Road Trip to Nowhere In Particular: Day 3

Yeehaw! Georgia to South Carolina. this was a quick, easy drive. With the exception of a slight navigational hiccup in the form of Google directing me onto a road that has been closed for nearly a year to the day. Come on, Big G, I rely on you for many things and always sing your praises, don't make me look bad here. So after correcting our route, and adjusting my attitude with the help of a Waffle House pecan waffle (it is Georgia after all), we were off and running on the state road instead of boring old I-95. As we got closer to Charleston, into a town I can't remember the name of, we started coming across antique stores. And I don't mean the junk shops that pass for antiques back home, I mean ANTIQUES. Huge, old, solid wooden furniture from the ancient homes that are all throughout the area from plantation days. At a place called Livingston's we saw a wardrobe big enough for both of us to fit inside, with the doors shut. If it weren't priced at $29,500 I might have tried, there's probably a talking lion in there somewhere.

From there, onward to Charleston. What a gorgeous scene as you come across the bridge into the city center. And boy, do people here like to jog. And then there's the Citadel cadets, who just have to. Once again, the parking gods must love me this week. First street I try I find a metered space with a two hour limit and an hour and fifty five minutes until the meters aren't enforced. This is another walking friendly town, with the exception of their ancient sidewalks being a bit narrow, when they exist. After a cursory stroll of the city street market and the obligatory tourist traps (same ones we have seen in every town so far) we happened across a magical word painted on the side of a run down old building. Tavern. Jackpot. And not just any tavern, the one all the local waiters and bartenders go to after work. It was the bastard child of Tiny Tap and The Emerald, with the beer selection of House of Beer. Happy times. Our bartender was awesome. Polite and helpful, he gave us more tips than I could remember. Thankfully one or two of the restaurants he recommended I had already spotted and remembered where they were.

From the dark, cozy confines of Big John's, I let Joli and Hotwire work their magic again. She found a place just a few blocks off and we decided she would walk there and check in while I retrieved the car. Good thing we did, you would NEVER find this place from the street. Fulton Place Inn, sounded nice enough. Turns out Fulton place is more of an alley. After missing it at least three times on the confusing, unmarked one way streets, I spotted her on the corner guiding me in on the phone. What a nice place. It's an ancient three story inn with long, wide halls, high ceilings, and plenty of old south charm. And a bargain too, with room service breakfast included and complimentary sherry in the lobby.

After resting and changing, we headed out for dinner. The first two highly recommended dinner places we tried were full up for the night, without reservations. So I called ahead to the place I recalled wonderful smells coming from on our afternoon walk, Fig. Apparently, the head chef there has been on Iron Chef and beat the Iron Chef on taste. And I believe it. They had a table for us, and boy, was I glad they did. Small and beautiful, with an eclectic menu, this place is a winner. I had what was easily in the top three meals I have eaten in my life. Starting with a dram of Dubonnet and an absolutely wonderful beef tartars. Yum yum, I do so enjoy raw meat. Entree was grilled swordfish on an English and white pea ragout. This was hands down the best piece of fish I have ever eaten, EVER. If you are in Charleston, this place is a must. Though we intended to forego dessert and find a place called Speakeasy (you actually have to ask at a doorway and get let in a locked door) for a nightcap, we gave in. Again, glad we did. We opted for the chocolate pudding over burnt caramel topped with hazelnut, olive oil and sea salt. Wow. I mean, WOW! Pure delight.

From there we headed off on a hunt for this secret door. A few blocks later though, the food buzz kicked in and we said the he'll with it and retired for the evening for Canadian Club and a cigar in the courtyard. To tell the truth, the meal was so good, the smoke wasn't even that enjoyable and was snuffed only halfway finished. Our room was quiet and bed comfortable. And being on the third floor, we could enjoy having the window open instead of air conditioning. I slept like a dead man and woke this morning finally feeling totally relaxed, the vacation vibe has finally set in.

Today is a bit longer trek to Asheville, but takes us through beautiful mountain country. Weather has stayed warmer than I expected, I'm actually wishing I brought more shorts. I can hardly wait to get to the Biltmore Estate, if you've never been, you should. Hopefully Big John's will be open by the time we go, so I can pop in and thank Chris for steering us to that wonderful dinner last night.

