I almost killed us yesterday.  We were on the way to the Magnolia Plantation just outside of Charleston and I was driving.  In the middle of telling a story, I looked up and the cars had stopped in front of us a bit unexpectedly, at least for me. I slammed on the breaks and ended up turning off the road (crossing the other lane) into a parking lot.  All was well, but Sachi now insists "No more telling stories- you just drive". I agree.

The Plantation has something I had never encountered before- a "Swamp Garden".  It sounds appealling eh?  It was pretty cool, I'd have to say. In the summer crocodiles live in the swamp and the scenery is somehow beautifully decayed.  Things seem to rot and be teeming with life at the same time.  What's a visit to SC without a Swamp Garden tour anyway?

 

 

 

If this keeps up, we expect New Zealand to be cold and windy. We' re heading south to Charleston, SC, where I lived before moving to Seattle in 1998. Here's to hoping for a little southern warmth... I'm sure we'll feel it from the people.

We got into North Carolina on Independence Air after having to be de-iced on the tarmac in Washington Dulles.  Unfortunately, the de-icer got into the plane's exhaust and we had to go back to the gates for a while.  We finally made it in about 7pm last night (2 hours late), during an ice storm that blanketed everything but the roads in about an 1/8th inch of ice.  We've had enough ice for a while.  But we did get these pics...

 

 

After writing about trying to leave work behind, something funny happened tonight. We're staying with my cousin Bruce on our way to the coast and after pizza and a movie we went to bed.  What did we find in our guest room?  A wireless router.  So, here I am typing and Flickring away. Oh well.

We're temporarily at the house where I grew up in Kernersville, NC with my parents.  We're just about to leave for a road trip around the southeast to see friends.

I'm struck today, when I'm supposed to be relaxing at home, by my compulsion to check email, blog, upload pictures to Flickr and basically keep up with my online life.  I need to slow this trend down.

I think that I haven't really stopped working at all.  All the deliverables from my normal work world have been transitioned to to-dos on the trip.  I am drawn to fill gaps of relaxing by thinking about what I could do on the computer, even as I sacrifice more trip oriented activities.  I couldn't wait to have the feeling of not working, but it seems inescapable. 

As we said from the very beginning, we want to have a good trip more than a good web site and I have to keep that in mind.  Of course, I realize that I'm practicing that which I criticize about myself at this moment- it just feels good I suppose.

The last few moments of New York - not so great. We arrived early and went to the gate printed on our boarding passes. About 10 minutes before take off time we ask what is up and the flight had been changed to a different gate. Had we not asked, I might be writing a much nastier message. Also, there was only one bathroom on the whole concourse and it was closed for repairs for all but the final seconds before we boarded. Ugg. Off to North Carolina now for the holidays and working bathrooms.

Susie told us about the Corner Bistro in a comment and we wanted to check it out today, but missed it and thought all is lost.  As luck would have it, we had dinner tonight with two awesome folks that live here in Manhattan (Ken and Stephanie) and you guessed it- we went to the Corner Bistro, which lived up to all the hype. It's crowded, noisy, the service is spotty, the urinals in the bathroom are way too close together and the food is served on paper plates, but damn those burgers are oh-so-thick-n-tasty.

 The great company rounded out the night too.  Like AJ and Andrew, Ken and Stephanie were a wealth of sage travel advice.  I feel like we have learned so much from hanging out with people here and we are very thankful.  I'm hoping Sachi will follow up this post (likely our last in NY) with the notes she took tonight.

• Always leave the room with what you'll need for the whole day- you never know how long you may be gone.
• Come back to the room with a bottle of water and some snacks, you never know how long you will be there.
• Don't try too hard to see/do everything you can.  An afternoon nap can do wonders. 
• Find a map of the city and transit system early and learn how the system works as soon as you can.
• Don't be afraid to ask for help.