My first impression of Charleston, SC is that it's undeniably picturesque and quaint. It seems very touristy and fairly yuppie, but the silver lining is a funky little beach town vibe. Although borderline pretentious, it was a refreshing blast of civilization after driving endless highways through empty fields interrupted only by standardized shopping centers with chain restaurants, wal-marts and the like.

Walking around in the downtown Market Area, all I could think of was socioeconomic demographics in accordance with geographic schemes. I don't even know how to properly word the terminology, but I'm running on empty, so I trust you get the gist. Watching shoppers mingle and weave their way from shop to shop, I couldn't help but think of all the money being circulated. It's a huge contrast from the desolate Bible belt that we drove through.

All in all, Charleston was a blast and Kate and I slipped into socialite mode as we wined and dined ourselves at some of the cities finest offerings: Pane E Vino, Gaulart and Maliclet Cafe, and Chai's Tapas Lounge. They were all amazing with their own unique pleasures, but Chai's was my favorite with the sampling and then the sake.


We left Charleston later than planned and never made it to NYC as we'd hoped. I guess a fourteen hour drive was a bit ambitious. Even with an additional driver, Katie, we were fried by DC. Instead of hitting the Upper East Side, we stayed at Katie's brother's frat house at the University of Maryland. The massive house felt more like a municipal building. While 37 undergrads usually fill the house, there were only a few stragglers there for our stay. Lucky for us, the boys didn't exemplify the stereotypical frat boy persona. It was more Revenge of The Nerds than Animal House.

Maryland provided our first Magic Hat indulgence. I was actually beyond excited. Magic Hat is of course my favorite beer manufacturer, and being as it's brewed in Burlington ,VT it's not available in the south. It breaks my heart, but I'll be sure to stock up on the trip back to TX. When Kate read her first bottle cap aloud, "when plans fail, blaze new trails," we laughed and all agreed that was definitely the theme of the day. We quickly made ourselves at home in this most unlikely of places. It was by far the most ridiculous scenario of our trip thus far.