So far I have taken but few pictures, which is unusual for me. As is writing this much, but I am actually rather enjoying it. Thanks for reading and look for another entry tomorrow. We will be home all too soon.

Road Trip to Nowhere In Particular: Day 2

Day two, just a short morning drive from St. Augustine to Savannah. Got to see the Marriott resort we stayed at in the daylight, damn it was nice. Up 95a few hours and once again pulled into a choice parking spot as soon as we got here. The parking gods must be smiling down on me this week. Savannah is a great walking town, and being a college town, an even better biking spot. Kind of wished I had mine. I just love all of the public squares they have here. What great place to stop and catch some internet to search a hotel. And get this, they have grass here. Not that itchy, bug filled crap we call grass in Florida either. Actual soft, green, lush grass that you can actually sit down on.

First thing we did was hit a bunch of the antique shops as we cased the area for last nights activities. I scored a super cool 60's era Ronson mechanical pencil lighter for the princely sum of five dollars on the very first stop. From River St we watched a tanker ship that must have been a full city block long go by for what seemed like five minutes. Then we proceeded to take note of the locations of the many Irish and Scottish pubs, I had no idea this was such a Celtic town.

After getting a general idea of what was in the area, we decided it best to stay right in the heart of town, within walking distance of all the shops, restaurants and bars. Since last nights lodging was a bit off the beaten footpath, we didn't want to spend another night room-bound. So we sat on the grass in Oglethorpe Square and once again, Hotwire found us some sweet digs for a great rate. After checking in and depositing the car, it was back to the streets in search of dinner. Though I had fish and chips and a pint of bitter on the brain, I discovered that on Mondays one of the hotel restaurants offers all you can eat mussels. If you know me, you know not only can I not resist an all-you-can-eat offer, I take it as a personal challenge. See Facebook for the gluttonous details. From there it was a short stroll to Molly Macpherson's Pub, who apparently has the largest single malt collection on the east coast. And I believe them. But felt less than imaginative, so it was a round of Powers whisky and a pint of Bellhaven. Another reason Savannah is a great walking town, you can carry your drink with you. Take that Ybor! We made quick pass through the Paula Deen store, just cause we were already there.

By now, the only other place we wanted to stop, The Distillery, was farther than we cared to walk and I wasn't driving anywhere. So it was back to the hotel for a Bushmill's and a Rocky Patel '92, then upstairs to bed. Today we move on to Charleston. More updates to follow. I will try to remember to take more pictures this time.

Road Trip To Nowhere In Particular: Day 1

Started out our drive around the southeast yesterday with a trip to St. Augustine. I expected traffic and congestion once we got into the central part of town, just because of it being such a tourist destination, but was surprised to find it nearly impassable. We shortly realized why, they were having a seafood and music festival. Since I'm traveling with my good luck charm though, we quickly found a parking spot right in front of the gate, for only 5 bucks! After wolfing down a few fried goodies and a beer , we spent the res of the afternoon walking the district, checking out cool old buildings, churches, forts, and carriage horses. From there we headed to Vilano Beach, an island to the north. Lured in by a giant kitschy MOTEL sign, we found it has turned into a sad, creepy ghost town of old Florida motor courts. Not a single one still in business, likely chased out by skyrocketing property taxes. Depressing, really. We are losing our local history in the name of "progress".

After that it was back onto A1 north through Ponte Vedra. We parked and walked out onto the most pristine and secluded beach I have ever seen in Florida. I even found a still-live mermaid's purse (google it), which I returned to the ocean. More people shold really take advantage of places like that, it's why we live here.

By sundown it was time to find our room for the night. Driving north all the way to Jacksonville beach, we found a glaring lack of basic motels. So with the aid of some free Starbuck's Wi-Fi, Jolie managed to score us a room at the Marriott resort at the Sawgrass Golf Course for half price. Go Hotwire!

Today we are off to Savannah, GA. Hopefully the Alamo Plaza Motor Court is still in operation. Stay tuned...

Happy FREAKIN Halloween!

Spent Halloween night in Miami with Gen and the gang. I saw a lot of people I had not seen for years now. A lot of old Tampa pals were there, plus slave Chris from Ft Lauderdale and Chuck the INS Guy. It was a lot of fun, and interesting to watch the show get set up instead of doing it. This was probably only the third Gen show in my life that I have just watched from the audience. It was kind of surreal.

