days 8 - 12

today is day 12.
since i last wrote i went from the palmetto state, into the peach state, and friday i arrived in the sunshine state.
florida has been living up to its name. highs have been around 95. it isn't painful at all (yet, at least), savannah, however, was a little bit painful. it was really sticky there. and although the high was probably only around 85, it felt so much hotter, just because of the moisture.

wednesday i was in charleston, which is a place i probably would not return to. hung out that night in the hostel, and met a bunch of good characters. one german, one dane, two brits, and a couple from north carolina on a little getaway. talked a bunch with the brits and offered them a ride to savannah if they wanted one the next day. they said they'd think about it, and in the meantime, would i mind buying them some beer because they were still 20 for the next 3 weeks. i laughed, and complied, but inside i died a tiny bit with the thought of being "old." polished off 30 beers among the 4 of us and then hobbled up the creaky stairs to my little room where i found a sleeping frat boy. oh well. he was silent enough.

woke up to a noise that could have been a crying baby or a parrot. when i finally went down to breakfast and it was actually a parrot. what the fuck. it was so loud and awful. ate my free breakfast and found out the boys wanted to come with. joe and kieran. the went off to king street to buy guitars and i worked on packing up the car which was quite a task.

shoved off around 11 in the near stifling heat towards savannah. made a few stops along the way, one for gas, and another for boiled peanuts and peach tea. kieran liked the goober peas, but joe hated them. i think they are lovely. and saved half the container to give to lashawn, a friend of megan senior's, who was going to host me for the night in savannah.

arrived in savannah around two (thursday may 8th) and went off in search of some nice southern food. lashawn suggested we try sweet leaf on abercorn street. finally made it there drenched in sweat and hungry enough to eat almost anything. i got the bbq tofu wrap with a side of corn pudding (suggested by lashawn) and the boys both got bacon cheeseburgers. the food was incredible and the iced tea and lemonade were ever-flowing. finished and walked back to the city center to have a look around. what a place! moss hanging from every tree, so many incredible squares and parks, and each building is a picture. a truly spectacular place and one i wouldn't hesitate to visit again. dropped the boys off at skiddaway state park to camp the night (another truly spectacular looking place, huge trees with moss draping down forming a canopy over all the roads), drove back to savannah to meet lashawn (finally) at her work vinnie van go-go's, a pizza place in the touristy city market. tried to go to a film screening but there was a pay bar, so we decided to go back to vinnies to get a slice and a beer. i wasn't expecting much from the pizza, since i had had such a terrible experience in wilmington, but it was actually good! and you got to pick toppings to go on it, and they used fresh spinach! the slices were also the size of 2 slices in new york. beer was cold and the waitresses kept it coming.

went back to lashawn's little apartment to get ready to go out. i was told thursday night was a bad night to go out, because its a big college night, but we went anyways. bars: circa, lulus, the jinx, hang fire, and one other dive bar where there were peanuts to snack on and you throw the shells on the floor. went back to vinnie's after it closed to pick up lashawns friend erin and have some more beer. a genius thing about savannah: the to-go cup. say you're at a bar and decide you want to go but OH NO you have half your drink left. do not fret! go to the bar and ask for a to-go cup, they hand you a plastic cup and you pour your half drink into it and go out to the street! why oh why do we not have this rule in new york...oh wait....its a terrible idea! anyways i got good and drunk and we headed back to lashawn's at 3:30 to go to bed.

woke up at 9 and had to go pick up the brits at the park. they looked defeated as they hobbled towards my car. i found out that joe had a close call with an alligator the night before. WHAT THE FUCK. so glad they didn't die. so glad! got in the car and began the longest journey yet, to satellite beach, florida. it poured rain for a while on i-95 in georgia, but by the time we crossed state lines, it was clear and the temperature was on the rise. we stopped for lunch in st. augustine, oldest city in the usa, and the temp had peaked at 94. it was unyielding. there was very little cover in that small town, but the food we had was great, and it enabled us to do a bit of exploring before we said "we get the point" and drove off again, for another 2 hours down 95 past huge trucks doing 90 in the right lane, until we reached my family's house in satellite beach. it was hot but really breezy and felt great compared to st augustine. they cooked us a lovely dinner of fondue and hot dogs and then we sat out on the dock while the brits played blues on their red and blue guitars.

saturday we woke up around noon and i had a nice long hot shower that felt so good after being in the car for six hours the day before. the boys decided to take a 2:30 bus to miami so serena and i loaded up the van and took them to the greyhound station in melbourne. we said our goodbyes (i may see them again in new orleans) and then went thrifting for 4 hours. came home and was so exhausted i could barely move.

slept for about 11 hours and i feel good today. need to get a lot of ebay work done so the money can be flowing.

this was the longest one yet! sorry. i will try to be more frequent in the future.

if you made it to the end i will send you a postcard. addresses please!

love,
B