background

Empty States

Hello Fellow Travelers,
There are still empty states which no one has claimed. So, if you would like to add more states the five you have already chosen, you may pick two more! Yep, Priscilla and Amy said you can now pick 7 states to travel in! But pick them quickly! This is a first-come, first-travel with them deal. To find out which states are still open either for two people or for one, visit the About the Trip page on the side.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Day 63 - South Carolina

Day 63
December 13
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
My Dear Miss Smith,
    It has been a few days since I last wrote you though the girls assured me that they have faithfully kept you updated on our travels. It is truly wonderful that I have others to help with all my correspondence, for if I had to keep it all up myself, I would either not get to see much, spend most of my nights writing, or you wouldn’t hear anything! I do hope things have been going well at home. Be sure and tell Amy when you see her next that Timber is getting along just fine and Penelope and I would feel alone if we had to part with him.

    This morning the girls and I took the dogs for a last romp on the beach outside our cottage before we left. Timber has no fear of the ocean waves even in this chilly weather and seemed to enjoy himself tremendously.

We were all a little sad to leave that lovely little cottage by the sea and return to life in the RV, much as the RV feels like home. Getting out of Charleston wasn’t too hard since we waited until the morning rush of traffic had dissipated.

    The drive to Conway, South Carolina was only a few hours and we passed the time with talk of all the places we had been and what Abigail and Susanna were going to do when they arrived back home, since this is their last day. I am just thankful that when I take the girls to the airport, I can pick up the next travelers and don’t have to spend the night alone in the RV. I know, Miss Smith, when I was following the Marshmallow Thief I traveled all over with only Piccadilly for a companion, but this trip is different. It was meant to be shared. But I must get on with our day or I will never get to bed!

    Arriving at the L.W. Paul Living History Farm, we met several members of the farm and began our experience on a “one horse family farm.” This farm was begun by Larry Paul who offered to fund its construction. The goal was to create what a family farm would be like between 1900-1955. I must say it was quite interesting.

We got to help make butter and grind grits and visited the smokehouse to bring some hams to the house for cooking.

They have a darling little wood stove in the kitchen that they cook on.

And you should have seen the front room, Miss Smith; you would have fallen in love with it.


    Abigail and Susanna tried their hand at spinning and did a remarkable job!

I had the job of washing some clothes. Dear me, what a job washing days must have been back then.

They have some darling little speckled hens and of course the other animals you’d expect to find, such as a cow named “Daisy.” Why is it that most cows seem to bear that same name?



    Well, we couldn’t stay too long, as they were starting preparations for tomorrow’s Christmas at the Farm Day. It would have been fun to stay, but we must keep going. Since there were still several hours left in the day, we decided right then to head over to Myrtle Beach State Park.

    Oh, the delight of the beach again! We have gotten so used to hearing the sounds of the waves as we drift to sleep, that we unanimously voted to spend the night right here, since they have hookups for RVs, instead of trying to find a place down the road. The dogs were delighted to be out and we had a campfire this evening. We roasted marshmallows and ate s’mores while I told the girls about my experiences with that elusive yet sticky marshmallow thief.

    Now it is quite late. I let Abigail drive the RV from Conway to Myrtle Beach today. She did a good job, and I was delighted to be relieved from driving. That’s another reason I miss Amy. The girls are in bed and as I don’t hear anymore whispering, I imagine they are asleep, so I should join them.
    Good night, Miss Smith.
Sweet dreams,
~Priscilla

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Day 62 - South Carolina

Day 62
Dec. 12
Charleston, SC
Dear Miss Smith,
    Wow. We saw some pretty cool places today! It was quite the full but fun
day:)

    We were all up and on our way early because we knew there was a lot to see! Our first stop was Drayton Hall. Drayton Hall is a beautiful brick house located outside of Charleston. It has survived the American Revolution, the Civil War, a local earthquake in 1886 and large hurricanes. It's one of the only Pre-Revolutionary houses that stand in close to their original condition today, and is the only plantation on the Ashley River to survive intact. Through the years, it had been passed down through 7 generations of Draytons, and served as a rice plantation, a military headquarters, a site for strip mining, and a country retreat before being bought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1974. The Trust decided to preserve the site as is, instead of restoring it to look like a certain time period like many other places do. Quite the history, huh?

    We took the house tour, which lasted just over 45 minutes. The house had beautiful wood floors and walls. In one hall there was a marble mantle which was original to the house!

A couple rooms had plaster ceilings, which were pretty cool. One of these plaster ceilings was the original 1742 ceiling for that room. The basement was all stone; walls, floors and all!





    Once we finished looking around the grounds, we ate lunch as we headed to our next stop, the Magnolia Plantation.

There is so much to do there! We started with the tour of the house which took us through ten rooms.
    We explored the slave cabins and spent some time in the Zoo and Nature center, then headed to the gardens. The gardens were amazing. It must be unbelievably beautiful in the warmer months!! Definitely a place to come back to!

    The Swamp Garden was probably the coolest part of it though. Trees growing from the water . . . egrets and herons . . . lots of bridges and dikes. And you're right in the middle of it all. I took lots of pictures!

    By the time we finished our walk through there, we decided we wanted to give our feet a break though, so we took the Nature Train. The ride took us over the plantation and it was a good way to get a sample of every bit of the place. We even saw an alligator! Before leaving, we stopped at the Peacock Cafe and got something warm to drink. It was warmer than usual today but we were still getting a bit chilly after being outside most of the afternoon!

    Now we're enjoying our last evening at the Cottage. It's been really nice having a cozy place to come to the last several evenings :) Only one more day in South Carolina! It's gone really fast!
-Abigail