Flashing Back
We're fired up to resume traveling today. But before we do, here's an update on the internet-starved days leading up to our arrival in Lake Worth. Also, this is the launch of my new star rating system. From here on out, I'll rate each place I visit with between 0 and 5 stars based on its "livability" for Moxie and me. 0 stars means it's definitely not a place we'd like to call home. But if a place gets 5 stars I'll start looking for a lease.
Charleston, SC
This city really is as beautiful as everyone says it is. I didn't get any decent pictures due to the steady rain that fell as we walked through the historic downtown, but I took plenty in my mind. There's something so statuesque, so graceful about the houses here. It's easy to imagine the town in its antebellum heyday, ladies in girdles and hoop skirts adorning the porches. (And enslaved Africans waiting on them, but who wants to imagine that?)
At the suggestion of a sales clerk at a surf shop in Carolina Beach, we detoured from Charleston to Folly Beach. What a fortuitous turn! The tiny town borders a long, dog-friendly beach where we played ball along the water before dropping in at the Lost Dog Café for lunch. Our waitress there treated Moxie to plenty of pets and biscuits and me to a tasty salad of spinach and strawberries while we chatted with a nice couple of Canadians.
While lovely historic Charleston isn't the kind of place one lives in (at least not before making one's first million), a suburb like Folly Beach has potential.
Savannah, GA
Savannah disappointed us, but it really wasn't her fault.Unlike Charleston, Savannah feels like a real city complete with... traffic. So far Moxie's herding instinct manifests itself uniquely but forcefully with moving cars, so it's very difficult take a peaceful walk with them zooming about. We did enjoy a walk along the water and posing with the statue of the waving woman and her dog, though. We also lounged about a city park that was overflowing with blooming azaleas. And of course, Moxie made new friends.
[While a big city with beautiful flowers has appeal, we just aren't cut out for southern summer heat.]
St. Simon's Island, GA
Three cheers for serendipity! Feeling directionless, I decided to follow a tip in my guidebook and visit this somewhat remote island. Free of Savannah's bustle, it retained the southern lush beauty -- Spanish-moss-strung palm fronds overhead and azaleas around the feet. We stopped at a pet boutique to pick up some fresh kibble and a tip for dog-friendly lodging, then walked and walked to enjoy such a beautiful place. At the Sea Gate Inn we lounged in oceanfront luxury and awoke to an awe-inspiring sunrise.
[The summers would surely be too hot here too, but we'd return in a heartbeat for a vacation retreat.]
How I Almost Lost $20.08
Continuing on the next day, we struggled with a string of booked-solid campgrounds and no-dogs-allowed beaches before landing at a bland motel off the interstate. But then our luck seemed to change the following day when we stumbled on an inland campground with vacancy.
It was early in the day when we set up camp, leaving plenty of time to pitch the tent and let Ocracoke's dew evaporate while Moxie chewed a bone and I read and wrote. Before we'd booked the site, I'd given Moxie a drink in the campground parking lot and thought nothing of it when a red car pulled up and paused near us. But a couple of hours later the same car pulled up in front of our campsite, then inched into the driveway of the site next to ours. I hurried toward the car, motioning "stop" with my hands to alert the driver to my clear tarp drying in that driveway's sun. An older fellow, he stopped, rolled down his window and said, "I won't go any further. I just want to watch you. You're beautiful." Foolish in my discomfort, I said, "thanks" and walked away. When he didn't leave (and Moxie chewed her bone under the picnic table, oblivious), I walked the short distance to the camp office. "Back at 1," a sign in the window said. My watch read 11:30. The red car pulled away.
I worried and wrote and worried some more. I called the local sheriff's office, hoping that if I recited the red car's registration someone would tell me, Oh, that's our crazy old man. He's kooky but harmless. No such luck. I decided to wait until the manager's return at 1 before deciding what to do. But then the red car came back. He drove by slowly, then left again. The tent was back in the car by the time the manager returned and kindly reimbursed my $20.08 in site and firewood fees. Moxie & I spent that night off the Interstate in a Motel 6 with no broadband.
