West Palm Beach to Columbus Day - 3

 Today we are off to Magnolia plantation and then to Charlotte, NC. We will stop in the middle at Columbia, SC, to see the capitol building and some art work. We were on the road by 9 am.  

The drive was kind of small roads and in less than an hour we were at Magnolia plantation. It is an old plantation turned into a tourist spot. I had two minds about but I really did want to see it. The tickets were about 70$. We spent about 3 hours here. We did not go inside the house, just looked at the gardens and walked on the huuuge property. The gardens were nice. There were lovely bridges on the canals. Some alligators to be seen. Lots and lots of flowers. The house itself was not as big as I was expecting. The gift shop on the other hand was big. I did buy some gifts. I wish I had bought something for myself.

Magnolia Plantation

Bridge on a Lake in Magnolia Plantation

We left in the afternoon and in less than two hours we were in Columbia. We parked near the capitol building. It was just meh. We could have gone in but did not. 

I had three main things on my list here. A mural and two sculptures. All were worth it! 

Mural that makes it seem real

Biggest fire hydrant

Chain holding the buildings together

There was nothing much else to do so we went on to Charlotte, NC. I had one stop there at Metalmorphosis. It was definitely worth the stop. 

Evening was going to be dinner with a friend. All in all good day.

This was also the last day of tourism as tomorrow is just the straight drive to Columbus, OH.

West Palm Beach to Columbus - Day 2

 The drive to Charleston was about 3 hours. It was okay....not too scenic but not bad either. We went to the old part of town first to see the Liberty Square - it was a little overrated. There is one style of bridge that is so popular here. And it is really pretty to look at and photographs wonderfully. 

After Liberty Square we drove towards Rainbow Row. Parked on the road for free and walked towards the Customs Office. It was a nice old building. Opposite that was the market, which was really about 3 blocks of one huge building of local artist shops. So much shopping to do and nothing I could buy (don't need anything!). We walked back to the car. Saw the Pineapple fountain and walked through the park to the Rainbow Row, nice colored houses, were nice. They were pale colored but still look nice. 

It was about 2 pm, so we drove to the White Point Garden, also called the Battery. It was a nice promenade to walk on. There was no one out there as it was weekday and afternoon. We had our quick lunch of pooris and then walked around. There were a lot of flowers blooming. There was nothing much to do in the city. Small city, historical houses but gets boring soon.

We decided to drive to Angel Oak, about 15 miles away. It was through cities, really pretty drive. Angel Oak was also amazing! It was a live oak tree more than 600 years old. It was really huge and just lying on the ground all over. I had put this on the back burner, but I am glad we got the time to see this. 

We drove back to the hotel. Had dinner at Juanita Greenerg's Nacho Royale. It was good place to eat! Went to Patriots point to watch the sunset. Lovely bridge watching and again many many bugs out there! 

West Palm Beach to Columbus - Day 1

It is time to go to Columbus. Since I am driving this time, I was planning to stop in a few places to sightsee to break the boredom of driving and also enjoy some vacation. It has been a long time since I have travelled!

The Plan

The plan was to stop at Jekyll Island, see the driftwood beach, go on to Charleston, SC and then off to Charlotte, NC. The final day would be to go to Columbus, OH. I have to find hotel for three nights. The total trip was four days. I could have had a longer vacation...but another time. 

First Day

Drove from West Palm Beach to Brunswick which is west of Jekyll Island. I did not know explore what was on the island except for the driftwood beach. So booked a hotel in Brunswick, which actually turned out to be okay. Brunswick was about 5 hours. We started by late morning and reached the hotel by 5ish. Drove about 30 mins east to Jekyll Island. I did not know that the island was inhabited. It has a hotel, shops and homes. There was a 7$ fee to get on the island. The main beach was lovely, but I wanted to see only the Driftwood beach. We drove up and down the island, but the beach was kind of hard to find. It was not easy to find. 

Finally we found it, it was a short walk from the main road. It really is quite something to see - out of the world. The wood pieces were everywhere. Really pretty and spooky. We spent good time there and then drove back just in time for sunset. The flowers around were lovely, but the bugs were out too! Many many mosquitoes! 

That was the it! The first day. Room was okay. Lunch and dinner were pooris today. Nothing creative. Tomorrow on to Charleston.