Monday, October 22, and Tuesday, October 23, 2012 – on the road again!

Well, Monday was the day that we finally had to move on. Dee had to work, and we have to travel!

Hildie had recommended we visit Asheville NC so we are heading there. We got as far as Savannah GE on Monday. We enjoyed breakfast at Jennies on Little Road near Dee’s before we left Port Richey. We wended our way over to I-75 and took that as far as Jacksonville. It is a nice, truck filled freeway, and it was fun thinking that Dee’s company had something to do with the construction of parts of the freeway. But we were ready for a more local road. So, in Jacksonville we went off on SR 301, heading for the next capital that I wanted to collect, Columbia SC.

We passed lots of farm stands on our way and finally stopped at one. It turned out to be a real tourist trap – one of those with a sign every mile or so saying that you were almost there, with colorful signs and arrows. So, we stopped and everything was twice what we thought we should pay. We wanted to try Florida oranges, but not there.

We did stop in another stand and bought a couple oranges and grapefruit. I think they must be last year’s crop – OK, but not as good as we get back home! We also bought White Acre peas, whatever that is! A customer raved about them, so I will try to make them when we get home. I always like to find local produce. We enjoyed tootling along on this 4-lane highway with lots of small towns and few trucks.

On Tuesday we continued our drive north (Dee says how can we get home by going north, and I think that is a good question)! From Savannah we took I-95 to get to another local highway, SR 321. This time it was only a 2-lane highway. We entered South Carolina and the road was surrounded by pine forests. Off and on we saw marshes, rivers, and lakes. There were logging trucks and wood products plants. Later we got to the farming area with mainly cotton and some other products I did not recognize – perhaps soy beans. Again we had to slow down for all the tiny towns, but I really like this kind of travel better than high speed freeways.

We arrived in Columbia SC about 1 p.m. and had a nice tour of the capitol, which they call a State House. It is quite small, but all maintained in one classic building. The original wooden building was destroyed during the Civil War. The present building has cannon ball damage because it was under construction during that time! There is a double dome, the exterior is copper. There are only three floors that you can visit, with the House and Senate chambers in opposite wings. The governor’s office is also there and a beautiful room with two wrought iron spiral staircases that serves as a library and conference area. We walked around the extensive grounds of the State House admiring the many beautiful old trees and various monuments.