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.