South East USA

The breath-taking mountains of south east usa are home to a hospitable group of americans. Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia make up the south east of the USA. South Carolina was first settled by Europeans in the seventeenth century. Stop off at Charleston which has always been tolerant of all religions. Charleston was settled by the British and you can find a lavish home in the Battery to stay at. There are lots of bed and breakfasts in Charleston in the historic region. The kitchen and slave quarters of the antebellum houses are at the back and this is probably where you might be staying. You can get a southern style tea with snacks to enjoy while sitting on the verandah of a southern mansion. Charleston grew rich on cotton growing and once it was picked by hand. There are many plantations that date back to the days of eighteenth century life. Plantation life created the gardens and made the houses that white people enjoyed.

The day to day life for southern slaves was hard and gruelling and slaves worked hard all day. They worked from sun up to sun down and if your work was not done then you had to work through the night. Gulla is a creole language that is used by Afro-american slaves of the time. South Carolina have lovely beaches and dance halls were packed with young people in the forties. People still dance to the old style dances and people just love it.

Virginia is full of stories of old explorers and settlers. Sir Walter Raleigh named the area and European settlers were drawn to the lush valleys of Virginia. The museum at Staunton shows early frontier life with old timber shacks and farming demonstrations such as horse shoe blacksmithing. The early settlers grew tobacco to export back to the old world. Virginia's economy was dominated by tobacco production for more than three centuries. The native americans had been using it for centuries and Europeans starting growing the crop when they first came to Virginia. Virginia has had an economy based on agriculture for a long time and every year at the state fair, agriculture in the state is celebrated and enjoyed with food, animals, and rides. They have the biggest pork chops and demolition derby where cars drive around the arena and smash into each other.

Virginia is famous for nature especially on the Appalachian Trail that traverses many states and covers over a thousand miles of forest in the Appalachian Mountains. Dont forget your map and be aware of the weather and make sure you are prepared for rain and storms. Some hikers take about six months to cover the whole trail but only one in twenty people will finish the Appalachian Trail. Hikers walk about fifteen to twenty miles per day. There are easy days and hard days but hikers just stick to it until they are finished. One of the highlights is a lookout called Macaffee's Knob where you can view for miles over the entire Appalachian Mountains.

There are a number of civil war sites if you are travelling through the south eastern states of the USA. There are re-enactments at different times. You may see a Robert E. Lee impersonator and soldiers dressed up in period gear. The northern and southern states fought the civil war in the 1860's and thousands of men died in the battles. At night the periodists have dances from the old days. In West Virginia there is a bridge where base jumpers have a wild time floating through the air. There is a sense of peace and present moment awareness that the base jumpers cannot find anywhere else. It is a challenge for all the participants.

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