This morning we took a quiet road down to a famous live oak tree that is reputed to be 1500 years old. Since the wood on these trees is too hard to bore into, I don't know how they can determine that, but the tree is one big monster. It sits a mile down a gravel road and has a simple little visitor center. You really can't get far enough away to photograph all of the giant, but Jim provided the scale to show how huge it is (family joke). It looks like a land-locked giant octopus with its arms reaching to and brushing the ground. Monumental.
We still had time before we had to return the car, so we continued down the road to a tea plantation. We didn't have time to do the whole tour, but we did a mini session that was very informative about the process of growing and processing tea leaves. I made a major stop at the gift shop before we had to make a bee line for downtown.
Just when we dropped the car, it started to rain. We dashed over to the visitor center and found that the restaurant I had targeted was just across the road. A delightful lunch in the French style ensued; we were warm and well-fed before we had to venture out into the rain again. This time the rain had increased. Comfort being a primary concern, we opted to take another enclosed tour of the downtown. Our guide was much more gracious and enthusiastic than the first one, so we listened to her stories and I tried rather futilely to take photos. We learned that we had missed much and need to come back.
We had a little time to kill but not enough time to really see anything (the rain had stopped), so what better to do before catching the shuttle back to the campground than hit up the same French restaurant across the street for a glass of wine? Now we are back in the warm camper planning our day's itinerary tomorrow when we pack up and drive to Huntington Beach. Weather reports say rain. We can handle it.
Two surprising things I have learned: the Charleston dance originated here (why should that be a surprise?) and my favorite song of all time, "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess, is based on a story written about Catfish Row in Charleston. Summertime? I would be satisfied with spring. We missed it this time by a week or two but we will return.
