Country roads!

Twenty-four hours into our Dixie roadtrip and we were already visiting our third state, South Carolina! After changing planes in Philadelphia and picking up our rental car in Atlanta, we put a few miles behind us before pitching up for the night in Augusta, Georgia.

We skipped on breakfast provided at the hotel with hopes of finding a recommended bagel place called Mally's down the road. Somehow we missed it entirely, skirted downtown and ended up across the river in South Carolina without seeing much of Augusta at all.

Driving down narrow state highways through thick pine forests, we felt well and truly lost in the 'boondoggies' with hungry stomachs to boot. We approached each crossroads with hope of finding a place to eat, but even in the small towns we passed through there were no diners.

Instead we ended up at a Piggly Wiggly grocery store which promised a bakery but offered plastic cartons of donuts, while the 'deli counter' had some cheese and tubs of pasta salad. We stocked up on fruit, nuts and Chex Mix (mmmmmm...) before hitting the road again. Further along we found a Hardees for an artery-hardening sausage & egg biscuit combo (fluffy American-style biscuits - 'scones' the English call them) . Why is it that American sausages taste the same everywhere you go??

Every half mile or so we passed a Baptist church. One announced on its roadside sign: 'Rapture - it's the only way to fly.' Here are a few more interesting signs we spotted on the trip.

About halfway to Charleston we pulled into Colleton State Park which promised a hiking trail, blackwater river and cypress swamp.

The trail stayed within sight of the ranger station and its only features were various signposted trees along the way ('This one has been chewed by beavers' one helpful sign informed us while we looked at a gnawed stump).

The cypress swamp was the size of our sitting room, but the blackwater river was indeed black - rather disturbingly so. Apparently it's blackened by the tannins in the leaves upriver brewing in the water like tea, but then just upriver is a roaring power station, so you have to wonder! With a power station next door and two highways (one an Interstate) on either side of the park, you wouldn't come here for rest and relaxation. But it was free and we needed to stretch our legs.

Next stop, Drayton Hall, which I've already mentioned so in my next post I'll start writing up beautiful Charleston. Don't be a stranger, you hear?