Days 20-24: Charleston, South Carolina

With nearly 1,000 total miles logged, I arrived in the Holy City -- Charleston's nickname due to the prevalence of churches dotting its skyline -- late in the afternoon Friday the 20th. Described in the tourbooks as an "18th Century painting come to life," I found Charleston to be a very lovely city, indeed and I stopped here for three days to see the sights. The city is characterized by traditional French architechture accompanied by palm trees, which lends it a Mediterranean feel. It's broken into several pieces, each with its own neighborhoods and feel, by two big rivers, the Ashley and the Cooper.

While here, I stayed at a hostel located within walking distance of the central downtown area and waterfront, which had the added benefit of being frequented by lots of international guests doing interesting things. My roommate from Leicester, England was in the middle of traveling Canada, the U.S. and Central America for 4 1/2 months. She and our bikes are pictured above on the New Cooper River Bridge, the longest cable suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere. I spent the weekend happily walking the city streets, eating good food, reading, taking sunny naps in Marion Square and talking to the other guests, but now it's time to get back on the road before my legs atrophy any further. I expect the next 1-2 weeks riding through the southern third of South Carolina and Georgia to be quite rural.