turns out his parents are from Sicily, where my grandmom is from, and we chatted a bit about Italy. I loooooooove gelato, and it was a real treat to have some homemade gelato. On our night walk around Charleston, we had the waterfront to ourselves. We started to head back to our hostel around 8 p.m. and passed a big screening of Xmen3 on one of the big lawns in Charleston. We sat down and watched the end of the movie. There was a vendor there selling kettle korn. Now you know how much of a big popcorn lover I am, and I do not take my popcorn ratings lightly, but this kettle korn was the best kettle korn I’ve ever had in my life. Popped perfectly, each kernel was at its full capacity, and very little kernel pieces were left in my mouth. Simply delicious. We got back to the hostel and I chatted on my cell phone for awhile and Josh read his book.

We had never seriously considered moving down south. Charleston was pretty much ruled out before we visited b/c it’s not really a place for a career, based on all the tourism and no big businesses are based there. Its unemployment rate is worse than the National average. However, I think it would be a great place to retire! And I would love to come back and visit for an extended period of time at some point.

Pros
Pedestrian Friendly
Beautiful scenery
Great weather
Close to the beach
Seemed to be pretty bike friendly

Cons
Bad job market (huge)
Not close to outdoor activities
Young professional scene?
Expensive houses

Next stop: Bluffton/Hilton Head, S.C.

Myrtle Beach, S.C. October 16th and Georgetown, S.C. - October 17

On our drive to South Carolina, we stopped into a McDonald’s for lunch. The real south immediately hit us as we sat down and overheard a minister talking to a young couple preparing for marriage. He warned them about how the devil will try and place himself between the both of them, and how hanging out with other Christian couples would bring them closer to God. We even got to hear the minister bring up the subject of sex! I think if you took a tour of the local McDonald’s in this country you would get a feel for the locals. The couple could not have been older than 19 years old. This is definitely different than Northern Virgina. We played Monopoly and have 2 of the orange pieces!! We’re hoping to get the other on our roadtrip so our winnings can pay for the entire trip. Maybe our odds will be better b/c we’re moving around so much and eating McDonald’s in a variety of places? One can hope.

After lunch we traveled another 30 miles and took a quick stop at South of the Border. How can you resist as you see the Pedro signs proliferating all over 95 south? SOTB is full of some of the nation’s tackiest items, and bad food. It’s everything that is wrong and right with America.

It progressively got warmer the further south we traveled! Yay!!! And we began to see more and more RVs. And accents started to get thicker!

We’re staying at the Seabanks hotel, one block from the beach, for $27 with tax!! Woohoo! The room is nice enough, though the cats staying with a couple upstairs look a little out of place. People can stay here for the month for $350. There really is another side of America that we’ve already begun to see on this trip….

We took a walk on the beach and dipped our feet in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time on this trip. At the end we’ll dip them in the Pacific Ocean!

We took a walk on the beach and then Josh made us some dinner on his campstove. Spicy Thai Chili. Yum.

The main drag in Myrtle Beach, the Grand Strand/Route 17/Kings Highway, is full of firework stores, tacky tourist shops and every restaurant you can imagine. It’s just basically an ugly strip where tourist traps abound. Not that I have much room to talk, Wildwood, is similar, but it’s not nearly as big as this place! It’s like Ocean City, MD but 10 times the size. Billboards every 50 yards…it’s the epitome of American coastal decadence. Myrtle Beach hails itself as the second most popular beach town in America. Any guess on what the most popular one is? I’m not sure either…

We left Myrtle around 11.30 a.m. b/c it was raining and didn’t look like we could get any beach time in. The beach looked nice enough last night, though hotels line up right along the beach.
We stopped at Krispy Kreme (yay, they had a doughnut-making factory there) and Dollar General. We were driving through Georgtown, South Carolina when we decided to stop for a break. I’m glad we did – Georgetown is full of 18th century homes and has a cute main street. We stopped in at an internet café and sat outside and had some tea and coffee, which is where I am typing this entry now. There were a lot of pictures that had bible quotes on the wall. We plan to mosy on to Francis Marion and Sumter National Forest, where we can camp out for free. Then we’ll wake up early and head 20 miles to our next stop: Charleston, South Carolina

Chapel Hill, N.C. October 13-16th

Chapel Hill is this cute little town that is the home to the University of North Carolina. Chapel Hill is part of the research triangle, which also includes Raleigh and Durham. This hub is responsible for progressive inventions, research and other advances in academia. The University of North Carolina is the nation’s first state university. It’s pretty cool to walk around campus knowing that students have been living and studying here since 1789.

