As we will continuously discover on our journey, our roaming can be bittersweet. Our little homebase in Florida was near so many gorgeous springs and parks, and the warm weather and the springtime blooms were hard to leave. But we knew we were heading for a few weeks of visiting with family and enjoying another spot we’ve grown to love - the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
We planned a fairly direct route from Florida, using our new-found confidence in Cracker Barrel parking lots to allow us to drive until dinnertime and then search for the nearest CBs to crash for the night. We did make one solid plan to visit Charleston, SC; to enjoy this beautiful, old coastal town and to achieve our SC magnet for our travel board. And I’m so glad we did!
After departing Florida with a breakfast of fresh oranges and yoga by the blooming azaleas, we headed toward Charleston. An hour outside the city, we stopped at our first CB for the night (where we first learned that a bedroom heater would be beneficial…) and planned our adventures for the next day. Since we’re big food tourists, I found a great little biscuit spot for us for breakfast at the City Market, in the heart of the waterfront downtown. Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit served up a delicious egg and pimento biscuit sandwich, and I couldn’t resist getting some of their extra spreads on the side to try. I highly recommend the savory thyme butter and the cinnamon butter!
We then headed for a stroll along the waterfront and headed out for a view of Charleston Harbor and a swing on the bench swings from the Waterfront Park Pier. While strolling through the beautiful Waterfront Park, we stumbled upon the iconic Pineapple Fountain, which was placed there as a symbol of southern hospitality and as a welcome into this lovely city.
Our walk along the water took us further down the coast, where we passed by the Rainbow Row, a row of gorgeous pastel-colored historic homes that gained their colorful notoriety as a revitalization effort in the 1930s. We continued seaside down The Battery, an old landmark defensive seawall that later became a promenade. Along the way, one gorgeous historic home caught my eye, and I later learned it was the Edmondston-Alston House, known for being built on the ruins of Fort Mechanic.The Battery concluded at the serene White Point Park, where we strolled the green grounds and observed some of the Civil War artifacts.
It was time for a late lunch, and I had found on a guide to the city that there was a lovely little gourmet cheese shop called goat. sheep. cow. in Charleston, right around the corner from Washington Park. We made our way over there, where we got some brillat savarin and a fresh baguette to picnic under the obelisk in Washington Park. As we were leaving, we got a pleasant surprise - someone was able to identify Reese as part Plott Hound! When we adopted him, we had never even heard of the breed, but apparently they are the state dog of North Carolina, and these fellow travelers had just come from a winery there that displayed its state pride on every bottle. It was quite the funny chance encounter.
Although we packed a lot into our morning and very much enjoyed our pitstop in this beautiful city, it was time to hit the road. We hopped back on the highway for another drive until dinner when, at the border of South Carolina and North Carolina, we drove past South of the Border - a completely strange and wonderful Americana tourist oddity.
Since this is my favorite kind of attraction to see, and I hope we plan many more stops throughout America, we simply had to stop for a stroll. It was a sprawling attraction, and thankfully had maps posted everywhere to find your way. There are restaurants, gift shops, a motel, campsites, attractions - even a Sombrero Tower you can ride to the top of. And we were even able to find our missing state magnets! What a strange and magical place. This highlighted the beauty of our bus life - the ability to stop at these odd and enticing places and drink up all the wonderful weirdness Americana has to offer.
VIRGINIA
My mom lives in a little town, mid-way up the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Everytime we make the trip to visit her, I can’t help but laugh at this strange sliver of coast, dangling off of Maryland, yet inexplicably belonging to Virginia. As we plotted our route from Florida to Virginia, we worried that we may have to extend our route all the way up through mainland Virginia and back down to this peninsula. However, with a little extra research, we found we were eligible to use the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel! We discovered that we were under the threshold for propane, by weight. We were extra glad that this was confirmed by an attendant when we stopped for our mandatory inspection at the beginning of the system. This was such a relief, since it cut close to 5 hours off our trip. I took this journey once as a child, and remembered being awed and nervous about the way the bridges seemed to disappear in the middle of the water as they dipped into a tunnel. It was fun to make this trip again in Charlotte!
We were grateful to arrive safely to our spot in my mother’s beautiful backyard. There were a few bus projects we wanted to work on after some travel learnings, and it’s always lovely to visit family and familiar places. We also got to explore some parts of the Eastern Shore we’d never seen before. And of course, Reese enjoyed stealing my mom's king sized bed and both Winston and Reese enjoyed playing with their buddy, Bentley (as well as maybe starting a band?)
My mom, being the deal-hunter that she is, offered us some extra curtains that she had on hand to outfit Charlotte. We picked a lovely shade of yellow that offer us privacy, filter out a good deal of light at night and go a long way towards keeping us cool in the sun. They also seem to help us retain a bit more heat in cool weather, as well. It is such a relief to no longer have to worry about dressing or showering when we’re staying in the bus. Especially with our new overnight stays in public parking lots!
My mom is a big thrifter, and so when we drove past a billboard advertising the SECOND LARGEST ANTIQUE MALL IN VIRGINIA! we knew we’d have to make a day of it. The Blue Crow Antique Mall sure was an adventure. Even with an efficient walkthrough, it took us over an hour to tour the place. It felt like every time we turned the corner, there was a new room to catch our attention. I was particularly drawn to an entire side of a back room where a year-round Santa’s village lived, with probably every ornament that was ever created for sale. My 2000’s CD collecting self also loved the vintage, flashing Sam Goody’s sign over crates and crates of vinyl. And the cherry on top, I found a collection of old Disney movie Burger King glasses (remember those?!), which were such an immediate throwback to childhood, I had to make sure I wasn’t 8 again. This is what I love about thrifting and antiquing, it’s a magical treasure hunt where you never know what you might find.
Although spring was moving through Virginia with its variable weathers, we managed to get in some nice, outdoor time. We had an epic day kayaking in Onancock with my mom. After launching from Onancock Wharf, we decided we’d try to make it all the way to the opening of the Chesapeake Bay. It was a gorgeous day on the waters, and we had a great time making our way further out until we could see the Bay on the horizon. The return journey was a little more difficult, as the winds had picked up to wild speeds and every paddle forward netted us 2 steps back. We eventually made it to shore, where we simply had to celebrate with baked goods from the Onancock Corner Bakery.
We also explored some new nature trails, making a day of our walk at the William B. Cummings Birding Trail in Brownsville Preserve. It was a lovely stroll through coastal Virginia scenery in a well-kept preserve. They even offered informative brochures, detailing what kind of history and wildlife you might see at different points along the trail. After a gorgeous day walking through this natural space, we rewarded ourselves with a tasty wine offering at Chatham Vineyards. My favorite kind of day - gorgeous natural scenery and relaxing with delicious local drinks!
Our time in Virginia is always special. While at first we may have felt restless in these quiet towns of the Eastern Shore, there’s always a delightful feeling that grows in us as we spend time here. The warm spring nights, the easy neighborhood walks, the little adventures, the small-town hardware store visits, the time with family - it’s always tough to say goodbye.
Love living through your adventures!! So beautifully written. I feel like I'm actually there!!