Journal - The Carolinas, Sept 30 - Oct 7, 2005
Thursday, September 29
- drove from Ottawa to Scranton, Pennsylvania
- stayed at Days Inn
- saw 3 wild turkeys
Friday, September 30
- had breakfast at hotel
- drove from Scranton to Raleigh, NC
- stopped in Gettysberg, toured National Cemetary, drove along Park Auto Route, climbed up tower
- lunch at Arby's
- dinner with Dave at Lucky 32
- saw 2 deer
Saturday, October 1
- hung out with Dave in morning, ate lunch at the Red, Hot and Blue
- around 2:30pm left Raleigh and drove to Myrtle Beach, SC
- dinner at Magnolia's
- went to movie theatre and saw Serenity
- saw 2 small lizards, one green and one grey, might have been same kind
- discovered we arrived at Myrtle Beach in time for a bikers convention
- weather is very humid
Sunday, October 2
- Aligator Adventure
- Brookgreen Gardens
- drive from Myrtle Beach to Charleston
- stayed at King George IV BnB
- dinner at Boathouse Restaurant
Monday, October 3
- breakfast at BnB
- walk around Charleston
- lunch at Mexican Restaurant
- carriage tour
- in evening did ghost walk downtown, wasn't as engaging as we had hoped
- stayed at King George IV BnB
Tuesday, October 4
- breakfast at BnB
- checked out visitor centre
- walked downtown Charleston, down Battery St - where all mansions are
- toured the Nathaniel Russel House, a restored home
- toured the Aiken-Rhett house, a preserved home. Difference between restored and preserved home was interesting
- visited the Magnolia Plantation, expensive and the gardens were not in peak form. Saw a snake in one of the garden paths, we were a little concerned that it may be poisonous since we did not know if SC had more poisonous snakes than NC - but it turned out not to be.
- stayed at Comfort Suites in Cherokee
- went to Casino, did badly with nickle slots - the variety of video slots was poor, did better with $1 slots, in total up $3.
Wednesday, October 5
- breakfast at motel
- drove part of the Blue Ridge Parkway
- visited Smoky Mountain Park, hiked up Clingman's Dome - steep, but good view at top
- did not see wildlife other than chipmunk and groundhog, heard there were bears in the area
- stayed at Super 8 in Asheville
- dinner at Mexican restaurant
- went to bed early
Thursday, October 6
- woke up in the rainy weather, decided to change plans of driving the remainder of the Blue Ridge Parkway and head home instead
- breakfast at hotel
- drove from Asheville to Winchester
- lunch at Shoneys - too much food as usual
- stopped at the Luray Canyons for a tour, best canyons that we had seen
- stayed at Echo Budget Lodge in Winchester
- dinner at Popeyes
Friday, October 7
- breakfast at Waffle House in Winchester, first breakfast at restaurant
- drive from Winchester to Bolton
- stopped for lunch at king's Restaurant, generic American food
- rained all day, until Missisauga
- dinner in Bolton with Darlingtons