Charlotte to Charleston -- Apr 8th

I awoke Charlotte around 11 and headed out about noon. Went downtown again and got the Panthers store guy to let me into the stadium to take some pics of the field. I went to the visitor information center after that and got some ideas of how to pass my day. Finding wi-fi around all the time isn't as easy as it seems unless I wanna eat Buffalo Wild Wings or Panera for every meal, and it doesn't come with most 35 dollar hotel rooms either, so I've found visitor centers to be very helpful the last couple trips. The lady there recommended that I go to a place called Mac's Speed Shop to eat and so I did. It was awesome! Great BBQ, ambiance, and the wait staff was very nice. The girl behind the bar and I talked for quite awhile, and she said that she loves Charleston and gave me a few ideas for my next stop. I invited her to come with me, but she declined as she had to work a double the next day. :)
After Mac's, I went downtown on a walking tour of sorts, they have a lot of cool buildings in Charlotte and some cool sculptures and such. The city has a really cool vibe, somewhere I could see myself living, everyone seemed very nice. But the whole city is under construction. I've never seen so much. And I thought Omaha was bad. The city looked orange and I bet I could get a job in construction with no experience. I finished my walking tour and stopped at an irish pub on my way to my car to enjoy a refreshing Smithwick's. The bartender girl there was also extremely cool and when I went to the bathroom they had an advertisement for Zingo. I asked the bartender more about it... Basically, Zingo is a designated driver company, unlike a cab, in that they come to the bar in a mini scooter that folds up and fits in your trunk. So they arrive on the scooter, then drive you home in your own car, that way you don't have to worry about it in the morning. Pretty cool idea, I might steal it. After that, I hit the road for Charleston, it was about 4.
The drive was fairly boring scenic wise, there were tons of coniferous trees, probably pines the whole way, and they were all the same color. I quickly tired of this and had to stop at a rest area and take a nap. I planned on a fifteen minute power nap, but was awoken by a car alarm going off next to me after an hour. Thanks Smithwick's! I got back to the road and saw my first palm tree of the trip. That doesn't really get old too quick for me. I arrived in Charleston just after sundown and immediately just headed to the ocean. They have a beautiful boardwalk in a super affluent historic area with all Georgian style Civil War era homes that are protected by law. I got some nice night photos of the full moon over the ocean and headed over the awesome suspension bridge to an area called Mount Pleasant, SC. There is an area of Mt. Pleasant called Shem Creek, I strongly recommend this area if you are ever around. It is a small creek that leads out to the ocean and shrimp boats dock here and when they come in with a catch during shrimp season, you can pull right up on the dock and buy "still talking" shrimp. I was here, however, because this was one of the places the bartender from Charlotte told me to go. She said sometimes her and her friends get off work and come straight there to Red's Ice House. Red's was really cool. It kinda reminded me of Rick's Boatyard but much more authentic. they were several areas including an outdoor bar and you could walk up and down the docks with your drinks if you wanted to. The crowd was ok, but it seemed like everyone around the bar worked there and were just getting off, so they were kinda clique-y. They did have a basketball game on, and a trivia game where the m.c. lady would play a song then ask categorized questions and dole out points. The higher point totals for the night won prizes. I got there about an hour after that started, and didn't want to embarrass anyone with me winning at that point, so I decided to just answer for my own leisure. I ate a plate of oysters and chips and had 6 Asian hot wings. It was good food. I also tried a new beer, which seems to really popular down here, Yeungling. It is made in PA. I don't really like it, but the locals here all do. After Red's I went out to the parking lot and made my car bed. I drove back across the bridge, found a 24 hour grocery store and slept like a baby in the parking lot.
I woke with the sun around 7ish, but decided that was way too crazy for me and slept til 9 instead. When I got up, my car was kinda humid, half the windows were fogged up, if I sleep in my car again, I'll have to remember to crack a window or two. Then again, I might not want to disturb the passers-by with my snoring. I went into the store, put on my contacts in the bathroom, washed my face, bought a banana nut muffin and drove to the waterfront park. I had some apple juice from home with me, and sat on a bench looking at the ocean and had an awesome breakfast. This city seems really fit. There are runners all over all the time. After that, I drove around with my GPS off and got lost on purpose, just to see what I wanted to. I've realized the definite benefits of being alone on a trip include: not worrying about someone else. Their feelings, opinions, moods, boredom, music taste, ideas of what to do with the day, etc. It can get a bit lonely at night, but for me, on this trip, this is exactly what I want and need.
I found my way to the visitor info building and got some more ideas for the day. The woman recommended a place called Vickery's, and it just so happened to be in Shem Creek, right across from Red's! First, I went downtown again and took more pictures and walked around the coast and neighborhoods for an hour. If you can even call it a downtown, all the buildings are like 3 stories. There might be a few random, more inland hotels that are like 10, but there is no real skyline at all, pretty unexpected to me. Actual Charleston is very tourist-y, which for a few days is ok, but I can tell I'd get really tired of it. I definitely like Mt. Pleasant, though. I went to the restaurant and their was a family walking to the car as I was walking in, and the father had a Nebraska hat on. I shouted "Go Huskers!" from my car and they seemed pleased. Inside, Vickery's has one of the best views in Charleston. The whole place has an outdoor deck wrapping around it and is all glass. The food was excellent! The bartender recommended the fried grouper sandwich and told me she likes to add pepper jack cheese to it. I said give it to me the way you like it, and a side of loaded mash potatoes also. I guess that the grouper isn't even in season, but was awesome. Doris said it was probably from Venezuela. Doris was a nice older woman sitting next to me who seemed to be a regular because the bartender, Rachel, knew what she wanted when she came in and it was a special order. Doris and I talked for like an hour, and much of the facts I have said in this blog have come from her. She was excited to hear about my trip, offer insight and suggestions, and when she found out I was meeting my father for the first time, she had a huge story about her own life. She had never met her dad and called him once on Christmas Day, his wife answered and told her it wasn't a good time, and to call back. Doris never called back. She got drunk that day. Come to think of it, the bartender in Charlotte also said that she was adopted, and never met her parents, but thought about it, and her sister had recently met her parents. Pretty crazy. I meet my father in two days just outside Atlanta. I'm not scared or nervous, just don't know what to expect. I hope the timing doesn't make things awkward. I will be arriving and staying the night before Easter, so that should make things unique. After lunch I drove along the coast of Mt. Pleasant and decided to go to an old Civil War fort. It was really boring and there was a class field trip with like 150 14 year olds. I did talk to a man about Canon cameras for about 15 minutes, though. So that was cool. He was a retired policeman who enjoyed photography and now worked part time for the force doing photo work. He said the last 3 times they needed him though, was for very horrible accident photos and each time took him about 1 1/2 hours to complete the job. He said he didn't want to do that anymore. I can't blame him. I got a good tip from the visitor center for a motel and checked in just after 3. This place is really nice for the price. There is a pool that is OPEN! and it has wi-fi, microwave, refrigerator, tv, and all the usual stuff as well, for 39 bucks! Score!
I took a nap for an hour or so, headed back down town to try and get some cool sunset photos. I am kinda disappointed, but they're ok. It was 77 and sunny today, i am in shorts! Right now I am back at my motel, the Masters Inn, blogging. But in a minute I will hop in the shower and get ready to go to the Isle of Palms, a place called Windjammer's. The bartender from Charlotte and Doris both recommended this place. Evidently it's right on the beach and they have good bands almost every night. Tonight they have a singer-songwriter from Nashville named Patrick Davis, so I'll check that out. P.S. I've always thought alot was a word, but spell check always tells me otherwise. Remind me to look that up.