Day 58-59: May 1st-2nd: Aiken, SC to Charleston

We left Doc Brown’s house on Thursday morning and had breakfast at a local mom and pop joint that she recommended. We got our pancake fix (the addiction has really taken hold at this point and it’s unclear what will happen when the ride ends and we are no longer burning 4000 calories a day on a bike) and headed for Walterboro, SC, home of our next Warm Showers hosts. We stopped in Barnwell, SC for a snack and found a local coffee shop where we stuck up a conversation with the woman working the counter. Her name was Tonya and she was so interested and impressed with our trip that she made us free snack packs with apples, muffins and biscotti. Unbelievable. We hung out with Tonya for a while and swapped stories before heading out again.

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Instructions in the bathroom at the breakfast joint in Aiken

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Tonya, the magical gift-bearing friend from the Coffee House

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We’re considering a career move into posing with signs

We had to stop for around two hours in the middle of the day because it started to pour down rain but eventually it lightened up enough to get back on the road. By the time we  made it to Walterboro we were wet and tired and incredibly happy to find that our gracious host, Ron, was ready with a delicious homemade dinner. Ron is a touring cyclist as well and had lots of stories about his own adventures. In his spare time he also makes wine, which we got to try. In the morning he and his wife Debbie made a big, tasty breakfast for us and eventually we hit the road, headed for Charleston. It took a bit longer than expected to get to Charleston because of an unexpected “detour” (reading maps can be hard sometimes) and the fact that South Carolina is the least bike friendly state we’ve encountered on our entire trip. Bike lanes to do exist and, once again, unpaved roads are often the only alternative to the main highway. So we dodged fast-moving vehicles and rode on sandy lanes and finally made it to Charleston. In Charleston we are staying with Sophie’s friend Josh’s brother Mark and his wife Jenn. They were both working on Friday night so Mark lent us his car and we hit the town just the two of us. We found a super delicious dinner spot (where, after all these weeks in The South, we finally had boiled peanuts) and wandered around town after dinner sampling every dessert spot we came across.

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Waiting out the mid-afternoon rain

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Ron and Debbie, our warm showers hosts in Walterboro

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Boiled peanuts are confusing