Road Trip

Well, the apocolypse didn't happen. I wasn't exactly surprised. Were you? What did suprise me, however, was my spontaniety in taking a day trip to Charleston on Thursday with my friend, Mirek. For me, that's a big deal. I'm not one to just get up and go. He definititely marches to the beat of his own drum, that Mirek, and I think its pretty refreshing. Probably the complete opposite of me in just about every way.

The "plan" was to visit the Angel Oak in Charleston, one of the oldest living oak trees in the country. This was the only plan. The rest of the day just unfolded in which ever way the wind blew. For instance, we took 2 impromptu hikes on the way to the Angel tree. His rental car took a beating. Remind me to never ride with him in a rental again. Lets just say.... off-roading in a Corolla. He supposedly "took it easy" because I was in the car. I'd hate to see what happens when he's alone.

Hike #1 took place at the Edisto Nature Trail.  It happened like this: Cruising down the highway.... Edisto Trail comes up on the GPS. Screeetch! "Hey, lets stop here! I've hiked around here before," he says.  And so it begins. We walked the trails and took random pictures. Nature all around.

Back to the car and a few more miles down the road we approached Caw Caw Park.  Once again, Screeeetch:  "I've never been to this one...lets go." The gift shop had CAW car decals. I purchased one to proudly advertise the park whose name also doubles as my initials. It is already on my car, just above the Isle of Hope sticker. I kind of love it. Here, we commenced to get lost in the woods because I can't read maps and apparently neither can Mirek. He ended up getting us back to the car.... eventually. The color coded trails kept running together. But that's all part of the adventure, right?





So after a couple hikes, kicking up some dirt in the Corolla, and a few snacks from Mirek's Tupperware bucket of fruit, we made it to the Angel Tree! So majestic. Okay, moving on...

Charleston is my favorite place on earth so far in my 28 year old life. I should get out more. Or maybe I'm easily satisfied. We walked for hours just tooling around the city. A nice little restaurant on King Street doubled as a bathroom pit stop for us. I felt awkward going in there just to use their bathroom without buying anything.  Mirek? Oh, he strolled in there like he owned the place, shamelessly used their restroom and walked out, no problem. I followed suit and the host wished me a Merry Christmas on the way out! I guess I shouldn't worry so much.

We split 3 cupcakes at a cute little shop. Almond, strawberry, and Death by Chocolate  (because he's allergic) Not really. We walked all the way through the Market upon my request. Love that place. I got to talk to the lady who made my Danny's Song folk art sign that I told you about in my Charleson Via Instagram post.

Cupcake shop mixing bowls

My favorite part of the trip was our 4:30 bottle of Pinot Noir while we sat outside at Southend Brewery and people watched. Bliss. "All we need now is a dog."

Side note: I'm sitting at Starbucks right now as I write and the song Flip Fantasia by Cantaloop just came on. Here, Please listen. There is an old couple in here and even they are tapping their foot to the beat.

Back to our trip. The day was slowly coming to a close so Siri helped us find an Irish Pub for dinner. She led us astray a few times and we ended up having to ask a real human where to go. The trip ended with us breaking into a jog through a bit of a seedy area in order to find the car. But, alas, we made it back and as soon as we shut the doors, raindrops started falling. Impeccable timing.


All in all, I think I held my own on the adventure. Round 2 someday, maybe?

Caroline