The scent of Magnolia

In the true spirit of a journal...

Dec. 26, 2015 - Charleston SC

7 a.m.  - Awake feeling refreshed and ready to explore.  Great bed for a hotel, and that's what matters when you're traveling, not whether the wallpaper is peeling in the bathroom.  The fog has once again taken over (what's with me always managing to find places with poor visibility when I travel?) but it's supposed to clear.  Hope to get out to one of the plantations.

9:30 - finished breakfast, still so foggy that the "riverview" restaurant on the 15th floor shows only pure white outside.  Plantation tours run all day, so will take some time now to clean lenses, backup SD cards to the laptop, and recharge batteries.

10:30 - fog starting to lift, so I make a reservation for one of the plantation tours.  20 minutes later the swamp on the other side of the road is visible from the hotel room window, and I can see several ibis grazing in the marsh grass.  Another 10 minutes later and the sun is shining, the fog should clear completely soon!  I get down to the lobby to meet the driver, and step outside into - omg I should have worn shorts and a tshirt!  It's very humid so good thing it's only about 75 F.  But wow does it ever feel great to be in the warm sunshine.

12:00 - At the Visitor Center, downtown Charleston, getting on a shuttle to the Magnolia Garden Plantation.  My pass includes a tour of the house and a train ride through the Audubon Swamp, where hopefully we will see a couple of alligators and other wildlife.  It's about a half hour's drive, and the driver promises I will get lots of pictures.  On the way, I see the odd small tree loaded with large red or dark pink blooms, but the driver does not know what they are.  The other shuttle passengers think it might be camellia, which I've never seen before to my knowledge.  Gorgeous.

12:30 - Arrive at the Magnolia Plantation, 500 acres of the original 2000, where the Drayton family (who still owns it, the only original owner left in the area) to explore.  I start in the garden as my ticket for the train tour is for the 1:30 train, and the house is at 2:30.  Yes, they are camellia and there are several varieties here at the plantation garden.  And other flowers blooming too, azaleas and magnolias (I think, they smell wonderful!), pansies, snapdragons, sweet william, those are just the ones I recognized.  If I let myself daydream for a few minutes, I could easily be a southern belle walking through the garden with my beau, with a parasol on my shoulder to keep the warm southern sun off my delicate face.  Bahahaha!  Ya right.  Ok, back to reality.  Camera comes out, and catches this little beauty, among others.

There are probably an hour's worth of pathways through the garden, plus a conservatory, but have to get back to catch the "train".

1:30 - The "train" is a tractor pulling a couple of trolley cars typical of tourist attractions.  Find a seat and we pull away.  The driver is chatty and informative, and it isn't long before we start seeing some critters, including large turtles (too far away to get a good shot), ibis, great blue heron, ducks (cinnamon teals), and alligators.  Lots of them.  By the end of the train ride, the driver admits he has never seen so many alligators in one tour.  A couple of dozen at least, all sizes, all sunning themselves on little platforms provided, or swimming about lazily.

   

This one was pretty chill.  A couple of turtles joined him on the platform, although smaller turtles are sometimes gator gourmet.  All in all, a lovely ride, although we didn't stop very often, nor long enough when we did, to get many decent pictures.  

2:30 - House tour.  Interesting, but this isn't a true plantation home as I was expecting.  The current home was the third on the property, and the first one was 13000 sq ft.  Now that's a mansion!  The second was only 11000 sf.  The current one was probably less than half of that.  Very historic, and beautiful, but the wraparound porch probably makes it look twice what it really is.  Still, you could have a party on that porch...

4:00 - back at the hotel, trying to find a decent restaurant that has "southern" or at least local food and that I can still get a reservation for at the last minute.  Stars Rooftop and Grill Room looks awesome, and has availability.  And it's only a 5 minute drive.... score!!!  Reservations at 6:45 so better go clean up...

7:00 - 9:00 - Dinner.  Unbelievable.  Must go back, Stars is amazing, fantastic food, impeccable service, perfect atmosphere (for me), great wine...  As usual, I try to eat local and drink the house specialty.  So, started with a cocktail called an Aviation (how fitting) and it was ah-mazing.  Gin, lemon, maraschino cherry liqueur.  However, this place also added a bit of lavender cordial.  It was actually really good.  Appetizer:  Baked Oysters, with sauteed spinach, Asiago cheese, fresh garlic and brandy.  Phenomenal.  For the main course I chose another appetizer and a sharing plate which was actually exactly the right amount.  The appetizer was "Bacon Tater Tots", so, fluffed potatoes and bacon bits coated and deep fried (like croquettes) and served with a bacon aioli.  The sharing plate I selected was more like a small entree, so perfect.  Rare grilled bluefin tuna, crusted with pecans, served with a spicy mustard, a honey-almond sauce and a mixture of vegetables like heirloom carrots, purple cabbage and mild radishes in a wonderful creamy sauce - they called it Vegetable Slaw but it was the best Slaw I've ever had.  Then dessert, which was Smoked Chocolate 'Smore Pie.  Words do not do it justice.