UNC is a very diverse student body. The atmosphere is liberal and progressive, and everyone is friendly. Southern hospitality is no myth. Franklin Street, the main street in Chapel Hill, is full of unique shops, restaurants and UNC pride. You can’t walk 2 feet without passing a person in baby blue. Friday night we went to Bandido’s for dinner with my best friend Laura and her friend Nate. Afterward we went to Lucy’s bar, Fuse and then Goldie’s. Most of the bars in Chapel Hill have a great beer selection and we had a lot of fun with Laura, Nate and Amanda.

The campus was alive early on Saturday a.m. as students, alumni and locals were in a hurry to get to the UNC football game. We took our coffees to the main area of the campus and sat on the steps of an academic building. We had a blast watching the fraternity boys walk by in their seersucker pants, accompanied by a blonde girl to interlock arms with. Apparently the uniform for fraternity boys on this campus consists of khaki shorts or pants, with a collared shirt, and a bandana that holds your sunglasses on your head. Sometimes there is a sweater worn over their shoulders. In most parts of this country, this uniform is completely hilarious, however, in Chapel Hill; it marks your status as a member of a fraternity. I’ve only seen people wear that uniform in movies when they are on a yacht. It was great fun people watch on the steps and compare how different we were from this crowd where southern pleasantries are common.

On Saturday night we went to the North Carolina Fair which was an absolute RIOT! The fair had every bad food you could possibly think of; pizza, hot dogs, French fries, pork chop on a stick, and giant turkey legs. We ate hot dogs, funnel cake, alligator on a stick and popcorn. You could get practically anything fried at the fair. Fried snickers, Milky Way, vegetables, coke (yes, they fry the coca-cola in strips and sell it!!!). We could feel our arteries clogging up as we munched our way through the fair. We couldn’t stop laughing our heads off at the spectacles surrounding us and when we went on the Tilt-A-Whirl. I looooove that ride!! There was a freak show at the fair, which was pretty sad! I thought all those things ended years ago. The features of the freak show include the world’s smallest woman, the world’s largest horse, a woman with no arms and no legs, the largest rat and a two-headed baby (in a jar). As we tried to exit the fair, the fireworks started. A fellow fair-attendee made the comment, “What’s the point, it’s not July” as the fireworks were going off. We were in hysterics. My stomach hurt from laughing.

I won a stuffed animal at the Fair! I am highly skilled at those water shooting games (little known fact). I now have a great stuffed pony as a memento of the North Carolina State Fair. The Fair was a perfect thing to include on our road trip. The crowd at the Fair was very diverse. After the fair we checked out a bar in Chapel Hill called The Speakeasy. They had Allagash White on tap! Woohooooooooo!

Sunday a.m. we met Josh’s aunt, uncle and sister for brunch in Cary, N.C. Cary is consistently ranked as one of the best places to live in the United States. It’s full of “greenways” and bike paths. The houses there are gorgeous and the residents were all smiles and polite to us. We had brunch at Lucky 32 and then headed back to Chapel Hill, grabbed some dinner at The Loop and had our North Carolina vanilla milkshake. Laura and I went for a run and Starbucks on Monday a.m. and then Josh and I hit the road around noon.

We made the big mistake of not taking enough photos on the Chapel Hill part of this trip. We were having too good of a time to remember to take more snapshots of Franklin street and the fair.

Thanks so much Laura and Amanda for putting us up your house!!! And to Mary Carol and Dave for a tasty brunch in Cary. We had a great, great time. It’s going to be really hard to top our Chapel Hill weekend!

Pros of Research Triangle area:
Friends and family there!
Good climate
Inexpensive
Good biking and running paths

Cons:
Far drive to rock climbing, backpacking
Not all that impressed with Raleigh as a major metropolitan city
Big tech market

Next Stop: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina!

