Charleston and the Lowcountry

Now we are really in the South.  Let us tell you.  We've arrived in Charleston, South Carolina.  Note the following:

• Charleston, South Carolina, which we visited today, is the site of the first battle of the Civil War.
• We visited Gettysburg, site of the 'high water mark' of the Confederacy.
• Today, we drove through Appomatox, site of the conclusion of the Civil War.

We've had a fair share of the 'War Betwee the States,' as they call it down here.  In related news, we also drove through Lynchburg, Virginia, which of course, is the home of one of J.Crew's distribution centers!!!  OMG, this is SUPER exciting!!!  To be honest, the outlet store did have some decent deals...

We also, today, surpassed the 1000 mile mark on the road trip.  The event was captured:

In good news, the car was in Drive.  Our drive today was interesting, taking us through Central Virginia and North Carolina on the non-interstate US-29, before being dumped unceremonially onto I-95.  We believe it is notable that the first mile driven on I-95 on this roadtrip occurred at 3:45 PM today; it is hard to believe we have avoided this artery of American commerce up until now!

Upon the recommendation of Abigail's Aunt M, we've decided to avoid Savannah on the southbound trip and prioritized a visit to Charleston, SC.  Charleston, in Kevin's mind, will always remind him of his visit here with his family in the mid-1990s.  On that trip, the temperature was 110 degrees, with the humidity not far behind.  His dear baby sister, with her thick mess of hair, was so hot that she broke down in tears on the street corner.  Not to be dramatically outdone, Kevin's mother lost all of her credit cards when they flew out the window speeding away from Charleston on I-26!

We avoided such disasters and, alas, arrived at 6:30 this evening and began walking around the historic district and found our first Spanish Moss (Terribly exciting!).  The city is beautiful, and the weather was perfect.  We have a set of photographs from our evening promenade here. 

Our observations thus far have been brief, but we are stunned to discover the age of this city.  Numerous buildings date back to the late 17th century; and it's hard to find a French Huguenot Church in France these days, much less in the Deep South!  At first glance, the similarities between Charleston and New Orleans are striking, but Charleston has (thus far) avoided the scourge of Bourbon Street, and has a more casual, relaxed demeanor than New Orleans.  Plus, there's more Seersucker.

We're off to Florida tomorrow morning to visit with Abigail's grandparents for a few days.  As many of you know, if you were born before 1940, you are not allowed to have internet in your home.  As such, we will likely have limited access to blog postings until we leave Florida later in the week.  But suffice it to say we will be safe and enjoying the Florida sun!