Charleston, SC
This city really is as beautiful as everyone says it is. I didn't get any decent pictures due to the steady rain that fell as we walked through the historic downtown, but I took plenty in my mind. There's something so statuesque, so graceful about the houses here. It's easy to imagine the town in its antebellum heyday, ladies in girdles and hoop skirts adorning the porches. (And enslaved Africans waiting on them, but who wants to imagine that?)
At the suggestion of a sales clerk at a surf shop in Carolina Beach, we detoured from Charleston to Folly Beach. What a fortuitous turn! The tiny town borders a long, dog-friendly beach where we played ball along the water before dropping in at the Lost Dog Café for lunch. Our waitress there treated Moxie to plenty of pets and biscuits and me to a tasty salad of spinach and strawberries while we chatted with a nice couple of Canadians.
While lovely historic Charleston isn't the kind of place one lives in (at least not before making one's first million), a suburb like Folly Beach has potential.
Savannah, GA
Savannah disappointed us, but it really wasn't her fault.Unlike Charleston, Savannah feels like a real city complete with... traffic. So far Moxie's herding instinct manifests itself uniquely but forcefully with moving cars, so it's very difficult take a peaceful walk with them zooming about. We did enjoy a walk along the water and posing with the statue of the waving woman and her dog, though. We also lounged about a city park that was overflowing with blooming azaleas. And of course, Moxie made new friends. [While a big city with beautiful flowers has appeal, we just aren't cut out for southern summer heat.]St. Simon's Island, GA
Three cheers for serendipity! Feeling directionless, I decided to follow a tip in my guidebook and visit this somewhat remote island. Free of Savannah's bustle, it retained the southern lush beauty -- Spanish-moss-strung palm fronds overhead and azaleas around the feet. We stopped at a pet boutique to pick up some fresh kibble and a tip for dog-friendly lodging, then walked and walked to enjoy such a beautiful place. At the Sea Gate Inn we lounged in oceanfront luxury and awoke to an awe-inspiring sunrise. [The summers would surely be too hot here too, but we'd return in a heartbeat for a vacation retreat.]How I Almost Lost $20.08
Continuing on the next day, we struggled with a string of booked-solid campgrounds and no-dogs-allowed beaches before landing at a bland motel off the interstate. But then our luck seemed to change the following day when we stumbled on an inland campground with vacancy.
It was early in the day when we set up camp, leaving plenty of time to pitch the tent and let Ocracoke's dew evaporate while Moxie chewed a bone and I read and wrote. Before we'd booked the site, I'd given Moxie a drink in the campground parking lot and thought nothing of it when a red car pulled up and paused near us. But a couple of hours later the same car pulled up in front of our campsite, then inched into the driveway of the site next to ours. I hurried toward the car, motioning "stop" with my hands to alert the driver to my clear tarp drying in that driveway's sun. An older fellow, he stopped, rolled down his window and said, "I won't go any further. I just want to watch you. You're beautiful." Foolish in my discomfort, I said, "thanks" and walked away. When he didn't leave (and Moxie chewed her bone under the picnic table, oblivious), I walked the short distance to the camp office. "Back at 1," a sign in the window said. My watch read 11:30. The red car pulled away.
I worried and wrote and worried some more. I called the local sheriff's office, hoping that if I recited the red car's registration someone would tell me, Oh, that's our crazy old man. He's kooky but harmless. No such luck. I decided to wait until the manager's return at 1 before deciding what to do. But then the red car came back. He drove by slowly, then left again. The tent was back in the car by the time the manager returned and kindly reimbursed my $20.08 in site and firewood fees. Moxie & I spent that night off the Interstate in a Motel 6 with no broadband.
posted by Butterflyby at 12:48
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