Columbia, SC | Westward Bound

Four-and-a-half Stop: COLUMBIA

If you thought my stop in Greenville, SC was short wait until you hear about Columbia. I was planning my trip between Greenville + Charleston when I realized that Columbia was about half way and that I'd had a random friend who lived there. I met him while I was traveling through Croatia this past May, so I rung him (well I text him) and we scheduled a coffee date + brief walking tour of Columbia. We met up at Drip Coffee which comes highly recommended! I got a soy cappuccino and he got whatever his 'regular' is, some type of flavored latte which sounded fantastic! Then we scurried away coffee in hand to wander around the streets of Columbia and catch up.
This little capital is quite intriguing!
First off I South Carolina looses a good deal of business from companies who would hold conferences there, however, they refuse to for the simple fact that South Carolina still waves the Confederate Flag at their capital (which can be seen in the photo above). This town has all kinds of building and development occurring right down their main street! Its crazy for me to see so much construction in a downtown since I spend a majority of my time in larger cities. I find it quite fascinating to see how a city is structuring its future and the types of people and development they are attracting.
Anywho, I think this little downtown area was fantastic, quaint, and simply adorable! I wish I had planned longer to visit the city, but alas I never have enough time.

Previous Posts:
Nelli is Moving
Baltimore
Virginia
Asheville
Greenville

Greenville, SC | Westward Bound

Fourth Stop: GREENVILLE

While I was only in Greenville for about 12 hours, it made quite the impression on this little lady! Lucky for me Greenville, South Carolina, was about 1 hour outside of Asheville and double lucky me as one of my New York friends recently moved to Greenville.
I arrived at about 6:00pm and met up with my friend at his apartment, I took the 'back roads' to get to his place and the countryside was so beautiful: quaint little houses, lots of brick, and tree filled front lawns. When I got to his place I was surprised at how much nature was around his 'semi-suburban' chateau. It wasn't long until he took me downtown to check out the town. First stop: the town waterfall. This waterfall and river run right through the center of downtown creating a beautiful backdrop as well as a place for locals to relax. Afterwards we wandered up and down the windy main street sandwiched between the tree walls and the brick facades I was in my mini-version of heaven. Little stores, nice looking restaurants, kind people, and good company.
This evening neither of us were hungry (which was a bummer since the restaurants looked scrumptious) so we decided to stop in at the brewery: Blue Ridge Brewing Co. They had 4 beers on draft, each of which was $3.00, yes $3.00!!!! The beers were cold and the bartender was fun, he even gave me some tips for where I should go once I move to San Francisco.
The rest of this evening was quiet and relaxing, just what I needed after that crazy night in Virginia!

Previous Posts:
Nelli is Moving
Baltimore
Virginia
Asheville

Virginia | Westward Bound

As you all know by now, I have been making my way down the East Coast and will eventually be landing in San Francisco. This means that over the next few weeks I will be posting snippets about each place I stopped at and a few of my favorite things within each.

Second Stop: VIRGINIA

As I left Baltimore I drove about 3 hours South to Charlottesville Virginia, where I was heading for the main purpose of seeing Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Being an architecture nerd and by default a history buff I could not pass up this opportunity. I arrived in town in the early afternoon, and after being disappointed that Ace BBQ was closed on Mondays, I made up for it by grabbing quick chicken salad at Revolutionary Soup and a tea downtown before heading out to Monticello. The $25 admission fee is a bit steep, however I feel it was worth it (at least once). The ticket gets you access to everything on the property + 3 different informational tours. I partook in the 45 minute tour of the house, and afterwards wandered around on my own. If you are physically able, I recommend walking up to the house rather than taking the bus. The walk is about 10 minutes in the woods and its beautiful. On the tour you get a decent amount of relevant information on Jefferson as well as the way he lived and designed the house. Not to mention, the views both of and from the house are breathtaking.

After Charlottesville, I stopped in Roanoke to meander and grab dinner. I arrived at 6 on a Monday and was again disappointed that the restaurant I had planned was closed on Mondays (note to future travelers). However, this let me wander downtown a bit longer before choosing my eventual dining destination. Downtown Roanoke is quaint and adorable. However, it was also quite deserted this particular Monday evening. For some reason my photos ended up being of the signage, perhaps because it maintained its old town charm... They had little general store, and I picked up some old time candies for my dad, before settling on Lucky for dinner. The food was yummy and service was great. - The one thing I had to say about Roanoke is I felt more unsafe here than anywhere I've traveled, perhaps because it was simply deserted -
As for my resting spot this particular evening, I had to drive to Blacksburg, VA. When I was looking for a place to stay I found a modern home in the woods for a reasonable price, so I drove another hour south to find it. This place was a good 20 minutes off the highway, on winding roads, at night. The house itself had no address marker and was down 2 driveways off of the country road. Needless to say trying to find this at 9pm was not the most enjoyable experience but after countless U-Turns I made it, stayed the night, and in the morning I stopped by Indego coffee in Christiansberg Virginia. The girl behind the bar was a sweetheart and I sat and chatted with her for a good hour before making my way to North Carolina on my next adventure....

Past Posts:
Nelli Is Moving
Baltimore