Christmas road trip 2015 - Day 1

What a boring title.  Too tired to think of anything else, but it's a good tired.  Guess I should start from the birth of the idea for this trip.

In the past few years, I've learned that it's really a good thing to take a trip in the winter, somewhere warm preferably.  The one year that I didn't do it, was just not a good scene.  I was completely dragged out until the spring weather allowed more outside time.  Of course, that's somewhat weather dependent.  If it's snowy out, there are lots of opportunities, but rainy soggy winters can be a complete drain on someone with SAD.  So, nuff said, every year the Peter Pan Getaway Boots come out.  So far, I've been to New Zealand, Mexico, Miami Beach, Bahrain, and London, UK.  Not bad, although two of those were only long weekends (Miami Beach and London).

This year, I couldn't decide where to go.  I have 10 days or so, including Christmas eve, which gets me back with a day to spare to do laundry.  Thought about Costa Rica, Peru, Galapagos, Panama, Caribbean cruise, Belize, everything sounded somewhat, well, not quite right.  I was ready for an adventure, one that enabled me to see many things, stop if I wanted or go far, with nothing really planned (a real adventure).  Started looking at National Geographic Adventure Tours, and started noticing the number of cool places closer to home, and within driving distance.  Aha!  Road Trip!!!  Booked the first couple of nights to make sure I had a room for the busy holiday nights, and after that, well, wherever the sun shines is where I'll go, with tons of ideas and possibilities.

So here I am, after less than 10 hours of driving time, in a modest but comfortable and clean hotel room at the Country Inn in Harrisonburg VA, on my way to somewhere south, with my camera equipment, camping gear (in case I get to the Everglades, which will definitely be one for the books!), a couple of credit cards, and the baby lion is tucked neatly away in the kitty cat hotel (Catnap Cottages) back home.  Love it.

Yes, I already had Christmas dinner with mom and dad, Val and Chad and the kids, and my sisters and brother-in-law.  So I don't really feel like I'm missing the holiday.

So, to capture the essence of the day, it started like the first day of vacation usually does.  I wake up feeling like I have tons of time to get everything cleaned up at home, get everything packed up, and be on my way in time to get to my first destination in time for dinner.  Ha!  Also as usual, I grossly underestimate the time required to pack to my level of satisfaction.  I started three days ago to get ready, you'd think I'd have it down!  But no, even with all of the planning (what planning?) and my experience with travel, I almost forgot my passport, had to take the cat to boarding and then come back and finish packing, and didn't leave home till about 11:30 a.m. (instead of 9:30).

But once I got going, it didn't take long to relax into the drive, the weather was stunning - sunny and warm enough to have the sunroof open even before I hit the border - and I was focused only on getting to Harrisonburg, where I had a room already booked.  With the new Garmin GPS on my dash guiding my way after crossing the border, it feels like I haven't a care in the world.  Even maintaining a constant awareness of what's going on around me, it's a relaxing drive, almost easy, even coming through the mountains of Pennsylvania, normally treacherous with snow this time of year, completely dry this year.

Highlights to remember:
1.  A billboard reading "Not all rehabs are the same" (there's a competitive market for rehab centers?  What does that say about the state of the States?  Social commentary expected...)
2.  The full moon - first one at Christmas for a couple of decades, last one for another 19 years - rising through clear skies over the Allegheny mountains on one side of the car while the sun set graciously through turquoise and pink skies on the other side.  Driving most of the rest of the way with the moon providing almost as much light as streetlights would have - thankfully, since the GPS took me through some pretty quiet countryside.
3.  Some beautiful, well-kept little towns, and some very industrial, sad little mining towns.
4.  A new appreciation for those willing and able to work in order to provide numbskulls like me who want to travel on this holiday, with food, accommodation, service, gas, and a friendly smile.  It's not just the essential services, but those that we take for granted to always be available.  It seems that society has lost it's ability to "do without".

Looking forward to a leisurely drive through Shenandoah Valley tomorrow, and down through to Charleston, SC, where I have a room booked on the river.  Hopefully, I'll have a chance to take some good pictures.  Or at least, some pictures.