One month on the road!

Lots of pickup trucks down here; some have memorials to fallen soldiers painted on their rear windows. Quite moving. Drove past a tattoo and piercing mall; at least a dozen shops, and not shabby at all. Strange times.

Followed Robbi's intuition to Savannah GA and Charleston SC, and were richly rewarded. Old town Savannah was built on cotton in the 1700's, around an array of 22 parks, each about a block square and now full of huge over-arching trees that shade the surrounding homes; these sport a surprising range of architectural styles, all beautiful. The trees are heavily draped with some kind of moss, and I clicked photos til the camera was full (most of which were terrible: I can't seem to hold a camera straight at all!) At a riverside bar we ate creole shrimp and mussels in cream that were as good as could be imagined. On the way out of town, the skies opened and we could hardly see the road, which at highway speeds on unfamiliar interchanges gave me a hint of what F1 drivers face in the rain. Freaky! But with full tummies, a bag of fresh-made salt-water taffy and thunder crashing all around, Robbi wanted it known that she was "a happy camper!"

Charleston was even nicer, if that's possible, with row upon row of lovingly preserved homes and gardens, dating from ~1740 on. The defining feature of the Battery Street area was, for me, the alluring passageways that separate the elegant homes, each hinting at an intimate floral oasis hidden beyond. There were a few places for sale, none that looked even remotely within our reach. Besides, it's HOT here!

We were headed for Cape Hatteras, but the slow roads, looming schedule and storm warnings turned us inland. Besides sweltering for an hour in stopped traffic for 'road work' that appeared to be nothing more than 5 miles of orange cones, we drove like crazy, three states in a day, catching more heavy winds and rain but missing a tornado by one county. We are now on Washington's doorstep, where we plan to stay the weekend; not on the doorstep, but in a fancy hotel downtown, priceline willing. And it seems willing!