As ever life at here in Columbia has been as hectic as ever! Not that I’m complaining I absolutely LOVE it but I have been a little MIA from campus as Mum and Dad came to visit, so this blog post will be a quick catch up on the past two weeks and our travels to the boarders of South Carolina.
The best thing about having the parents come out and visits (other than the lovely restaurants and little shopping trips) is having a car! Whilst the campus itself is walkable and in a city, having a car to go off easily and explore was great and definitely helped with food shopping too!
Mum and Dad flew in and for the first weekend we headed up to Table Mountain on the boarder of North and South Carolina. There we stayed at The Table Mountain Inn where the lovely inn keeper Karen had made freshly baked cookies and apple cake upon our arrival. There were also other little touches such as handmade soap and knitted quilts. It was a lovely home away from home and something different from the bog standard Holiday Inn.
Although a little on the chilly side as Autumn decided to peak a little early we were able to do some walking trails. Whilst we skipped on the six hour hike up to the top of the mountain we took a three hour hiking trail down along the valley floor that ran parallel to the creek and saw the spectacular waterfall. It was great on the way down but I was very glad to see the car after we climbed back to the top! Whilst the scenery was beautiful and the hospitality unfaltering the surrounding towns were lackluster with little character and few restaurants. We spent an hour driving around trying to find something nice for dinner... only to end up one mile from the Inn at “Aunt Sues” which wasn’t the best.
For the second weekend we headed south to the boarder of Georgia to the historic city of Savannah. Established in 1733 it had a lot of significance in both the Revolutionary and Civil War (the history buff in me loved this!). During our day here we did a Segway tour, which was such a great way to see the city and very fun, as well as toured one of the historic houses. It is not as pretty or scenic as Charleston and is full of more touristy gimmicks and overpriced restaurants but still a good day out.
On our last day we headed down to Hilton Head Island which looked a little like Centre Parcs to me but is the more exclusive area of the State. Picture houses amongst the pine trees, tennis courts and quite a few people cycling around. Dad was happy as there was a habour and although it was only a brief stop we climbed the lighthouse and even saw some dolphins in the bay on our way out.
All in all it’s been a great two weeks and I’ve now pretty much covered all the main places in South Carolina. Next weekend is Fall Break so I’m moving further afield with a trip up to Washington DC with some friends, I can't wait! With all this traveling though I think maybe this weekend I should catch up on some work!
