Who won?

There is one lucky winner of the Phoebe Burger challenge as Phoebe only managed 6 burgers this vacation.

Do let me know who it was!

Anyway ..... until next year.

Phoebe Burger count update

Still at 6 - only 1 person has the correct answer so far!

Back up North

Well... further North at least. Whilst Virginia borders DC, both it and the capital is below the Mason-Dixon line and is therefore a Southern State. Indeed Robert E. Lee, the commanding officer of the Confederate army (and he of the Dodge Charger in Dukes of Hazzard fame) was born here (he was the son of the Governor of Virginia).

We made good time, leaving just before 9, stopping for lunch and got here (just outside Petersburg) at 4.15pm. Aside from a couple of miles through roadworks when we dropped to 45mph we tracked at around 70mph the whole way.

The hotel here is surprisingly good. Pool, fitness room, business centre, free wifi and home-baked cookies. We've got 2 rooms and costing us less than £100 for the night. Located next to the Mall here (we managed to avoid going into another Macy's) but also next to an Outback Steakhouse. As the last one we went to was good we went to the one here this evening. Food was OK again, but 4 out of the 6 meals were wrong and needed to be send back and fixed. To be fair the server was great, not her fault, the cook must have been sniffing too many spices.

Off to Colonial Williamsburg tomorrow which is just over an hour away. Then a 3 hour drive to the airport for flight home.

Pop Quiz: In which state was Hazzard County? No google searches allowed for this one!

Last day on HHI

Off home tomorrow so took it easy. Swimming this morning (got a little bit burned) and then headed off for a game of golf (crazy golf naturally).

The boys and I then went to play pool so that Sarah could sort out the cases for tomorrow. We then played basketball for a while - seriously sticky exercising outside in this heat.

This evening we went out for Chinese. Really nice meal at the same restaurant that we got a takeaway from the other night. Molly was embarrassed at the amount I ordered but it wasn't much and all plates were cleared.

Got an 8 hour haul back up to Virginia tomorrow. The following day we're going to Colonial Williamsburg (one of the oldest US colonies). The town is like a living museum with the staff all dressed up and behaving as if it was 17th century.

See ya soon.

Moon River

Well, the Savannah River at least. The chap who wrote the song was from Savannah. And what a lovely city it is too.

We took a trolley bus tour around the city. Good guide (lived in Savannah for nearly 40 years). The city itself was the only part of the south of any note that was spared following the civil war when Sherman looted and burned everything in his path. Originally started of in pre-revolutionary times as an English outpost. As a result of being spared by Sherman a lot of the city from late 18th century is still around. Later the city expanded in Victorian times and there is a lot of fabulous ironwork around (defo some work here Dad restoring and maintaining their architectural heritage!).

This afternoon we went shopping and Molly bought some knee-high converse boots!

Dinner this evening was at a Japanese restaurant called Hinoki. Largely disappointing - no real flavour to the food. Tomorrow we're going to a Chinese/Thai nearby.

Lazy Sunday

Chilled out today. Swam this morning. Around midday we went down to SeaPines - a private resort a few miles away. Located at the very "toe of the boot" it was the very first gated community here on the island. Some serious property about. More golf courses and loads of tennis.

More swimming this afternoon and this evening we went to eat out at an Outback Steakhouse. Very nice, best steak we've had since we've been here. I had the porterhouse, Sarah and Molly New York strip, Tom ribs, Jack chicken and Phoebe.... a burger!

Phoebe Burger count now stands at: 6

Now back home watching "Race to Witch Mountain" with the boys. Off to Savannah in Georgia in the morning.

Charleston, Charleston

Drove up to Charleston today (about 2 hours away). Originally was a walled city protecting the city-folk from Indians, Spanish and pirates, it later expanded into the lush farmlands that the plantation owners worked with slaves and was one of the richest cities in the US. 1 in 4 African-Americans can trace their heritage back through the Charleston slave market. But following succession from the union and the resultant war it never regained its standing. Might have something to do with the fact that despite agreeing to a ceasefire, Charleston never actually agreed a peace accord with the Union and in theory is still at war with the rest of the US.

We went on a horse (or rather mule) drawn carriage tour for about an hour and a half. Had a great tour guide (Reid from Tennessee). Saw lots of real-Southern houses. Some grand and well kept but most not. One recently received an offer of $24m! But even those that are run-down fetch a few million and need pretty much the same spent on them to repair (they are all protected and planning / building regs are a nightmare).

The surprising thing though is that like much of South Carolina there is nothing really there. God knows why anyone would want to live there. The surrounding areas are rural (really rural...... housing way below trailer-park standard). In the city just 2 blocks from one of the majestic restored residences we had to circle the block in the car to get back onto the right route and one block off of the main road was intense deprivation (walls missing from "houses" type deprivation). Can only imagine what New Orleans must be like following Katrina.

Talking of hurricanes the storms returned this evening pushed on us by Hurricane Bill. We're hoping for better weather tomorrow so that we can explore the island a little more.