I saw the best costume last night, and I wasn't even sure if it was meant to be a costume at first. Who can guess who this guy is supposed to be?

Anyhow, the weather sucked thanks to Hurricane Noel, and driving in the rain in Miami is no fun. Somehow I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed the next morning for the drive home, even though I was up WAYY past my usual bedtime.

I'm not programmed for the rock schedule anymore.

To anybody who might have been there, get in touch. I miss rockin out occasionally.

Of cabins and campfires.

I didn't even leave the cabin today. Drinkin' Pabst and listening to Charlie Daniels by 11 am. Nighttime brought steaks on the grill and more beer. When the rain let up I built a campfire to make smores. Life is good.

Way up in the mountains...

Well we made it. This is the view from the back porch of the cabin. Mount LeConte in the distance. Present coordinates 35deg 45.100' N 83deg 31.579'W

Gatlinburg, day one: a mobile post.

View from our lovely ninth floor room at the Park View hotel. After a drive around the Roaring Fork Motor Trail we check into the cabin later today. I can't wait to get up into those mountains on foot. Local hikers say the mountain is muddy right now from spring thaw, I hope my flatlander feet can handle it. More to follow, cell signal permitting.

MISSION: Buford

Looks like this weekend is a scouting mission to find Buford Spring. Buford is a small, pristine sinkhole hidden in the marshes of the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area. Being as it is about 5 miles back into the wilds and has at best a dirt road leading to it, the site is not heavily trafficked and remains in its wild state. I plan on making the trek along with Gibby and Robbie, who has a truck brutal enough to get us all there. Perhaps we will bring snorkels or a small tank and do some submerged recon as well. Mostly we hope to get some accurate GPS readings and take a look at what it would take to put in a walkway, like at the Eagle's Nest. Eagles Nest is a large, deep cave system which is WAY beyond my current skills, training or confidence.
More to come this weekend... hopefully lots of pictures.

Ginnie Springs Outdoors report

We spent all day yesterday at (or driving to) Ginnie Springs. I got kind of lost along the way... It was our first time there and we had no idea what to expect. The place is like Livestock every weekend! I knew it was somewhat of a party spot being that it is on private land and they allow alcohol. But I had not anticipated the huge college crowd from Gainesville, since school is still out for the summer.

The springs were great and I got some good clear video looking into the caverns. Too bad its all shakier than an epileptic in a haunted house. I also forgot the remote for the camera at home so I was filming everything in 10x zoom. Too bad, but the housing did hold up down to about 35 feet without a leak.

The tube ride at Ginnie was nice cause the river is warmer than the springs, but kinda short at about an hour to ride downstream. The place looks like it would be a lot of fun if we went back better prepared and spent the night so we could spend more time there and less in the car.

Last hike in VT before going home

We squeezed in two short hours of hiking again today, we leave for home tomorrow morning. Went over to Grafton Village Cheese Co and started hiking from the lodge at Windham Ponds up the mountain bike trails. This seemed like a better idea today since we are limited on time and dont want a repeat of the other day when we wandered around for hours trying to get out of the woods. The trails were a tough walk and would absolutely kick your ass on a bike. This photo was taken at a fallen tree we found wedged in between 5 or 6 other trees. We also came across a cool little miniature log cabin with a wood stove inside. In the winter the trails are used for cross country skiing and snowshoeing, and you can stop off in the cabin and warm up to a fire if its really cold.

Went by the cheese company on the way out and picked up several varieties of their cheddar to bring home for our 'wine and cheese' parties. Between that and the import varieties I got at the co-op I feel bad for whomever sits near me on the flight home.

Went hiking in Vermont today

Well its our first full day in Vermont so Melanie and I went for a hike up a big hill on the opposite side of the Saxton's River from Granny and Pops' house. We started out just following a footpath, which led us to a dirt road. After following the dirt road for a while we found another road with a gate across it and went that way. We ended up way around the other side of the hill on someones hunting property. We found a little camp shack, and some beaver dams along the trail. I would have to say that if it wasnt for the GPS unit we might have been out there longer than we wanted to. As it was we ended walking home about 2 miles on the side of the road from where we finally emerged from the woods.