1st leg: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and weird roadside things...
The first part of the month long road trip begins with a drive down to Destin, Florida, where I would be meeting up with my dad and my friend from Texas days, Jeralyn and her husband, Mitch. My boyfriend Seth would travel with me throughout this part of the trip and also in Alabama later (more on that amazing leg of the trip soon!).
Seth and I started down through South Carolina, avoiding the major interstate at first to see a few more sights, working our way to a lunch stop in Florence. He and I love to do "roadside America" stops, (all found online at a mapping website of the same name) before we travel. We saw an early remaining cotton press from 1798, atomic bomb fragments collected in Mars Bluff (it's a genuine wild story), and propellers from the Civil War ship, the Pee Dee. The museum where the propellers are located have, in the last few years, removed the inscriptions on the dedication from the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which awkwardly proclaimed: "Let these relics of a noble past forever testify to the patriotism of the ninety heroic souls who manned this cruiser. No nation rose so white and fair, none fell so pure of crime". Yeah, that didn't hold up well.
Our lunch in Florence was some of the best seafood I've ever had, a kitschy little stop at Tubb's Shrimp & Fish Co, in a converted old general store, complete with attached Airstream trailer bar. The local at the bar stools explained to us the two owners "know how to pick seafood better than anyone in South Carolina". The bourbon peach sour cocktail we shared was divine! This was probably our first time eating in a comfortably cramped indoor restaurant since the pandemic began, but a start to believing in the freedom the vaccines would give us.
Back on the road, to the overnight destination in the quaint old shrimping town of Darien, Georgia, which I'd discovered with my dad on last year's drive during the height of the pandemic. The few restaurants and the wine bar I'd remembered as shuttered in the summer of 2020, were now back open for indoor business, which was lovely to see. As Seth also learned, this river town is the perfect place to stop for the overnight rest (and a lime gimlet at Skipper's on the water if you will). If you're ever there, walk to see the sunsets from the bridge...a must if you visit for a day (you don't need much more than a day here unless you really want to relax). We were even welcomed by some of King George's subjects from the motel parking lot..."long live King George!"
Roadside America stops here led us to the first pot that ever made Brunswick stew in Brunswick county (really? the FIRST pot?) and the site on the Butler Island rice plantation where the largest single sale of enslaved human beings took place, over 436 to pay off the land owner's debts...known as "The Weeping Time".
A still active and adorable town with lots of history, Darien is the oldest English fort remaining on Georgia's coast. I've been here twice now and still haven't made it to the historic, King George Historic Site. In 1736, colonist James Oglethorpe and Scottish Highlanders laid out the actual fort of Darien. Fun fact, Georgia was the only colony created for debtors and prisoners back in the day. This particular fort in Darien saw near constant battles with the Spanish, and Native Americans who were south in Florida and always at war...so the ladies of Darien tended to handle things alone pretty often, as most of the Darien men were out defending the territory. By the 1820, this town was booming, shipping rice and cotton from their waterfront. Until 1890, Darien took the lead as the international timber center on the east coast. By the 1940s, it became home to the largest shrimp boat fleets. Lots of changes for Darien, but me personally...I just love it for all the Spanish moss and sunsets, and the bottle tree by the bridge.
To enjoy all the photos from this leg of our trip go here! (Photo is a a sunset view from the Darien bridge in 2019)
Seth and I started down through South Carolina, avoiding the major interstate at first to see a few more sights, working our way to a lunch stop in Florence. He and I love to do "roadside America" stops, (all found online at a mapping website of the same name) before we travel. We saw an early remaining cotton press from 1798, atomic bomb fragments collected in Mars Bluff (it's a genuine wild story), and propellers from the Civil War ship, the Pee Dee. The museum where the propellers are located have, in the last few years, removed the inscriptions on the dedication from the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which awkwardly proclaimed: "Let these relics of a noble past forever testify to the patriotism of the ninety heroic souls who manned this cruiser. No nation rose so white and fair, none fell so pure of crime". Yeah, that didn't hold up well.
Our lunch in Florence was some of the best seafood I've ever had, a kitschy little stop at Tubb's Shrimp & Fish Co, in a converted old general store, complete with attached Airstream trailer bar. The local at the bar stools explained to us the two owners "know how to pick seafood better than anyone in South Carolina". The bourbon peach sour cocktail we shared was divine! This was probably our first time eating in a comfortably cramped indoor restaurant since the pandemic began, but a start to believing in the freedom the vaccines would give us.
Back on the road, to the overnight destination in the quaint old shrimping town of Darien, Georgia, which I'd discovered with my dad on last year's drive during the height of the pandemic. The few restaurants and the wine bar I'd remembered as shuttered in the summer of 2020, were now back open for indoor business, which was lovely to see. As Seth also learned, this river town is the perfect place to stop for the overnight rest (and a lime gimlet at Skipper's on the water if you will). If you're ever there, walk to see the sunsets from the bridge...a must if you visit for a day (you don't need much more than a day here unless you really want to relax). We were even welcomed by some of King George's subjects from the motel parking lot..."long live King George!"
Roadside America stops here led us to the first pot that ever made Brunswick stew in Brunswick county (really? the FIRST pot?) and the site on the Butler Island rice plantation where the largest single sale of enslaved human beings took place, over 436 to pay off the land owner's debts...known as "The Weeping Time".
A still active and adorable town with lots of history, Darien is the oldest English fort remaining on Georgia's coast. I've been here twice now and still haven't made it to the historic, King George Historic Site. In 1736, colonist James Oglethorpe and Scottish Highlanders laid out the actual fort of Darien. Fun fact, Georgia was the only colony created for debtors and prisoners back in the day. This particular fort in Darien saw near constant battles with the Spanish, and Native Americans who were south in Florida and always at war...so the ladies of Darien tended to handle things alone pretty often, as most of the Darien men were out defending the territory. By the 1820, this town was booming, shipping rice and cotton from their waterfront. Until 1890, Darien took the lead as the international timber center on the east coast. By the 1940s, it became home to the largest shrimp boat fleets. Lots of changes for Darien, but me personally...I just love it for all the Spanish moss and sunsets, and the bottle tree by the bridge.
To enjoy all the photos from this leg of our trip go here! (Photo is a a sunset view from the Darien bridge in 2019)