Keep it classy

South Carolina…

   We are trying our best to take the coastal route home. Our first stop was in Myrtle Beach. The city itself left much to be desired. It was very commercial. We didn’t find much character at all, but the beach was beautiful! Miles and miles of white sand. I love being at the beach and even though I am as far away from home as Ive ever been on this trip, being at the ocean feels like home to me. The weather was hot, but not too hot, with a perfect breeze. After I made coffee we decided to walk. Jimmie met a man collecting sharks teeth and he showed us the ropes of how to find them. Jimmie loved that and found about 50 shark teeth. 

  We stopped off in Georgetown which is the third oldest city in South Carolina. Now here I spied that back east character I have been longing to see. It was the most charming town! We had a quick lunch at BIG TUNA. If you ever find yourself in this little town you absolutely have to just go in for a bowl of gumbo and a side of grits. Southern cooking at its finest. 

  We didn’t stay too long because we wanted to get to Charleston. This is the first time on this trip I have met a town and said I could live here. This is the prettiest city I have ever been to in this country. I have never even thought about coming here, now I will tell everyone to make this a top pick for a destination. As soon as we arrived in the French quarter I felt like we were transported to Europe. Old cobble stone streets, brick houses, charming alleys, beautiful estate homes, horse drawn carriages, very old cemeteries with leaning mossy tombstones, everywhere I looked was an architectural feast for my eyes. This is my kind of city! 

  I did some research on where to go for dinner. Slightly North of Broad Restaurant had great reviews and was in an eighteenth century warehouse. When I walked up to get a table there was a live band and the man was singing Louie Armstrong’s, what a wonderful world. This song sings straight to my heart. I love everything about it. I knew this was going to be a good night. When we were in Sweden years ago we went to a very old blues bar with our friends Jarmo and Eila. In Sweden you can bring your kids along with you to bars. They loved getting free cokes all night. The band  had been playing in this same bar for sixty years as I recall. The music was fantastic and we were all having a great time, when suddenly one of the old men, the one with suspenders and a blue shirt and a big jolly belly said “we have a special request from a young man to play his mothers favorite song.” Brock had snuck up there and requested that song for me.” He was about 12 years old at the time, and with a big wide smile came up to me and took my hand to dance. We danced in this crowded Swedish bar, with the music just embracing us as we swayed around in circles. All the Swedes kept saying “Oh how cute!” They were all smitten by this cute boy with the sandy  blond curls, big brown eyes, with the longest batwing eyelashes in the world. It was a moment in time I will never forget and that song is the most dear song to me.  

     The food was amazing.  We were told that Charleston is a lot of “old money.” That wasn’t hard to figure out judging by the mansions in the area, but for some reason we never thought to change before dinner.  Jimmie rolled in wearing  swim trunks, a Santa Cruz t-shirt and Birkenstock’s. I wasn’t much better in my denim shorts and spaghetti strap top. As we sat down we noticed everyone was dressed so posh for a night out. White collared shirts, pearls, high heels, and there we were, two hippies who rolled out of our van and into the fancy restaurant.  Fortunately the staff didn’t seem to mind and were genuinely showing us that southern hospitality. We sat at a counter where we could watch the kitchen staff hustling away. We ordered the most delicious steamed clams we have ever had. We ended up asking to take the leftover clam sauce. The waitress was so kind and gave us extra because we loved it so much.  We figured a loaf of bread and that delicious sauce would make a great meal on the road. I was shocked the amount of full glasses of wine and champagne the wait staff would clear from empty tables. Full glasses by the handfuls were dumped out and I couldn’t help but wonder if that is an old money thing to order champagne or wine and then not drink it. Is that a status symbol for the wealthy? The price you pay for wine by the glass that just seemed like alcohol abuse to me. I had to laugh as we walked out so tickled over our clam juice leftovers and the people with  the stiff collars and pearls who order wine they don’t drink watching us go by in our shorts and sandals. We didn’t even have any clams left, we ate them, but we had a plastic bowl of the juice and we wouldn’t leave it! We are most definitely not “old money.” 

  We found a genuine Irish pub with live music. We sat next to a old couple from California. She had this crazy curly grey hair and a warm inviting smile. She was very chatty and wanted to visit. She was pretty adorable and we had a nice conversation, but her husband didn’t make my friendship cut.  He was a dentist so he was a “educated” man, you would expect him to be sophisticated, but  the conversation showed the opposite to be true. Actually she was great but she told me way more information about them as a young couple than I cared to hear about and by the comments he made he just struck me as a dirty old man. I can be friends with just about anyone. I am not intimidated by wealth or poverty, but I like class and they were proof you can have money and no class and my friend Jay from Tulsa was proof you can have no scoots at all and still have class. 

  I’m sitting in the van as I write this. Jimmie is surfing and its been storming and raining. He has already made two friends in the water and brought them to me to make coffee for. Five weeks I have been living in this van and it just reminds me of how little we all really need. I have been so comfortable and happy living in this little van with my best friend.

  Whenever this rain lets up well head back into the city for more exploring.