Roadtrip to the South

After an almost death scenario that included me having the flu and being unable to leave the bed without mourning and cursing life to its mere nonsense, the drive took Theresa and me from somewhere in North Georgia to Greenville, where we stayed with a friend of mine for a night. A small town that is close to the BMW factory in Spartanburg – which my father pointed out several times thus I feel obligated to mention it as well – and where we watched a baseball game that was tremendously drowsy. However, all of us enjoyed dinner and a romantic walk along the river. When we left the next morning, we figured that stopping by the Peachoid in Gaffney, South Carolina, would be a necessary experience. Being crucial in the third season of House of Cards a stop was indispensable for the whole American experience that we are getting here. As one might expect, it was a gigantic water tower in form of peach. America! Leaving the Peachoid behind and taking the interstate directly to Charleston, South Carolina, took around five hours with a beautiful church and bible quote scenery next to the road. At the beginning of this road trip, I was terrified of driving because I have not done so in over three years. By now I am a somewhat comfortable driver with sudden panic attacks but of course immersed myself completely into the American driving culture that ignores speed limits in general.

Charleston is such a beautiful city, and Southern architecture and sunsets are just worth driving down there. One of our friends invited us to stay with her and her family which I am still incredibly grateful for (very lovely people!). We spend hours at the beach, eating, tanning (not myself – I just got sunburned), reading, swimming/drowning, and were very much afraid of the southern wildlife. We expected snakes, sharks and stingrays to attack us any second. Luckily they did not! But after finals, it was nice to hang out with people, picnic and enjoy abstruse conversations with friends. We drove down to the Isle of Palms and observed turtles in the natural habitat. Also, Kiawah Island is a top secret tip if you do not want hordes of Americans next to you but would instead like to spend some time far away from human beings. Staying with Khabo’s family was a wonderful time. Her mother cooked us food for days, flooded us with presents, and is the most generous woman on this planet earth. Additionally, we were asked a million questions by Khabo’s father who was stationed in Stuttgart back in the days, on Germany, German culture, German cabs, family, food, German efficiency and cleanliness. At some point ‘Deutschland’ and how ‘great’ everything is there became a running gag. We experienced three wonderful days there and then left for Atlanta, where I spend around four hours until my plane left for New York City where I will be for the summer and my internship.