First stop on the Roadtrip: Washington, D.C/Northern Virgina

The roadtrip kicked off with a visit back to the old homestead. On Thursday night we stopped at my old house and picked up a few items and then headed to Josh’s cousin’s house. We met their Uncle Joe for dinner at Clyde’s in Tyson’s Corner. There was a lot of trail talk as Josh got to retell a lot of his journey north from Springer Mountain, Ga. To Katahdin, Maine.

Friday we headed downtown D.C. to grab lunch at Potbelly (my fave!) and then stopped in the old office and walked around. It was great to see everyone, and we headed to Mackey’s Pub around 4.45 to start happy hour. After being in the company of such great people, it makes you wonder why you want to move in the first place!

A big thanks goes out to Megan and Joey for hosting their unemployed and homeless cousins at their place in Centerville, Va.!

We’ve decided to make a list of Pros and Cons for each place we visit. We haven’t ruled out moving back to the DC area sometime in the future after our move somewhere new.

Pros
Lots to do
Proximity to family
Good job market
Good bike trails
Cultural and historical activities
Great Friends!!

Cons
Traffic
Expensive
We’ve lived there awhile (looking for a change, this is our primary reason for moving)
Distance to outdoor activities
Overcrowded
Not exactly the most friendly place on earth

Roadtrip Update: We’re hoping to add Boise, Idaho to our list of cities to visit. We’ve heard really good things and it appears to fit our criteria for a new place to live. Imagine if this urban Jersey girl moved to IDAHO!

We’re attempting to do this trip on $70 a day. I know, I know, it’s ambitious, but we’re going to try. We’re keeping a list of the expenses in a separate log, not online (I don’t think you really care to know if we spend $12 on Hardee’s burgers)

Next stop: Chapel Hill, NC!

Great American Vanilla Milkshake Contest!

We’re in search of America’s Best Milkshake on this trip! The reason for this is twofold: 1. We love vanilla milkshakes 2. Josh needs to put on weight after his 2,185 mile trek to Maine.

The point scale is 1-5. Points are allotted for taste, presentation and overall quality.

Ligonier, Pa – Beno’s Café.
Comments:
Good shake, but it tasted too healthy. Perhaps they used low fat milk or frozen yogurt.
Rating: 3.6

Arlington, Va. – Whitlow’s on Wilson
Comments:
Excellent, excellent shake. Thick, creamy, with plenty of tasty whipped cream. Good presentation (given to you in the stainless steal cup, with extra to have later) cherry on top. You have to ask Barbara at Whitlow’s to make yours, she makes them the best. So great that other waitstaff ask her to make it instead of them attempting it. Why botch perfection? But we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, there are a lot more states to try the shakes in.
Rating 4.8

Chapel Hill, N.C. – The Loop
Comments: Yummy shake. Extra part of the shake given which is a plus. However, the presentation leaves something to be desired and there was no whipped cream.
Rating 4.0

Charleston, S.C. – Modica Cafe
Comments: Modica Café is a gelateria, so I guess in a true milkshake contest we shouldn’t compare, but we will anyway. Josh got a caramel and vanilla gelato milkshake, and I got a fragola (strawberry) and vanilla shake. Whipped cream was given, though no extra shake. Modica has a “2 for 1” shake deal, where you get 2 shakes for the price of one, so this helped the score. Presentation was good, in one of those fancy milkshake glasses. Very yummy, even though more healthy b/c gelato is 94% fat free.
Rating 4.1

New Location Prereqs

What we’re looking for in our new location/city:
-Close distance to outdoor activities such as backpacking (mountains) and good running trails
-Bike-friendly
-Cool downtown area
-Good job market (big enough place where non-service industry jobs are available. We want to have careers, and not just jobs)
-A diverse area in terms of people, industries and things to do
-Inexpensive cost of living (We’d like to buy a house that has a yard and 4 bedrooms for under $300k)
-Good weather
-pedestrian friendly

We know we can't have it all, and some things are more important than others. This is our dream list :)

If you have any suggestions that aren’t on our list, let us know! We’ll look into adding it to our list.