Chicago to Miami Roadtrip (Day 3)

 Day 3

Destination: Charleston, South Carolina (Hanahan)

Stops: Asheville, NC

The sound of the creek and rain into the morning was incredible. I loved waking up outside. We had arrived at the tipi shortly before it got dark out, so we used this morning to try to explore the area a little more. We also tried to start a fire in the wood stove; as much as I would like to blame our failure on the dampness of the firewood, that probably isn't completely adequate to explain it... incompetence is probably more like it. Although I really do think we did everything correctly, our fire-starting competence can probably best be described as "I can start a fire if all conditions are perfect... probably." 

I'd give us an A+ for effort. Bandit would give us an F... for everything.

At least we were able to feed you, buddy.

Rosie provides homemade bread, butter, eggs, and most exciting of all, goat's milk. Alex has always wanted to try super fresh milk, which I guess is when you can taste what the goat just ate (grass and dandelions?).

Hmm, looks like someone got something passed under the table. This is Bandit's pretend-like-I'm-not-chewing-when-I'm-chewing face, which he has perfected.

And for the goat's milk experience:

Not sure what that face is about, but we actually really loved the milk. As usual, Bandit is heavily involved in all activities. Here is the area right next to the tipi. 

Bandit is like, I'm SURE you don't expect me to do anything with this stuff. He's a city dog.

And here's where we took a bath the previous evening and the outhouse on the right. These photos are the inside of both, which I took from their Airbnb page.

Next, we were off to Charleston, South Carolina with a pitstop in Asheville, NC. Asheville was pretty close to Cosby, I want to say about 1.5 hours away so it wasn't a huge necessity to stop here, but I had wanted to see the city. We didn't stay for very long, but stopped by a coffeeshop so I could charge my phone, which had died the night before in the tipi. 

We ended up choosing Waking Life Espresso for its dog friendly patio and we each had a delicious latte. I really liked the interior too, which was simple and wood-filled. They had individual tables as well as a larger bar table. 

We ate at White Duck Taco Shop, which was a choice I commended myself on. Based on the recommendation of the woman working there, Alex ordered 4 tacos. We were satisfied but not exactly full. We were kind of like, is this how full normal people try to get? I would probably order 5 tacos or even 6 to be shared between two people, but we apparently have gotten used to needing to feel more full than the average person, so.... Alex thought I'd like to see the interior, so took this picture. Meanwhile, Bandit farted in the car while we were waiting for him.

We did stop in Charleston at a pizza place that got high reviews to bring back to our Airbnb which was located outside the city. The pizza was just fine, nothing to write home about. Charleston is definitely somewhere I'd want to spend more time, but we had been before; although I felt like a lot had changed since we visited three years ago. Asheville and Charleston were both very charming cities with too many food options... we'll be back.

We were met by the nicest people in Hanahan, South Carolina. Our hosts had two dogs themselves and were very accommodating of Bandit, played with him, brought him new toys (his favorite toy is any new toy), and even encouraging him to play with their dog to get him some exercise after he had a leg amputated due to cancer. We were surprised that the HUGE backyard was fenced in so it was great to be able to let him off leash while we ate our pizza. This whole place was SO comfortable and clean; it was Alex's favorite of all the places we stayed. The shower was heavenly after a long, hot day. Here are a few pictures from their Airbnb page. I posted a picture of the bathroom because the shower felt that good.

Chicago to Miami- Day 2 (part 2)

On the second day of our big move, we drove from Louisville/La Grange, KY to Cosby, TN. Although the drive wasn't particularly long, we actually stopped twice on this day, partly because in Tennessee, we would be pretty much as close to the middle of nowhere as one could get. And partially because we thought it might be fun to stop by both Lexington and Knoxville, two cities that we had never been.

Lexington

In Lexington, the place that we originally had planned to eat wasn't open yet, so I did a quick Yelp search and found Stella's Kentucky Deli on the same street, which had a ton of people standing outside. They have an outdoor patio which is dog-friendly, but a little crowded for Bandit's abilities at the time so we ordered takeout and found a table off the sidewalk a little bit down the street.

We grabbed some coffee from A Cup of Commonwealth (really, really good iced latte and iced chai... as in, maybe one of the best) and walked around Thoroughbred Park across the street from the coffeeshop. Bandit was a little nervous of the horses statues at first, but still 100% curious.

And it was really cute how he approached the foal statue that looked he had fallen down while learning how to walk. Bandit was like, "Are you real?"

This picture actually perfectly encapsulates Bandit: incredibly sweet, curious, and lacking any acknowledgment of personal space.

Before this trip, Bandit had probably only been in the car for 1.5-2 hours at a time as we took small trips with him, mostly to visit my parents, or to hike at Starved Rock. He had always been awesome in the car but was definitely more stressed out this time, understandably so: our time in the car was longer, he had less space (since we packed literally everything into my small car), and he had already been stressed out from watching us pack everything. He was honestly really great, even when a pile of clothes fell near him. We aren't experts at traveling with a dog, but we tried to make things easier on him by taking frequent stops. We also packed bully sticks and other random chews for him when we got places (he doesn't chew or play in the car), which he didn't enjoy as much as he normally would. When we got places, he would chew a little and stop, which was also a manifestation of his stress. He was a trooper and did his best to make himself comfortable (although he ignored the easiest way, which would've been to just lay down since we extended his seat). It was sweet the few times we caught him sleeping, although it was few and far between.

Knoxville

I don't have many pictures of Knoxville because it was raining and we mainly wanted to just be able to walk Bandit around and grab some food for dinner at The Tomato Head.

We did, however, get to take him into Urban Outfitters and got some photobooth shots with him. My dream has come true. His dream come true is whenever he is allowed into a store, so he was in heaven too. Until the photobooth thing, at which point he was like WTF. He was too short for the camera unless we helped him keep his head up, which is why it looks like he is being strangled.

Cosby

After Knoxville, we headed for Cosby, TN. During this part of the drive, my phone lost GPS signal, but luckily Alex's phone has never failed us (and we have been to several places that we would expect to lose signal). Our Airbnb for the night was quite a drive. I remember turning off the main road of a small town, then driving through a small residential area (that did have a gas station, convenience store, and Baptist church), and then driving about ten miles beyond that. But it was so cool to be driving along a really nice paved road and see a tipi that was barely visible behind a lining of trees along the road.

On the other side of the road, we followed signs and pulled in. Our hostess was super sweet and showed us all the amenities, including a Norwegian wood stove.

 We used two oil lamps to light the tipi. 

Our hosts lit a wood fire underneath a claw-foot bathtub, which warmed the rain water after about 45 minutes. It was dark by the time the water was hot and Alex and Bandit had already taken a quick nap. I was so nervous Bandit would have a hard time sleeping here, but he seemed to go with the flow beautifully; he slept with us on the cot as well as on the futon.

He wasn't the only sleepy one.

Alex and I took turns bathing. It was amazing to sit in the tub in the dark and look up at the stars. I think that was one of the most unique experiences I've had. 

 Nights like these, I always wonder if city living is all it's cracked up to be.