Tuesday, September 22, 2009

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.






5 comments:

  1. I'm glad to hear the route has been pretty nice and interesting and that there isn't too many shopping malls! :) I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip :)

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  2. You're making me a little jealous. I so want to take a vacation right now. You seem to be making pretty good time. Remind me, where in Florida are you heading to, before going to the Grand Canyon?

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  3. I'm enjoying your stories so much! It sounds like an amazing adventure so far. Andrew & I are sending you all kinds of good karma for the pedal through Georgia---some of those puddles could swallow you up! Safe sails :)

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  4. Heather - I'm so glad you like Charleston, it is one of my favorite cities. I love reading what you are up to and I'm sending you positive thoughts. I really admire your guts for doing this! :)

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